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Low Energy Level After Nissen Surgery
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|
| MrUsaMike 2006-06-21, 9:23 pm |
| Hello Fellow Members:
Its been (2) months since Nissen surgery and I feel like someone
flipped off my energy switch and I'm running on a 1/4 tank of fuel. I
have had all the blood tests and EKG tests. The only thing worth noting
was that my Thyroid was 2 points low and then normal on the 2nd test. I
have no fever. I still have minor stomach and chest pain. My primary
physician feels that it might be a slow recovery from the anesthesia
used during surgery. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This has
been going on for 6 weeks.
Mike
| |
|
| MrUsaMike wrote:
> Hello Fellow Members:
>
> Its been (2) months since Nissen surgery and I feel like someone
> flipped off my energy switch and I'm running on a 1/4 tank of fuel. I
> have had all the blood tests and EKG tests. The only thing worth
> noting was that my Thyroid was 2 points low and then normal on the
> 2nd test. I have no fever. I still have minor stomach and chest pain.
> My primary physician feels that it might be a slow recovery from the
> anesthesia used during surgery. Any help would be greatly
> appreciated. This has been going on for 6 weeks.
>
> Mike
Mike...It's good to hear from you again. I would like to know what your
overall assessment is regarding the surgery (before the surgery, and after
at 6 weeks).
Perhaps it is still too early to tell, since some surgeries can take months
for a return back to normal, but in your case we are hoping for an
improvement (ie not a return back to normal, or your previous condition).
Do you think the surgery was worth it, as of now, and do you have any
problems swallowing or belching. I don't buy the crap about a slow recovery
from the anesthesia (have you ever had any trouble with anesthesia before).
Please keep us informed on your development, and any changes, and hopefully
improvements. Best wishes...Pete
| |
|
| Hi Mike,
Did you wake up OK from the anaesthesia? I ask because 4 weeks ago I had my
gall bladder out and I landed in intensive care afterwards (a common
occurrence for me - it was my 9th operation) - the oxygen was great. I had
warned the team prior to the op. I was told that I lack an enyzme that is
required to break down the anaesthetic.
It can take time to recover from anaesthetics, but I agree with Pete that
what you are describing does not sound as though it has anything to do with
the anaesthetic. In my humble non-medical opinion (but being a fairly
experienced patient) you need a second opinion. Have you a low grade
post-operation infection? This is highly likely and will not necessarily
show up in the bloods. It happens to me frequently. Have they inadvertently
damaged any other organ during the operation - small perforation? Have they
left an instrument or a swab inside you? An ultrasound examination would
help you eliminate a few things, but you will have to discuss the
possibilities with your doc.
Your quality of life has taken a nose-dive from what I understand and the
doctors should be concerned. To my mind, if you have had a reaction to the
anaesthetic then it would have been apparent in the hospital. But, who am I
and I do agree that anything is possible - I have learnt through bitter
experience.
Alternatively, you could have something else going on and the way that you
are feeling could be coincidental to your operation (perhaps not so likely,
but an enventuality). The thyroid problem would make you feel tired, but it
is unlikely to make you feel that wrung out. Obviously, short term
prophylactic TSH treatment here would rule out that the thyroid is causing
the problem. I am not a fan of prophylactic antibiotic treatments, but
discuss this possibility also with your doctor.
All the best,
Vanny
"MrUsaMike" <mrusamike@hotmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:1150925476.417180.201680@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Hello Fellow Members:
Its been (2) months since Nissen surgery and I feel like someone
flipped off my energy switch and I'm running on a 1/4 tank of fuel. I
have had all the blood tests and EKG tests. The only thing worth noting
was that my Thyroid was 2 points low and then normal on the 2nd test. I
have no fever. I still have minor stomach and chest pain. My primary
physician feels that it might be a slow recovery from the anesthesia
used during surgery. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This has
been going on for 6 weeks.
Mike
| |
| Howard McCollister 2006-06-22, 8:22 am |
|
"MrUsaMike" <mrusamike@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1150925476.417180.201680@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hello Fellow Members:
>
> Its been (2) months since Nissen surgery and I feel like someone
> flipped off my energy switch and I'm running on a 1/4 tank of fuel. I
> have had all the blood tests and EKG tests. The only thing worth noting
> was that my Thyroid was 2 points low and then normal on the 2nd test. I
> have no fever. I still have minor stomach and chest pain. My primary
> physician feels that it might be a slow recovery from the anesthesia
> used during surgery. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This has
> been going on for 6 weeks.
