All kidding aside, I just can't seem to catch a break! Sunday afternoon I was sitting around at my parents' house, and my heart started to feel like it was fluttering. It wasn't happening all the time, but occasionally it would speed up a bit, then start to flutter. I finally asked Daniel to take me to the urgent care, which is fortunately our family doctor as well.
The doctor I saw ran an EKG, but it was normal. He said there are just times our hearts can race like that for no reason. He did agree with me that I may need to go off the Lyrica, but he wanted me to wait and talk to the neurologist about that. He sent me home with some antibiotics for the bladder infection that I did have (that was the minor part of the visit), and instructions to, of course, come back if any of my symptoms got worse.
Well, things have gotten worse. Last night I was watching TV with Daniel before bed and I exclaimed how the swelling had gone down in my wrists and ankles. I almost looked like myself again. Around 11 PM I took my Lyrica and started getting ready for bed. When I went to the bathroom about 10 minutes later I looked down at my feet because they felt funny. (I know, a really scientific description, right?) They were back to being swollen. I went to show Daniel, and I noticed that my wrists were swollen, too.
Over the course of 15 minutes, Daniel and I sat and watched my hands swell more and more. It would have been pretty cool if I wasn't worried about them swelling so much they would pop off. (I was seriously trying to figure out at what point we needed to jump in the car and go to the ER.) Eventually, after my wrist was huge and my fingers looked like little sausages, the swelling stopped it's progression. Then the burning feeling started. That was in my left wrist and foot. As in previous times, it felt like I was holding my body parts in a fire. The skin itself was cool to the touch, though. I haven't had the burning in my hands until then, so that freaked me out a little bit.
I read my handy-dandy patient information sheet that I keep whenever I get a medication, and sure enough, swelling in the hands and feet and burning or tingling are reasons to contact the doctor right away. I called the pharmacy, unsure what right away meant, and he said to be sure to see a doctor in the morning. So... today I will spend my day trying to figure out WHICH doctor (or maybe I should see the witch doctor) will see me and take care of my symptoms that frankly are starting to scare the hell out of me. Instead of spending the day with my dad like I was going to, I get to fight for the medical profession to take me seriously, because right now I'm in a terrible catch-22. My family doctor doesn't want to take me off the medication the neurologist put me on, and my neurologist is on vacation in India for the next five weeks. Plus, he doesn't seem to think there's a thing wrong with my symptoms as of the last time we talked. (See my Furious post if you missed that story.)
As I've been sitting here typing this post, I have a wonderful new symptom. The thumb on my left hand is turning out, involuntarily. Usually in a relaxed position the thumb curls in. Mine is pointing outward, and I really have to concentrate to get it to relax at all. The fleshy part where the thumb meets the hand is burning and shaking. Here we go again.
4 comments:
Ugh. It sounds like you are allergic to that medicine, or at the very least it doesn't agree with you. I feel for you. I have been through a lot in the past several years for "issues" that I have that no one can diagnose. It is so hard to work with different docs who don't work together. I swear, we all need someone like "House"!
I hope you get this figured out soon. :-(
LeeAnn,
We've said the same thing about needing "House!" It's almost depressing to watch the show now because I know I'm never going to find that care.
So I just got back from our family doctor because the neurologist really couldn't have cared less abut my symptoms. I am weaning off the Lyrica (tomorrow will be my last day, but we can't go cold turkey on it), and we'll see how bad my pain gets. I'm on a different type of medicine that we will increase as needed. This should be an interesting week!
Don't know how I missed this one! Do let us know how you're doing and what they said it is. Did the swelling go down eventually? I'd love to smack your neurologist. Silly ol' pretender to the neurologist throne! Why do such careless people bother to practice? Someday, when you're well enough, report him. At the very least, he'll watch out for the sake of his professional license.
Hugs - Anne
Anne: I'll be writing a full post soon. I'm doing well for now, though, and the side effects of the Lyrica are starting to wear off. I had to step down from the medicine over the past couple of days, though, so today is my first day without it. I don't know how I am going to proceed with the reporting of the doctor yet, but it was on my mind all night.
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