Turns out that the Tramadol (Ultram) is what was giving me the massive headaches. Order from pain doctor: Stop taking the Tramadol. Now.
I asked the pain doctor if there wasn't something else he could give me, like Talwin NX. He said this is an "old drug" (Old? I took it as recently as 2001...) and that he needs to research it. Instead, for now I'm on a low but increasing dose of Neurontin (generic name Gabapentin). I'll say this much about it -- it knocks you for a loop. I'm dealing with said loop right now before I log off for the night, so please forgive any screwups in the text of this post.
Saw the new knee doctor yesterday and told him about the problems I have walking and climbing stairs. He injected Synvisc, a synthetic knee fluid enhancer, into both knees. I couldn't even tell he'd done anything on the left knee when he was done (the knee does feel slightly better). I could tell that he injected it into my right knee. It felt like he had injected a golf ball into my knee joint. There's still a swollen welt where the stuff went into the right knee.
Summary: I've spent most of today in pain from the right knee. The Neurontin has numbed it for now (I go up to two doses next week). The worst part is that the inactivity forced onto me by the medicines means I have been gaining the weight back. Today's weight was 317. That is NOT acceptable, but I don't know what to do about it. I have no support system, thanks to the lousy service from the doctor that inflicted this upon me. I really do fear that I'll have to have a revision to get this fixed.
One last tangent before I log off - a tooth that recently had a filling removed and replaced has broken along the filling line. I'm on soft stuff until the Dentist can see me on Monday. Urgh.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Holding Pattern
Not much of a significant change since the last post. I'm still on Tramadol, which helps take care of the pain when it's in my system. However, I also think it's giving me migraine headaches - no idea if this is a Serotonin Syndrome red flag. All I know is that I've felt like roadkill for the past month.
The wound care specialist has declared my left ankle surgical wound healed. All that is left is a small scab, which can be dealt with by Laclotion or something similar. So, no more trips to that doctor - just a bill in dispute over the stuff he used on me to make the gaping wound fix itself -- or something like that. The next gaping wound may be in my bank account.
I did pay a visit to my regular doctor (the one who's trying to be ringleader of this five-ring circus) and talked to him about a couple of things. First, he's referred me back to an orthopedist with whom I have an established history, even if the last time he saw me was prior to 2009's disaster. He's got a much better bedside manner, compared to the...well, let's just leave it at that. Suffice it to say that he's going to get a bit of a shock when he sees the records I've had transferred to him.
The last time I did see orthopedist #2 (the one I'll be going to), he said I had bone spurs lose in my left knee. I didn't have an operation on them because I didn't have any leave to take. Now, with me on full-time medical disability, I could theoretically go in on Monday and have the surgery done on the same day. Time has little meaning for me right now (except for the times when my wife is away from the house and I'm all alone - yes, it's sappy, but it's true).
My regular doctor also had blood drawn for five different tests, including testosterone again. All of the energy I had when I was getting shots has gone pffft on me. I don't know if the Tramadol is the culprit this time or if I'm just naturally low on testosterone. Either way, I hope there's something that can be done.
The wound care specialist has declared my left ankle surgical wound healed. All that is left is a small scab, which can be dealt with by Laclotion or something similar. So, no more trips to that doctor - just a bill in dispute over the stuff he used on me to make the gaping wound fix itself -- or something like that. The next gaping wound may be in my bank account.
I did pay a visit to my regular doctor (the one who's trying to be ringleader of this five-ring circus) and talked to him about a couple of things. First, he's referred me back to an orthopedist with whom I have an established history, even if the last time he saw me was prior to 2009's disaster. He's got a much better bedside manner, compared to the...well, let's just leave it at that. Suffice it to say that he's going to get a bit of a shock when he sees the records I've had transferred to him.
The last time I did see orthopedist #2 (the one I'll be going to), he said I had bone spurs lose in my left knee. I didn't have an operation on them because I didn't have any leave to take. Now, with me on full-time medical disability, I could theoretically go in on Monday and have the surgery done on the same day. Time has little meaning for me right now (except for the times when my wife is away from the house and I'm all alone - yes, it's sappy, but it's true).
My regular doctor also had blood drawn for five different tests, including testosterone again. All of the energy I had when I was getting shots has gone pffft on me. I don't know if the Tramadol is the culprit this time or if I'm just naturally low on testosterone. Either way, I hope there's something that can be done.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Shrinkage and Drug Games
My surgical wound on my outer left foot is now a scab. I'm hoping it'll come off by itself one day, since sometimes it itches like crazy - mainly when I'm wearing socks (guess what I'm not wearing right now). I have one more appointment with the wound care specialist left.