>
> Mike
>
Could be a lot of reasons - nutrition, interrupted sleep patterns, lack of
your usual excercise routine, psychological (depression). No, it's not from
the anesthesia - your doctor needs to read more. The enzyme Vanny say he was
told he lacks has nothing to do with anesthesia - there is no such enzyme.
There is an enzyme that some people lack for breaking down one of the muscle
relaxants that used to be commonly used, but that's an acute problem - not
one that lasts more than 24 hours and true lack of that enzyme is obvious.
How is your eating? Has it helped your reflux at all?
HMc
| |
|
| Nice post Vanny...it is good to hear from you again. It has been kind of
slow in here recently. I hope you are doing the best that you can :-)
....Pete
Vanny wrote:
> Hi Mike,
>
> Did you wake up OK from the anaesthesia? I ask because 4 weeks ago I
> had my gall bladder out and I landed in intensive care afterwards (a
> common occurrence for me - it was my 9th operation) - the oxygen was
> great. I had warned the team prior to the op. I was told that I lack
> an enyzme that is required to break down the anaesthetic.
>
> It can take time to recover from anaesthetics, but I agree with Pete
> that what you are describing does not sound as though it has anything
> to do with the anaesthetic. In my humble non-medical opinion (but
> being a fairly experienced patient) you need a second opinion. Have
> you a low grade post-operation infection? This is highly likely and
> will not necessarily show up in the bloods. It happens to me
> frequently. Have they inadvertently damaged any other organ during
> the operation - small perforation? Have they left an instrument or a
> swab inside you? An ultrasound examination would help you eliminate a
> few things, but you will have to discuss the possibilities with your
> doc.
>
> Your quality of life has taken a nose-dive from what I understand and
> the doctors should be concerned. To my mind, if you have had a
> reaction to the anaesthetic then it would have been apparent in the
> hospital. But, who am I and I do agree that anything is possible - I
> have learnt through bitter experience.
>
> Alternatively, you could have something else going on and the way
> that you are feeling could be coincidental to your operation (perhaps
> not so likely, but an enventuality). The thyroid problem would make
> you feel tired, but it is unlikely to make you feel that wrung out.
> Obviously, short term prophylactic TSH treatment here would rule out
> that the thyroid is causing the problem. I am not a fan of
> prophylactic antibiotic treatments, but discuss this possibility also
> with your doctor.
>
> All the best,
>
> Vanny
>
>
> "MrUsaMike" <mrusamike@hotmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:1150925476.417180.201680@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hello Fellow Members:
>
> Its been (2) months since Nissen surgery and I feel like someone
> flipped off my energy switch and I'm running on a 1/4 tank of fuel. I
> have had all the blood tests and EKG tests. The only thing worth
> noting
> was that my Thyroid was 2 points low and then normal on the 2nd test.
> I have no fever. I still have minor stomach and chest pain. My primary
> physician feels that it might be a slow recovery from the anesthesia
> used during surgery. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This has
> been going on for 6 weeks.
>
> Mike
| |
|
| Hi Pete,
I am doing OK. I have had a few problems with one of my medications since
the beginning of May - Creon (mere pancreas enzymes). I appear to have
developed an allergic reaction to it (an acknowledged side-effect) and have
struggled with varying degrees of functional ileus (paralysis of the gut)
plus closure of the resection site (anastomosis) and mechanical ileus off
and on over the past few weeks. Two gastroenterologists I rang said that it
was unlikely to be the pancreatine (more the lipocol aka questran and/or
iron), two were neutral and my GP said that she thought that I was right. I
am seeing my internist next Tues. to sort it out. In the meantime (the
scientist that I am) I have done the control experiment and restarted just
the Creon (a miniscule dose) and protonix (pantoprazole) and nearly landed
in hospital with severe stomach pains again. If the docs don't want to
believe me, that's their problem, but I am not taking the stuff ever again.
