Sick of being sick
Sunday, November 13, 2011
A lot has been happening over the past week …
I think I mentioned in my last blog that I’ve been coughing since August 22nd. Three months of coughing! It was exhausting! I couldn’t even exert myself without gasping for air and having a coughing fit. I’d been to the doctor a few times. I waited as long as I could. I was hoping that it would go away on its own. Then around Halloween I gave in and went to my doctor. He diagnosed me with bronchitis and put me on antibiotics. After a week, I still was coughing. I went back. He sent me for a chest x-ray, took lots of blood, and gave me a script for prednisone. After a week I was still coughing. The chest x-ray was clear and my blood showed no sign of infection or virus. However, my blood did show that I was having an off the charts allergic reaction to dust. I left the doctor’s office on Wednesday with five different prescriptions: an antihistamine, an abuteral inhaler, singulair, a maintenance inhaler to be taken nightly, and a nasal spray. I told my doctor that I didn’t want to take all these drugs!! He agreed to cancel the nasal spray, but said I was “in denial” about my severe allergies and needed to go to a pulmonologist and an allergist.
I’m not happy. The singulair gave me a pounding headache so I stopped taking it. The maintenance inhaler made me sick to the stomach- come to find out the second ingredient in that inhaler is lactose. LACTOSE!! I’m furious. I’m a vegan and he gives me lactose! I threw it out. I’m still taking the antihistamine, but it makes me feel dehydrated and tired. I have the worse dry mouth. The only good news is that after visiting my doctor I took two puffs of the abuteral inhaler and stopped coughing. I can breathe now.
Dr Fuhrman says that every drug is toxic. I hate putting toxins in my body. I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist for my allergies since March. I just had my first sinus infection free summer. I went all summer without suffering with my usual itchy eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat and sneezing. I thought the acupuncture was working and now I get hit with this. Instead of my usual hay fever, I’m having an asthmatic reaction to allergies. Wonderful.
I have an appointment with the pulmonologist in December and then I’ll probably end up at an allergist. I don’t really want to go. I wish there was another answer to my miserable allergies. When I was younger I took allergy shots for 11 years. They didn’t help then. I don’t think they will help now.
I have an appointment with my acupuncturist tomorrow. I really want his take on this. I know he doesn’t like allergy shots. I want there to be an answer somewhere in between my doctor and my acupuncturist.
In the meantime, I’m just looking after other aspects of my health. I’m currently re-reading ETL. I bought the new revised edition and I’m busy educating myself again. I trust Dr Fuhrman. I wish he was my main doctor.