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ProfessorTomoe

Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

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On a more medical note, I had really bad cramps yesterday.  Took Tylenol and ibuprofen and it still hurt.  After work I went to the gym and soaked in the hottub, then swam a while, then soaked again.  Felt much better today.

I think something had gotten stuck in the plumbing, a clot or something. I had pretty much nothing in my Diva Cup in the afternoon or evening yesterday, and in the morning there was rather thick mucous blood in it. I may start taking a couple of baby aspirin at the start of my period in the future; I've always had a high platelet count when I've donated....

Edited by CritterKeeper
added TMI under spoiler tag

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17 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I hereby pronounce CritterKeeper these forums' Optimus Prime.

Oh, but the Prof only just left his prime, and Don will be in his next year!  And so will you, in a year and a few months....

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43 minutes ago, CritterKeeper said:

Oh, but the Prof only just left his prime, and Don will be in his next year!  And so will you, in a year and a few months....

Hush. I declared you Optimus Prime so you are stuck with it. Don can be Alpha Trion.

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9:15 p.m. 20171124. This has been a bad day—one that might prove that I'm incapable of travel and socializing.

We went to have Thanksgiving with my son's wife's family in the middle of the D/FW Metroplex, just on the opposite side of Dallas from where we live. The trip over wasn't too stressful, but I got seriously drained during the celebrations. I wound up falling asleep while I was there.The trip home was a bit better, but I had to take a phenergan tablet for long-term nausea control.

My memory is kind of hazy after that. I remember trying to stay awake to get to a proper hydromorphone dose, but instead falling asleep with a glass of tea in my hand and spilling it all over me. I remember being in pain after taking my pills. (Turns out one of my pills got stuck in the coaster I use to hold my pills prior to taking a dose.)

If I'm going to do this, what's going to happen if I travel down to Austin for Christmas?

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9 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

If I'm going to do this, what's going to happen if I travel down to Austin for Christmas?

What will happen is that you'll bring all your meds, and warn everyone that you might not be up for much this year but want to share what you can with them.  You'll plan to include extra naps, and time your pills as best you can to be awake for present unwrapping and the family dinner, but be ready to excuse yourself (and pick a chair you can doze off in without falling out of) if things hit you unexpectedly.  If everyone knows ahead of time what to expect, it's a lot easier to deal with.

My dad was a champ at nodding off during a movie or TV show, and we'd all just shrug and give him a nudge if something important was coming up, and otherwise let him sleep.  We didn't resent it, we loved him and wanted to be together even if he slept through some of it.  He might have to get up and walk around partway through a meal out or a movie in the theater, due to leg cramps, or disappear into the bathroom, and that was fine too.  Life isn't perfect, and we can adapt to others' needs and disabilities.  Being together is worth it.

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5 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

What will happen is that you'll bring all your meds, and warn everyone that you might not be up for much this year but want to share what you can with them.  You'll plan to include extra naps, and time your pills as best you can to be awake for present unwrapping and the family dinner, but be ready to excuse yourself (and pick a chair you can doze off in without falling out of) if things hit you unexpectedly.  If everyone knows ahead of time what to expect, it's a lot easier to deal with.

This makes sense. Spreading the info among nearly 30 people might be difficult, especially when a Christmas tradition Mrs. Prof and I started might be affected, but we'll try.

I would ask Mrs. Prof for a different travel schedule. In the past, we've driven down (she's driven down, to be precise—I just rode shotgun) to Round Rock (a northern Austin suburb) and checked into a hotel. The next day, we checked out, went to Mrs. Prof's brother's property for the celebration, then drove back to Garland (northeast Dallas) and recovered. I don't think I could do that this year, not with Dilaudid in my system, and I don't think she could do it because of how tired she got on the drive back from Grand Prairie yesterday.

What I would ask for instead is a three-day trip: day one down to the hotel, celebrations and then back to the hotel on day two, and day three back to Garland. She would reject this because of the cost involved, based on past discussions. Still, I don't see how we'd be able to pull it off otherwise. I couldn't handle the ride, and she couldn't handle the drive.

Discussions will follow over the next few weeks.

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1:25 p.m. CST 20171125. I now have two doctor's appointments scheduled for this coming Wednesday. The first is with my pain management doctor, to discuss how I should adapt to the Dilaudid and to destroy the erroneous extra hydrocodone prescription that was sent to me the day after the Dilaudid was a month ago. (That's required so I can get my new Dilaudid prescription.) The second appointment is with my primary doctor to examine some tiny blisters that have been erupting in spots on my skin and to get a prescription for a shingles vaccination. That's if I don't already have the early stages of shingles anyway.

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11:47 CST 20171130. I've seen two doctors in one day (Dr. Konen for pain and Dr. Parker, my PCP, for a rash and blood tests/drug refills). Both were interesting. Let's start with Dr. Konen. He recognized the fact that the hydromorphone wasn't doing the trick. It was either too little or too much, with no in between. He's switching me to (everybody gasp) one of the oxycodone variants, specifically not a long term release one due to my gastric bypass. He's also going to do another series of injections, but from the posterior position instead of caudal. I'm waiting for a schedule on that one.

