| lesley153
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Thanks, Gary - it's pretty scary, the way they've expressed it and laid it out.
The only other medicine they've mentioned which I'm taking is Furosemide, which was prescribed by the GP (20mg a day) and the hospital (160mg a day!).
I started taking ranitidine, and I told him I was taking it when I stopped omeprazole, and he said they couldn't possibly do the job of the prescribed meds. They didn't - they were better. I knew what my worst triggers were, and what was OK to have early in the day but not near bedtime, and that it was better to try to go to sleep on my left. A packet of ranitidine tablets lasted a month for the first couple of months, and now I don't take anything. Whoopee!
I haven't seen nail changes before - I wonder what that means, and there is still nothing about sleep disturbance. |
Reply #762. Jun 27 10, 2:37 PM
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honeybee4 
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Lesley, are you sure it is from the Metaformin, or are you filling with fluid again like before your stay in the hospital the last time.
Reply #763. Jun 27 10, 2:57 PM
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| lesley153
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Judy, I'm not sure of anything, except that I was sleeping well off Metformin, went back on it and wasn't sleeping well any more. I know the usual instructions are to talk to your doctor, but he doesn't want to talk to me and I don't want to talk to him. (I'll be happy if I never see him again.) I've asked him about adverse reactions on two separate occasions, and he's just said keep taking the tablets.
I'm still on the same diuretics I was put on in hospital, and the fluid is staying off, thank goodness. I'm still horribly thin with bony ankles. |
Reply #764. Jun 27 10, 4:37 PM
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honeybee4
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It sounds like you are having no problems with retaing fluid, then. Are you having trouble breathing when you lie down, or through the day that could be linked to the heart failure?
Reply #765. Jun 27 10, 4:43 PM
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| lesley153
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| As long as I take things gently and slowly, I'm OK. If I do too much, I shall certainly need to stop and get my breath. I'm not stuck for breath when I lie down, thank goodness. Just stuck for sleep! :) |
Reply #766. Jun 27 10, 5:29 PM
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| Lochalsh
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Wasn't it Tennyson who said "'Tis better to be stuck for sleep than to be a stick in the mud"? ;-)
Reply #767. Jun 27 10, 7:53 PM
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| Professer
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well when i read it after you said it was what you were taking, just take it on board but do not worry. Sure you will be sorted.
What can you tell me about omeprazole as i have been on it for 3 weeks now not really helping me.
Reply #768. Jun 28 10, 12:44 AM
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| lesley153
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It's what I was given in the hospital when I had my ulcer nearly six years ago, and the relief was immediate. I've heard that it's supposed to be better if you take it at the same time each day, and people say that if you miss one you have to wait for the effect to build up again - a bit like pain-killers really. I was told to keep taking it for nearly five years before I said no, enough is enough. I have since read that it's not supposed to be taken for more than a short period - a fortnight, perhaps, can't remember - but certainly not five years. If it hasn't helped you in three weeks I would wonder why you're taking it.
Please sit down - I have good news, for a change.
The letter inviting me for the pre-admission clinic included a list for my GP to fill in, saying what medicines I'm on. I hadn't heard from them or Papworth, so I was going to call in on the surgery today, to ask about patient transport and to ask the woman who deals with repeat prescriptions to deal with the form.
First thing this morning, I got a call from Papworth. My surgery didn't ring her back on Friday so she's booking transport for me. Some GPs have a bee in their bonnet about this sort of thing, but it's less hassle if I arrange it. You're a heart patient - you're not supposed to get stressed!
I told her about my plan to visit the surgery for a list of meds, and she said no need, if I can just bring them all in, so the clinic nurses can be sure they're getting precise information - and I don't need to go there at all. Again. EVER! Yay! |
Reply #769. Jun 28 10, 4:37 AM
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| Professer
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Good news Lesley, was just going to say whilst i was waiting for my blood test today there was a woman came in and they booked her transport for hospital no arguments.
Reply #770. Jun 28 10, 4:40 AM
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| lesley153
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And she didn't need to be wheeled in in a wheelchair, or carried in on a trolley?
