General What’s Your Ailment?

[fooferdoggie]

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but clonidine is available in a transdermal patch- same concept as a nicotine patch. It’s not really conventionally used BP medication for general hypertension these days, but if your BP is super high it is an option. It’s an alpha-2 agonist which primarily reduces BP by relaxing blood vessels and to some extent reducing heart rate.

Clonidine as an alpha-2 agonist can also reduce gastric secretions (stomach acid production) which may be benefitical considering your situation.

just got the patches today anything I should know? they are .1mg a day. Hoping my stupid esophagus behaves. but all the medication and mindfulness helps me not feel its pain but it's still there.

 

[Huntn]

Ok, about 3 months ago I was clearing brush behind the house tripped on the underbrush, and managed to fall on a stick that stabbed the underside of my arm near the wrist. My hand felt numb. I went to urgent care where they cleaned my wound and the doctor advised me I likely had nerve damage, either impact or it was cut, which may or may it heal on its own. Three months later and my middle finger remains fairly numb, my index finger less numb, my hand is functional but it’s annoying. I have a 3/4” scar. I’ve seen an orthopedic surgeon, who says the same, the nerve may heal and could take 6 months to heal, but has sent me to a hand, plastic surgeon, who does micro repair for a second opinion, who I‘ll see on Thursday.

As far as nerve repair, I had no clue. The orthopedic surgeon say they slice in, clean up the area, if there’s a separation, they bring the ends together, staple them and then wrap it with a dissolvable sleeve. It appears to me that they are encouraging the nerve to heal properly. On Thursday I’ll see the guy who works with a microscope if needed.

Of note, with my secondary insurance this would be $100 out patient surgery.

 

[Huntn]

Ok, about 3 months ago I was clearing brush behind the house tripped on the underbrush, and managed to fall on a stick that stabbed the underside of my arm near the wrist. My hand felt numb. I went to urgent care where they cleaned my wound and the doctor advised me I likely had nerve damage, either impact or it was cut, which may or may it heal on its own. Three months later and my middle finger remains fairly numb, my index finger less numb, my hand is functional but it’s annoying. I have a 3/4” scar. I’ve seen an orthopedic surgeon, who says the same, the nerve may heal and could take 6 months to heal, but has sent me to a hand, plastic surgeon, who does micro repair for a second opinion, who I‘ll see on Thursday.

As far as nerve repair, I had no clue. The orthopedic surgeon say they slice in, clean up the area, if there’s a separation, they bring the ends together, staple them and then wrap it with a dissolvable sleeve. It appears to me that they are encouraging the nerve to heal properly. On Thursday I’ll see the guy who works with a microscope if needed.

Of note, with my secondary insurance this would be $100 out patient surgery.

Saw a hand specialist yesterday. He says I have a minimal nerve damage to the median nerve, and that when a sensory nerve is damaged, partially cut, and then heals, it‘s not like plugging an electrical cord into a receptacle, that the circuit is not instantaneously restored to the effected area , that from the damaged area, the circuit must be reestablished at the rate of 1mm a month from the injury to the effected fingers. And that with this kind of injury, my body has greater ability to fix this than a surgeon does and to wait and see how it goes.

He also said damage to the Ulnar nerve (funny bone nerve) that controls movement vs sensory would be much more serious and would require immediate attention, because a broken connection there not restored could cause permanent impairment.

What Are the Major Nerves of the Hand? - Hand and Wrist Institute

Learn about peripheral nerves in the forearm, wrist, and hand. Discover functions, potential issues, and symptoms. Consult specialists at The Hand and Wrist Institute for personalized care.

handandwristinstitute.com

 

[cbum]

Sounds like you found someone very competent. I would trust him.

 

[Renzatic]

Saw a hand specialist yesterday. He says I have a minimal nerve damage to the median nerve, and that when a sensory nerve is damaged, partially cut, and then heals, it‘s not like plugging an electrical cord into a receptacle, that the circuit is not instantaneously restored to the effected area , that from the damaged area, the circuit must be reestablished at the rate of 1mm a month from the injury to the effected fingers. And that with this kind of injury, my body has greater ability to fix this than a surgeon does and to wait and see how it goes.

