I Could Open A Pharmacy and More Whining Than Anyone Should Be Allowed

I had a doctors appointment this afternoon for refills on my pain medication - I have headaches a lot - and it was interesting. My doctor is retiring, the man my whole family has been seeing for 17 years is ditching us for a more peaceful life. It's a bummer. In preparation for his coming freedom, he merged with a larger practice that includes four doctors and four PA's. This whole change has me a little freaked out. Thank heavens he took his two nurses with him to the new practice, and they aren't retiring.

Anyway, one of the nurses I'm familiar with called me back, took my weight (I lost another four pounds since my last OB/GYN appointment) and blood pressure and did the nursey stuff before leaving me to be seen by my doctor. When he came in, he was followed by another doctor, one that he hopes I'll be comfortable enough with to continue to see when he leaves. They ask why I've come in, I explain that I need a refill on my Vicodin prescription and tell them when my nurse midwife and OB/GYN last gave me prescriptions - you know, to make sure I'm not abusing... I gave their names so they could check - and we start discussing the cause of my headaches, what meds I use, how often, etc. For the record, the narcotics just don't work that well but I figured they were my only option because I thought I was having tension headaches.

We talked about muscle relaxants - they don't work, according to my file we tried them for a while about 7 years ago - and then they ask me to describe the headaches. Well, since I'm in the middle of a doozie at the time, I say, "They hurt." Duh. They chuckle, and ask very pointed questions. Picture, if you will, two doctors, one on either side of me, firing question after question... I felt like I was watching a tennis match. After I'd answered all their questions, they tell me I'm describing migraine headaches. I'd never wanted to say that they were migraines because, well, I don't know. Those are severe, debilitating and horrible. They told me that I was describing something severe, debilitating and horrible. I just thought I was being a baby.

So I walked out of the office with three prescriptions. One is a beta blocker to lower my heart rate - EEK - that apparently can cut the number of migraines in half and the remainder of them won't be as severe. Next came a prescription for something called Maxalt, which I'm sorry to say costs $116 for 6 pills - HELLO? Are you kidding???? They gave me four pills as samples - thank heavens. I also had my Vicodin refill. I didn't fill the Maxalt. I just don't have that kind of money in the budget. The samples will have to do.

My problem is that I've had a headache, migraine, all day long and I've fought it with Aleve, two doses of Vicodin, caffeine pills, coffee... I've thrown everything I have at it and it's only now going away. I didn't want to use one of those $20 pills on the first day I got them. See, I'm just nuts, but I knew if I could get through today, I'd be fine for a while.

By the way, beta blockers, scary. They lower your heart rate and blood pressure. I guess the point is to open up constricted blood vessels in your head and avoid the migraine in the first place. The side effects are a bit over the top. Lack of energy, dizziness - as in, use caution when operating a car or heavy machinery - weight gain (I don't need that), strange heat sensations when first going on the medication, and a diabetic warning regarding masking the effects of low blood sugar. This last one scares me, not because I'm diabetic, I'm hypoglycemic. My blood sugar drops at an alarming rate. During my glucose tolerance test a while back, my level was 49 at three hours. If I'd had the five hour test done, they said I would have passed out. Lucky me. To fight this, the doctors office told me to take the medication, called Inderal, after breakfast, and eat small meals throughout the day because the medication's side effects are similar to low blood sugar. EEK! I have to start eating right? Well, if it will help my headaches, I guess I'll do anything.

I know I ramble and maybe I haven't made sense, but in my defense, I'm feeling the effects of the last dose of Vicodin. Fuzzy can be fun. For the record, I couldn't lay in bed any longer, it just hurt more. I dimmed the screen on my computer so I could function while writing this, being upright and focusing on something else seems to help a little. When I was in bed earlier, I started to cry and that only makes it worse because it builds pressure in my head.