Medical stuff

[feuervogel]

I've been battling random bouts of nausea and other digestive issues since the end of June. I thought about calling my doctor after ReaderCon and the quasi-food-poisoning issue, but I didn't, and I tried a little experiment of eliminating vitamins. Then Sunday I woke up sick yet again, so I decided to call the doctor after I got back from Asheville (because I was feeling well enough in the afternoon to make the drive). Then I woke up Monday morning feeling like crap, and having to deal with guilt for not showing up as promised to the job site, and eventually I felt well enough to go in, and I worked 1-9 pm.

Since Saturday night, I've eaten a sleeve of saltines, a couple bites of pumpkin cookie, a bit of zucchini bread, and a mountain dew. Just now, I was hungry enough to eat a slice of zucchini bread. I've lost close to 5 pounds since I got back from Europe. (On top of the 7ish I lost there, when I was walking 6 miles+ a day.) Yeah, I'd like to lose weight, but not because I'm nauseated or terrified that the next food I eat will make me nauseated.

I called my doctor yesterday morning and made an appointment for this afternoon. I went through my symptoms, and she agreed that it isn't normal, and the only 'different' things I've had recently was the trip to Germany (because if it was Austria or Hungary, Ben would probably be sick, too). So it's either a weird German parasite or my gall bladder.

She's referring me to the radiologists for an ultrasound, and if that's negative, I have a prescription for metronidazole x 10 days. I might almost prefer having my gall bladder out than taking metronidazole TID for 10 days.

From poking around on the internet, the symptoms fit, and I have 3 of the risk factors (female, fat, family, forty). My dad apparently needs his GB out.

Comments

[madmanatw.livejournal.com]

Wishing you medical luck.

[feuervogel]

Thanks :)

[tiercel]

Wow, suck city. I love how the side effects for that stuff (which I first read as metroidazole, which made me wonder where you'd gotten exposed to the X parasite, but never mind that) are as bad as your symptoms. Still, I hope they don't find anything wrong with your gall bladder.

[feuervogel]

You can't drink alcohol with metronidazole. This makes me incredibly sad.

Mostly I just want the suck to go away so I can have a normal life again.

[amakarie.livejournal.com]

My stepmom had the same nausea symptoms; she ended up losing a lot of weight cos she was nauseaous all the time. The actual operation isn't that invasive, I think she was better in a short time, and that's saying a lot cos she's very ill. I hope it's not as serious as something that requires surgery, but if it is, it's thankfully not that big of one.

[feuervogel]

Yeah, it's not all the time for me, just periodically and without any sort of pattern I can deduce, which is frustrating as hell.

I just hope they can find something useful on ultrasound.

[eirias.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry, C. I got halfway through the post and wondered if it was a gall bladder thing. Another woman I know who's around your age had problems with hers a couple years ago. I think she lost something like 30 pounds before they diagnosed the problem -- I'm glad that hasn't been you; ever since then it's been one of my pet peeves when people assume that weight loss is a good thing, because sometimes it isn't.

Good luck figuring out for sure what it is, and dealing with it.

[feuervogel]

Uuugh, I hate that, too. I mean, sudden or rapid weight loss is bad! But noes, death fat is worse. :P

My doctor is pretty sympathetic, thankfully.

Thanks; I hope I can get in for u/s ASAP.

[thesmallwonder.livejournal.com]

Another friend of mine just had to go to the ER for gallbladder issues. Craziness.

I hope you feel better and they figure it all out. Maybe try cutting the c affine too? That's what my friends doctor told him as well, and he says it helped him recover some.

Anyways, feel tons better soon.

[feuervogel]

I only drink 1 cup of coffee a day (most of the time). I don't really *want* to cold turkey caffeine. I can go about 30 hours before my head starts to hurt, 36 is when the serious head-splode phase starts in.

I hope they can find something useful on u/s. The site I found said not all GB issues are visible on u/s.

[anacoluthon.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Hopefully it's something easy to deal with, although at this point I guess that doesn't seem too likely.

Kassi had her gallbladder out a year or two ago and it didn't seem to be too hard on her. If that's the route you have to go down, I guess there are a lot worse things you could have to have removed.

No alcohol for a while is rough, though!

[feuervogel]

Gall bladder surgery is relatively simple these days.

I remembered this morning that I had a few bouts of waking up with nausea before I went to Germany, just completely random at like 3 am. It could be related.

[pharna.livejournal.com]

Dude, I didn't think that food poisoning could last that long.

Says she who got Giardia and had the nastiest shits for 2 weeks while the person who took just a few sips from the same bottle was hospitalized with IV antibiotics for 2 months....

Get better nyo, and hot pocari works wonders for helping you regain vital electrolytes and NOT pissing off your guts.

Though after some super foul burritos, I remember vomiting water. Hell, if I swallowed too much saliva at once, my guts got pissed off. Sipping half a tsp of pocari through a straw every time I swallowed for 3 days blew bile.

[feuervogel]

I don't think it's food poisoning. It could be something weird, or it could be my body revolting against me. Stupid body.

I hope my doctor can figure something out that doesn't involve metronidazole...