He also said damage to the Ulnar nerve (funny bone nerve) that controls movement vs sensory would be much more serious and would require immediate attention, because a broken connection there not restored could cause permanent impairment.

What Are the Major Nerves of the Hand? - Hand and Wrist Institute

Learn about peripheral nerves in the forearm, wrist, and hand. Discover functions, potential issues, and symptoms. Consult specialists at The Hand and Wrist Institute for personalized care.

handandwristinstitute.com

How hard did you fall, Huntn?

 

[Huntn]

How hard did you fall, Huntn?

Fell on a stick (in the woods) which stabbed my arm above the wrist.

 

[fooferdoggie]

My body finally said no to carbs I needed to get rid of them, but it was very hard. Now all it would take is a lifesaver or two put a brain into a fog makes it hard to function. But it is helpful to my esophagus so much I do not have the heartburn I used to have for all my life. Meditation and such has helped control the pain of my esophagus. It's really changed things. I don't worry about it anymore, but there are still stress on eating because I'm so limited to protein only. With veggies three times a week. The biggest problem is medication. I have not found one that my body can tolerate, and I've tried 15 last several years. I have a patch for blood pressure and it causes rashes. I tried a new med. diltiazem and it hurt a fair amount was like someone was squeezing my ribs. I was able to deal with that pain for seven days. But when it causes my esophagus to really kill me in the middle of the night. Then I have to stop taking it because it just loses asleep. My wipes me out every med has done this. This one has been even worse. I do not have anxiety overtaking meds now and it does not freak me out but it's getting kind of pointless because I haven't found anything that actually works and it stresses me out. They raised my blood pressure so it's kind of a battle here that will work at first lowering my blood pressure as it starts hurting more blood pressure goes right back up. Makes it very hard to eat gut feel all cramped up, but I have to eat because I cannot skip any meals or I run out of energy.

 

[Huntn]

My body finally said no to carbs I needed to get rid of them, but it was very hard. Now all it would take is a lifesaver or two put a brain into a fog makes it hard to function. But it is helpful to my esophagus so much I do not have the heartburn I used to have for all my life. Meditation and such has helped control the pain of my esophagus. It's really changed things. I don't worry about it anymore, but there are still stress on eating because I'm so limited to protein only. With veggies three times a week. The biggest problem is medication. I have not found one that my body can tolerate, and I've tried 15 last several years. I have a patch for blood pressure and it causes rashes. I tried a new med. diltiazem and it hurt a fair amount was like someone was squeezing my ribs. I was able to deal with that pain for seven days. But when it causes my esophagus to really kill me in the middle of the night. Then I have to stop taking it because it just loses asleep. My wipes me out every med has done this. This one has been even worse. I do not have anxiety overtaking meds now and it does not freak me out but it's getting kind of pointless because I haven't found anything that actually works and it stresses me out. They raised my blood pressure so it's kind of a battle here that will work at first lowering my blood pressure as it starts hurting more blood pressure goes right back up. Makes it very hard to eat gut feel all cramped up, but I have to eat because I cannot skip any meals or I run out of energy.

Were you doing an Atkins like diet?

 

[fooferdoggie]

There's no real name for what or the way I have to eat. It's pretty much I can only eat meat, cheese, eggs, unsweetened almond milk my vitamin supplement a little bit of fiber that's about it every day. I can have vegetables three times a week as long as It's not carby vegetables. Many years ago I did food intolerance test found out carbs caused me issues when I stopped eating them sometime after all these food intolerances started. It was really bad back then. It got better with time in some ways, worse than others because sometimes I could eat something and didn't seem to bother me so I'd eat it over and over again every day I find myself really weak and I've lost a bunch of muscle and I'd stop eating it and it took me months to get back to where I was I think things might have changed now I cut out carbs as I found. I can eat peanut butter every day I used to not be not be able to. I may have a little bit more flexibility now. But there's a chance it screws me up too. It just takes a while to show up. I've never found any oral medication I could take on a regular basis. They all make my esophagus ache so I think they make my body ache and my esophagus reflects how bad my body feels. I talked to my dietitian last week and it's OK with my diet. My cholesterol is kind of high, but he said it's fine for all I'm eating. It's not like anything I can do about it anyway, but I just had to stop taking my new medication because it caused so many I don't know how to explain maybe rib cramps like squeeze in my ribs. It's got worse and worse and then at night it got really bad I couldn't sleep seems to always happen after a while so I may be stuck with my blood pressure being up some the patch for blood pressure works somewhat, but even that causes rashes.

