My pdoc was in agreement that I did have a mixed episode… I missed it because I didn't experience much psychomotor agitation this time, like cleaning the walls, etc.

She thinks I'm experiencing mild depression. It's hard to tell how bad it is because I'm sick and my husband has ben being such an ***hole. I'm going to cut the 50mg daytime dose of seroquel down to 25mg, which means I'm going to have to cut those small coated pills in quarters, and that will be a big challenge since I already have a hard time cutting them in half evenly without crushing them, and my "good" pill cutter is on its last legs.
She doesn't want to make any other changes yet.



I was told to call the gastro yesterday to make a follow up appointment with my doctor or the NP. They wanted to give me an appointment in October!!! I explained to the receptionist that I was given samples of a med that I can't afford that would run out in 19 days, and that was not acceptable, so she referred me to a medical assistant. I let her know what was going on with me, and reminded her that no one has examined me. She pretty much blew that off, but I did get a follow up appointment with the NP on August 2nd.

My pdoc wanted me to go to the hospital. We compromised, and I promised I would go to the ER if it became a real emergency, and that if things didn't improve by today, I would go see my PCP who will actually examine me. He doesn't take things like this lightly. My pdoc wants me to switch gastro practices.

I'm so bloated and my stomach is so distended I literally look like I'm pregnant- like 7-9 months pregnant. Yesterday I was in a lot of pain, and walking made it worse. I had an elevated temp of 99.7 degrees, but thankfully it didn't rise above that.
The pain is a little better this morning, but I haven't eaten yet. My abdomen is hard now, which is not a good thing.

sorry kay but I am in the camp of going to the er.
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi

I'm in the er camp also.

donna :hug::grouphug:

Yikes, Kay,

I hope that you are o.k. now. :hug::hug::hug:


M

Kay,

Let us know that you are alright.



M

Klonopin for Friday morning.
 

Pdoc gave me a few extra Klonopin so I do not feel I like to need to be stingy
about it.


Just a moment ago, before going to bed, I took a little more than a fourth
of a 2.0 pill of Klonopin.

I am hoping that it will help me sleep once I fall asleep.


M

I'm glad that your pdoc gave you the extra klonopin.

I like her. She seems to be really flexible and responsive to your needs. I'm really happy that you have found someone who is willing to work for you :)

I waited a little while to post until I knew what was going on.

My temp has gone up to 100.8F now, has been stable there for a while, and the pain is a bit worse. I should probably go to the hospital, but I don't have much confidence in my own judgement since every time I call the gastro they don't think any of my symptoms are significant and they blow me off. I didn't bother calling them. I called the triage nurse at my PCP's office and left a message saying I'm dealing with X, Y, Z now and what do I do?

I usually don't let medical people steam roll me like this, but they're so ****ing patronizing. I don't know what's wrong with me, other than the fact that I'm afraid that my instincts are wrong, and I'll waste a lot of time and money, and end up looking like a jackass in the end.

I hope the nurse calls back soon.

If my temp goes up , pain gets worse, or something else happens I will go to the ER whether they get back to me or not.

I will have my phone, so I can let you know what happens.

Kay,

I hope that the nurse calls you soon.
(It is a hassle dealing with people on Friday. I feel that on Saturdays we are on our own.)

Thanks for updating.


M

What happened?????
((((HUGS)))
bizi

Kay,
 

'Hope that you are o.k.:grouphug:


M

By 1:30 there was no call back from the triage nurse, so I called my PCP's office just trying to get an appointment with him, and got put on hold for over 12 minutes before I hung up. When I got through, I was told there were no appointments until Monday. When I said it couldn't wait, I was told to call the triage nurse. When I told the secretary I had already called and left a message at 10, she said she'd transfer me over to her. I hung up after about 10 minutes on hold.

I had called the gastro's office before I got in touch with anyone at my PCP's to let them know how I was feeling and that the Linzess didn't work. The medical assistant asked me what I wanted her to do with the info, and I said I didn't care. My plan was to see my PCP, or go to urgent care if I couldn't.

My real, live gastroenterologist called me at 2. By then the tylenol had worked and my temp was normal for a couple of hours, which was a good sign. No one had relayed any of the info to him until I called yesterday. He had read the notes, but wanted to hear the specifics from me. He said that the situation had gone on far too long, was concerned that I might have "early diverticulitis" and it was his preference that I go to the ER, but my second option was to attempt a colon cleanse at home. I chose option #2 with the understanding that under certain circumstances I would go to the ER. He said I was "so stoic." lol. I'm just really ****ing stubborn.

