women's issue, medical mess

[Deb 45]

Hi all,

Its been awhile since I've posted. Its been a tough month and I was hoping someone might be able to reassure me.

I went to urgent care with symptoms of a urinary tract infection...burning/increased frequency of urination. I was diagnosed with a vaginal infection. They put me on metronidazole, which won't treat a urinary tract infection.

Two days later, still not feeling better. Went back to a primary physician who is new and found out later specializes in occupational health. Continue metronidazole. Sent home.

That night, tongue feels dry and swollen, lips are numb and feeling mentally out of it. Also major gastric reflux of foamy material for an entire afternoon. Went to emergency room where I was treated for an allergic reaction. Pretty freaked out by that. Went back again a few hours later. Treated again and sent home with prednisone and benadryl for three days. Went in yet another time because I felt like I was going to pass out. Asked if I could just take some anxiety meds and hang out for a while until I felt good enough to go home (live alone, afraid I won't be able to make it to the phone if I have a problem) So FINALLY, went home. Off all antibiotics.

Went back to primary doc, symptoms returning. Put on vaginal cream for 7 days. Symptoms never fully went away.

Returned to primary doctor after 7 days. Symptoms getting worse. Repeated urinalysis. This time consistent with urinary tract infection. Given cipro, 250 twice a day for 5 days. Thank goodness! Finally treated for uti.

Started cipro that day. Same day lumbar back pain starts. Worried about kidney infection. Symptoms seem to get better right after cipro, but return between doses. Scared. Continued cipro for two more days. Nurse said normal for pain to persist for a couple days into treatment.

Called after hours at clinic. Nurse practitioner tells me that he would have put me on 500 mg of cipro, and they didn't run a urine culture to see what antibiotic would work. Said that if he were my primary doc, he would have come in on sunday to get a urine sample and would have comped the fee for it. But I would have to drive to urgent care 20 miles away to drop it off tomorrow.

I was scared because now three days of back pain. Went back to ER to drop off urine for culture. Nurse argues with me when I request the culture. They wouldn't run it. Instead ended up with bloodwork that showed a high white cell count which led to a CT scan. CT was negative, but er doc says I have an infection, possibly in pelvic area. He doubles my cipro dose and adds doxycycline.

I'm at this point scared to sleep because I feel back pain. Slept past my morning dose of cipro and had pain in my right abdomen. Took next dose and pain did not recur. Thank God!

I took the meds religiously without food, as food messes up absorbtion. Went about my business normally, as symptoms were disappearing. Again thank God!

Was outside in the sun a lot for the next couple days. As time went on, tingling and a feeling of cold wetness in hands and feet. Severe redness to exposed skin on neck after short periods outside.

Called afterhours nurse at clinic again. Told symptoms. She said discontinue all meds and talk to primary doctor in am asap.

Silly me, checked for a rash that was not on a spot exposed to sun. Found what looked like petechial hemorrhage on my abdomen in one small area. (looked like skin pinched, small pink dots) Called nurse back. She said sounded like petechia, and mentioned something about vasculitis. Asked me if I'd had a headache that day, yes I did. Asked if I was feeling mentally confused. Said I'd been forgetting things a lot. Told me to return to emergency room, don't drive myself. If I can't find someone to take me, call 911. I'm freaked out.

Found a neighbor who took me in. Didn't know to laugh or cry. Took a couple benadryl and some acetaminofen in case of allergic reaction and went in. Waited 2 hours. ER doc looks and rash, says its no big deal, sends me home in less than 5 minutes.

Now off antibiotics. Scared of pelvic infection, think my uterus must be involved somehow. Next day vaginal discharge, never had one before. Went to new primary doc to get checked and for second opinion. She says stay off meds and see if symptoms return. Recheck if needed. Repeats CBC. Does a couple STD tests, which are highly, highly unlikely. Both negative. CBC still has slight high white count. Says if my symptoms return, consider cystoscopy.

Majorly stressed. Really scared that somehow I'm really sick, possibly from medication reactions. But not totally sure. Maybe I've got something really bad that no one knows about. In the back of my mind wondering if this is pure panic, but dang, the symptoms are there. I can't tell. Seems likely its a combination of severe stress and true problems, although blown out of proportion.

Sat on the couch and called a friend to talk. Told her about my recent health issues. She started in on the most negative line of comment...she topped my problems. Told me her dad had prostate cancer which didn't need therapy, but was given radiation which burned a hole in his colon. Now he was in a rest home and likely wouldn't live 6 months. I started to feel ill. Couldn't tell if it was a 'real' illness, or a response to her negativity.