I had sensitivity problems to it from the word go when I started it in
September. I am just on the protonix, ursofalk, iron, zinc, calcium and
vitamin D at the moment and have absolutely no problems with this regime. My
surgeon told me that I should go into hospital when I have symptoms of
intestinal closure, early May it had closed to the points where I could
hardly walk due to extreme dizziness and vision disturbances, but it
resolved itself after I threw up a few times and slept for a few hours.
You know what it is like - there is little imagination in the medical world
and a lot of the docs don't have a clue about the side-effects of the drugs
they prescribe. The number of times I have been told that there is no way
that my symptom(s) could be attributed to my medication is phenomenal and
then, what happens?, I look them up in the US data base or patient leaflets
and low and behold they are recorded side-effects. The patient leaflets in
Germany do not carry the extremely rare side-effects, because they are only
obliged by law to include 99.9% of reported side-effects, whereas the US
data appear to have to include everything. www.drugs.com is a good reference
point, www.rxlist.com is not as good, but the two often complement each
other. However, often I have to search several sites to obtain a complete
picture and the answers I require.
I had severe joint pains in Jan/Feb and at first I thought that it was a
flare up of my enteropathic arthritis (due to the Crohn's) or rheumatoid
arthritis, which often comes hand in hand with Crohn's (either RA or other
immune diseases), but the pains were far different from what I have
previously experienced. My GP said carpal tunnel syndrome for the pains in
my hand, but all the small joints were affected and eventually my ankles. I
traced this back to the high dose of protonix I was having to take due to
the colic. Once I got the protonix back down to the maintenance dose of 20
mg per day the joint problems disappeared. My GP had never heard of it -
even though it is a side-effect detailed in the patient leaflet.
The good news is that my severe anorexia symptoms have been brought under
control by forcing my GP to inject me with the fat soluble vitamin (A, D, E,
K) every month. I inject with folic acid every week and take 1 mg vitamin
B12 sublingual each day (can't inject because I had an anaphylactic shock
the third time I injected). I had a hard time convincing my GP that I could
not absorb vitamin B12 in my terminal intestine because that was one of the
sections of intestine that I am missing. She thought that it was absorbed in
the stomach, so I had to tell her about production of the intrinsic factor
in the stomach, which then binds to the vitamin B12 released from the food
due to acid and protease breakdown of the food in the stomach. She was not
aware that vitamin B12 deficiency was a potential problem in long-term PPI
treatment and she takes PPIs herself. I despair a lot of the time with
doctors. I am sure that they must get a good education in the Unis, but it
doesn't seem to last for very long.
I am trying to work from home again, but I am not even able to make the 2.5
hours due to severe tiredness and having to drink continuously and eat every
two hours due to the short bowel syndrome. It looks as though I am going to
have to give up. They will then force me into disability and I do not want
them. I want a few doctors to put their heads together and find a decent
treatment for me.
Anyway, I'll stop harping on, but I think that you get the picture. My
defunct body is a major problem at the moment, GERD is the least of my
problems, and I have to acknowledge and be extremely grateful (sometimes I
wonder) for the various times that docs largely surgeons have saved my life.
All the best,
Vanny
"Pete" <pete@nospam.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:e7ekkr0frp@enews1.newsguy.com...
Nice post Vanny...it is good to hear from you again. It has been kind of
slow in here recently. I hope you are doing the best that you can :-)
....Pete
Vanny wrote:
> Hi Mike,
>
> Did you wake up OK from the anaesthesia? I ask because 4 weeks ago I
> had my gall bladder out and I landed in intensive care afterwards (a
> common occurrence for me - it was my 9th operation) - the oxygen was
> great. I had warned the team prior to the op. I was told that I lack
> an enyzme that is required to break down the anaesthetic.
>
> It can take time to recover from anaesthetics, but I agree with Pete
> that what you are describing does not sound as though it has anything
> to do with the anaesthetic. In my humble non-medical opinion (but
> being a fairly experienced patient) you need a second opinion. Have
> you a low grade post-operation infection? This is highly likely and
> will not necessarily show up in the bloods. It happens to me
> frequently. Have they inadvertently damaged any other organ during
> the operation - small perforation? Have they left an instrument or a
> swab inside you? An ultrasound examination would help you eliminate a
> few things, but you will have to discuss the possibilities with your
> doc.