Later on, I saw Dr. Parker and had blood drawn for my quarterly testing. Found out I've dropped enough weight to move down into a lower BMI (yay!). The blisters that I thought were shingles, however, were just an allergic reaction to something. I got a prescription for a shingles vaccination and another for a cream for the blisters.

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5 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Let's start with Dr. Konen. He recognized the fact that the hydromorphone wasn't doing the trick. It was either too little or too much, with no in between. He's switching me to (everybody gasp) one of the oxycodone variants, specifically not a long term release one due to my gastric bypass.

It's plain oxycodone tablets, and he's put me on 20 mg of it 3x a day.

5 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

Not-shingles is good. Allergic reaction is not. The best treatment for an allergic reaction is to figure out what's triggering it and stay away from that stuff.

Two cats, other allergies already detected and dosed, and this being a single event—figuring it out is going to be damned near impossible. I'll just take what the doctor gives me and hope it gets rid of it. :(

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30 minutes ago, mlooney said:

When you get your monthly check and are excited that you can get some NyQuil, you are sick.   Might not be as sick as other people, but you are sick never the less.

Hmm, nope, no NyQuil on your Amazon wish list.  I suppose the paints for all those zombie figures might clear your sinuses.... ;-)

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1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:
1 hour ago, mlooney said:

When you get your monthly check and are excited that you can get some NyQuil, you are sick.   Might not be as sick as other people, but you are sick never the less.

Hmm, nope, no NyQuil on your Amazon wish list.  I suppose the paints for all those zombie figures might clear your sinuses.... ;-)

This. Project Wish List can be partially reopened again.

15 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

It's plain oxycodone tablets, and he's put me on 20 mg of it 3x a day.

Made it through last night without suffering shallow breathing (something Dr. Parker warned me to watch for at this level). I did wake up after only 7 hours (3:00 a.m.), though, with the pain relief mostly worn off. The extra hour of waiting was quite uncomfortable, as was the first hour after taking my morning dose at 4:00 a.m. CST.  I'm not looking forward to what's going to happen between now (9:45 a.m.) and noon. Right now, the pain relief is acceptable. It's the last hour that I'm really afraid of. Will it wear off again like it did this morning?

Also, I'm still waiting for results from Wednesday's blood draw, since I'm out of one of my medicines that depend on the results. In addition, I'm waiting for a call from the folks at Baylor to see if I can get me into surgery for the posterior injections before the end of the year. The tension is high in this one today.

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4 hours ago, mlooney said:
5 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

This. Project Wish List can be partially reopened again.

No need for that right now.

Just remember that you've got a willing group of people who are more than happy to jump in and lend a hand whenever things get lean. We're always here.

5 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

In addition, I'm waiting for a call from the folks at Baylor to see if I can get me into surgery for the posterior injections before the end of the year.

The call came (shock of shocks!). They had a grand total of one surgical spot left in the 2017 schedule - early Tuesday, December 12th. More needles in my back. Joy.

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I've noticed that Adderall seems to make my sinus issues better, plus seems to make the other cold and flu effects better as well.  A fast read of the internet seems to show that I'm not the only one that has found this.   Downside, of course, is that taking Adderall in the afternoon mean no, repeat, no, sleep that night.  That's why I have NyQuil however.

 

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The current dose of oxycodone is turning out to be totally ineffective. I don't have any worries about shallow breathing—I have worries about coughing and sneezing.  Both kill my hip. Seriously, the stuff isn't working for more than a couple of hours, and it takes at least an hour (usually more) for it to kick in. My pain level is a 7½ on the old one-to-ten scale for about 80% of the day. I try to stay asleep to avoid the pain, since I can't even sit in front of my laptop for my usual time.

The only way I can get this fixed is to come in for an appointment with either the doctor (or a nurse practitioner when the doctor is in the office). The first such available appointment is Thursday morning. Thursday. If they up my dosage, I'll be able to start taking more that same day. However, if they put me on something else, I won't get it until Friday at the earliest. Either way, I'm going to be hurting bad for a couple of days—bad enough to wake me up in my sleep.

And I thought November was bad.

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5 hours ago, mlooney said:

Today is Shrinkday:The Advent version. This cold has made it harder than it should be to tell if drugs are working or not.

No change to my drugs AND I got 2 months of samples of Ablify, which helps my budget.

 

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3 hours ago, mlooney said:

No change to my drugs AND I got 2 months of samples of Ablify, which helps my budget.

Abilify has gone generic (Aripiprazole). Is that the version you're getting? Also, have you priced out those alternative "non-insurance" discount plans like Blink Health or GoodRx? I use Blink Health to get my Zyxal antihistamine generic cheaper than the OTC version. Bit of a hassle - I still need a prescription and I have to have it called in to a different pharmacy (CVS stopped taking Blink Health), but it's still a significant $$$ saving.

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