Time to prime the pump.... On my rescue! I can hear those dirty thoughts!

[beandelphiki]

I can't find my corticosteroid inhaler! I don't know how I misplaced a red controller inhaler, but I did.

I've been sleeping on the couch the past few nights due to the aforementioned bug in my room (yes, I know I'm a wimp, shut up), and all my various medications are in my room. Not such a big deal with things like my Dexedrine, my Claritin and stuff like Advil and Tums (if I need them), because I have some of that in my backpack. My controller inhaler though, I don't carry on me. Why would I? I only take it in the mornings.

(Supposedly I should take it at night too, but I haven't noticed a need for the second daily dose.)

I decided not to worry about it, because my asthma hasn't been as bad this summer. Definitely a mistake. I've been waking up in the middle of the night coughing and gasping. It obviously subsides because I go back to sleep, but I think that's proof that my asthma (dormant for the latter half of my adolescence) is NOT under control anymore without the controller inhaler my doctor wants me off of so badly.

So today I went into my room to look for it, and uh. Can't find it. Greaaat. At least I have an appointment for a full physical on the 17th. If I haven't found it by then, I'll ask for a prescription. Or maybe there's even refills at the pharmacy? I should check.


In the meantime, not only is my asthma being a pain, but my left lung hurts like HELL on and off. It's done that ever since my lung first collapsed. I don't know why - I've Googled a ton, but it's hard to find information on SPs to start with, let alone long-term pain following them. I've seen other people complain about it on other boards, so I know it's not just me, but plenty of doctors have apparently INSISTED to their SP patients that chronic pain never results from a lung collapse. No reason for that to be possible, or somesuch.

And on "ask a doctor" type boards, I've seen M.D.s post to just that effect as well: It can't be what you claim it is, so you're imagining it, or it's something else entirely and you've got your body parts confused.

Helpful, huh?

So far, the few theories actual doctors have put forth seem to be:

-a collapse which has never healed for some reason (??)
-nerve damage of some sort (???)
-probably something I'm forgetting

...And Mom and I have speculated about some sort of scar tissue. I really don't know, but I DO know that steroids help a LOT with reducing the pain - my rescue inhaler does not. (Actually, I can count on the steroids to control the pain a lot faster than I can count on them to control my asthma!)

So. I hope I find my controller soon. Because, well, I just don't like my chest hurting, y'know? It slows me down at work. More importantly, I get to be incredibly nervous about having an asthma attack - which are always more severe when the only medication you're using is a rescue.

Dude. I go through this at least once an allergy season, it seems.

I need one of these!

Heh.

Comments

[hry2007.livejournal.com]

There's probably some cellphone hip carriers that would look nicer and be cheaper.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

I was mostly joking. My controller I leave at home, and while I do try to leave it in the same place, obviously I didn't the last time I used it. Which is frustrating.

...But actually, the cellphone carrier might be a good idea for my rescue inhaler when I'm in a situation where I'm not going to have my bag on me. Nobody's going to look twice at it, after all. Thanks!

[siegeengine.livejournal.com]

I don't get the dirty thoughts thing.

actually, I think 2 weeks is too long to wait. If you can't find it, and you call the pharmacy and they have no refills to get, I'm certain that a quick call to your doctor's office, even if you only speak to the receptionist, would result in their making a call to your pharmacy, and you'd be able to pick up a new inhaler later that same day.

I'd highly recommend it, because I mean... heck. Even if you're not going to actually physically die, the strain on sleeping, the pain and the stress of all of the above are such a serious hit to one's life that there's no reason to go without it.

Oh, and if you find the original later then hey - bonus. It never hurts to have a backup.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

I don't know if that would work. Health care in my area...I can't describe to you how understaffed and strained health care workers are. It's a major provincial crisis. And since they aren't getting paid for it anymore, docs and similar are very, very stingy with what they'll call into the pharmacy.

Heck. My trial run of Dexedrine (how much did I post about this? maybe nothing, I can't remember) ran out before I could get in to see my doc to discuss it. And I went into withdrawal (at least, I don't know what else to call it) where I was sleeping 22-23 hours a day. Mom made an appointment with my doc, PRONTO (I was such a zombie, I couldn't do it), and asked the pharmacy if I could get 7 days worth until I could see her. They said only if they called her and she gave the prescription over the phone. Which she refused to do.

When I saw her, I was basically like, "I spent two weeks in a near coma, and I've flunked out of school because you wouldn't call in a week's refill to the pharmacy." And she was basically like, "I don't get paid for that, tough shit."

Given THAT, I doubt she'll lift a finger to help me on the asthma refills, considering my asthma is only mild-moderate.

But my mom's going shopping on Friday, so I'll ask her to check for refills at the pharmacy. I'm fairly sure there is one.

[siegeengine.livejournal.com]

omg. that's f*ing horrible!

I'd still give it a shot though, mostly just to be a pain in the ass. People like that deserve some sort of payback.

I mean, really. We've had issues here where because of contract negotiations or bookkeeping fiascoes a couple of our docs had mentioned to us that there are things at the hospital that we needed that they - at that point in time - would not be paid for at all. But, they did them anyway.

I mean, they told us that they were not getting paid... they were complaining about it... but they still did each and every thing we asked, even if it was only trivial. Sometimes you could even see the thought process going through their minds, where they were irate, but they knew that we didn't have anyone else to turn to, so they helped us.

Not the same thing, I know, because maybe they just didn't want to risk losing their possibly lucrative hospital contract, but still. It felt like they were doing it to make sure the patients were ok.

[siegeengine.livejournal.com]

oh.. I didn't mean that we were dumping trivial things all over them. We only bothered them for things we really needed.