As far as pain is concerned, yep - it's still there. My pain management doctor decided it was time to "wean" me off of the pain medicine. He said it's probably the cause of a big drop in my bio-available testosterone, which was way below the normal healthy limit on two out of the three last tests by my primary care doctor. (He also said it was the cause of a spike in my weight, back up over 310.) The third test came after a pair of injections, which brought things back up into the low normal range. So, in response to this, the pain doctor wanted to get me off my medicine to see if my testosterone would stabilize and if my weight would drop down.
I don't know what my current testosterone level is, but I do know one other thing - my PAIN is still there. Under the previous medicine, I was limping around the house with a level between 5 and 7 on a zero-to-ten scale (zero being no pain, ten being GIVE ME THE !#$% SHOT NOW!!!). Once the medicine was completely out of my system, my range bolted up to a 7 at best and a 9 at worst, with 8.5 being pretty much the norm.
So, back to the pain doctor. Explain what's going on. Grimace while he makes me walk around without a cane. After that, he writes me a prescription for a non-narcotic pain medicine (Tramadol) and tells me to watch out for signs of Serotonin Syndrome due to the other medications I have to take (oh, joy).
The tramadol is sort-of doing its job. I don't hit 9 anymore, but I still hover around 7 when sitting. Walking any distance other than inside my house can bring on brief bouts of 8.5, so my wife is still taking care of most outside duties. This is going to be put to the test soon, when we attend an IndyCar race. Both of us love IndyCar, and we are NOT going to miss this. I'll have emergency supplies to take care of the pain (Tylenol - I can take it when the tramadol doesn't work) and the nausea which the gastric bypass STILL causes if I don't stay hydrated, or if I eat too much / not enough, or if I eat the wrong thing, or if a butterfly flaps its wings in China.
At least the weight is on its way down again, albeit slowly. It was 304 at last check, and I don't feel so bloated as I did under the low-testosterone conditions. The only thing that hasn't changed is my heart PVCs. One of them hit me while I was writing this paragraph.
Wish me luck, pick your bariatric doctor carefully, and thanks for reading!
As far as pain is concerned, yep - it's still there. My pain management doctor decided it was time to "wean" me off of the pain medicine. He said it's probably the cause of a big drop in my bio-available testosterone, which was way below the normal healthy limit on two out of the three last tests by my primary care doctor. (He also said it was the cause of a spike in my weight, back up over 310.) The third test came after a pair of injections, which brought things back up into the low normal range. So, in response to this, the pain doctor wanted to get me off my medicine to see if my testosterone would stabilize and if my weight would drop down.
I don't know what my current testosterone level is, but I do know one other thing - my PAIN is still there. Under the previous medicine, I was limping around the house with a level between 5 and 7 on a zero-to-ten scale (zero being no pain, ten being GIVE ME THE !#$% SHOT NOW!!!). Once the medicine was completely out of my system, my range bolted up to a 7 at best and a 9 at worst, with 8.5 being pretty much the norm.
So, back to the pain doctor. Explain what's going on. Grimace while he makes me walk around without a cane. After that, he writes me a prescription for a non-narcotic pain medicine (Tramadol) and tells me to watch out for signs of Serotonin Syndrome due to the other medications I have to take (oh, joy).
The tramadol is sort-of doing its job. I don't hit 9 anymore, but I still hover around 7 when sitting. Walking any distance other than inside my house can bring on brief bouts of 8.5, so my wife is still taking care of most outside duties. This is going to be put to the test soon, when we attend an IndyCar race. Both of us love IndyCar, and we are NOT going to miss this. I'll have emergency supplies to take care of the pain (Tylenol - I can take it when the tramadol doesn't work) and the nausea which the gastric bypass STILL causes if I don't stay hydrated, or if I eat too much / not enough, or if I eat the wrong thing, or if a butterfly flaps its wings in China.
At least the weight is on its way down again, albeit slowly. It was 304 at last check, and I don't feel so bloated as I did under the low-testosterone conditions. The only thing that hasn't changed is my heart PVCs. One of them hit me while I was writing this paragraph.
Wish me luck, pick your bariatric doctor carefully, and thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)