What the doctors don't tell you
It's been a week since my last asthma attack and unfortunately I'm not feeling as hot as I'd like. Apparently one's body doesn't bounce right back when it has 2 serious asthma attacks in 4 days. Who knew! Now that I'm out of the woods (knock on wood), I can really talk about what happened without getting upset and wheezy. Now that I'm in rural P-A, hospitals are not exactly right around the corner. So when the ambulance showed up the first time, needless to say I was a little hesitant to hop on the gurney when my "paramedics" were in dirty jeans and hoodies. Were these really paramedics or did these guys steal one from a McDonald's parking lot? I didn't die along the way so I guess it worked out. The 2nd ambulance trip was brought to you by an elderly couple and their tattooed son. Super! The hospital was very small and was literally over the river and through the woods. And I was not impressed with the doctors either. Not to be racially stereotyping but they were from somewhere in the Middle East and the English language was definitely not their forte and having bedside manners apparently wasn't important either! There's nothing like being in an ER, not breathing too well, and having some guy throw you forward to check your lungs.
They gave me an injection of this steroid Prednisone and then some pills of it to take afterward as well. Now this drug relieves inflammation/swelling and is normally used for people with rheumatoid arthritis. What the doctors DON'T tell you is how bad this stuff is for you and its super side effects! Where do I begin! Your heart feels like it is literally going to pound right out of your chest and onto the floor. Thinking about lifting your finger makes it pound more. Now when you do finally get off this crap, oh boy are you in for a fun ride! You go through withdrawals like some stupid drug addict. You get pounding headaches, vertigo, nausea, dizziness and serious spinning sensations. It's like your worst hangover. I tried to nap yesterday but everytime I closed my eyes, the spinning would get worse and before you knew it, I was on the verge of running for the bathroom. So I typed in "prednisone side effects" into Yahoo and wouldn't ya know, it lists a multitude of effects...most of which I was experiencing. It also mentioned that "patient may experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms upon stopping." You don't say.
0 comments:
Post a Comment