Living with Diabetes and Lapband

Have chest pains and tell them that you are having them.

Okay, I'm 99.99999% sure it is gastric reflux.  I break through my medication (as they say) every fall.  Every fall my gastric reflux has sent me back to the doctors for more medication.

But I was a bit alarmed myself when I was having chest pains after lunch, and walked across the hall to ask one of my coworkers what I should do.  Moving around help, as by the time I got there, solved the problem.

But I called my primary care physician anyway.  He called me back on a real phone (in his office) last night when he got my message.

He called the pharmacy and had 300 mg Zantac waiting there for me, and I slept better last night.  We'll see how it goes.

He also wanted me to talk to the cardiologist for it and told me to go to the ER if they lasted more than 10 minutes.  So I work almost equidistant to two different hospitals so I wanted to know which one -- they never WOULD say, but that's okay.  I think I'll go to Medical City Dallas, if I have to.

The bad part -- well, the two major sympthoms of gastric reflux I am having are sympthoms of congestive heart failure -- I know that's the sympthoms my dad had before he did.  Yeah, the chest pain and the coughing thing.

I really do think it is just gastric reflux.  It sucks.

I went and double checked, and I did finish week 9 of exercise.

The inserts are making a huge difference, yesterday I was forced to be on my feet for about an hour, and I didn't feel nearly as bad as I usually do.

The last few weeks have been hectic,but I've gotten my workouts in. I think I got two or three extra cardio workouts in this week -- the shoe inserts are helping.

I figured out that they feel better if I put them below the removable inserts that are already in my walking shoe.

I definately want to get at least one more set made soon. I just keep forgetting to put the extra shoes in my car.

Finally got my flu shot. I usually do it at my endos but they did not get theirs in time for my visit and their hours are too inconvenient.

I was able to get one at my primary care physician's at 9:00 this morning. They have walk in appointments on Saturday and I got there a few minutes early.

Amy at Diabetes Mine talked about getting hers at a local pharmacy but that does not work at all for me because the ones here usually have hours frim 10:00 to 2:00. Great if you are retired like my mom but horrible if you are a teacher.

Anyway glad to have it done especially in October.

It will be interesting to see what happens -- I just injected my first dose of Depo Prevera. I don't like the needle, it's thicker than a diabetic needle but not bad.

This is a lower dosage so it will be interested to see what happens with blood sugar, periods (right now, I don't have any), break through bleeding (don't have it), and acne -- occasional breakouts near time to inject, though didn't this round.

The knees are doing very well. It's cold and rainy -- the stuff that makes them ache and they don't. Are they perfect? No. Am I ready to stop taking Mobic? Maybe on Saturday.

However, one of my goals is being accomplished, I am more active!

I think I'm going to take a second pair of shoes with me and get another pair of inserts tomorrow.

This is amazing. I did dog agility last night in them, and spent the day in them. I did take a 15 mg Mobic last night BUT we have rain coming in, which usually makes me ache.

I'm not nearly as stiff as usual -- I better find my shoes though, as these are the ones my puppy likes to chew the most.

Anyway, I'm MUCH better and it's only been 24 hours.

Life has gotten full again.  I did complete all my workouts for last week -- Week 8. 

I went to an orthopedist yesterday, not one that the endo suggested, but one I found on the Simvisc <sp> site that was close to school.  Had to leave early to see him, and one of my coworkers took my class.

I was a bit disappointed at one point -- he did a full set of xrays, and when I told him the criteria I had for fixing the knees: reduce medication and not mess with blood sugars -- his answer was shoe inserts.  I thought that a bit odd.

However -- the xrays did show a problem with weight distribution.  He sent me to a place that makes the shoe inserts in the same building and they were able to make them while I waited.

I think they are helping, I wore them doing dog agility last night and I don't think I was as stiff this morning, though I did take a higher dose of Mobic last night too.

We'll have to see how this goes.  It would be great if it worked, the inserts are only $70.

I am having a tough time taking Nasonex when I am supposed to. In fact, I think I forgot it again last night.

With medications, there are two problems with complanace -- making sure I actually take the drug, and making sure I don't take it twice.

With pills, it's easy. Every Saturday, I take my last dose of the week (morning and night) and I refill the pill strip. I can tell easily if I have taken the pills -- if I have, there is an empty space for that day. If not, they are sitting them and I should take them. No brainer -- I really do believe smart doctors and pharmacutical companies should provide the plastic pill containers marked by day.

Nasonex is harder. I can't tell if I took it. I've got my Treo set up with a task and reminder -- I have no idea if I took it last night, and since I didn't take my Requip, I am not sure I did. I certainly didn't tell my Treo. I also know I did not take it Monday night -- though I took the Requip.

I really do have trouble with any night time medication since I don't have a regular evening schedule.

I suspect I will end up taking Singulair as my seasonal allergy medication, since I can easily tell if I took it and can handle a missed dose fairly easily -- take it the next morning.

Grab A Cuppa Grand Rounds! // Emergiblog