>
> Your quality of life has taken a nose-dive from what I understand and
> the doctors should be concerned. To my mind, if you have had a
> reaction to the anaesthetic then it would have been apparent in the
> hospital. But, who am I and I do agree that anything is possible - I
> have learnt through bitter experience.
>
> Alternatively, you could have something else going on and the way
> that you are feeling could be coincidental to your operation (perhaps
> not so likely, but an enventuality). The thyroid problem would make
> you feel tired, but it is unlikely to make you feel that wrung out.
> Obviously, short term prophylactic TSH treatment here would rule out
> that the thyroid is causing the problem. I am not a fan of
> prophylactic antibiotic treatments, but discuss this possibility also
> with your doctor.
>
> All the best,
>
> Vanny
>
>
> "MrUsaMike" <mrusamike@hotmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:1150925476.417180.201680@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hello Fellow Members:
>
> Its been (2) months since Nissen surgery and I feel like someone
> flipped off my energy switch and I'm running on a 1/4 tank of fuel. I
> have had all the blood tests and EKG tests. The only thing worth
> noting
> was that my Thyroid was 2 points low and then normal on the 2nd test.
> I have no fever. I still have minor stomach and chest pain. My primary
> physician feels that it might be a slow recovery from the anesthesia
> used during surgery. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This has
> been going on for 6 weeks.
>
> Mike
| |
|
| Vanny...my heart is with you. Just a couple minor points. You mentioned
going to an internist to sort things out (versus your GP, and the other
specialists you go to). I always try to have an internist as my primary
care physician (not that it really matters - lol). Internists are supposed
to be a notch above family and general practitioners, but I tend to doubt
it, especially since they only have to do a three year residency (in the
U.S.), just like the family and general practitioners. The reason I mention
this is that you may want to have an internist as your primary care doc, but
I tend to doubt that since you sound very comfortable with your GP, and it
seems that she will listen to you without dismissing you for knowing too
much, which is my main complaint about friggen doctors.
Also you mention patient leaflets, and the U.S. data base for side effects.
Don't forget the package inserts for the drugs (from the pharma company -
you can get them on the Internet). Perhaps that is what you meant by the
patient leaflets, but I didn't think so.
I wish you the very best and I hope things get better...Pete
Vanny wrote:[vbcol=seagreen]
> Hi Pete,
>
> I am doing OK. I have had a few problems with one of my medications
> since the beginning of May - Creon (mere pancreas enzymes). I appear
> to have developed an allergic reaction to it (an acknowledged
> side-effect) and have struggled with varying degrees of functional
> ileus (paralysis of the gut) plus closure of the resection site
> (anastomosis) and mechanical ileus off and on over the past few
> weeks. Two gastroenterologists I rang said that it was unlikely to be
> the pancreatine (more the lipocol aka questran and/or iron), two were
> neutral and my GP said that she thought that I was right. I am seeing
> my internist next Tues. to sort it out. In the meantime (the
> scientist that I am) I have done the control experiment and restarted
> just the Creon (a miniscule dose) and protonix (pantoprazole) and
> nearly landed in hospital with severe stomach pains again. If the
> docs don't want to believe me, that's their problem, but I am not
> taking the stuff ever again. I had sensitivity problems to it from
> the word go when I started it in September. I am just on the
> protonix, ursofalk, iron, zinc, calcium and vitamin D at the moment
> and have absolutely no problems with this regime. My surgeon told me
> that I should go into hospital when I have symptoms of intestinal
> closure, early May it had closed to the points where I could hardly
> walk due to extreme dizziness and vision disturbances, but it
> resolved itself after I threw up a few times and slept for a few
> hours.
>
> You know what it is like - there is little imagination in the medical
> world and a lot of the docs don't have a clue about the side-effects
> of the drugs they prescribe. The number of times I have been told
> that there is no way that my symptom(s) could be attributed to my
> medication is phenomenal and then, what happens?, I look them up in
> the US data base or patient leaflets and low and behold they are
> recorded side-effects. The patient leaflets in Germany do not carry
> the extremely rare side-effects, because they are only obliged by law
> to include 99.9% of reported side-effects, whereas the US data appear
> to have to include everything. www.drugs.com is a good reference
> point, www.rxlist.com is not as good, but the two often complement
> each other. However, often I have to search several sites to obtain a
> complete picture and the answers I require.
