I had another appointment with my PCP on the 20th of Jan. She wanted to go over the results from my blood work. It showed there was something wrong with my liver. She also gave me a prescription for Paxil (anti depressant). I had to have more blood work done on my liver... to rule out Hepatitis C.
And so... the beginning of my trips to specialists began.
We met with a gyn specialist on the 27th. He ruled out endometriosis. I was relieved because I�ve heard some bad stuff about that condition and that it usually results in a hysterectomy. I didn�t want have one, but I was willing if it would make me feel better. On the other hand, I was slightly upset because we still didn�t know what was causing me to be so sick.
On the 30th of Jan, I ended up back in the ER because I was having a bad reaction to the Paxil. I was having bad chest pains, severe tremors, dizziness, hot and cold flashes, and bad headaches. The nurse told us to go to the ER because of the chest pains. Unfortunately, it was a waste of time and money. They said there wasn�t anything they could do for me and that I had to wait it out. Because chest pains weren�t a reaction to Paxil, they didn�t check my chest to see what was up. I was very discouraged. I was in and out of the ER and urgent care. The doctors didn�t know what was wrong with me. And my mom was very sick and needed me to be there with her. The doctor told me I appeared to be extremely depressed and should consider checking myself into a behavioral hospital to be evaluated and helped. I tried to explain to him that I was depressed because of how long I�d been sick. (Not knowing what was causing all kinds of problems was causing me to be depressed. Not the other way around.) He said I wasn't in my right mind because I was severely depressed and that there was a good possibility I was making myself sick. I guess he was looking out for himself and tried to make sure he covered all areas. At the same time, he wasn�t really listening to me. We didn�t take the doctors advice. I was struggling with: Candida, insomnia, hair loss, UTIs, anemia, chronic fatigue, severe nausea and vomiting, chronic heartburn, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, liver problems, irregular heartbeat, chronic depression, and anxiety. But, according to the doctor, being depressed can do that to a person.
Due to everything that had been going on in the past 2 1/2 months, I started developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I wasn't aware of it at the time, but was starting to realize there was something that wasn't right (mentally). I was starting to feel terrible. Everything was replaying over and over again in my head. I was reliving everything while I slept. The anxiety attacks got really bad. (I was taking my Ativan like candy. Not good!) I would avoid everything that reminded me of places, things, feelings, etc. I was on the phone with a friend while he was driving home from work. He was approaching the intersection where I got real sick. When he mentioned his location, I had to get off the phone because I had a bad anxiety attack. I couldn't get in any kind of vehicle without having an anxiety attack. I was always tense and was suffering from insomnia. A lot of people recommended I talk to a therapist. I refused because I didn't want anymore pills. I was already working on Ativan and getting it out of my system. |
