Challenging doctors

I think I challenge my doctors. I think they they I am going to fall apart on them or something and I am not that easy to treat. First of all, I am allergic to all the good drugs - penicillins, Benadryl and prednisone, plaquenil (treats RA), codeine, and a couple other things. I even had one doctor say to me that I must be really fun to treat.

If I have an allergic reaction, the standard course of treatment is Benadryl and steroids. Not me. They have to find another combination. And if I have an RA flare, the common treatment is steroids, usually prednisone. Not me again.

And if I need antibiotics, I am allergic to penicillin and related drugs and other antibiotics interact with some of my other medications. Its not uncommon for a doctor to question me on the reaction I have had to a medication. Or to ask me to alter some of my other medications while on antibiotics. I have sometimes even gotten a phone call from the pharmacy telling me they can't fill my new prescription because of interactions and they need to go back to the doctor for a new one.

Also, the list of medication allergies has ramped up significantly in the last few years. I am nervous about trying new medications because I seem to develop new allergies frequently. Who knew that the anti-inflammatory gel for my arthritic hands and feet would make my heart race?

Finally, without a thyroid, I can't take most medications that have warnings about thyroid disease. Between that and being allergic to Benadryl (which translates to some kinds of antihistamines), treating the common cold is a royal PITA.

The way I see it, they went to school for a really long time and I get to make them think a lot about how they can treat me. I can be a challenge to them so they can't just give me the basics and move on.

Did chemotherapy change your body?

A week or so ago, I had asked a doctor about change in your body due to chemotherapy. A friend and I had the same discussion yesterday. Does chemotherapy change a person's body in more ways than we think?

I am talking about food and medications to be specific.

Before chemotherapy, I enjoyed all kinds of seafood - preferably cold ocean water seafood to be precise. Shrimp, lobster, clams, oysters, scallops, cod, haddock, hake, salmon, calamari (octopus), and more. I never turned it down. Now I hate shrimp. I won't eat them. I can't stand them.

More importantly are medical allergies. Before chemo, I was told I was allergic to amoxicillin and penicillin (full body rash and hives on an international business trip). I also reacted to the codeine in my pain meds after knee surgery. At my first chemo infusion, I learned I was also allergic to benadryl. Since chemo I have found I am allergic to:

• prednisone - also used to treat RA flare ups as well as allergic reactions
• plaquenil - an old school RA drug
• voltaren gel - anti inflammatory used to treat specific areas of pain and inflammation with RA
• adhesives - as used on pain patches

I was given both prednisone and plaquenil at the same time when first treated for RA. I reacted to both. At the same time. How (not) fun.

And as a result in being allergic to the 'cillins' I have a problem with any potential dental infections. There are four drugs commonly used to treat dental infections. Two are cillins so I can't have them. One is something else that I can't remember what its called (chemobrain) that conflicts with one of my other medications so I can't have it. The last one is super strong and is only used as a last resort. We'll just say I am limited.

If I get a basic cold, I can't take an antihistamine because of the benadryl allergy. Also, I can't take a lot of the others because of the lack of thyroid issue.

I am petrified of concerned about any allergic reactions. They seem to become more and more frequent as time passes. And since I can't be given steroids or benadryl for allergic reactions, there are other drugs which I can take but not the first line treatments. this is one of the reasons I always want to go to the same hospital which has all my medical records. 

But I digress, I think my body changed because of chemo because foods that had appeal no longer do and it seems much more sensitive to medications. My friend also has experienced similar issues. Are we the only ones? I don't think so. And I wish they told  us before chemo that we could expect these changes.

I assume it was only Chinese take out.

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling fine. I went to work and felt fine. At lunch, a co-worker and I decided to have Chinese food delivered. Partly because our lunch choices were lame (me) or non existent (her) and partly because they would bring it to us instead of us going to pick it up. We get take out every couple of weeks from the same place and we get two days worth of food for one day's price due to the portion size.

We both ordered the same thing pretty much - a lunch special of pork lo mein but we had different appetizers. I ate the mushrooms, she picked her's out as she doesn't like them. After lunch, my head started to spin and I couldn't focus. She felt fine. I ended up going home from work early and took a three hour nap. I slept solidly.

My husband came home and couldn't find me. He thought I had gone to run an errand or something. Finally he looked up stairs and found me asleep.I slept through the phone ringing, him calling me, the cat walking on me. I was out like the proverbial light as they say.

We had soup and sandwiches for dinner. He had 2/3 and I had 1/3. It helped the nauseous feeling I had. I slept all night as well and could barely drag myself out of bed this morning.

Why is she blogging about this?  Why am I reading this (you are asking yourself)? As I left work among comments about bad food, someone said the fateful words 'or are you coming down with something?'  That is the problem. Compromised immune systems and all that.

Yesterday was Wednesday (in case you forgot) and that is methotrexate injection day around here (and methotrexate is what suppresses my immune system). A few months ago, I had a stomach flu thing that laid me up for 9 days. I was told after I should skip methotrexate if I am sick at all.

So yesterday I thought about it and decided I am going to pretend I am a normal person and do the injection and assume it was a minor Chinese food mix up and not something that can do me in for more than a week.

If I am whining about not feeling well for the next week or so you can feel free to comment and say "I told you so" but sometimes its nice to pretend our ailments do not keep us down and a bad bit of Chinese takeout is all it is. Sometimes we do live in the shadow of our ailments as they interfere with all the little things in life. It was only Chinese take out.