My Summer Plights Continue...
This summer is not unfolding at all the way I wanted it to.
I have spent the entire time since school got out on the couch. I have already posted about my lovely adventures with my new friends Bronchitis and Esophageal Reflux Disease.
It seems that after bringing home several medications to treat these ailments (omeprazone, ranitadine, combivent inhaler and codeine cough medication), I woke up 4 days later with a rash on my chest and neck. A panicked call to the doctor's office sent me to Walgreens to get some Benadryl and cortizone lotion. The next morning (Friday) I awoke to no rash on my chest, but lots of rash on my legs and arms. Another panicked call to the doctors office results in stopping all meds immediately and an appointment Monday morning. When to go to the emergency room? If I can't breathe. That's helpful.
What a long weekend!!!!
Of course the rash was gone Monday by the time I got to the doctor. And it turns out she didn't even know I had called at all the week before due to the nurse not passing the messages along. She felt the codeine cough medicine was the culprit, along with maybe the ranitidine. The rashes were always worse in the morning, and tended to fade during the day. I took both these meds at night right before going to sleep.
After a breathing treatment (which was a super dose of the combivent inhaler) and a shot of steroids, I left the office with instructions to take 20mg. of the omeprazole in the morning and at night to treat the reflux, and a 2 antibiotic therapy for the h. pylori bacteria infection I have developed in my stomach. Apparently this is pretty common in a reflux situation, since h. pylori bacteria feed on excess stomach acid. If not treated, ulcers can result.
So where does that leave me now? Completely neurotic. I am petrified that I will have another reaction to these meds. And what makes it worse? I leave next week to go home to GA for 6 weeks.
I am driving myself crazy. I inspect my arms and legs every 15 seconds to see if the rash has come back. I don't sleep at night for fear that I will wake up to a massive rash.
I can't be like this forever. Will I ever be normal again??
I have spent the entire time since school got out on the couch. I have already posted about my lovely adventures with my new friends Bronchitis and Esophageal Reflux Disease.
It seems that after bringing home several medications to treat these ailments (omeprazone, ranitadine, combivent inhaler and codeine cough medication), I woke up 4 days later with a rash on my chest and neck. A panicked call to the doctor's office sent me to Walgreens to get some Benadryl and cortizone lotion. The next morning (Friday) I awoke to no rash on my chest, but lots of rash on my legs and arms. Another panicked call to the doctors office results in stopping all meds immediately and an appointment Monday morning. When to go to the emergency room? If I can't breathe. That's helpful.
What a long weekend!!!!
Of course the rash was gone Monday by the time I got to the doctor. And it turns out she didn't even know I had called at all the week before due to the nurse not passing the messages along. She felt the codeine cough medicine was the culprit, along with maybe the ranitidine. The rashes were always worse in the morning, and tended to fade during the day. I took both these meds at night right before going to sleep.
After a breathing treatment (which was a super dose of the combivent inhaler) and a shot of steroids, I left the office with instructions to take 20mg. of the omeprazole in the morning and at night to treat the reflux, and a 2 antibiotic therapy for the h. pylori bacteria infection I have developed in my stomach. Apparently this is pretty common in a reflux situation, since h. pylori bacteria feed on excess stomach acid. If not treated, ulcers can result.
So where does that leave me now? Completely neurotic. I am petrified that I will have another reaction to these meds. And what makes it worse? I leave next week to go home to GA for 6 weeks.
I am driving myself crazy. I inspect my arms and legs every 15 seconds to see if the rash has come back. I don't sleep at night for fear that I will wake up to a massive rash.
I can't be like this forever. Will I ever be normal again??
Comments
And thanks for the add on Flickr :)
~Julie
I'm doing my best, I assure you. It would be great to try and figure something out. Right now I have a side trip planned to Atlanta to see Lizard and the baby on June 19th.
You know me. I've always been a worrier.
But it's nice to know you still have my back!
Thanks for the well wishes.
As for the 12% humidity, I'll take some heat and humidity to be in the proximity of primo fresh seafood for a few weeks! :)