Monday, January 15, 2007

Report from my last appointment

I saw the pain management doctor on Wednesday, and he prescribed 5mg of oxycodone for me to take as needed for break-through pain.  So far I’ve only taken it twice, both pills on the same day, but it’s nice to know I have it.  He wanted to prescribe Percocet, but I was hesitant to take the acetaminophen if I didn’t truly need it.  With the oxycodone, I can add-on something like ibuprofen if I feel it’s necessary, and I’m better able to keep track of what I’m taking.  The doctor also offered to increase my oxycontin to every 8 hours, but that seemed excessive, and I didn’t want to deal with an increase in side-effects.

Here’s my current FMS medication regimen:

1 x 10mg Oxycodone CR every 12 hours
2 x 20mg Cymbalta every 24 hours
1 x 50mg Vistaril for nausea and itching
1 x 1mg Ativan for sleep before bed
1 or 2 x 5mg Oxycodone as needed (not often)
..,plus my thyroid meds, and an acid-reducer a couple of times per week.  Oh, and Colace.  Lots and lots of Colace!

I’ve taken Provigil just once, and it doesn’t seem to be necessary if I’ve got my pain under control.  With the pain managed, I’m able to stay quite focused on work, and I feel relatively energetic.  At most, I can really work for about six hours straight, but I can slowly pick away at other projects when I’m not feeling very well.  I still have one day a week, at least, when I feel like hell and want to cry at the thought of climbing stairs, but at least I have some decent days in-between.  I’d say that in one week I have two good days, three so-so days, one kinda crummy day, and one super-crappy day.  Those aren’t official terminology smile I’ve got so many part-time freelance jobs that there’s always work to be done, but I can usually do a little something almost every day.  If I make sure I take both an Ativan and a pain pill before bed, it helps guarantee that I’ll feel slightly human when I wake up in the morning, although I still have trouble sleeping for more than seven hours.

I’m back at school via distance learning, taking veterinary technology.  I should have it all under control until the end of the second semester, when I have to do 200 or so hours of practical work in a clinic, and that will separate the fibromyalgia patients from the students.  That’s when I’ll really find out if I could work full-time at such a demanding job.  Even if I can’t work full-time, I’d have the option of working part-time after graduation, or even working at home doing writing as a “licensed professional”.  I’ve also been fantasizing about going to veterinary school at UC Davis… I’ve got lists of my prerequisites, and I’ve checked off what I’ve already got credits in.  I don’t think I could hack it because it would require moving and lots of money, but it’s fun to dream about.  I’m signing up for a distance learning physics class at the University of Minnesota to meet one of the prereqs I don’t think I have, and to add to my growing list of institutes of higher learning where I’ve earned at least three credit hours.  Some people collect Hummel figurines, I collect transcripts.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 01/15 at 12:34 AM
Tired Girls • (0) Comments • Permalink
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