Even fats are a problem liquid fats like oils and juicy meats are an issue so I pretty much had to get all my fat like crispy bacon, cheese and some butter, like nothing cheeses, and they because the fat comes out of it and causes issues.

 

[Huntn]

There's no real name for what or the way I have to eat. It's pretty much I can only eat meat, cheese, eggs, unsweetened almond milk my vitamin supplement a little bit of fiber that's about it every day. I can have vegetables three times a week as long as It's not carby vegetables. Many years ago I did food intolerance test found out carbs caused me issues when I stopped eating them sometime after all these food intolerances started. It was really bad back then. It got better with time in some ways, worse than others because sometimes I could eat something and didn't seem to bother me so I'd eat it over and over again every day I find myself really weak and I've lost a bunch of muscle and I'd stop eating it and it took me months to get back to where I was I think things might have changed now I cut out carbs as I found. I can eat peanut butter every day I used to not be not be able to. I may have a little bit more flexibility now. But there's a chance it screws me up too. It just takes a while to show up. I've never found any oral medication I could take on a regular basis. They all make my esophagus ache so I think they make my body ache and my esophagus reflects how bad my body feels. I talked to my dietitian last week and it's OK with my diet. My cholesterol is kind of high, but he said it's fine for all I'm eating. It's not like anything I can do about it anyway, but I just had to stop taking my new medication because it caused so many I don't know how to explain maybe rib cramps like squeeze in my ribs. It's got worse and worse and then at night it got really bad I couldn't sleep seems to always happen after a while so I may be stuck with my blood pressure being up some the patch for blood pressure works somewhat, but even that causes rashes.

Even fats are a problem liquid fats like oils and juicy meats are an issue so I pretty much had to get all my fat like crispy bacon, cheese and some butter, like nothing cheeses, and they because the fat comes out of it and causes issues.

So sorry, this sounds miserable.

 

[fooferdoggie]

So sorry, this sounds miserable.

I have learned to deal with it. It seems I am able to eat more things on a daily basis. like veggies. so that is a huge change over the last 30+ years. but medications seem a big no. but it took longer to be a no than before I stopped eating carbs. getting rid of carbs is a huge deal I think for my health. I think if it was just carbs it would have been easier to cut them out
I really had to increase my protein intake once I dumped carbs. every extra ride I have over my 18-mile commute and burn 200 or 1200 calories I have to eat that much extra food so I am not tired the next day. but it started causing issues with my kidneys. but I just got tested again and that's better a little high but much better.

 

[rdrr]

So I have 16 days to go until my neck surgery. Today I am regretting my short sightedness and not agreeing to a Sept 30th surgery date. I thought to myself, nah I don't want to be recovering during my birthday, so I chose another date of Oct 17th. To be fair I was dealing with days of a pain level around 3 or 4 on the a scale of 10 (10 being the worst pain I felt in June of 2007). Monday I woke up with more of a 6 or 7 on that scale and I have been having interrupted sleep.

This morning I have decided to break into a steroid dose pack (I was prescribed this when the surgery was scheduled), in hopes of bringing the pain level go down to something more manageable. I just hope that my irritability doesn't test my marriage too much over the next 2+ weeks.

 

[shadow puppet]

So I have 16 days to go until my neck surgery. Today I am regretting my short sightedness and not agreeing to a Sept 30th surgery date. I thought to myself, nah I don't want to be recovering during my birthday, so I chose another date of Oct 17th. To be fair I was dealing with days of a pain level around 3 or 4 on the a scale of 10 (10 being the worst pain I felt in June of 2007). Monday I woke up with more of a 6 or 7 on that scale and I have been having interrupted sleep.