I booked my transport in the morning, no arguments. Just charm and helpfulness. Four hours later, it was cancelled. I have no idea what happened in those four hours, But it wouldn't have killed them to honour the arrangement. It wouldn't kill them to do a lot of things! |
Reply #771. Jun 28 10, 5:03 AM
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| Professer
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Lesley woman was in her 70's and can walk better then me.
Reply #772. Jun 28 10, 5:26 AM
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| lesley153
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As I thought. The woman at Papworth said that my lot had interpreted "the rules" correctly, but it seems to me that the rules are guidelines, to be ignored if it suits them, or to use against me if that's what they want to do.
Ah well - they won't be my lot much longer. |
Reply #773. Jun 28 10, 6:21 AM
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guitargoddess
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Lesley, all this medical talk reminds me - I finally had the pelvic ultrasound my family doctor requisitioned, and it turns out they can indeed do internal ultrasound. Not like surgical-interal or anything like that. But more invasive that just rubbing a wand on your abdomen! *Anyone who doesn't care for Too Much Information, stop reading now!* - transvaginal ultrasound. It was weird. lol. But still preferable to a lot of other medical tests I suppose!
Reply #774. Jun 28 10, 6:05 PM
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| lesley153
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Ah - right - I understand now - thank you! Who'd have thought it? I hope the results are all good.
Today I googled for local doctors, and rang one who was perfectly charming. I said I was registered with one who was two miles away, but was planning a move to about four miles away, and I am having surgery in a couple of weeks. I don't want one who's so far away, and would rather change now, pre-op, while I still have a bit of energy, than post-op, when I'll be a heap.
All I have to go is get there before 6 and fill some forms in. :) |
Reply #775. Jun 29 10, 8:58 AM
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| Professer
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hope all goes well Lesley and that they will organise transport too
Reply #776. Jun 29 10, 9:46 AM
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rayven80
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That sounds wonderful. Hope the forms don't take too long.
Reply #777. Jun 29 10, 10:29 AM
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honeybee4
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Good luck, Lesley. I hope all goes well.
Reply #778. Jun 29 10, 11:33 AM
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| lesley153
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Thank you everyone.
Patient transport has been arranged by Papworth, so that's one headache out of the way. The woman in Papworth admissions who rang my surgery was expecting them to call her back on Friday, which (predictably) they didn't. So she gave up and arranged it from her end. She said he's been strictly correct in his implementation of the rules (isn't that nice to know) but she seemed to think it was more important to keep a heart patient unstressed than it was to Be Correct.
Today I wandered round a few websites and ended up picking the one that looks closest. Word of mouth goes just so far - I've talked to a few people, and it seems that one patient's good fairy is another patient's monster. Just like schools. So I phoned up and got a very sweet and helpful person on the other end. Always a good start. She explained the procedure and said my impending surgery shouldn't be an obstacle to my acceptance. All I have to do is be inside their area, which I am.
I drove there a couple of hours later. I haven't driven there before, but I knew it was near the school, so I waited till I spotted a few schoolboys littering the pavement, and slid into a space. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw that I'd parked right outside the surgery. Is it an omen? The trip meter showed 1.1 miles, which is better than two and a lot better than four.
And then I still had time to take the registration forms into the waiting room to fill them in. It'll take a few days for the transfer to be complete, but I am so looking forward to telling Papworth on Thursday that I'm in the process of changing GPs.
All I've seen of the new place is that is has a huge, comfortable-looking waiting room, with a water dispenser, and a child's toy with no losable parts, and that the receptionists are are not only charming but also don't answer the phone when you're in mid-sentence. If they're with a patient, phone calls can wait. Yes! That's how it should be done!
The only niggling worry now is - supposing the people are all wonderful and the care is immaculate - what am I going to do with nothing to complain about? |
Reply #779. Jun 29 10, 12:00 PM
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| Lochalsh
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:-x
:-)
(I never was good with words.)
Reply #780. Jun 29 10, 12:18 PM
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