I felt like my right side was slightly numbed. My right eye, right side of throat, right arm, right leg. Also forgetting words on the phone. Feeling a bit lost for words. And....of course since I'm a major hypochondriac, and I've got a medical background, I have a reasonable sounding story to back it up. Doxycycline causes sensitivity to light. So can cipro. I was out for an extended time, although most of my body was covered. My hands weren't, and my feet weren't. My neck and face were also exposed. If it caused a vasculitis, (leaking of bloodvessels) in my neck and face, that's pretty close to my brain. I researched it on the internet, and says that vasculitis can cause decreased bloodflow in the brain, leading to symptoms. Said can be treated with acetaminofen, in severe cases steroids. So I started taking acetaminofen just in case. Plus some benadryl. Which I found later can cause heart palpitations, and increased heartrate plus confusion and blurred vision. Symptoms I did have, but didn't know it was related to the benadryl.

I researched all the meds, and found a lot of symptoms that I'd been experiencing do to them. That was reassuring.

Now, I'm glad to say, no back pain, no burning on urination. I'm still scared somehow that I'm going to die of a reaction to the meds. Online says vasculitis due to a med reaction can take two weeks to resolve.

I'm still scared. Has anyone taken these meds? Any similar reaction?

Thanks for reading,

Deb

So here I sit. Went to visit family overnight to get my mind off this. Felt pretty good. Put on lots of sunscreen. The meds should be out of my system by now anyway. However, noted redness to neck again, and also small patch of petechia on neck. I was rubbing my neck, could be I did that myself? I hope so.

[Guest]

Isn't doxycycline same as Metro-gel, just a different form, its oral instead of a vaginal get? I've had lots of problems with UTIs and vaginal infections. Best advise I can give you is to always insist on having the urine and vaginal cultures sent to be cultured. It saves alot of time in the end. Because once you start antibiotics you cannot culture it.

I have had the burning tingling reaction to Cipro before when in the sun. I used to get UTIs all the time and have taken lots of Cipro. But, the burning skin if exposed to the sun is very painful and takes a few days to go away.

Have you listened to Lesson 10 yet? I think that you did experince some bad reactions to meds, but you are also scaring yourself with running away with some what ifs too. I do this to myself all the time.

Benadryl definately causes confusion for me. I just don't take it because it effects me that way.

Hope you are feeling better.

[Guest]

Boy, what an ordeal you've been through! I've been in situations like that before with similar symptoms and it gets so frustrating. I have taken Cipro before and got very sick from it. It's one antibiotic that I can't tolerate. Felt like I was going to faint all the time, when I stood up. Benadryl works well on me - no heart palpitations, no blurred vision. I've never had any side effects from Doxycycline. I hope you improve soon and feel better.

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Yup, I am overanalyzing big time. I think its coming close to being done. At least my initial symptoms are gone. No more confused feelings. Some of that I'm sure is stress and lack of sleep.

Looking forward to putting it behind me. I requested cultures a few times but was told by the doctor that they couldn't do that unless my urinalysis showed I had a uti. My urine is very dilute and showed normal before. I should have asked her to rerun it, but I thought for sure it would be negative and I wouldn't get a culture anyway. On a later visit my urinalysis showed positive and I made the mistake of assuming she would run the culture. She is new at the clinic and thought there would be a 'reflex' culture run. She even told me to call next week for results. When I did call for results I was told the test never got sent out. After that I was already on antibiotics so it was useless anyway, except my antibiotics didn't seem to be working (because my dosage was on the low end, and I didn't know, but was taking it with food and antacid type meds, which decrease its absorbtion)

Its been such a mess. I complained about the service, but I feel kind of bad for the doctor. She's an occupational therapist, why they scheduled me with her I don't know.

Feeling ok now. Hopefully tomorrow I can get busy with something else and ease away from this stuff.

Thanks,

Deb

[Guest]

I went through about a 1/100th of your experience and was put on Cipro. And something that is always fun to find out -- I'm allergic to Cipro.

I hope you get to feeling better. It seems to me you took it like a TROOPER. Just reading your post made me anxious and that hasn't happened in a long time. I can't imagine going through what you've been through, but I do know how much it sucks when doctors don't listen and they extend our misery.

I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Please know that everything will be alright. I don't know if you want to, but you might consider finding a really good PCP or OBGYN that you trust, that knows and understands your anxiety issues. I've found too many doctors see that we are on anxiety meds and then we just get glossed over. I searched a while until I found two ladies that are really good docs and have NEVER given me any grief about my meds. They are supportive and when I get sick, they take EVERYTHING into consideration and they are always very reassuring.

Having a good doctor is priceless. Take care Deb, and let us know how you are doing.

[Guest]

Wow - what a horrific ordeal you've been through! My experience was FAR less traumatic but I'll tell you in case it helps: The original infection they thought you had was what they said I had in 2004. I didn't have any symptoms and found out when I was doing routine tests for my pregnancy. The doctor gave me the same 1st antibiotic you were prescribed, and much like yourself, I researched it. Turns out it causes heart defects to unborn children, and I was pregnant! I was angry/shocked and called the nurse: she told me the condition could cause preterm labor and the risk of birth defects were offset by the risk of prematurity. Researching further, I found the connection between the condition and preterm labor was not as cut and dry as the nurse (and later the doctor) indicated and I did not take the med. I ultimately switched OB/GYN offices, having lost faith in them, and their seeming to take offense to my rejection of treatment. The OB/GYN I switched to supported my decision not to treat and my daughter was born 5 days before her due date, perfectly healthy.