So last night at 6, I divided 15 scoops of Mirilax into (2) 28oz bottles of Gatorade and chugged them. Nothing happened until shortly before 7am. It was just diarrhea, but at least I've gone to the BR (it had been 8 or 9 days?), and I'm sure I'll be going more with a little help from other methods. If the colon cleanse doesn't clear the impaction(s), I'll be able to feel it when I press on my abdomen because the rest of it will be softer after this.

My temp is normal this morning, and my abdominal pain is better. I don't regret my decision not to go to the ER, but I know going is still a possibility. At least I won't have an issue trying to determine if my pain is from constipation and gas or something else for a while after this. It will be easier to tell if I do really need to go to the ER.

I still have that appointment on Tuesday. We need to come up with a long-term med plan to avoid having this happen in the future.

just getting on line, happy to hear that you talked with a doctor.
Good luck with the rest of this....
The diarrhea could be just going around the impacted part...
but you know this.
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi

I did all I could do, and can do no more. And that seems to be the case in at least the area where I'd been having the most pain, unless it's something aside from an impaction I'm feeling.

I don't have a fever, and my pain's better. So, for now, the plan is to wait until then NP examines me at the appointment on Tuesday.

when some one that I knew had severe left ovarian pain and she ended up with a diagnosis of diverticulitis....


She did not have this experience like you are having.
bizi

Kay,

Short of going to the ER, you did all you could do to get some help.

Good that your fever is gone. I hopeful that you will be o.k. until Tuesday
when you get more thorough assistance.


M

have you tried the liquid magnesium citrate?
bobby

No fever, but I'm still FOS… the colon cleanse and suppositories didn't clean out my small bowel at all despite going to the BR about 20X. I'm so full there's no way I can identify an impaction anywhere in those areas if there is one. I think the Linzess is working now because I had a little diarrhea this morning without taking anything else. There's no way it will do the job alone though.

Bobby, I considered taking magnesium citrate before I contacted the gastro so I bought 2 bottles. I'm considering buying some gatorade (I can't take it straight) and taking it tonight. Friday and yesterday's treatment was very aggressive, but I don't feel sore or dehydrated, so think I'm going to do it anyway. I don't want to go to the gastro this constipated…

Mari, If I'm this constipated when I go to the gastro after going through the colon cleanse, they may want to admit me to the hospital…

I have a huge big fear of/aversion to being treated inpatient for constipation. I know how it's treated (because I've done it myself a couple dozen times to patients) and I'd find it ****ing humiliating. If it was in any way physically possible, or I had an extra set of willing hands, I could have taken care of this myself once I first realized I was impacted, and I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now.

Bizi, I'm willing to bet your friend wasn't as constipated as me when she was having her issues. The degree of constipation I was dealing with can be very painful on its own, and it makes it hard to tell if something else is going on. I never considered an ovarian cyst, but I have a history of them. Last ultrasound, I did have one on my left ovary, but it was small and shrinking. If there's one there that's big enough, the NP will be able to feel it on an external exam. She should be able to feel if I have diverticulitis. I'm not going to worry about that unless my pain gets worse or I get a fever again though.

I am so sorry that you are going thru this.
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi

Thank you Bizi (((HUGS)))

When I bought the mag. citrate, I forgot if the lemon & lime one was the only one I should buy because of the taste, or the one I should not buy, but I chose it. Wrong choice… so, so bad… YUCK!!! I drank 2 bottles and a 28 oz bottle of Gatorade in an hour and got very nauseous, but I kept it down.

It is working this morning, and I can tell it is working on the small intestines.
The mass I was feeling in my lower left quadrant (where most of my pain was coming from) is a lot smaller this morning! YAY!!! :):):)

I feel fine, no worse for wear. Thank God for Gatorade. I also drank, and still am drinking, a lot of water.

I will not be cleaned out, but I don't think I'm in danger of being admitted to the hospital for good old fashioned constipation anymore. I'm not out of the woods yet because it's possible I have "early diverticulitis" (I dont have a fever anymore though) or still have an impaction somewhere. If I do need further treatment, it won't be for lack of effort.

I'm eating crap, and a lot of it. Where is the will power I had on that diet?
I gave back a pound and weigh 162 now.

i think i read that amazon sells it

I just bought it at Walgreens. I think it was about $3/bottle or something cheap like that.

I am glad that the mag citrate has helped. I would stay close to the bathroom for the next few days since you have taken so much stuff.
thinking about you today.
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi

I wish the effects of all the **** I took would keep rolling!!! I would take diarrhea over constipation any day!!!

