I Never Met a Side Effect I Didn't like

My medical history is lengthy, as you can imagine.  One of the particularly special things about me is that I react to medications.  Lots of medications.  No, not in the big ugly hives kind of way.  In the, "I never heard of that side effect" kind of way.  Extremely low blood pressure.  Extremely low blood sugar. Instant projectile vomiting.  They don't put those on the warning labels.

After awhile, doctors understand this about me.  Dr. Miyazaki used to get down the big book and look up the rare side effects so he would know what to watch for with me.  This was in the days before it was "an app."  Nurses often remark that is would be a shorter list to put down what I'm not allergic to.  Other doctors and nurses argue that these are not technically "allergies," just sensitivities.  It usually only takes one witnessing of my sensitivity hitting the wall across the room before the say, "Yes, we'll just put that down as an allergy."

I don't know why it didn't cross my mind that I might have a reaction to the Albuterol.  I have used it before, in inhaler form, years ago.  Bronchitis has visited me in the past, as well, and I often have a hard time shaking it.  I don't remember having an issue with the inhaler.  Of course, I took Nystatin for yeast a zillion times without problem, and then it shut my liver down.  Constant Vigilance, apparently.

The last few nights haven't been all that restful. I go to sleep no problem, but then I wake up with a crushing headache and I feel like I am slowly being strangled.  Sunday morning I was much more swollen, which continued into Monday and today.  I can't stand up straight, I can't put my head back, and I can't swallow. All frustrating.

Some other weird aspects: the musical sinuses and the desperate mouth breathing.  All night long my sinuses are suddenly rattling, vibrating and whistling.  Annoying enough to wake me up.  When I blow my nose, there is nothing there.  As the night progresses, my throat gets tighter and tighter and the mouth breathing gets more pronounced.  This creates the horrible dry mouth along with other discomforts.  Last night Kelly ended up getting up and getting some Motrin to try to back off some of the swelling.  I slept on ice packs all night. Maybe I should have gone with Benedryl.

After perusing several "drug" websites, many of my side effects are listed in the "rare" category for Albuterol. Fortunately none of them are in the "rush to the ER" category, although another night of being slowly strangled would probably get me there.  Here's to  hoping my lungs are cleared out enough now that my body can take it from here.

I spent sometime last night on my old friend the foam roller.  At first, even with a stack of hand towels, I couldn't get my head down, but finally it released enough. My back has been aching.  I could blame that on the Albuterol, or on the fact that the increased swelling in my face/neck means that my back has to make more accomodations than usual.  Either way, it hurts.  I was not feeling masochistic enough to roll those tennis balls up my spine just yet.  The foam roller was enough of a stretch and a push to get things at least close to back where they belong.

With all of the swelling, Mia had her work cut out for her yesterday. She did a masterful job as I managed to fall asleep for a lot of it.  You wouldn't think Karissa's DS music and someone trying to push fluid out of your neck would be all that relaxing, but it was.  Hopefully I will have more progress at acupuncture today.

Karissa also had her annual recheck at the eye doctor.  While she will continue to wear a progressive lens, her vision has improved quite a bit.  She was able to get down to the 20-20 line uncorrected, which is amazing.  We first realized she needed glasses when she stopped going down the slide/jumping in the pool because she couldn't see to the bottom.  Her nearsightedness was quite severe.  Now there are no signs of it, but she does continue to have an astigmatism. She will be showing off her new bright pink RayBans in seven to ten days.

We were at the eye doctor so long that we didn't make it to riding.  Thankfully Ms. Lori was able to reschedule us.  We have the leaking hose to fix, the never ending laundry, and the dish washer that works when it feels like to deal with.  Every one has chores.

We finished season three of Downton Abbey, so we have almost caught up.  *Spoiler Alert* Does anyone else find it strange/interesting/lame that they chose to kill off both Sybil and Matthew hours after their first child was born? The Albuterol dreams are bad enough, but I didn't need to keep revisiting the picture of Matthew pinned under his car all night.  I can't imagine this will make Mary's demeanor any less foul. Heaven help Edith.

Oh, and no, I don't have any biopsy results.  Yes, I sent the nudging email, so hopefully today.  I want to go with they slipped his mind because it was nothing.  Let's hope it is that.

If you have any good mojo left over, I could really use some uninterrupted sleep.  I know I am always asking for something.  If not, at least enjoy your sleep!

Until tomorrow...