In recent months I have wanted to be more proactive in taking care of my health. Unfortunately this has meant that I have more doctor appointments. One of the doctors I chose to see is an allergist.
Back when I was a teenager, my pediatrician told me I was allergic to Penicillins. I didn't give it much thought at the time. A few decades later I was put on Amoxicillin for a dental infection. I ended up with a full body rash and hives (while on a business trip in Europe) so I stopped taking it. I put penicillins on my medical record as an allergy.
Over the years, I have added more meds to the list. At my first chemo infusion, I reacted to the benadryl they gave me and was told to never take it again. Other meds have been added. But sometimes my doctors would ask me about them and question whether they were a true allergy or not.
In the past decade, I have found that sometimes while outside my nose starts running like a faucet. This annoys me to no end. So I decided I need to find out what I am allergic to and then figure out what I can take so that I can end the runny nose businesss. Yesterday I went to the allergist.
One of the things they first told me is that over time your body changes and what you might have been allergic to once you no longer are. They started by testing me for penicillins. While I didn't have a real allergic reaction I did feel my skin crawl and felt pretty crappy during the testing. We have no idea why that happened. But at the end of the day the allergist told me that she was taking penicillins off my list of allergies.
I will go back in a few months and get tested for environmental allergens and see if I am really still allergic to Benadryl.
In the meantime I wonder if my obsession with allergies is really hypochondria, paranoia or just my supposed 'new normal'.
Showing posts with label medications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medications. Show all posts
Friday, May 24, 2019
Monday, August 27, 2018
A Victim of My Own Stupidity
We took a two week vacation earlier this summer. As a person with a few ailments, I travel with my own personal pharmacy. This requires some planning ahead and balancing insurance rules (meaning you can't get extra ahead of time) and my medical needs.
Before we left I made sure I filled my daily prescription boxes with two weeks worth of meds. I noted a couple that needed refills right when we got back. Most importantly, my prescription pain patches needed a new prescription from my doctor. I made a little note on my calendar for a couple days before our return so that I could get the prescription rolling before we arrived home. This prescription comes from regular mail order (as opposed to specialty mail order) and I need to allow a good ten days from when I ask my doctor until the prescription shows up. These pain patches are a vital part of my medications because they allow me to live at a substantially lower level of pain and do not require me to chase my pain with pills (that I would never remember to take). Memory is not one of my strong suits these days.
I made a little oops. I looked at the reminder on my calendar when it popped up and said to myself 'I don't want to think about that yet' and told myself to remember it when we first got back.... That was so smart.
On Wednesday or Thursday a full five days after we returned, I put on a new weekly pain patch and realized I didn't have any more (crap) and that I needed to get that new prescription (double crap). This is a SEVEN day pain patch. Not a seven plus ten or so day pain patch. I then realized I needed a whole bunch of refills but less urgently.
Next project - get all my precriptions ordered. I get my prescriptions from three sources: local pharmacy, mail order pharmacy, and specialty pharmacy. I put in my orders online for four different doctors on my hospitals app. I thought I noted on each one where they needed to come from.
Then I get a notice from my local pharmacy saying a prescription was delayed. I ignored it for a couple of days. A day or two later I checked and found my 7 day pain patch which needs to come from mail order was ready at the local pharmacy for the low price of $83, instead of the mail order price of $15.
I called back my doctor's office and asked for a corrected prescription from my doctor to go to the mail order pharmacy. That was on a Thursday (over a week after I had put on my last 7 day pain patch.
On Friday I got an email saying the pharmacy had received my prescription and would process it. The following Tuesday I get a message that the pharmacy had a question for my doctor on the prescription and had not heard back from him. I contacted my doctor's office again. Then I heard back from my doctor on Thursday that said they had spoken with my pharmacy and they would mail it out that day (liar, liar, pants on fire).
Saturday AM, I got a message with the USPS tracking number for my prescription shipment. No tracking info yet. Sunday, I found that it was in Philadelphia but on its way to its destination. Monday morning, it had reached Massachusetts but no more information. Finally it showed up in my mail box today. I have been home from vacation for 16 days which means I have been on my 7 day pain patch for a paltry 11 days.
Yes, I have been a bit 'uncomfortable' for the past few days - its been hard to get comfortable or sleep. Yes, I could have requested the new prescription while I was on vacation and put it in as a separate request so it didn't end up at the wrong pharmacy.
Yes, I could have checked my email and saw which prescription was delayed at my local pharmacy and I would have caught the problem earlier.
Yes, I could have checked my email and realized that the mail order pharmacy was waiting on my doctor.