I think the Linzess the on-call doctor prescribed has finally started working a little, so that should help…
Unfortunately, I can't afford to continue taking it, and only have enough for about 2 more weeks. I have a $250 deductible for tier 3 and 4 drugs and it's a tier 3. We can't afford to pay that. It's also got a high copay and the total drug cost would be high. It would put me in the medicare donut hole pretty fast, and I don't want to find myself in the same position I was in last year because of all those expensive psych meds. The alternative is Amitiza, which is also a tier 3 drug, so that's out of the question, too.
Today the NP is charged with coming up with a med plan (minus those two options) to deal with my constipation, which is no small task. I can access my drug formulary from my phone, so will know which meds are affordable, need prior authorization, etc. I will pull the drug search page up before I enter the exam room.

That mass on the lower left side of my abdomen is still there, and I'm really curious what it is. I hope to find that out today. It definitely does not feel like an ovarian cyst to me because of shape, size and location, so I figure it's either an impaction or diverticulitis. I hope the NP has magic fingers, and can tell the difference, so I can avoid having a CT scan (in addition to avoiding the ER and an inpatient hospital stay).
CT scan/no CT scan it should be easier to figure out what's going on now that I'm far less constipated.


A nurse from my PCP's office called me around 9:30 yesterday morning to let me know he wanted me to be seen (yesterday), and could I come in for an appointment with the NP? I let her know I had called and left a message for the triage nurse at 10am Friday morning and she never got back to me, but I was able to talk to my gastro and had an appointment in his office (today). I asked the nurse to let my PCP know when I called and to express my displeasure that the triage nurse never called me back Friday to let me know if I could be examined, should go to urgent care or the ER. I said I was sure the gastro would send the notes over.

Thank you Bobby, but I'm not eligible for the program because I'm on Medicare.

I'm also not eligible for other programs because of income guidelines. My husband makes too much money for us to qualify for extra help, but not enough money for us to afford hits like this.

I searched through all the special help programs last year when I reached the Medicare donut hole and insurance stopped paying for my prescriptions. I ended up using coupons from GoodRx.com to pay for my scripts. I had to switch from Abilify to Seroquel because Abilify was almost $600/mo. Regular seroquel is pretty ****ing cheap and ended up being a better fit for me in the long run anyway.

Good luck Kay.

Donna :grouphug::hug:

I spent two hours at the gastro's office yesterday and left no wiser as to what the mass is, what is causing the pain, or what my new bowel regiment is going to be. I had a low grade temp of 99.8F before I got there (but tylenol was effective), and the NP had concerns about the physical exam, so she wanted to consult with my gastro, and said she'd call me back after she spoke with him.

A medical assistant called me about 2 hours(?) later to tell me I had to have a STAT CT scan to rule out diverticulitis and appendicitis, so I spent another three hours dealing with that.

When the receptionist in radiology called the on-call doctor with the results, he said he wasn't familiar with me because I wasn't his patient, and since the radiologist didn't find anything "acute" (thank God) I could go home (thank God), but I have to call the office (this) morning.

Of course, the radiology report from last night was a "wet read," which means it was a cursory look, and he was only ruling out emergencies. A radiologist will do a more thorough reading to look at everything, and one of the doctors in the practice will have to review the report and probably look at the images himself before I get my results. They are so slow in that office, it probably won't be today.

I may not have any answers, but I just feel so much better now that I've been examined and know I'm not walking around with some kind of ticking time bomb :)

I was up before 5am yesterday and didn't get a nap in because of all of my medical adventures. I was exhausted and out of it before falling asleep around 8:30. I wish I could have slept in, but Dottie meowed in my face around 6am looking for affection.

cats definitely have their own minds. I guess the weather rules them.
Rest and then get some ice cream
bobby

Good luck.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

The NP called me a little while ago and said the contrast didn't get all the way down my colon (what a waste), but they could tell by the images they got that I have a thickening of the walls of my colon that they think is probably diverticulitis…
It can't be that bad if I've been walking around with it for a week now, and they let me go home last night.

Apparently I was supposed to have STAT blood work while I was at the hospital yesterday too, but the medical assistant never told me that. The NP wants me to go have my blood drawn somewhere soon and I'm waiting for a call back to find out where. I'm pretty ****ing ****** about it.

I guess I'm going to have antibiotics of some kind.

Kay

Please also look into the foods that aren't good for Diverticulous. My mother
has had it for many years. Hers was diagnosed while she was in the hospital.

Not sure if it was that or something else.

But her's is mainly controlled now by diet.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

Kay,

I hope that they get their stuff together and you get better.


Good luck on getting well.

M

Thank you ladies :hug::hug::hug:

I had a real **** day yesterday…

By the time I went to take a shower we had no water. I used fanny wipes to clean up and wipe off my face before heading to the hospital.

Of course when I got there, they didn't have the order. The (same) medical assistant faxed it to the wrong number. I don't know how long I was left standing at the window before they figured that one out, but it was too long. I had to go through registration twice because they assumed the NP would order the same tests she did the night before, but they were wrong.