>
> I had severe joint pains in Jan/Feb and at first I thought that it
> was a flare up of my enteropathic arthritis (due to the Crohn's) or
> rheumatoid arthritis, which often comes hand in hand with Crohn's
> (either RA or other immune diseases), but the pains were far
> different from what I have previously experienced. My GP said carpal
> tunnel syndrome for the pains in my hand, but all the small joints
> were affected and eventually my ankles. I traced this back to the
> high dose of protonix I was having to take due to the colic. Once I
> got the protonix back down to the maintenance dose of 20 mg per day
> the joint problems disappeared. My GP had never heard of it - even
> though it is a side-effect detailed in the patient leaflet.
>
> The good news is that my severe anorexia symptoms have been brought
> under control by forcing my GP to inject me with the fat soluble
> vitamin (A, D, E, K) every month. I inject with folic acid every week
> and take 1 mg vitamin B12 sublingual each day (can't inject because I
> had an anaphylactic shock the third time I injected). I had a hard
> time convincing my GP that I could not absorb vitamin B12 in my
> terminal intestine because that was one of the sections of intestine
> that I am missing. She thought that it was absorbed in the stomach,
> so I had to tell her about production of the intrinsic factor in the
> stomach, which then binds to the vitamin B12 released from the food
> due to acid and protease breakdown of the food in the stomach. She
> was not aware that vitamin B12 deficiency was a potential problem in
> long-term PPI treatment and she takes PPIs herself. I despair a lot
> of the time with doctors. I am sure that they must get a good
> education in the Unis, but it doesn't seem to last for very long.
>
> I am trying to work from home again, but I am not even able to make
> the 2.5 hours due to severe tiredness and having to drink
> continuously and eat every two hours due to the short bowel syndrome.
> It looks as though I am going to have to give up. They will then
> force me into disability and I do not want them. I want a few doctors
> to put their heads together and find a decent treatment for me.
>
> Anyway, I'll stop harping on, but I think that you get the picture. My
> defunct body is a major problem at the moment, GERD is the least of my
> problems, and I have to acknowledge and be extremely grateful
> (sometimes I wonder) for the various times that docs largely surgeons
> have saved my life.
>
> All the best,
>
> Vanny
>
>
>
> "Pete" <pete@nospam.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:e7ekkr0frp@enews1.newsguy.com...
> Nice post Vanny...it is good to hear from you again. It has been
> kind of slow in here recently. I hope you are doing the best that
> you can :-) ...Pete
>
> Vanny wrote:
| |
| Howard McCollister 2006-06-23, 4:23 pm |
|
"Pete" <pete@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:e7hgms0uji@enews3.newsguy.com...
> Internists are supposed to be a notch above family and general
> practitioners, but I tend to doubt it, especially since they only have to
> do a three year residency (in the U.S.), just like the family and general
> practitioners.
Family Practice residencies require broad-based rotations, including stints
in Surgery, Pediatrics, OB-GYN. They spend a lot of their training time
learning to deliver babies, do minor office surgery, and care for children.
In those same three years, a internist's training is all about adult
medicine. Likewise, their subsequent professional lives revolve around
practicing those respective areas, so their experience, their CME, their
reading is more diluted over various specialties.
"FP's know less and less about more and more - eventually they'll know
nothing about everything. Internists know more and more about less and
less - eventually they'll know everything about nothing...."
HMc
| |
|
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Howard McCollister wrote:
> "Pete" <pete@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:e7hgms0uji@enews3.newsguy.com...
>
> Family Practice residencies require broad-based rotations, including
> stints in Surgery, Pediatrics, OB-GYN. They spend a lot of their
> training time learning to deliver babies, do minor office surgery,
> and care for children. In those same three years, a internist's
> training is all about adult medicine. Likewise, their subsequent
> professional lives revolve around practicing those respective areas,
> so their experience, their CME, their reading is more diluted over
> various specialties.
> "FP's know less and less about more and more - eventually they'll know
> nothing about everything. Internists know more and more about less and
> less - eventually they'll know everything about nothing...."