This morning I have decided to break into a steroid dose pack (I was prescribed this when the surgery was scheduled), in hopes of bringing the pain level go down to something more manageable. I just hope that my irritability doesn't test my marriage too much over the next 2+ weeks.

I’m so sorry you’re having to go through all of this. I hope your surgery goes well and you soon have pain free days anead.

 

[fooferdoggie]

It's not an aliment so much as a wow. Now, when I meditate, my heart rate can get down to 37 BPM for a few minutes off and on. It does not feel bad, but you sure notice your heartbeat when it is that slow. My normal rest rate is around 60. I’m sleeping in the low 50s.

 

[rdrr]

On the eve of my surgery, I have been taking lorazepam (prescribed when needed for anxiety) like candy. Way too many things going through my brain, and even though I have been through a similar surgery, I was 17 years younger, and much healthier. Been trying to not to focus on any negative consequences, but I have been making sure my beneficiaries are up to date with the current wife and kid allocations, savings, retirement accounts, investment accounts, and life insurance. Updated and signed my Healthcare proxy and directives, and gave a copy to the hospital.

These items are all mind you, for a "remote chance" of a negative outcome. But....

If there aren't any more posts from me outside of 3 weeks from today. I'd like to say, so long and thanks for all the fish!

 

[cbum]

taking lorazepam (prescribed when needed for anxiety) like candy

Hope it helps, but make sure to tell the Anesthesiologist when and how much. Benzo's, including lorazepam, have a fairly long half-life, and may accumulate if you take them frequently.
Looks like you did a good job for your family, here's hoping all goes well.

 

[shadow puppet]

On the eve of my surgery, I have been taking lorazepam (prescribed when needed for anxiety) like candy. Way too many things going through my brain, and even though I have been through a similar surgery, I was 17 years younger, and much healthier. Been trying to not to focus on any negative consequences, but I have been making sure my beneficiaries are up to date with the current wife and kid allocations, savings, retirement accounts, investment accounts, and life insurance. Updated and signed my Healthcare proxy and directives, and gave a copy to the hospital.

These items are all mind you, for a "remote chance" of a negative outcome. But....

If there aren't any more posts from me outside of 3 weeks from today. I'd like to say, so long and thanks for all the fish!

Sending all the positive healing mojo I can that everything goes well.

 

[fooferdoggie]

On the eve of my surgery, I have been taking lorazepam (prescribed when needed for anxiety) like candy. Way too many things going through my brain, and even though I have been through a similar surgery, I was 17 years younger, and much healthier. Been trying to not to focus on any negative consequences, but I have been making sure my beneficiaries are up to date with the current wife and kid allocations, savings, retirement accounts, investment accounts, and life insurance. Updated and signed my Healthcare proxy and directives, and gave a copy to the hospital.

These items are all mind you, for a "remote chance" of a negative outcome. But....

If there aren't any more posts from me outside of 3 weeks from today. I'd like to say, so long and thanks for all the fish!

medication is what really works. get the calm app and try it out.

 

[Clix Pix]

On the eve of my surgery, I have been taking lorazepam (prescribed when needed for anxiety) like candy. Way too many things going through my brain, and even though I have been through a similar surgery, I was 17 years younger, and much healthier. Been trying to not to focus on any negative consequences, but I have been making sure my beneficiaries are up to date with the current wife and kid allocations, savings, retirement accounts, investment accounts, and life insurance. Updated and signed my Healthcare proxy and directives, and gave a copy to the hospital.

These items are all mind you, for a "remote chance" of a negative outcome. But....

If there aren't any more posts from me outside of 3 weeks from today. I'd like to say, so long and thanks for all the fish!

Just to let you know, we are fully anticipating posts from you quite promptly after you have come out of the anesthesia haze and are able to get your fingers on a keyboard again!

Seriously, hang in there, let the docs do their thing and then you do your thing, which in your case will be recovering from what their thing was.... We'll all be here when you're ready to say -- er, type -- "hi" again!

 

[Alli]

I had my procedure today. Doctor did not find the easy he was looking for and took a biopsy. He says more tests are in order. Yippee.