New meds are No Fun sometimes

[cjsmith]

I've tried all the things that had a good chance of helping my foot problems. Now I'm trying the extreme long shots. This month it's a medication for neuropathic pain. First dose was this morning.

I am dizzy and queasy. I can't tell whether I'm too hot or too cold. My hands are a little shaky. None of this is severe, but it all adds up to Unpleasant. Why, oh why, did I take my first dose of this thing on a day I had this much work to do?

Wow, I didn't even get to POST this. That was quick. I'm back from the restroom now. I think I feel better.

Comments

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

Oh CJ, I'm sorry! Medicine is supposed to make things better, not worse! (Is it Lyrica? That's supposed to have fewer side effects than its predecessor, Neurontin, but it still does cause side effects, especially for the first couple of weeks.)

If the side effects are really bad, don't feel you have to push through it unless it's doing a great job of relieving your usual pain. When I started taking an antidepressant it made a zombie out of me. I kept insisting I would stick it out and the symptoms would go away in two weeks, but Ken finally talked me into giving it up -- which in hindsight was the right choice, because the drug was exacerbating my depression instead of relieving it!

But I hope the drug is doing a great job of relieving the pain, and that the side effects are transitory and quickly gone!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'll try to push through it only long enough to find out if it's doing a good job of relieving my pain. This is one of those build-up-over-days kinds of things. We'll see.

Today I ate first and took the pill right after my bowl of oatmeal. If the timing works out the same as yesterday, I'll keep breakfast and lose lunch. :-) (That's a win. Yesterday I lost breakfast and couldn't eat lunch, so I think I kept about 450 calories, all told. Today I hope to keep breakfast *and* eat some dinner.)