(no subject)

[aprilstarchild]

Had a visit with my doctor today. It was on my lunch hour, and I ended up with just enough time to bolt down my lunch and run downstairs, and I only missed ten minutes of work (over my lunch hour). Woo hoo! I'm so glad I have a doc in the building.

On the other hand, the drug reps had brought Pasta Veloce. At first I was thinking, yay! But, alas, nothing was just marinara sauce. Everything had meat, cheese, or both. Fuckers. Yeay for me bringing my own lunch every Friday anyway.

In any case:

Le sigh. My Adderall XR is back down to 20mgs. 25mgs was too much. Good thing we didn't bump it straight up to 30. We didn't even talk about getting a short-acting dose so that I still have some chemical brain help in the evenings. Chorus rehearsals are often an exercise in self-control. I feel like a goddamn eight-year-old sometimes. This is me, trying to listen to Joan and sit still.

I have samples of Wellbutrin XL. The generic I was buying wasn't sustained release. Which is one of the reasons I was cranky and mopey and anti-social in the evenings. I may not have looked like it, but dammit, I was feeling it. I previously thought it was my Adderall wearing off, but in retrospect, normally that just makes me hungry. *lol*

Also, apparently, in theory the rationalization for why we don't have prescription coverage, is that we could get drugs in samples. Because gods only know, I want to bug my doctor for more four more boxes of Wellbutrin XL every month. Not to mention all the drugs that don't come in samples, like my lovely controlled substances that cost me an arm and a leg.

I was telling him about my acne, and since it's not just my face but also my chest and back (and ass, but I didn't tell him that), he didn't want to use anything topical like Retin-A. He gave me an Rx for minocycline instead. I told him it gives me the creeps to be on long-term antibiotics...he said that it's possible I might be able to stay on it three months and improve enough to not take it for six months.

Oh good fucking gods. I just remembered: I'm on the pill. I thought he knew that. Grrrr. I'll look up minocycline. I don't know if all antibiotics make birth control pills pointless.

One of the reasons I'm on the pill (besides the obvious) is for my acne, but it doesn't seem to work for that anymore. I meant to just ask him to give me samples of Yasmin, which is supposed to help acne, since Ortho Tri-Cyclen doesn't do it for me anymore, and the Ortho Novum I'm on now doesn't do jack squat either.

I was on antibiotics for acne when I was in high school. I spent most of my senior year taking tetracycline. It really did help--my acne was worse then than it is now.

What's funny is my acne didn't really bother me as a teenager. Shit, everyone had zits, so what? Now that I'm older, it's incredibly irritating. One of the reasons I have long hair is so that I can wear it down and cover up my body acne. It didn't get better when I had short hair previously, so that theory is out. But, yeah. I am genetically predisposed to have acne for the rest of my life. Seriously, I've seen my mother. I'm screwed on that score. This bothers me far more than it should. Every time I see someone with really good skin, I'm really jealous. Which is dumb, but there you are.

When I told him about how my neck and shoulders are always tense and it's giving me headaches, he gave me samples of a muscle relaxant. It's apparently usually taken four times a day, he wants me to just take it at night and see how it goes. I suggested a chiropracter, and he said that if this doesn't help, he'll send me to Dr. Starbard, a chiropracter/osteopath. Well, he's at the south office, which has shitty bus access. Not to mention I'd have to take time off of work. If anyone knows of a good chiropracter in the Beaverton/Portland area that has after-hour or weekend appointments, can ya let me know? I'll check to see if s/he's on my insurance list.

I think some of my headaches are mild migraines. Sometimes it'll be behind one eye or another and my vision feels skewed even though it isn't. Sometimes light bugs me or sounds bug me. Certainly, lately, strong artificial smells drive me nuts. Of course, one coworker wears perfume, another wears scented hand lotion. One of them either uses too much fabric softener, or his cologne smells like Snuggles. It's nauseating.

I also keep getting heartburn. It doesn't stick around, but I really need to start carrying around tums or something.

I am turning into my goddamn mother. Heartburn, migraines, permanently on anti-depressants. Taking more than half a dozen prescription drugs.

I think I'm going to start seeing a naturopath and see what they have to say about various stuff. I don't like the idea of being on so many drugs.

On the upside, I've had lots of time online. I'm caught up on my friends list, yay.

So, so tired. I got to bed at nine last night, so I got enough sleep, but I'm still in deficit from days' worth of not enough sleep.