>
> HMc
Thanks Howard...I was expecting you to comment as I was writing that, but
didn't want to get into all the subtleties involved (which you know better
than me).
Based on my vast experience going to doctors, I have found that internists
are basically the same as family practitioners or general practitioners (and
then there are the OB/GYN's which round out the list of so called "primary
physicians"). I prefer to have an internist for my primary care doctor, but
I think it matters very little, if at all.
Some internists also have side certifications in other specialties such as
cardiology, pulmonology and infectious disease, which is their main job (ie
the specialty), but they list themselves in the PPO directories in both
places (ie in their specialty, and also in internal medicine). I do not
consider internal medicine a specialty per se (if you will allow me), but
just another type of "primary care physician", since a doctor who practices
internal medicine only has to do a three year residency, like the other
primary care type physicians.
I understand what you said, and I really liked your last paragraph, and
believe that was very true :-) . Personally I don't think there is a whole
lot of difference between the internist, and the family practitioner, and
the general practitioner.
The bottom line is an internist will ship you off to a specialist in a
heartbeat, if you present with any kind of difficult problem at all (and I
also think they have gone too far with that concept), even though he or she
may have more training in a sub specialty so to speak.
Have a nice day :-) . It's been good talking to you again...Pete
| |
|
| Hi Pete,
My internist here in Germany was recommended to me as an expert in Crohn's
disease amongst other things. I sacked my old gastroenterologist due to his
utter incompetence. I still have my GP and she refers me to the internist
(who I see tomorrow for a new short bowel syndrome treatment). The system
appears to be different here in Germany, but if I remember I will ask him
tomorrow what his qualifications are.
Yes, I did mean the patient inserts. My command of the English language
slips very often and my German isn't really improving whilst I sit here
alone at home.
Believe it or not, I am not sitting here feeling sorry for myself - my
normal state is more murderous (general target various dotors and
authorities :-)) - but I have not got myself into trouble yet. I am working
on reducing the aggression and channeling the energy more usefully - like
working a couple of hours each day. What is very useful for me is to be able
to vent at the newsgroup - it frees my soul.
I really need a holiday, but I think that it would kill me - if you can
understand what I mean. Just the thought of packing a suitcase is enough to
make me have to lie down. I would like to go to Madeira again because the
climate is really mild and I am not a hot weather person. On the other hand,
I have found a Crohn's clinic in France, which is open to private and
non-private patients, where they would give me a good medical going over and
I could improve my French at the same time. I have already written my health
CV in French - I had to learn an awful lot of new words.
I am waiting until I feel somewhat better before I commit myself and I think
that the France project is the best bet because I can send my suitcases
ahead of time by rail and then sit on a train for a few hours probably
followed by a bus ride. I think that I would get too dehydrated in an
airplane at the moment and I don't want to have to be stretchered off.
All the best,
Vanny
"Pete" <pete@nospam.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:e7hgms0uji@enews3.newsguy.com...
Vanny...my heart is with you. Just a couple minor points. You mentioned
going to an internist to sort things out (versus your GP, and the other
specialists you go to). I always try to have an internist as my primary
care physician (not that it really matters - lol). Internists are supposed
to be a notch above family and general practitioners, but I tend to doubt
it, especially since they only have to do a three year residency (in the
U.S.), just like the family and general practitioners. The reason I mention
this is that you may want to have an internist as your primary care doc, but
I tend to doubt that since you sound very comfortable with your GP, and it
seems that she will listen to you without dismissing you for knowing too
much, which is my main complaint about friggen doctors.
Also you mention patient leaflets, and the U.S. data base for side effects.
Don't forget the package inserts for the drugs (from the pharma company -
you can get them on the Internet). Perhaps that is what you meant by the
patient leaflets, but I didn't think so.
