Friday, February 26, 2010

are you kidding me???? more medical drama!!!!!

Well today has certainly sucked.

As I have written before, I have not been in the best of health lately. First there was the nause. Then purging blood. And then......the big D. Diarrea, ewww. So I went to the doctor on Mon and he put me on Flagyl, this super heavy duty antibiotic they give to people who have parasites and ameobas and crap like that that you pick up in like a third world country. Since then, not only has the diarrea not gotten better, but I have been dizzy and had shortness of breath and weak overall. And yes, I have been eating. I think I have been so careful to eat to keep up my strenght that I think I may have gained weight since being sick. So anyways, last night was really bad, just feeling weak, dizzy, not good at all.

I woke up this morning feeling even worse. I was in the shower and had to hold the wall to keep from falling over, I was so dizzy! I was scared to be home alone with Annie in case I passed out or something, so I called a friend to come over and just sit with me. Also, I put in a call to my dr's office but the nurse was busy so I waited for her to call me back.

By the time my friend got to my house my condition was so bad I could barely stand and we decided I should not wait for the nurse to call but just go to the ER. And believe me, I DID NOT want to. But it was scary. I was getting weaker and dizzier by the minute, and in the process of getting ready to go I became faint and sunk down on a chair and could not get up. I felt like my body was shutting down; I just felt like I was dying. My friend Sue said that all the color had drained from my face and she was really scared and didnt know what to do, so she called an ambulance.

SO. FREAKING. EMBARRASSING.

Actually at the time I didn't really care. I was pretty out of it. But the ambulance ride was hell. The roads are so bumpy from the snow, and then we went over some railroad tracks, and every time the gurney bounced around I was overcome with dizzyiness and nausea which sucked.

SO we go to the hospital and I had an iv and my labs showed I was pretty low on magnesium and so I got two bags of that in my iv. The doctor wanted to give me something for the nausea but I declined since I have not had a good experience with the nausea meds lately. I had to do a urine sample but I couldn't get up to go out to the bathroom so I had to use a commode which also sucked.

But here is the thing. My EKG was normal, my labs were normal (except for the mag), my vitals were normal. So the doctor was like "you are just dizzy from having diarrea so long" and once I started feeling better from the fluids I started feeling like a FOOL for being in the ER (especially by ambulance). I was so embarrassed I just wanted to put my clothes on and slink out of there. But on the other hand, I felt that the doctor was pretty dismissive. The dizzyness had been so bad that even moving my eyes to look at something would cause my head to spin. I have had diarrea before, but that has never happened to me! But whatever, I'm not a doctor.

so after I got home sue called me and told me that she had been looking up Flagyl on the internet and it can cause dizziness. Hmm now I dont know what to think. Now I am scared to take the Flagyl. I don' think I will finish it. I know that is bad, but the ER doc even told me that if the Flagyl hasn't helped by now i probably have a virus and not a bacterial infection.

Oh, and here is something else that sucks. i guess just after I left in the ambulance, Dr Seans nurse called back and Sue answered. Sue told me (rather proudly) what all she said to the nurse and she basically told her off, really bad. I wish she would not have done that!!!!! Dr Sean's nurse is nice, and all this stuff that is going on is not her fault!!! When Sue told me all the stuff she said to the nurse I just cringed. Of course I will have to apologise next time I talk to her. i think Sue was just frustrated with the situation but geeze, some of the stuff she said!

Well that is about it. I was debating about whether or not to post this because I was thinking "oh I really look like a drama queen". But oh well, this is just the way it is. I sure didn't ask to be sick. I need to feel better! It has been days since i have vaccuumed, and Mt Washmore is taking over my bedroom. So everyone please send non dizzy health vibes my way cause man I do not want a repeat of today's events!
Peace

8 comments:

Andi said...

Diarrhea for that long can really screw up your levels of things and definitely lead to that severity of dizziness. Can you try drinking pedialyte or something like that to get electrolytes and fluids back up? Stuff like pedialyte or gatorade or V8 can help your body hold onto the fluids instead of letting them all pass right through you. water alone isn't enough-- the electrolytes and sugars in the drinks help your body absorb it.

Don't feel dumb about the ER- The IV fluids probably really helped, and you obviously couldn't have done that part at home.

Telstaar said...

Most important *sending notn-dizzy vibes and prayers* your way...

Secondly, you are NOT a drama queen!

Thirdly, I am GLAD you went to the ER and by ambulance. Perhaps the doctor was dismissive, however, "normal" people don't "just" have low magnesium! Not at all! It also affects your potassium and other levels etc. It is NOT normal to just get an IV of those things unless it is indicated etc so hun, you most definitely were NOT making it up!

Also when I've had my attacks of hypokalemia, on one occasion I had a really bad response but nothing showed up on the ECG and other times I've felt "normal" but levels are low and another time *I* felt shocking and took MYSELF to the ER (sooo rare for me) and everything came back normal! So my point is... its not in your head and things could've been wrong and at the end of the day, it was AFTER you got the fluids and Mg in the IV that you started to feel better so really I think it was a really good thing you went.

Fourthly, I'm really sorry that you had to go through all of that :(. It totally sucks, seriously :(. I do hope it all helps to make you feel better.

OH with the flagyl, it could be that it activated an immune response which is really common in people with CFS... thus kinda making you feel crapper for awhile because its fighting lots of other things. I can't describe it very well, but I think it might be good thing to stop.

*gentle hugs*
xoxo

Maeve said...

I am sorry you've had such a rough few days!!

You are NOT a drama queen. You did what you need to do for your health, which is a very important thing to do.

I really hope you start to feel better soon.

Take care of yourself. *hugs*

Lou Lou said...

hey lisa, oh man it sounds liek tis been really tough. iv had a real nightmare of a day as well, my last post explains it. i hope your dizzyness goes away and i hope you feel better as soon as.
thinking of you.
and hoping you feel completely un-dizzy.
xxx
kia kaha

Cammy said...

Wow Lisa, so scary and you should NOT feel bad about going in for the dizzyness. If you had fallen and hit your head, or some other bad event, they would have guilted you for not coming in. I am so sorry you've had a bad week, I hope that you are back on track soon, make sure to just take it easy until your body is back in balance and do NOT be afraid to speak up if you still think something is wrong.

Jenn said...

A few years ago I was having some stomach issues that no one could figure out (um, maybe it was my horrible nutrition??) so they decided to put me on flagyl. In truth, they had no idea what was wrong with me. I got horrible nausea and could not function, so I stopped taking it. The experience has shown me that Docs overprescribe antibiotics in a very irresponsible way and it's ok to question taking these drugs! Listen to your intuition; if it seems fishy or like the doc was just trying to find a quick fix and get you outta there, that could very well be the case. Honestly, if I were you I'd be pissed, these people are not doing their jobs.

Alexandra Rising said...

I hope you feel better, Lisa! That sounds terribly un-fun :(

brie said...

hope you are feeling better. so so sorry. :(