state of the fishie's health

[piranha]

i have a new primary care physician whom i've seen twice now, and who is retrieving the information for me that was collected at the hospital, which otherwise has been difficult to get ahold of. he also ordered a slew of blood tests and an EKG, and put me on additional medication (micardis). my systolic blood pressure was extremely high at the hospital (over 200), and is now in the 140s (diastolic was ok all along), and the micardis is supposed to get it lower yet.

the thyroid test, as i expected, was negative; my thyroid is fine. almost everything is fine -- except for my (fasting) blood sugar, which is too high. so even though i don't have symptoms (ok, i have fatigue but that could be anything), we're gonna see whether i have diabetes; i'm going to check my blood sugar several times a day for the next two weeks.

which requires a glucose meter. oh joy, a gadget! i'm doing the usual online research; if you're using one and want to tell me all about its cool features and possible drawbacks, i'd appreciate it. i take it from my first casual glance that the manufacturers make their money from the test strips.

he made the usual noises i am used to from doctors about exercise and weight loss, though he wasn't pushy about it, so i think i'll be able to shut him up about the weight loss (he has a good point about more physical activity, i am much more sedentary this year than ever before -- i basically am doing a good imitation of a giant barnacle). he also prescribed celexa for the depression, which he seemed overall not very interested in. he also seemed not very interested in my blood pressure log last time, but i brought the update today anyway, and he was happy about it, and said to please continue (and add the blood sugar results). i think he and i will have to get used to each other's calm presentation to gauge better what's important to us. it's true that the blood pressure and tachycardia episodes are more immediately urgent, so i am ok with the focus at this time.

i haven't started taking the celexa yet because one new med at a time is enough, but since i am not getting any apparent side effects from the micardis at all after a week, i might start it tomorrow.

the original reaction to the metoprolol was apparently mostly ramp-up; i am no longer as tired nor as down as i was. still more down than before it, but i can just as easily blame that on having the ticker problems at all, which really has upset me more than most things upset me these days. that too is getting better though; i am no longer experiencing miniature panics every time my heart seems to beat weirdly for a moment, and i've stopped listening to it all the time. also, no more arguments with gayboy.

i am way way behind on doing a lot of things. i hope the celexa doesn't cause the same onset problems for me as the paxil; i could do without 2 weeks of gastric upset.

Comments

[janetmk.livejournal.com]

I've gotten out of the habit of blood sugar testing since the early days when I was controlling my Diabetes II with diet and exercise. The meter that Kaiser now supplies (free at their pharmacy with a prescription) is the OneTouch Ultra. I got one recently but haven't fooled with it yet. Now that I'm on medication and my blood sugar is stabilized at a decent level, my doctor hasn't emphasized the need for daily testing.

[dr-brat.livejournal.com]

I am on Celexa and like it quite a bit. My PCP had started me on Paxil and took me off because even the lowest dose wrought havoc with my digestive system. I had none of those symptoms with the Celexa. Started with 20mg and am now on 40, which seems to work for me. I hope it works for you as well.

celexa vs paxil

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i'd taken paxil for 10 years before it stopped working sufficiently to warrant continuing it. i only had the gastric upset (quite markedly so, i was really miserable) when i started/stopped/increased dosage, for about 2-3 weeks, otherwise i didn't experience any side effects that couldn't also result from other things. frex sexual effects -- i had no sex drive before paxil and none after, so is that really a side effect?

i think an SSRI might not be good enough for me anymore (none of the ones i was on ever did a huge amount for me, though they did enough to keep me alive), and i'd wanted to try bupropion, but that's contraindicated for severe hypertension. so we'll see. there's a study about augmenting citalopram (celexa) with bupropion that gave good results, maybe if we can get my bloodpressure under control that's a way to go. and the next generation, SNDRIs are on the horizon (serotonin/norepinephrine/dopamine reuptake inhibitors). and hey, maybe the celexa will work better than the paxil did. any improvement at this point would be a good thing; i'm pretty much non-functional.

good that it's working well for you!

Re: celexa vs paxil

[dr-brat.livejournal.com]

I was only on the Paxil for a few weeks before my PCP took me off it. I was on 10mg and was miserable and he said that was nuts since 10mg isn't what he called a theraputic dose. So we switched to Celexa. He said we could augment it with Wellbutrin if neeeded, but I've never felt the need for it. It's there as an option, but actually the hysterectomy seems to have evened out whatever rough edges the Celexa wasn't handling.

I hope that you find a combination of things that works soon. Non-functional is about the worst place to be, IME.

[whey.livejournal.com]

You're doing all my work for me these days (first, researching ebook readers and now this). ^_^

See, people, procrastination DOES pay off!

[desert-dragon42.livejournal.com]

I have a Accu-chek Active Blood Glucose Monitor. I like it because it is small and has a nice carrying case that I can stick in my purse. I did not get the optional data cables and software that allows you to download your readings to your computer. I could not afford it at the time or something (hm, don't really remember now). And yes, the strips are the where the real costs are.

[firecat]

I have a Freestyle Flash meter and am happy with it. Let me know how it goes with celexa. I am thinking of switching from prozac.

[blur01.livejournal.com]

Did you check to see if you could get him to loan you one, or give you one of the billions he's got sitting in the back that the drug reps dropped off?

mooching

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

no -- he's already giving me the micardis samples, so i didn't want to be pushy. also, as it turns out, the meters are basically free if one looks around a little. i have a few coupons i'm taking with me when i set out in a couple hours.

i wonder how much he's "with it" on the cost of things. he knows micardis is expensive (but not how much). when he told me to get a glucose meter and supplies he said they might give me the test strips for free with the meter. when in fact what happens is that they give you the meter free with the strips. but maybe it was just a thinko.

[prairierabbit.livejournal.com]

No medical advice, but sympathy over trying to work through the complexities of what is situational and what is biochemical. (And what falls into that murky tidepool area of real life human existence...)

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

thank you!