So, yes, I was a victim of my own stupidity. But now I have my new pain patch on and am feeling much better.
Before we left I made sure I filled my daily prescription boxes with two weeks worth of meds. I noted a couple that needed refills right when we got back. Most importantly, my prescription pain patches needed a new prescription from my doctor. I made a little note on my calendar for a couple days before our return so that I could get the prescription rolling before we arrived home. This prescription comes from regular mail order (as opposed to specialty mail order) and I need to allow a good ten days from when I ask my doctor until the prescription shows up. These pain patches are a vital part of my medications because they allow me to live at a substantially lower level of pain and do not require me to chase my pain with pills (that I would never remember to take). Memory is not one of my strong suits these days.
I made a little oops. I looked at the reminder on my calendar when it popped up and said to myself 'I don't want to think about that yet' and told myself to remember it when we first got back.... That was so smart.
On Wednesday or Thursday a full five days after we returned, I put on a new weekly pain patch and realized I didn't have any more (crap) and that I needed to get that new prescription (double crap). This is a SEVEN day pain patch. Not a seven plus ten or so day pain patch. I then realized I needed a whole bunch of refills but less urgently.
Next project - get all my precriptions ordered. I get my prescriptions from three sources: local pharmacy, mail order pharmacy, and specialty pharmacy. I put in my orders online for four different doctors on my hospitals app. I thought I noted on each one where they needed to come from.
Then I get a notice from my local pharmacy saying a prescription was delayed. I ignored it for a couple of days. A day or two later I checked and found my 7 day pain patch which needs to come from mail order was ready at the local pharmacy for the low price of $83, instead of the mail order price of $15.
I called back my doctor's office and asked for a corrected prescription from my doctor to go to the mail order pharmacy. That was on a Thursday (over a week after I had put on my last 7 day pain patch.
On Friday I got an email saying the pharmacy had received my prescription and would process it. The following Tuesday I get a message that the pharmacy had a question for my doctor on the prescription and had not heard back from him. I contacted my doctor's office again. Then I heard back from my doctor on Thursday that said they had spoken with my pharmacy and they would mail it out that day (liar, liar, pants on fire).
Saturday AM, I got a message with the USPS tracking number for my prescription shipment. No tracking info yet. Sunday, I found that it was in Philadelphia but on its way to its destination. Monday morning, it had reached Massachusetts but no more information. Finally it showed up in my mail box today. I have been home from vacation for 16 days which means I have been on my 7 day pain patch for a paltry 11 days.
Yes, I have been a bit 'uncomfortable' for the past few days - its been hard to get comfortable or sleep. Yes, I could have requested the new prescription while I was on vacation and put it in as a separate request so it didn't end up at the wrong pharmacy.
Yes, I could have checked my email and saw which prescription was delayed at my local pharmacy and I would have caught the problem earlier.
Yes, I could have checked my email and realized that the mail order pharmacy was waiting on my doctor.
So, yes, I was a victim of my own stupidity. But now I have my new pain patch on and am feeling much better.
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Falling Asleep On The Sofa
I hate it when I fall asleep on the sofa. Usually it means I will wake up at 3 am and crawl into bed where I can't get back to sleep and end up exhausted the next day.
Last night, I was so tired after dinner, that I evidently fell asleep on the sofa watching TV with my husband. I don't remember that. I do remember being tired while I watched TV and waking up in bed. This morning I got to play the game of 'where are my glasses' (they were on the coffee table).
I get extra points because apparently when I basically sleep walked to bed, I remembered to take all my pills and I slept all night. That was about 10 hours of very needed sleep.
Sleep is a restorative and even more important with any ailments. I have a big trip planned for this afternoon where I will be gone for about six hours and driving for two of them. I needed the sleep so I could manage the trip.
And tonight, my goal is to get another 10 hours of sleep. But I'll have to hope I don't fall asleep on the sofa again. Maybe I'll watch TV in bed.
Last night, I was so tired after dinner, that I evidently fell asleep on the sofa watching TV with my husband. I don't remember that. I do remember being tired while I watched TV and waking up in bed. This morning I got to play the game of 'where are my glasses' (they were on the coffee table).
I get extra points because apparently when I basically sleep walked to bed, I remembered to take all my pills and I slept all night. That was about 10 hours of very needed sleep.
Sleep is a restorative and even more important with any ailments. I have a big trip planned for this afternoon where I will be gone for about six hours and driving for two of them. I needed the sleep so I could manage the trip.
And tonight, my goal is to get another 10 hours of sleep. But I'll have to hope I don't fall asleep on the sofa again. Maybe I'll watch TV in bed.
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