I've been struggling a lot with my health this past week. All I can do is pray for strength.
Last Monday, I started taking sulfasalazine. Then on Wednesday I started feeling sick. It felt like just a cold with a really sore throat. Thursday came and I started feeling nauseated, feverish, sore, and even threw up a couple times so I thought that maybe it was the flu. On Friday my left ear started feeling plugged. Then it started ringing. And by the evening I heard just about everything echo in my left ear, but especially my own voice and higher pitches. Then I remembered that it might be a reaction to the new drug and checked the symptoms listed. I had almost all of them listed on the 'contact your GP' list but not the 'get help ASAP' list.
Since my GP and rheumatologist were closed until Monday, I went to the walk in clinic on Saturday. The nurse working said that she really couldn't tell if it was a flu or a reaction to my new medication. She suggested that every once in a while I hold my nose and blow out my ears to help with the fluid causing the ringing and echoing.
I felt alright at the time, so Rohan and I went mini golfing with our Bible study. I felt super drained after and went home to take a long nap. Then I felt better and went to book club. I also got to see the puppy that I watched a week or so ago. He was so happy to see me!
I woke up Sunday to discover that I had lost my voice! It happens to me a lot. I never lost my voice until I got a cold about a month after my brain tumour surgery and since then I've lost it at least once a year, probably more. It's just really frustrating on Sundays because I love singing in church! (my voice is coming back today it's just a lot lower for now!)
I finally could call the rheumatologist on Monday morning. I left a message with reception and they called me back this morning. They said that my rheumatologist is about to go on holiday for the next two weeks and I should go to my GP and they should be able to tell me if it's the drug or not.
My usual GP didn't have any appointments until Friday, so I went to the female one that I go to sometimes. She had an appointment at noon today. She said that she's pretty sure that what I have is just a cold. But sometimes people get these symptoms in the first week or so which is why they start out with one pill a day and increase to two twice a day over the course of a month.
So basically I just have to push through it. She also told me that my new medication is an immunosuppressant. Somehow I missed that in all of my reading about it! So my request to anyone that I see regularly is that they are especially careful around me when they might be sick.
She also tried to give me medication for my nausea but luckily the computer caught that it was the medication that I'm really allergic to! As I was leaving, she also told me to come back when I am feeling better because I can get a flu shot. It'll be covered by medicare which I think is because I'm on an immunosuppressant.
I also asked her about the MRI that said I have a polycystic ovary. She said it's nothing to worry about now. I'm already on birth control which is a common treatment. They can only treat the symptoms so I don't have anything else to do. It can impact fertility, but some women are still able to conceive or they have treatments. Either way that's a problem to deal with in the future. For now I just want the ringing in my ears to stop!
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