Comments

[sagcat.livejournal.com]

tums = bad. Over time, it makes heartburn worse. The new-fangled acid reducers are far better on that score. Then again, you just said you were worried about too many medications, so eh? Anything change in your diet? Start smoking dope? Cause dope and booze and some foods give me wicked bad heartburn.

I know way too much about heartburn.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Some of the "new-fangled" ones are OTC.

Random side note: I read a bunch of the teeny print on the Wellbutrin info. Don't take it--it reacts badly with benzo's.

Nothing in my diet has changed that I know of, since January.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

And no, I haven't been smoking dope lately. I usually put that stuff in my LJ behind a cut, actually.

[singswithtrees.livejournal.com]

If you need the name of a good naturopath, I know both Ariel Policano and Rose Paisley, and they're both excellent. Don't know exactly where in Portland they're located, but I like them both a lot.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

It will mostly depend on who my insurance covers. Our health insurance at work changes on April 1st, so I'll have to look it up.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Random thought: Ariel also writes a column for Herbivore magazine. *giggle* Dark kinda wavy hair?

[medievallass.livejournal.com]

Hi'a April,

Sorry to hear about you having to take all those medicines. I hate having to take medicine, especially over a long periods of time. At any rate, you mentioned the birth control pill Yasmin above, and I thought perhaps I could tell you about my experiences with it. I'm on it right now, for my stupid Ploysistic Ovary Syndrome problem, and I think I can safely say I like it. I don't have much of a choice really, but it seems to be working nicely. I was really worried at first because I had been really depressed by another dose of the pill before. But my doctor told me that Yasmin is a gentle dosage and I heard it is kind of designed for people with the sort of problem I have. Which, I'm guessing is why it's got less Estrogen, but is still effective. I been feeling pretty good, my same old self nothing wrong. Although for the past couple of weeks I've been wondering if it's kind'of up setting my stomach, but that could be other things like me getting used to it, or stress, or whatever, I need to not be so paroniod about it lol! I'm not sure what it's been like for my skin, but I haven't got any new zits lately I can say, yay! Well I hope that helps, maybe a little. It's probably nothing you haven't heard before, I don't know how much you've heard about it. Well I best going! I've got my interview tomorrow, finally! Also, happy Easter my friend. Take care!

Hayley ^_^

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Birth control pills can cause nausea, but it goes away in a few months. In the meantime just make sure your stomach is never completely empty--take crackers or something with you everywhere. That helps a lot. So does candied ginger. Also make sure you get enough water. When I first got on the pill waaaay back, my nausea was so bad I carried a bottle of Pepto Bismol in my backpack! That was before I realized that candied ginger works just as well and tastes a lot better.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

For the heartburn, I'd recommend trying some plant-based digestive enzymes, like papain or bromelain. They're not too much money (~$10 for 250 tablets) and you just chew a couple with each meal.

L-glutamine powder helps with acidity and it also nourishes the cells in your GI tract.

Throat coat, licorice root, or chamomile teas help.

If you want to look up natural supplements, conditions, meds, healthy recipes, etc, check out this great site: http://www.wholehealthmd.com

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

At this point you're probably the expert on stomach stuff, yah? *hugs*

Thanks for link: I'll check it out.

My main worry with a naturopath is that so many of them apparently think ADD is a bogus diagnosis, and they'll want me to stop taking Adderall XR, which isn't going to happen. And I'd be thinking long and hard before I quit my Wellbutrin either. Just the thought of how I feel when coming off of it makes me anxious.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

The website I gave you the link to - it has an article about ADD and supplements that can help it. And they're generally pretty good about adding, in most articles, that their recommendations can be used alone or *with* prescriptions. I like that they don't try to tell you to stay away from them if they're needed.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the idea on both sides that you should only use one kind of medicine is so stupid. They both work better on some things than others.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's been a bit tricky since I've been bouncing back and forth between an MD and ND, but they've both gotten the message. :)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I really like this site so far--it's based on actual science. They'll tell you flat out, well supposedly this might be good for such'n'such, but there's no research yet, so it's sorta iffy. They point out something with the Adderall that no doctor (or the info the drug comes with) has bothered to mention: don't take it with Vitamin C or it'll metabolize and wear off faster. I knew that was true with Concerta, I didn't know it was true with Adderall.

In any case, now I have to go looking for DMAE because it sounds awful promising. *lol*