one more health update

Dec 08, 2009 06:04

Sorry about the lack of updates. My health is still all out of whack.

I’ve been in and out of the hospital a couple times since my last update. I was diagnosed with c. difficile, which is a bacteria everyone has but can be thrown out of whack and cause a lot of problems. I started being treated for that, but it turned out to be wrong. Which is odd since apparently it shows up on a test and I had every test possible, another doctor later showed me that I had clearly tested as clear. Bizarre. So then I got a scope, which showed everything to be fine, no sign or irritation. Which is good in some ways (it’s not colitis or probably anything else serious in that way) but it’s also not a diagnosis.

After seeing one of my regular doctors and a resident who did an extremely thorough history, the resident diagnosed me (with the empathic agreement of my specialist) with serotonin withdrawal. I had been on a drug called Cymbalta for the headaches and finished the test regimen my doctor had given me right AFTER the symptoms began. To be honest, I totally forgot I had been on it as did my doctor. I should have then either stayed on it or weaned off but it didn’t do anything for the headaches and I was so sidetracked with my illness that I didn’t think about it. Also I had no idea about SSRI, that’s my doctor’s job.

What they think happened is I had a virus (probably H1N1) and the SSRI withdrawal, which creates a nasty ton of GI symptoms (not depression like one would expect). When I read the side effects it was crazy, all the really totally weird things I was experiencing like crying, insomnia, agitation, bizarre dreams, sweating, memory issues, chills, pain. Just a bunch of whacked shit that didn’t show up under most illnesses.

So I was pretty pleased because this all finally made sense. My doctor gave me a medication to treat the nausea, which was still really bad while a lot of the other symptoms has eased. He told me not to go easy on it, saying it had NO side effects. Turns out he was quite wrong, I started experiencing really bad pains in my stomach. I found the info sheet that came with the pills and it turns out this was a possible side effect. Now I’m not sure whether I want to take them. Which is worse, feeling pukey or in pain? Currently I’m at a point where now when I eat ANYTHING I become totally incapacitated by nausea. This may be the serotonin withdrawal, it may be the virus, it may actually be an adverse reaction to the anti-nauseatant or it still may be something else altogether.

Meanwhile, I have lost 13 pounds since this has all started due to not being able to eat, exercising a lot since I figure I want to keep it off, eating healthy (lots of making my own sushi in very small amounts) and really having little/no appetite.

One upside is that a lot of the mental effects I was feeling from this were not so much depression and irritability due to my illness but a symptom of the SSRI withdrawal syndrome. I feel a lot better, clearer and less frustrated. This is likely a combination of both things, less illness and serotonin being back in my brain.

One downside is the possibility that the anti-nauseatant could randomly cause gallactorrhea. If you don’t watch CSI or House, that’s lactation. If I start producing breast milk, I’m kicking my doctor’s ass, yo.

health

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