I wish you the very best and I hope things get better...Pete
Vanny wrote:[vbcol=seagreen]
> Hi Pete,
>
> I am doing OK. I have had a few problems with one of my medications
> since the beginning of May - Creon (mere pancreas enzymes). I appear
> to have developed an allergic reaction to it (an acknowledged
> side-effect) and have struggled with varying degrees of functional
> ileus (paralysis of the gut) plus closure of the resection site
> (anastomosis) and mechanical ileus off and on over the past few
> weeks. Two gastroenterologists I rang said that it was unlikely to be
> the pancreatine (more the lipocol aka questran and/or iron), two were
> neutral and my GP said that she thought that I was right. I am seeing
> my internist next Tues. to sort it out. In the meantime (the
> scientist that I am) I have done the control experiment and restarted
> just the Creon (a miniscule dose) and protonix (pantoprazole) and
> nearly landed in hospital with severe stomach pains again. If the
> docs don't want to believe me, that's their problem, but I am not
> taking the stuff ever again. I had sensitivity problems to it from
> the word go when I started it in September. I am just on the
> protonix, ursofalk, iron, zinc, calcium and vitamin D at the moment
> and have absolutely no problems with this regime. My surgeon told me
> that I should go into hospital when I have symptoms of intestinal
> closure, early May it had closed to the points where I could hardly
> walk due to extreme dizziness and vision disturbances, but it
> resolved itself after I threw up a few times and slept for a few
> hours.
>
> You know what it is like - there is little imagination in the medical
> world and a lot of the docs don't have a clue about the side-effects
> of the drugs they prescribe. The number of times I have been told
> that there is no way that my symptom(s) could be attributed to my
> medication is phenomenal and then, what happens?, I look them up in
> the US data base or patient leaflets and low and behold they are
> recorded side-effects. The patient leaflets in Germany do not carry
> the extremely rare side-effects, because they are only obliged by law
> to include 99.9% of reported side-effects, whereas the US data appear
> to have to include everything. www.drugs.com is a good reference
> point, www.rxlist.com is not as good, but the two often complement
> each other. However, often I have to search several sites to obtain a
> complete picture and the answers I require.
>
> I had severe joint pains in Jan/Feb and at first I thought that it
> was a flare up of my enteropathic arthritis (due to the Crohn's) or
> rheumatoid arthritis, which often comes hand in hand with Crohn's
> (either RA or other immune diseases), but the pains were far
> different from what I have previously experienced. My GP said carpal
> tunnel syndrome for the pains in my hand, but all the small joints
> were affected and eventually my ankles. I traced this back to the
> high dose of protonix I was having to take due to the colic. Once I
> got the protonix back down to the maintenance dose of 20 mg per day
> the joint problems disappeared. My GP had never heard of it - even
> though it is a side-effect detailed in the patient leaflet.
>
> The good news is that my severe anorexia symptoms have been brought
> under control by forcing my GP to inject me with the fat soluble
> vitamin (A, D, E, K) every month. I inject with folic acid every week
> and take 1 mg vitamin B12 sublingual each day (can't inject because I
> had an anaphylactic shock the third time I injected). I had a hard
> time convincing my GP that I could not absorb vitamin B12 in my
> terminal intestine because that was one of the sections of intestine
> that I am missing. She thought that it was absorbed in the stomach,
> so I had to tell her about production of the intrinsic factor in the
> stomach, which then binds to the vitamin B12 released from the food
> due to acid and protease breakdown of the food in the stomach. She
> was not aware that vitamin B12 deficiency was a potential problem in
> long-term PPI treatment and she takes PPIs herself. I despair a lot
> of the time with doctors. I am sure that they must get a good
> education in the Unis, but it doesn't seem to last for very long.
>
> I am trying to work from home again, but I am not even able to make
> the 2.5 hours due to severe tiredness and having to drink
> continuously and eat every two hours due to the short bowel syndrome.
> It looks as though I am going to have to give up. They will then
> force me into disability and I do not want them. I want a few doctors
> to put their heads together and find a decent treatment for me.
>
> Anyway, I'll stop harping on, but I think that you get the picture. My
> defunct body is a major problem at the moment, GERD is the least of my
> problems, and I have to acknowledge and be extremely grateful
> (sometimes I wonder) for the various times that docs largely surgeons
> have saved my life.
>
> All the best,
>
> Vanny
>
>
>
> "Pete" <pete@nospam.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:e7ekkr0frp@enews1.newsguy.com...
> Nice post Vanny...it is good to hear from you again. It has been
> kind of slow in here recently. I hope you are doing the best that
> you can :-) ...Pete
>
> Vanny wrote:
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