I got home at 12:30. I couldn't put off my nap, and ended up sleeping from 2-4pm, and woke up sweating. I took my temp and it was 98.1F… the lowest it's been in over a week. Since there was still no word from the gastro's office, I called and eventually got in touch with the NP.

My blood work came back fine, so I have "uncomplicated diverticulitis," and can be treated outpatient (thank God). I guess that's usually how things go down. I'll be taking Augmentin 875/125mg twice a day for 10 days. I also got her to call in a refill for Protonix, something I have been too distracted to ask for, but have been suffering without. For now, I'm going to continue to take samples of the Linzess for my constipation, but it's not a long term plan because, as you know, I can't afford it. We haven't discussed diet yet. Right now, the focus is on just treating the diverticulitis.

My pharmacy called and I had to spend about a half an hour on the phone with a tech because she said my insurance didn't go through. She said they had two profiles for me. I told her several times to look me up using my birthday, but for some reason she ignored that advice. Eventually she got her **** together, and the issue was straightened out. I had to go to pick up the scripts after dinner, and wasn't exactly thrilled to be waiting in a long line at the pharmacy at 7:30pm at night.

My husband is on call this week, but he came home with a 12-pack yesterday and he drank all but one. I was worried all evening that he would get a call. He obviously couldn't go. He's usually better about not drinking, or only having 1-2, when he's on call because taking service calls is part of his job.

He found cat puke on his side of the bed when he went in to go to sleep. There's nothing like cleaning up cat puke at 9:30 at night to end a perfect day! lol.


I think I'm just sick of not feeling well and dealing with all the bull****.

Good luck with feeling better.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

Hi, Kay,

"Uncomplicated diverticulitis" does not sound like fun but I am glad that can be treated outpatient." You have a lot of patience dealing with numskulls and bureaucracy.

I hope that the bs lightens up and you can start feeling good.


M

I really don't have patience though. All of it bothers me, and it's stressful, but I'm just resigned to the fact that I have to no choice but to go through all this ****.

Hopefully nothing like this will happen again, but if it does, I expect the staff in my gastro's office to take me seriously. There is no reason why I should have had to go through a week + of this. The on call doctor should have ordered the colon cleanse the first time I called rather than prescribing a med that wouldn't clean me out and would take 48-72 hrs to work, and whoever was responsible for reviewing the symptoms I was reporting should have suspected diverticulitis much sooner.

Yesterday was a day of rest. Other than taking my meds, I didn't have to deal with any medical BS. I had a horrendous headache from restarting the Protonix, didn't feel well in general, and ended up sleeping from about 2-5:30pm. As of this morning, I've only taken 4 doses of the Augmentin, so it's a little early to expect it to be working, but I'm optimistic it will.

I cleaned the sink and the toilet yesterday, but never got around to the tub or the floor. I vacuumed Monday, but I haven't done laundry or anything else this week. The apartment is a mess! But it can stay that way until next week when I'm feeling better.

I have to do food shopping today. There's no way around it. My shopping list is long. I've taken a look at it, and breaking it up into 2 trips won't make much of a difference.


My husband is at his breaking point at work. I'm afraid he's going to lose it and quit. We don't have any kind of cushion. I'm going to keep playing the lottery…


I've been thinking of Bobby a lot, and hoping she is doing well. I hope everything went smoothly, and she'll be able to go home tomorrow :hug:

I am glad that you had a day of rest.
bizi

Kay,

Those morons were supposed to do their jobs.

=-=-=-=-

I hope that your husband finds his way.

Thank you :group hug:

I didn't have the same headache yesterday that I experienced Thursday, and I made it through grocery shopping unscathed. My husband was home by the time I returned, so I even got help with the bags :)

I woke up at 5am yesterday and was unable to take my nap despite running errands. I decided we were ordering out because my brain was fried, and I made the mistake of choosing Chinese food of all things… OMG what PAIN!!! I don't know what I was thinking, but I think I've ruined Chinese food for myself forever after last night's experience. I woke up this morning feeling better than last night, but no better than the day before. It's still early as far as the antibiotics go though.

I had cut my seroquel down by 25mg on Monday (which I was supposed to do several days earlier) due to symptoms of depression, but I'm going to have to raise it again due to a couple of days of increased "anxiety." I'm a little surprised that that little tweak made that much of a difference, but I've been dealing with difficult circumstances lately, and that certainly could be contributing.

I didn't sleep well last night, was up at 6:30am, have been up for 6hrs now, and feel ready for a nap. I may take a klonopin to help me out there because my mind will keep going otherwise, and I do need the sleep.

I plan on doing nothing today.