What the fuck is wrong and do I really want to know?
 

Me, I'm not too pleased this evening. I have been having a bewildering array of symptoms for a while now - every bone in my body began hurting sometime back, and now they're hurting even more. I give an involuntary yelp of pain if Wyn or one of the cats happens to jump on me. I'm exhausted often. My immune system seems to have gone south for the winter without me, and I've already had 3 bouts of colds/flu so far this winter. My digestive track has gotten in on the fun, too. I either have a case of the runs or else I haven't pooped in a week.

I finally went into my primary care, and he decided we should start with a clonoscopy screen. All that miserable golightly stuff (a gallon!) you have to drink the night before to get cleaned out, then being driven by a friend 50 miles to the nearest digestive health specialist and fifty back. Can't drive myself because they have to knock me out to peek up my butt.

I know something's wrong with me, but I can't get a real sense from my own body if it's major or minor. What if it's cancer? What if the colonoscopy doesn't show anything and I end up having to spend weeks taking a bunch more invasive diagnostic tests to find out - what?

What if it's fibromyalgia and I get to spend the rest of my days on an oxycontin high? I sure could use an oxy tonight, I'll tell you that. Then again, maybe my pancreas is finally doing a payback for all those years when I consumed massive amounts of booze.

I go in on Tuesday and I can't help but feel a tad apprehensive over what I may find out when I come round from the anesthetic. :(

Did they test for glandular fever? That's been pretty rampant around here and your symptoms seem pretty similar.

Don't stress about what you don't know about yet Sam. It could just be an every day viral or bacterial infection and one that's very easy to cure. Just go through the steps until you have a reasonable diagnosis. I'm sure you're going to be fine.

It could be lupus! ;)

Wow sounds rough. :(

Hope you get things straightened out. In the mean time, watch this.

Sam it is ALWAYS worth knowing.
I presented a range of minor but debilitating symptoms and found I had liver damage.

I've had various other symptoms since my diagnosis and now have a scan booked.
I get my latest blood test results on Wednesday, although I have already had a call from the surgery to ask me to make a routine appointment (the Doctors have a bizarre idea of how long you have to wait for a routine appointment - I probably wouldn't get one before the end of the month if I was booking now!) so I'm not too worried.

It's always worth knowing. And sometimes you even have have to push to get a Doctor to see the wole picture anyway.
Good luck.

Thanks, everybody!

I have had a crazy day for various reasons - none health related. However, with all that went on, I didn't have time/forgot to eat. I was supposed to stop all intake of solid foods at 6pm tonight, but as it turns out, I haven't eaten since late yesterday which may be contributing to the latest wierdness. Who knows?

I came home this evening and mixed up that vile concoction some pharmaceutical ad man mis-named "golightly." Drank it at half hour intervals as directed, wretching the entire time. Took the laxative pills they gave me exactly at the time given by the directions. And...

Nothing. The directions said that most people will feel the effects in an hour and rush off to the bathroom to do their duty. I have friends who have had colonoscopies, and they all told me that the runs the night before are awful. Oh, yeah? Four and a half hours and not a thing.

I did go into the bathroom to trim my bangs since I was getting tired of waiting around. I started wondering if my non-response to the gunk they gave me is serious. The directions claimed it is and informed me to alert my doctor in the event of any such non-development.

Anyhow, I got out my scissors and began to trim away. Anyone around the Lost Corners who has a serious medical condition gets treated elsewhere if they know what's good for them. We're lucky to have a rural health clinic and the only pack of specialists around are the members of the local coyote choir.

It occurred to me that a trip to University Hospital in Denver may be in my future. University Hospital offers just about the best treatment anywhere in Colorado and probably a few other states, as well. I wondered where in the hell in Denver I could stay. I can barely afford the gas money for an 800 mile round trip to Denver, never mind paying for lodging for the x number of days it might take to get a diagnosis and a start on whatever treatment.

Which made me think of my old friend, Cicero. Back in the day, I could have just crashed at her place and we'd of had a blast. But she left Colorado years ago, and I have no idea where she is. Last time I checked, none of our mutual friends on FB knew where Cicero had gotten to, either. Poof! Be well, my little tiger - where ever you are.

When I finally came back to the present after thinking about all of the above, I saw that I had mindlessly hacked away alot of other hair besides my bangs. Not good. In fact pretty damn awful - like the time I tried to cut my own hair in the 6th grade. Well, figuring out how to make the best of my bad hair night and probably bad hair morning will at least take my mind off the rest.

Except for being incredibly hungry. I want to eat everything I can find in the kitchen, but I'm limited to broth and apple juice. I bet the test will be called off in the morning when I inform the specialist of my curious non-response to the gunk he prescribed. But I've stuck it out this long. Might as well go to bed and see if anything happens in the morning. If I can sleep for the hunger pangs. Ain't my life a bitch? :thepain:

That sucks, Sundae. One good thing is that the liver is usually pretty good at repairing itself if the damage hasn't gone too far. I hope that will be the case with you. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if my own liver is contributing to my woes. Dog knows I've put it through just about everything humanly possible and beyond.

