The Sick Room

[Cheryl J]

Glad to hear you're home, GG. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Oh my, God Bless your Pirate, Addie!!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

So glad you got sprung GG!

 

[CharlieD]

Just my luck. Val in emergency room again

 

[Addie]

Just my luck. Val in emergency room again

That's my job Charlie. I thought I had all the dibs on the ER. I hope she is well soon.

Okay, everyone. Time for all of us to be at our very best physical health. The warm weather is on its way. And we all need to feel our very best to enjoy it.

Yesterday I opted for meals on wheels from Winthrop for just my lunch. One less meal Pirate will have to fix for me. They have a very old professional chef preparing their meals. And short of having no salt, he uses a lot of different spices for seasoning. At home I can add all the salt I want. And that is not much. One or two shakes is all I need. And most of the holes are clogged. Heaven help me if I should ever wash the cover. It is my own way of practicing salt control.

Stay healthy everyone. Heaven knows I am trying to do my best. It is the level of pain that is beating me down.

 

[Addie]

GG, don't make the mistake I made. I used the excuse that as I was ageing, I was not as active and therefor not very hungry. As a result my weight went down to 90 pounds. I haven't weighed that little since I was 12 years old. I also lost a lot of my muscle. I have a little white stool that is just one step up. I do not have enough muscle or strength to lift my leg and step up. If I need to stand up from a sitting position, Pirate has to take my two hands and pull me up. I also lost muscle in my arms. I now look like someone who stepped out of a picture of a concentration camp. So Pirate makes five very small meals for me to eat. I have never been a breakfast person, but whether I want it, I get one scrambled egg every morning. He also makes sure that I get my protein drink at least twice a day. He mixes it in orange juice and I can down that quickly.

So eat! Even if you are not hungry. A bite or two of protein every couple of hours will bring you back to good health.

 

[GotGarlic]

No worries, Addie. I enjoy cooking and eating too much for that. When I get sick like I was the last couple of weeks, , though, I can't eat or drink much at all, or keep most of it down. That's why I was in the hospital for three days getting IV fluids. And that's what led to the weakness - it's surprising to people who haven't been through it how quickly we lose muscle mass and strength after being confined to bed for just a few days. I'm doing much better now but it will take a while to get back to where I was. Luckily, DH is home on spring break this week, and he's a great help to me.

 

[Addie]

I have taken to wearing long sleeves. My arms look like they came from a picture of prisoners in a concentration camp. My kids are horrified when they look at them.

 

[Caslon]

On another note, I was prescribed a generic of the blood pressure lowering medication Norvasc. I am taking 40mg of Lisinopril (another blood pressure lowering med) but my BP was still high so I chose to add Norvasc 5mg on top of it. Been on it for 17 days. I've been losing weight (I'm thin already), have little appetite, stomach pain as if a mild ulcer and feeling more dizzy and tired than I usually do. These are all listed as possible side effects. Unless I've got some type of undetected growing cancer causing all this, I've seemingly got these side effects of Norvasc. I'd rather have a BP of 145/94 for now, rather than not feel like making dinner each night and losing weight. I read that if you have cancer, your bodies metabolism speeds up and you start losing weight. First things first, stop taking the Norvasc.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Sounds nasty, Caslon, but first thing is call your doctor. They warn that suddenly stopping some meds can be worse than the side effects. Himself went through a month or two of terrible side effects when auditioning new diabetes meds. Eventually he and the doctor found a medicine that worked and didn't cause problems. In the meantime, he must have taken off about 30 pounds. In his case, weight loss was a blessing. Sounds like you need every pound you can hang on to.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Caslon, you just don't know how it feels to have a normal blood pressure. Give it a week it will normalize. and you will feel better.

 

[Caslon]

I've not been on this med long enough to suffer any consequences cutting it off.

I must say, this may be a med that my body doesn't like at all. My system has tolerated Lisinopril ok/fine for 7 years.

I'll go higher BP for now. No family history of strokes.

I don't like it when I lose weight due to lack of appetite. My metabolism is fast enough as it is.

 

[Caslon]

Caslon, you just don't know how it feels to have a normal blood pressure. Give it a week it will normalize. and you will feel better.

Yes. The adjustment period. Don't disregard a beneficial drug just because of the initial side effects.

Heh..sudden weight loss, lack of appetite, stomach discomfort, dizzyness.

I don't want it to go on to be something more serious.

 

[GotGarlic]

Yes. The adjustment period. Don't disregard a beneficial drug just because of the initial side effects.

Heh..sudden weight loss, lack of appetite, stomach discomfort, dizzyness.

I don't want it to go on to be something more serious.

Why are you so sure it will? It could just as easily get better. If you haven't been on it long enough to suffer consequences of going off it (how do you know?), you haven't been on it long enough to see the benefit.

It really is best to let your doctor know, since they know all of your medical history.

 

[Caslon]

I'm not going anymore of no appetite and all the above. Either I'm dying or its the Norvasc. Just saying...

 

[GotGarlic]

I'm not going anymore of no appetite and all the above. Either I'm dying or its the Norvasc. Just saying...

Of course. Those are the only two possible explanations

 

[Caslon]

Hypochondriac me In my mind I'm either dying from cancer or it's the Norvasc. I'll start by discontinuing the Norvasc.

It's no fun when come dinner time when something takes your appetite away and thus your cooking desire. It's probably due to the Norvasc, me thinks.

I'm off it as of today, by my own doing (only been on Norvasc for 17 days, enough is enough). To hell with the adjustment period for my body to adapt to Norvasc and my not wanting to cook something for myself.

 

[Addie]

It is the bottom number that should concern you. Get back to your doctor and let him know. Self medicating is not the best route to go.

I don't understand why you feel like it might be cancer. Just to be sure, ask you doctor to test you for it. When everything comes back negative, you can rest your mind and concentrate on your BP.

A number of years ago I had to go in for eye surgery. My BP was so low that they couldn't even get a reading. I was being over medicated for it. Let your doctor know of your concerns regarding the fact that your BP is not going down. For some folks, Liprisil is just enough and for others, not enough. For me, it was too strong.

 

[Caslon]

My appetite is returning and the stomach pain and dizziness is subsiding, thankfully. I'll look into another BP drug to augment my 40mg daily of Lisinopril. 40mg is the highest dosage recommended.

 

[GotGarlic]

Glad to hear you don't have cancer, Caslon!