I did "treat" myself by eating yogurt daily during my pregnancy, and late in my pregnancy was tested for the infection and it was gone. This ordeal was extremely stressful for me and I turned to many for advice and comfort. One wise soul reminded me that doctors "practice" medicine. I think the system is broken for many reasons, not least of which is the medical professionals arrogance to the patients wisdom, intelligence, and ability to make informed decisions.

Good luck, it sounds like you need it right now.

[Guest]

Thanks for all your support. I'm so glad not to feel like its all 'in my head'. Thankfully last night I had minimal worries and slept ok. It seems like I'm finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I was going to stick with the last doctor I saw as a primary physician. She seemed confident and upbeat and she did run a test I requested even though she didn't think it would show anything. However, as seems common with doctors, she hasn't contacted me with the results and its been several days. I'll call in and see what they are.

As far as the metronidazole, I will never take an antibiotic for a vaginal infection again. Especially since the only evidence my doctor had was an odor, no discharge. I was mortified. Who wants to smell bad. Plus she insisted I was at risk for herpes and kept checking for that. I had three pelvic exams total. Lovely. Now if only I could count them as my annuals for the next three years.

I'll stick with the yogurt too. Seems so much simpler and those drugs are powerful.

Thanks again,

Deb

[Guest]

Hi,
Boy have I been where you have been with severe reactions to medication and dr and nurse staff that treats you like you have no brain and that you making up the symptoms so that you can have pain medication. I went through 6 months of bowel obstructions, numerous hospitalizations because I had gained 70lbs in 4 months from the medication. I even brought pictures of myself to my doctor telling him this was size and now this. I was told it was not humanly possible to gain that kind of weight so fast, and my bowels and colon were completely blocked. The doctors did this gastrotube flush that poors tons of chemicals in your stomach to make you have a bowel movement. The nurse I had pushed over 2 gallons of this ease flow in my gastrotube in just under an hour. She said in all of her years nursing she had never seen so much of the stuff put in and it not working. The pain was horrific. It caused two cases of pyleneurophritis.(kidney infections). I donot ever recall so much pain in my life between the two. The medication that I was taking for anxiety and depression was causing the obstructions. I walked around in a daze like a zombie. I was a new student at MSUB after twenty years of not attending school. I could not think. I had no sex drive whatsoever. My moods were completely out of control. I would go on sleep binges and cried most everyday. Finally a doctor that was on call in my last hospital stay said he thought the meds I was on for anxiety and depression were causing the obstructions! He weened me off the pills. That was hell. I felt like I had bugs crawling on me. My muscles would spasm and jerk. Sleep was not an option. I could not hold still. When I did drift off my body jerked all night. He changed the antidepressant. I told I could not take anything in the family of elavil, desepramine and such. Guess what he put me on the pills in that family. I took it for two days after getting home from the hospital and dumped in the toliet when I found what he had done. I have been off all anxiety and antidepressants since the end of Feb. 2008
I am finally starting to feel like my old self again. I am able to laugh. no obstructions. I started Lucinda's program 1 1/2 weeks ago. I cannot tell how much easier life is getting. Yesterday my brother was arrested again. He has been in and out of the system most of his life and has done close to 20 years in prison. I did not have an anxiety attack. I was and am still dealing with anger at him for things he was doing to my mom and for supplying booze and drugs to my 18 year old son. It is however a righteous anger. I am trying to honor to feeling without getting sucked into negative thinking. Needless to say I worked planting flower beds, pulling weeds, and putting in large garden yesterday for 4 1/2 hours. It helped clear my head. My fiance last night asked me are you okay? The old me would have been freaking out by now and looking for valium or ativan to relieve the stress and anxiety. I told him I was okay and guess what I was!!! :p
I took a hot bubble bath and hit the sack at midnight. I actually slept. I used the breathing techniques when I found myself with racing thoughts of the days events and drifted off to sleep and slept 7 1/2 hours.
I think you were very smart in researching the side effects of the medication and not giving up. I have chronic UTI's and have ended up with a kidney infection more often then not. I was on Docicycline and it felt like it was eating holes in my stomach. I have good luck with ciprofloxin. Doctors as a rule seem to blow off female symptoms like they are just in our head. Find someone that believes you and in you and stick with them. It is not easy and It took me a year to finally get someone to listen to me. Also for those out there taking meds for depression. I would very careful with cymbalta, klonopin, seroquel,and neurotin. They are horrible to your body,mind and soul. Have a great day. And smile it is contagious.... Kimberly