2 Lyrica® Part Two

I have been under the impression that Lyrica is some sort of wonder drug.. and it has helpt with the pain from my lung surgery scar and pain from inside the chest.. But so did Neurontin, but it only cost 50  dollars, while Lyrica cost 200..
And then there are the side effects... Memory lost, memory is history, cant remember what I did, ate, or showered yesterday.. I do remember 2 years ago, but not when I last saw a friend or family.
You can get really lonely or live in blissfully ignorance, I hope for the second door, But I beat myself up for everything and nothing. Neurontin doesn't have all this side effect, but it still works on nerve damage.

Is this worth it? maybe Neurontin is the best choice, that way I can remember my history, get back to school, and get a small part of my life back.. what do you think??? Lyrica or Neurontin

2 Play nice please

For the first time in my life I have needed to explain my patient file to a doctor for 25 min. and I think he didn't understand anything..( substitute doctor)
Then I had to explain that my weight gain over the last few months is because of the meds.. shouldn't he know that??
Then I had to tell him every drug I am on, and  all the doctors I have been too, and their names. Then I told him my doses and what I have gotten before.
He didn't want to give me what I needed, and he asked me for my I.d. that has never happened before in my life.I thought the pharmacies took care of the drugs to the right patients??
Then I saw that Lyrica wasn't on blue prescription, and I told him that.
Then he yelled at me for taking time of other patients, and if I needed the drugs that badly then I just had to pay full price for that.

I am so sick of always walking crying out of a doctors office.. Why do they think that us who have been sick for a long time can take more hard, and mean words then any body else? I feel like I am about to explode into a million pieces of glass, any day now.

3 Lyrica®

I wanted to share a little of my experience with Lyrica, witch is used for treating neuropathic pain and a anticonvulsant drug . The active substance in Lyrica is Pregabalin.
In my place they hope that it will take the esophagus spasms.

The first two weeks I felt like I was sober trapped in a insanely drunk body. When I was talking nice and understandably in my head, but outside, to the rest of the world, I think they though that the hospital was giving me heroin or something. And I couldn't have walked on a strait line to save my life! My mom actually had to pick up my old winter shoes, because I couldn't manage to walk with a little heel. And for those of you that don't know me, I am the queen of heels..

But once I got through those first weeks, It was a little smoother sailing. But it took about 3 weeks before the big side effects wore of. I guess Lyrica is like a lot drugs against depression. The side effects comes first and the effect first after a couple of weeks.
I am not sure how effective they are, but if I didn't take them any more, maybe I would have felt it then.
I had the same thought about Neurontin last year, but when I stopped taking them for 2 weeks, my lung scar and  the inside of my chest started to really hurt.

So of you and you're doctor decides that Lyrica is the drug for you, clear the schedule for 2 weeks, because its gonna feel like a long binge drinking trip!

2 To be sick.. Part III

Finally, my doctor have written the right prescription. It only took 3 tries.
He had written 4×5 in stead of 1×5 and Reit:3.
Reit in Norway means that you can get the 1×5 4 times when the Reit says 3.
He also wrote no change so that the pharmacy couldn't change to a cheaper patch.
My happiness was complete, finally no more problems.  I was Wrong. When am I right anyway?

I now say that I hate pharmacies and their rules and regulations.
I was going to get my Durogesic Patch, an thought that I would get Lyrica when I was going to the pharmacy anyway.
Here comes the kicker, because the two prescriptions had different dates I had to pay the maximum fee of 520 kr two times.
What the ¤%%¤, I thought that the maximum fee was there for a reason, so that you only had to pay 520 kr when you picked up all of you're medication.

Pharmacies should be categorized as hazard sport, you never know if the trip to the pharmacy will take all of you're money or give you a heart attack??

8 Painclinic and Doctors!

Now i have been to the pain-clinic, and he said that i am staying on the dosage that i am on. A huge relief to me. The doctor at my local hospital said that i didn't need the Durogesic patch, and that my pain couldn't be treated with opioid s. he couldn't be more wrong, and i must say, i do find some satisfaction in that. I am also going to use Lyrica, Catapresan and Sarotex.

I am going to use that until February, where we are going to look into different things if the pain isn't smaller. They are going to check my lung capacity, pain school, hypnosis, psychologist, and make sure that i don't develop a fair of eating.
 I am starting with the psychologist already i January because i have post traumatic stress disorder because of the local hospitals treatment of me.think that you can have nightmare because they were so mean to you?? we have mailed Vestre Viken HF about what is going on, and that it is irresponsible and unworthy. i hope they don't treat other people that have a unusual disease.
They didn't belive that i had pain, they belived it was just psychological, but as my doctor at the national hospital said is; it not psychological pain, but you can use you're psyche to better deal with the pain :) They will also look at the botox, because its not the best treatment longterm, because the effect will be smaller, the more you take this treatment.

