-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
What kind of boss gives you a birthday off? And how do I get to work there?
Anyway. I guess I finally have something to say in here. Not as acute as everyone else's stories, but still sucky.
(medical intro: Hi, I'm Nebby. Severely underdeveloped nervous system, mildly autistic, sinuses extremely prone to infection, severe chronic depression, and pretty much screwed from all genetic fronts.)
The short version: Around March of this year, I started having problems with my energy level. Namely, I didn't have one. After missing loads of classes in a week, I finally hied myself over to the college's med center, where they did a few blood tests and ruled out mono and anemia. Not long after, I got what I thought was a nasty sinus infection, and thought "oh, that explains it." I went on Cipro for 10 days and thought that was the end of it, since at least my sinuses were better.
Well, it wasn't. After my grades tanked even further because of this, and the energy problems persisted even through the summer, I went to my primary doctor. He tells me that the test the school did for mono is only effective for a period of about 5-10 days, which to a months-long infection is nothing. Anything outside of that gives a negative. So, I had a buncha blood drawn for tests that are actually effective.
Good news is, my thyroid's lovely.
Bad news is, I did contract mono sometime in March.
At least I'm not contagious now, and it's not severe. Never was. One of my cousins missed a year of middle school when he had it, because when he had the energy to get up, his spleen was too inflamed to risk it.
So, I'm writing to my advisor re: retaking classes and the med center re: why the fuck don't they do an effective test. *sigh*
-------------------- "Don't fight forces; use them." --R. Buckminster Fuller
posted
Ooh... mono... ick. I had it back in '02. I think it took a good 6 months before I really started to feel closer to normal.... I was originally told I was okay, too. The minor emergency quack I first saw told me I just had a bad cold and to take some Robitussin. 3 weeks later, when I thought I might be in serious risk of coughing up an internal organ, I went back to the doctor, certain my self-diagnosis of bronchitis would be correct. It wasn't, as I had mono, but still... it explained why the Robitussin wasn't working *eye roll*
I hope things turn around for you soon.... mono is a heck of a beast. Try to rest - I know it's hard to do. But it helps... it wasn't until I took a leave of absence from two of my jobs and cut back to just 40 hours a week (it was a new job, so I had to work the full 40) that I started to improve at all - my normal 60-80 was just keeping me sick....
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
My tumor is apparently busy migrating from the left sideto th e right side of my brain
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Meep. *sends a very futuristic, highly effective tumor-seeking, non-brain-getting missle your way*
edit: Oh. Oh yes, I forgot the other reason I was in this thread again.
While I'm not contagious now unless I share copious amounts of saliva with someone (which I assure you isn't happening), and I wasn't when I was first diagnosed, I was when I got home for summer. Add that to the fact that the hot water in the dishwasher ins't hot enough to sterilize stuff and the fact that mono incubates for 6 to 10 weeks, and now my sister's absolutely miserable. She has it worse off than I ever did; fever of 103. Had to go on prednisone for a little while because her throat was so swollen.
Fair warning: I'll make my sister lick the maker of the next "kissing disease" joke repeatedly. And not in the good way (unless you're kinky like that). She's still good and contagious.
-------------------- "Don't fight forces; use them." --R. Buckminster Fuller
posted
Things are relatively stable here in my neck of the woods...
When I got the Narcolepsy/Hypersomnia diagnosis in May, the doctor put me on a low dose of stimulants (ADHD meds, actually) as an attempt to wake me up. It didn't do a damn thing, in in the long run, so rather than piss around with it, he evaluated my chart history, saw that my body metabolizes medications in an UNREAL fashion and just decided to "pump it up" a bit by doubling my dose - to the highest dose approved by the FDA.
I've been taking that since early June, with no effect on my quality of wakefulness or sleep. Further, I'm just as exhausted now as I ever was. However, an unexpected thing DID come of it - My migraines suddenly got a lot better. Go figure.
It seems that a high dose of stimulants coupled with a high dose of my current anti-epileptic (and the other preventatives I take standard) are the winning combo we've been waiting for.
Whereas I usually have to up the dose of the anti-epileptic every 3-7 days to maintain any type of relief, since increasing my stimulant dose, I haven't had to touch the anti-epileptic at all. It's like I'm on a teeter-totter, and for the moment, it's all perfectly balanced.
This has presented quite the dilemma, in that while we were hoping that the stimulant WOULD help my migraines, we were hoping that it would help my sleep issues as well - killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. Now, I'm somewhat stuck, as I have the best migraine control I've ever had and I've backed myself into a corned with NO possible way to try and resolve my sleep issues because I'm topped out on the stimulants already.
Complicating matters even more is the fact that my sleep doctor, who prescribed the stimulants, knows NOTHING about migraines like mine. My Neuro doesn't prescribe stimulants at ALL for migraines (it's a pretty "far out there" treatment that very few Neuros will use). So I'm sort of playing "go between" as the gineua pig in this little debacle.
For now, it's sort of been determined that the migraines are the greater of the two evils, until something happens to prove otherwise, and I am going to keep taking this combo to control that condition and let the sleep issue to do its thing.
If the sleep issues cause further problems (and they could) or the meds stop working for migraine control (which my history states they likely will) then we'll start to fuck with shit again. But for now, we're just going to sit back and watch with the attitude of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Now, this isn't to say that I don't have migraines anymore - still have them daily. But they are better than they have been by a lot. Further, the BAD ones now have identifiable triggers - that's never happened before. Every major migraine attack I've had since I started the increased stimulant dose has been because of a change in weather. Mainly thunder storms. I've NEVER been able to ID a trigger for a major attack before. Ever. So this is progress, whether short-lived or not. My Neuro told me to just enjoy it while I can...
Side note: I'm not able to treat my major attacks as well anymore - my Percocet script is gone, replaced by Vicodin due to a recently developed allergy to oxycodone (drat!!!!). Vicodin, BTW, works about as well as - well - Tylenol. Seeing that the Percs almost weren't cutting it anymore. But on the plus side, at least I can take solace in the fact that the major headaches are fewer, father apart, and I know WHY the headache they have come - and the worst of it seems to roll out with the storm front... I'll take this reprieve while it lasts, for sure.
That's my update. I hope I didn't jinx myself *knock on wood*
posted
So, it now appears that therieis nothing left to be done medically with the tumor and It could soon cause a fatal stroke or a heart attack psuch that we are just starting to look for cemetary plots
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Fuck that noise. We're having you taxidermied. Taxidermied, & put in Charles' parlor.
You realize you did this to yourself, yes? All those damned politcal debates, & NOW look where you are. POLITICS CAUSES TUMORS. (It IS a tumor, Governor Schwartznegger!)
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged
Charles Capps
We appreciate your concern. It is noted and stupid.
Member # 9
posted
I ... have no words.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Oh, Jay... my heart is with you, my friend... please let me know if there's anything I can do to help... I know it's not much, but you're in my thoughts and prayers... *gentle hugs*
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic