The Medication Game

So the appointment in Cleveland was at the end of October and it is now February. What has happened since then, you ask? I’ll tell you.

It has simply been a game of trial and error with meds. Trying to find the right medication or combination of them that will control the seizures with the least amount of side effects.

Actually, wanna hear a funny story? Oh good. So a little while back I was on these two medications and they were actually doing a fairly good job at controlling the seizures. I was beginning to be hopeful that we may have found the right ones. And although the side effects weren’t great, I had decided I could live with them. There was just one teensy-tiny issue. After I started the combination, once in a while I would have rapid heart rate problems. Like so rapid that I could see my heart beating at the front of my neck and then my breathing would increase and sometimes I would pass out from it. Being an expert in passing out, it didn’t bother me too much and since this would only happen once a week or so and I didn’t want to be taken off of these meds that finally seemed to be working, I didn’t call my doctor about it. Well, some friends convinced me in the end that rapid heart rate isn’t actually something you should brush off and so I called the doctor’s office and left a message. Are you aware that neurologists FREAK OUT anytime something with your heart goes wrong? They are calm as cucumbers until you mention something odd with your heart and then it’s you are probably dying and should go to the ER IMMEDIATELY! I’m not sure I’ve ever talked to a nurse on the phone where I felt like I needed to tell her to calm down. Needless to say, I was taken off one of the medications the next day and the heart issue went away. But the seizures came back. (Sorry; that wasn’t really a funny story, was it?)

In case you haven’t gotten the idea yet, my body hates medicine. Every time I switch to a new one or my dose changes, it feels like I’ve been tied up behind a horse cart and my body is being drug through the dirt behind it. One of the main side effects of all seizure meds is sleepiness/tiredness but some also prevent you from being able to sleep at night. How cruel is that? Have you ever been so tired that a gravel path looks inviting to lay down and take a nap on? I have. I have gotten to the point where I could lay my hurting head down anywhere and fall asleep. I fell asleep sitting up talking to my housemate just the other day. It’s bad.

And this game isn’t over yet. I actually just changed my medicine dose last week and I go back to Cleveland Clinic at the end of this month so we’ll see what happens then.

In my next post, I want to share with you something really awesome that God did with all of this mess and how he answered a prayer of mine.

 

 

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