Well, what did I do to deserve this?
I had a one week reprieve. One week. One moment in the eye of the storm and when it came back on me, it came back on me thrice fold.
I take a heaping cocktail of medications daily for this disease. The meds can’t possibly be good on my stomach or my system. From a kidney standpoint, my condition isn’t so bad, but if you add all the side effects of the medications that I take, plus the complications of my condition, i.e., osteopenia, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, etc. etc., then I’m a flaming hot mess.
I take:
- Cyclosporine (kidney)
- Prednisone (kidney)
- Lisinopril (blood pressure)
- Levothyroxin (thyroid)
- Protonix (indigestion)
- Vitamin B-12 (supplement)
- Vitamin C (supplement)
- Caltrate (osteopenia)
- Potassium (circulation)
- Red Yeast Rice (cholesterol)
- Fosamax (osteopenia)
For the last two weeks now, I have been plagued by nausea, vomiting, joint pain, back aches, headaches, fatigue, and sleepless nights.
I’ve tried to take my meds in the morning with no relief. I’ve tried taking my medications in the evening..to no avail. I’m sick of it. Literally.
First off, I have little or no appetite. If I do experience hunger, it almost immediately dissipates once I start eating. With each bite, I grow more and more nauseous. I immediately feel this incredible full sensation that makes my stomach pooch out, hard and swollen as if with fluid.
Most every night, I end up puking my guts up in the toilet around 1 or 2 a.m. because my dinner and my medications have left a surplus abundance of raw acid in my stomach. So much so that it burns my throat and my mouth when I vomit.
The pain from the acid is agonizing. It’s a stomach pain just below the xiphoid process (breast bone) that radiates a jabbing, stabbing pain through my rib cage and into the center of my spine. At first, in a previous blog, I honestly thought at one point I was having a heart attack. I didn’t know any better when the symptom first appeared.
Come to find out, in the process, I did have an infection in my stomach and bowel…called the H Pylori bacteria. The doctor said I could get the infection through eating sushi or raw vegetables that weren’t properly washed or cooked. Since I don’t eat sushi, I assumed it was through some sort of salad prep.
I have a dull ache in my lower abdomen, left and right quadrants, both anterior and posterior. I’d like to say I can feel my kidneys ache, but I bet you a dime a dozen that the doctor would argue with me. Not to mention, I now have some sort of sebaceous cyst or growth on my lower right quadrant, posterior (just above the butt cheek). It grew rather quickly too, but I’ve two different doctors tell me not to worry about it. Easy for them to say though, isn’t it?
All of this is in addition to the recent migraine headaches I have been experiencing. For almost a year, while on high doses of Pred, I didn’t have headaches and it was a welcome relief, but since I have switched over to the Cyclo, the headaches have returned with a vengeance.
My husband and I spend most nights fielding the pain one way or another. God bless him. He’s been right there with me, pacing back and forth, checking on me, stressing along with me. If I had a dime for every middle of the night jacuzzi tub trip I’ve made because of the pain – I’d have a lot of money right now. That damned tub has paid for itself ten times over.
After almost two weeks of this nightly routine, and sleeping when I can steal a few hours of peace, I am on the verge of insane exhaustion.
I’m almost certain that Dr. Asshole is not aware of these nightly episodes. For some odd reason, it surprises me that my Nephrologist whose specialty is supposed to be diseases of the kidney doesn’t know what his patients go through on a daily basis. I wish he could live 6 months in my body.