@ Spex: Thanks ever so much for the link to the world of incredibly strange diseases. A few hours on that site and I'll be having nightmares for months! :eek:

Hope you were able to get some sleep, and good luck today!

Sam, if you still haven't started going as of this morning, use a Dulcolax suppository. Any grocery store or Walgreens or whatever should carry them. Not fun to put in, but things will start moving. They won't do the colonoscopy unless your insides are empty, so you'll need to do something drastic unless you want to go through the nasty golightly experience again at another time.

Wouldn't a suppository only take care of the lower part of the colon? It's a moot point anyhow. Since by time I read your reply, it's time to start getting ready to leave for the hour plus drive to the specialist in Durango. Finally went this morning, but not the clear stuff that indicates an empty colon.

Think I will call specialist before I leave and ask if he still wants me to come. What a drag!

At the risk of being too graphic... The stuff you drink just liquefies the section of stool that it is a part of. It doesn't really speed up transition time much at all. If you're already constipated, the blockage is likely low in your intestines, and all you've really done in that case is put a lot of liquid pressure behind it. The suppositories, by contrast, contain a medication that stimulates muscle contractions (gently, it doesn't cause severe cramping or anything) so that you are actually pushing out what's already in there, and then the liquid stuff brings up the rear, so to speak. :)

Hope you were able to get your procedure done after all. From what you've said, I worry about that hour-long drive...

Clodfobble knows her shit.

Sorry

Wrong thread for lunch. -Ttyl8r

No kidding! The good news is that I won't need to post about that tiresome procedure above anymore. Long story short, they got me in and did a thing or two that allowed them to proceed with the test and give me a clean bill of health in that regard. YAY! No more rounds of gagging down eye of newt syrup and no predictions of impending doom just because I didn't respond to that gacky stuff the way I was supposed to.

Bad news is I still don't know what's wrong. I wonder what new diagnostic torture my primary care doc will think up next. I already have appointments for so much blood work that even Dracula would be impressed. I'm due to get radiated, as well, and also have my very bones checked out.

To top things off, the digestive health people got very upset with me today when they learned that I've started taking 6 - 8 aspirin a day to deal with all the pain I've been having, Guess I'm a very bad girl and should go ask my primary care for narcotics instead. Great. If they're gonna turn me into a drug addict, I'll insist on going first class - no wimpy percocet for me! I want oxycodone or dilaudid to be my drug of choice when I show up at the rehab!

Anyhow, thanks to anyone who has read my whiney thread up to this point. I promise I'll post only fun stuff as quick as they get me going on the strong narcotics. ;)

Glad everything came out ok on the procedure. :D

Really, it isn't fun AT ALL. At least you can rule that out.

When I hurt my back neither vicodin nor percocet really made a difference, unless you can feel MORE like someone is driving a spike into your lower spine. Insist on the best, sam, insist on the best. :)

:eek:

>Must show Sam Aleve commercial..<

Really...

I had no idea you were in that kind of pain yikes! I hope they figure it out soon!

Yeah, I've seen those cute aleve commercials. That stuff may work down at the soup kitchen, but it's just one more thing that no longer works very well for me.

Meanwhile my health is going downhill at an impressive rate. Did I mention the thing with my eyes? Well, they're in on all this too. They've gone on strike when it comes to producing tears. This results in more than just no moist eyes during sad movies. If anyone here has accidently worn their contacts too long and ended up with a really, really painful abrasion of the cornea, that's about how it feels.

My dry eye episodes come and go, and yesterday one came on with a vengence. Usually I just get some OTC drops and soldier on as best I can until my eyes clear up in 2 or 3 days. But yesterday was really, really bad. Drops didn't do much and I'd promised to frame a photograph for someone and they were supposed to have had it a week ago. I could barely see, but I was determined to finish the job. I was hunched down over the frame when the edge of the photograph popped free and cut me straight across my dry right cornea. Like when you get a paper cut on your finger only on the eye instead.

That hurt my already painful eye like a son of a bitch. I laid down with compresses on both eyes, gritting my teeth until this morning when I could call the eye doctor (MD). Turns out that the Lost Corners is not graced by the presence of an opthamolgic specialist until tomorrow. Where's Spexx when I need him?

They referred me to a regular optomitrist to get the pain treated right away until I can see a medical doctor. The optomitrist told me I had a deep cut across the cornea of my right eye and that my left eye has several abrasions, as well. He put a special contact lens in my right eye that serves as a sort of "bandage" for my cornea.

I want to be checked out by an MD, though, and have him send his findings to my primary care. I feel a need to get medical documentation of what's been happening to me to prove I'm not just making all this stuff up. That trip to Denver to see a specialist looms ever larger in my future.

Meanwhile, I attended my first Aspirin Anonymous meeting today. But all that stuff in the Steps about God really turned me off. ;) Plus, for the entire meeting my eyes and my bones were playing the pain card. I figured just one little aspirin couldn't hurt me, but at the end of the meeting I scampered down the back alley to score THREE aspirins from the local dealer. They've already worn off though and I can't see to drive in the dark to get more. Heck, I can barely see to type this, so I'm going to end this post.