We also talked about if botox is not a treatment for the future, the botox i get is experimental, because they inject it into my entire esophagus (you can get a sleeping medicine so you don't need to be awake during the procedure.)
Then they will try to find drugs or treatments in other countries that have more knowledge about this illness, and thats a big relief, but if what i have read on the internett is true, then there is not much different  drugs and treatments in other countries. Maybe we are to few with so severe pain that they don't use money on it.
But it could be that there is some doctor sitting in a small office in a basement, who are researching this topic.

Thats what really matter with the health care system, if the doctors or nurse don't belive you, its a terrifying situation to be in.
You can try a lot of different drugs and treatments if you're doctors belive you, because its the only thing you need to have: Trust

One thing i have though about is how the doctors talk to you. If they are arrogant,condescending,have made up there mind about you before they have meet you. Then you cant really work together, and the patient will get a worse treatment, and maybe be misdiagnose. Then you will not be getting the treatment that you should have.
We need not to be scared to tell our doctors what we feel. Doctors need to be able to get constructive criticism, and NOT want to help a person because they said you could think twice about you're languages, or why you don't help a person, when its obvious that the person is in big pains??
It still baffles me that some doctors, especially new ones who has chosen a specialty, and feels like they need to impress the more experienced doctors. They should try to impress the PATIENT not the doctors.
The one thing i have learned is that surgeons cant talk to the patients with dignity. They should all be locked up in the operating room, and never be in contact with a patient who is awake!

2 what now

i have tried pills Adalat no effect, Viagra(Sildenafil) no effect, in any way at all. you get where i am going, they have tried Botox 4 times, 2 times successful, and 2 times not the improvement that we had hoped for. i have taken stesolid, ketorax IV, morphine IV (stopped using morphine IV cause I had an allergic reaction), antidepressants, oxyContin, ketalar, ketroax PCA pump, nitroglycerin(1, 2), ketogan, lyrica, neurontin, epidural and a whole lot more i can’t even remember. but look at the bright side, who else have gotten the government to pay for Botox and Viagra??

i have tried acupuncture (see bottom of the page), 3 drops of peppermint oil in a glass of water, Oliclinomel, and i am going to try hypnosis to better deal with the whole pain situation. i am willing to try everything, and when you end up in my position you have to try everything, or you have lost. I also go to a psychologist; you have to treat your whole body, not just the physical but also the psychic part. everything goes together.
Of course there are days that i crawl under my blankets and want to stay there forever, but that is a part of the healing process. to come to terms with the fact that this is permanent, but i am far from coming to terms with it, hell no....

but i can’t keep doing this everything is perfect to friends and family, i have to change, i have this problem that i don’t want people to see that i am sick, but how can people be considerate if they don’t know that i am having a bad day. my only fear is that they will see it as irritating and not just me being sick me. we have to work on that one.
I must do this for me, and only me, and don’t feel guilty because i cant just do things impulsively. i have medicines and energy level to take into account when i say yes or no to something. and i guess i cant feel guilty if i don’t have the energy to do everything.
but i always feel guilty if i don’t give a 110% for someone else, i live to help others, probably why i joined the red cross to help. it gives me more, then i think i give them, but still, i have to learn to say NO, but how do i do that without feeling bad? i wanna make people feel good... without draining myself of energy

0 christmas shopping

Today my parents took me out for some shopping to get out of the house. I always get shocked by how many people I have to buy gifts for. but I am over halfway there. so that's a start.
A shopper as I am, I ended up buying new winter shoes for me. New indoors shoes, two tights, new sheets for the bed, and mittens. I can never shop for only what I set out to buy.. I think it is a disease, my brain looses all focus.
I have to make lists with who I am buying for, what I am getting them, and who remains, or I will buy several things to every person.

My brain doesn't work with this Lyrica pills. I walk like I am drunk even though my brain is clear, so high heeled shoes are a no, no. unless i wanna stay a night on a drunk cell, because i have no chance at walking on a straight line. So Lyrica makes you feel like an alcoholic. I hope that someday a drug comes on the market that could help me and others like me to have a normal life as possible, because to live like this it is the same as not living at all. I sleep all the time, I cant follow a conversation, I lie crying in pain, I can eat 2% of what exists on the marked, and all I want is to go to school, get my education, and start teaching. and also get back to the red cross and help those who need help. I want my life to have purpose again.