Pain: Update 2

[filkertom]

So far, so meh.

I crapped out for a few hours yesterday, and woke up still feeling pretty dreadful. It eased off as the evening proceeded. This morning, I felt about the same as I did yesterday morning, i.e., pre-NGAAH! muscle spasms: sore, annoyed, but basically (slowly) mobile.

Given how much I've slowed down the past few years, this does not fill me with joy.

Anyway. Les came to schlep me to the doctor's office.

The clindamycin had nothing whatever to do with the pain. Current problem is likely muscular, but she wants me to get an X-ray. Also long-overdue blood work. Because of lack of money and insurance, I'm going to go to the Hope Clinic in Ypsi next Saturday (between Windy and Thanksgiving). Gotta fill out forms, make a first appointment. Also got forms for M Support, some insurance through the University Medical System. Here's hoping.

Doctor is worried about me generally; wants me to get the bariatric surgery. (Heh. "Bariatric" isn't in Firefox's spell checker. What is? "barbaric" and "brickbat".) I really really really don't want to; can't afford it in any case.

Doctor called in scrips for flexeril, a muscle relaxant, and (because of my lowered antidepressant dosage a few weeks ago) a new drug, wellbutrin, basically an upper. Expensive -- as in, $109 for three months. I think that scrip will go on file for now.

Les got me back home. Many, many thanks to Les. I got myself into my van with not much more trouble than usual, and headed off to Kroger. Parking lot full; fine, they've got a drive-thru pharmacy. Only there's some communication problem, and Kroger didn't yet get my scrips. Sigh. Fine. I drive home, no big trouble. I get out of the van and into my house, no thang. I'm sitting here at my desk, all is well.

Windy is now very likely. If this holds, or (I hope I hope) improves, then it'll be no problem. The biggest thing I'm worried about is my cart. At one point in this little escapade, I tried using a shopping cart, and walking with that hurt terribly; if I go through that with my gig cart, I'm in trouble. (Grainger apparently has the right sized cart for me, as do a couple of music gear sites. Maybe that'll be my Xmas gift to myself.)

In any case. As I said: Windy's lookin' good. TomBoat II: This Time We're Recording It Properly goes off at 9:00 p.m. Friday -- be there or be somewhere less fun.

And how are you?

ETA: The names of the drugs -- thanks, Kroger. (I love my Kroger store, the one on Whittaker Road in Ypsi. They really do take care of me.)

Comments

[lizziecrowe.livejournal.com]

Happy that you're home and doing at least semi ok. Let us know if you need ANYTHING. Seriously, you have numbers, we have mobiles. As filk second for WindyCon, I am at your disposal for everything from a flat tire to a jail break.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

I wish I could make it to Windy. 'Twould be a lot of fun, I'm sure. In the meantime, work is proceeding apace, as is life, and I'm getting ready for a Four-Con January.

(Gafilk, Arisia, Confusion, Conflikt. And then, perhaps, Capricon in February. Oh, and that's after Chicago for New Year's.)

[roane.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's my Kroger too. :)

Hang in there, my understanding is that bariatric surgery ('barbaric'--heh, appropriate) usually causes more problems than it 'solves'. I get pressure to get it often as well.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

Hugs. And do be careful at Windy.

[chaosdancer.livejournal.com]

Wellbutrin tends to have something of a viagra effect on women...not sure if it works that way on men. It's kind of fun. :) But this last time I took it, it gave me tinnitus pretty badly...didn't do that a few years ago when I took it. So I hope when you can take it, that it gives you all the fun and none of the random background noise.

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

As you probably expect, bariatric surgery is a class of stomach-shrinking techniques. The long-term benefits are questionable; the high risk of surgical complications is not.

A couple of friends of mine are on a strict zero-carbs (especially zero wheat) kick, and both have lost massive amounts of weight since doing so. (One, a diabetic, has actually been able to ditch his meds since he went zero-carb.) You may want to consider that as a cheaper (if less enjoyable) option.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Check with the pharmacy. Wellbutrin (which I've been taking for a few years) is available in a generic as well, which may be cheaper.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Yay for the new drug, hope it works.

I was on flexeril briefly, too. It actually managed to make me woozy; most drugs that are supposed to don't, or not as much as advertised. That's why I'm no longer on it -- the dose that worked for the muscle stiffness interfered with cognition & coordination enough that I couldn't safely drive. That's a real non-starter in a maintenance drug.

Before you drive to Chicago with this stuff on board, you might want to try a shorter trip with an honest witness riding shotgun to make sure you're good to go. After 2 days on my max dose, I thought I was just having to concentrate a little harder than usual until the nice cop pulled me over...

[poltr1]

Wellbutrin? I took that in '05. Made me agressive, and it probably contributed to me being manic that year.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

$109 for Wellbutrin to make your quality of life better? We can raise that. Let's start a "Making Tom Feel Better Through Drugs" fund. Where do I put the monies?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Let's hope I need neither. :) Hugs, doll.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I did that the other year. Fun, but exhausting. But fun.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

My understanding as well, and I Do Not Want.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Thanks. And, I will.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

We won't get into the physical, but my emotional libido is juuuuust fine, thanks. :D And I definitely don't need tinnitus. So that may go on the back burner for awhile.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'll probably end up taking a couple of extra days' vacation in January (beyond making Conflikt a more-than-weekend affair) so I can have something like a weekend.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I might go low-carb for awhile. Goodness knows I do eat far too many.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, that is the generic.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I promise, I'm not going to do anything stupid. If it makes me woozy or crazy, I'll drop it for the duration, and then pick it up after I'm home and not moving much.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

*lol*

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hmph. Another vote for I Don't Think So At Least Not Right Now.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

*wince* Sorry to hear that. :(

[sveethot.livejournal.com]

Rest as much as you can. Happy, healing thoughts headed your way, together with one of my patented chunkyhugs.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Thing about psych drugs is that everyone's brain chemistry is different, so what makes one person feel like they finally have enough cope to deal with the world makes another person edgy and manic, and a third person lethargic.

Before I was on Wellbutrin, they tried me on Zoloft, which had the basic effect of making me as much more depressed as it was supposed to make me better. I spent a good part of Gafilk that year being a fragile wreck as a result.

Another friend of mine was put on Zoloft and says it's the best thing that ever happened to her.

Pysch meds are frustrating, because they can't actually run some tests, figure out precisely what your imbalance is, and prescribe a targeted dose to bring things into alignment. It's all trial-and-error. Which can be even more exasperating if you're paying for everything out of pocket.

Good luck, dude. We're all on your side. And if someone does pass a hat for this and you decide you actually want to fill it, I'll happily toss a double sawbuck into it.

[raven-ap-morgan.livejournal.com]

I'm on Wellbutrin. I can report very useful results in my case, though (as autographedcat pointed out) psych meds tend to be a YMMV proposition, both in effect and side effects. Several facts:

1) There is a generic - bupropion - and it is cheaper.

2) I've not experienced additional tinnitus from it, though I do have some due to too much loud rock and roll.

3) While other anti-depressants are members of subclasses (MAOIs, tricyclics, SSRIs, and so on), Wellbutrin is in a class by itself - there are no other drugs that are related to it. It is primarily (but not exclusively) used with bipolar patients, since in most cases, it has a much lower probability of triggering manic episodes, unlike virtually all other anti-depressants.

Raven (Endless Compendium of Useless Knowledge, at your service)