I feel so ANGRY that my body has turned against me this way. I've been getting sicker and having increasing pain since early December. This is just unacceptable, especially when my vision is now involved (I put my page settings at 300x zoom so I could see to type this). I've even decided that if the choice is between going on narcotics versus becoming a semi-invalid, then bring on the dilaudid! Ouch and grrrrrrr!

whs!

Sam, have you tried 'viscotears'? My mum has dry eye macular degeneration and they're the only drops thathelp when she's having a bad time with them.

[eta] damnit, I just checked and they aren't available in the US due to license restrictions

[eata] ha! they are available online from Canada though :p

http://www.canadadrugs.com/family/Vi...0-%20OTC/6443/

I recommended those to a colleague just the other day!

I bought them on advice of a pharmacist (colleague) when I worked for the NHS. I was suffering after my laser surgery. Good stuff them.

Terri (VW van, remember?) used them as well because of her rheumatoid arthritis, which dried her eyes out.

They give so much of the same stuff here for eyes that they give to dogs. I had an old girl that came back to me at 14 yrs when the owner had Alzhimers she did not notice this poor gal had kerato conjunctivitis sicca {dry eye] she died last year at 16yrs old. I have all kinds of new tubes of Optimune which is cyclosporin or restasis for people, a steroid eye ointment, atropine, antibacterial etc. Some of this crap is about $50 a tube I bet its $100 for people. Anyhoo just a nosy question do you drink diet soda {pop}?

Thanks, Bruce. Right now my body wouldn't have it any other way!

Dana – Do the Canadian pharma’s require a prescription for 'viscotears'? Most of the OTC products for eyes that are available here in the US don’t do very much for severe cases of dry eye. Although, there’s some new thing out that the optometrist claimed was the cat’s meow. It should be at $35.00 for a single teeny bottle of the stuff. I can’t afford it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirvana (Post 851804) They give so much of the same stuff here for eyes that they give to dogs. I had an old girl that came back to me at 14 yrs when the owner had Alzhimers she did not notice this poor gal had kerato conjunctivitis sicca {dry eye] she died last year at 16yrs old. I have all kinds of new tubes of Optimune which is cyclosporin or restasis for people, a steroid eye ointment, atropine, antibacterial etc. Some of this crap is about $50 a tube I bet its $100 for people. Anyhoo just a nosy question do you drink diet soda {pop}?

Back in the day, I drank gallons of diet pepsi. I don't see how I stood that stuff because I dislike almost all diet drinks these days. Now I prefer tea, either hot or cold, as well as fruit juice. Why is there a correlation between the artificial stuff they use for lo-cal sweeteners and eye problems?

I’m pretty sure that I have one of the autoimmune diseases like fibromyalgia or CFS. I especially like SJÖGREN'S SYNDROME as the cause of my symptoms including the dry eye thing. Plus it sounds so much more exotic than fibromyalgia which everyone and their brother claims to have these days. ;)

I need to get two more medical tests and then I’ll make an appointment with my primary care to discuss all this, including him prescribing me painkillers that actually work for when I have a bad spell like this. I sure hope he doesn't turn out to be one of those MD's who is skeptical of auto-immune syndromes.

Thank you all for your support and suggestions. I'm feeling better today!

Not sure about Canada, but over here it's otc. And very effective. As I say, mum uses it and she has uber dry eyes from the macula degeneration.


[eta] according to the website, it's over the counter for Canada too. You can buy online:

http://www.canadadrugs.com/group/Vis...00.2%25/22237/

The smallest tube is 10grams, at $8.15. But taking postage into account you might want to get a bigger order. Dont know how much the postage is mind.

It is way more effective than anything else on the market as far as mum can tell, and she's tried a hell of a lot of different stuffs, most of which were total pants.

http://www.thisthatandeverything.com...FUZV4AodpHoA5w

This stuff works well too no antibiotics and over the counter. I found it online for $20 and up here its only $9.90 There are other choices on this page too.

Just to say, Sam - when I was recovering from laser surgery I literally could not open my eyes first thing in the morning. When I did I had severe pain. Basically, my eyes were so dry I was removing a layer of cells from my eyeball. It wasn't dangerous (cells are lickle after all) but IT FUCKING HURT.

I had this diagnosis on 7th July 2005.
I came home from my very early appointment and sat down for a couple of minutes before going to work. They didn't expect me in until lunchtime anyway.

I caught the news. And I cried. And I cried some more. I don't know if dry eyes are cured by tears. I never want to test it again at any rate.

Didn't go into work that day.

Sam, Dana is in the UK. Viscotears is apparently available on Amazon and it's main ingredient is carbomer.

UK peeps... barely anything has the same brand name over here, especially medical stuff.

Well, Viscotears isn't licensed for US at all under any name (as I pointed out) but is for Canada, so figured it would be available online that way. The main ingredient may be carbomer, but whether equivalent products in the US are actually the same is a different matter. According to some of the stuff online it doesn't seem like it is.