What I take and why

I haven't talked about my medications in a few years. In fact I've only really talked about ALL of them twice.

March 2020 post

January 2020 post

Six years into this chronically ill life and here's what I'm taking and why.

 
TD means that I take it 3 times a day

Prescriptions

1. (LevoTHYROxine) Synthroid 125mcg AM (for hypothyroidism)

2. (Pregabalin) Lyrica 150mg TD (for neuropathy)

3. (Duloxetine) Cymbalta 20mg afternoon, 60 mg PM (for muscle pain)

4. (Lioresal) Baclofen 20 mg TD (for muscle spasms)

5. Botox for migraine, every 3 months

6. (Symmetrel) Amantadine 100mg AM & 2hrs later (for fatigue & muscle problems)

7. Aimovig auto injector 70mg, monthly (for migraine)

Supplements (Mito Cocktail) helps give me more energy & helps with muscle cramps & spasms

• COQ10 300mg TD (900mg total)

• L-Arginine 500mg AM

• Vit. D3 2,000IU AM

• Potassium Citrate 99mg TD

• Magnesium Citrate 420mg TD

• Fish Oil 1,000 mg Noon

• L-Lysine 1,000mg BD (for mouth sores)

• B Complex Noon (B1 1.2mg, B2 1.3mg, B3 16mg, B6 1.7mg, B5 5mg, Folate 680mcg, 1B12 1,500mcg, D-Biotin 400mcg)

PRN taken as needed 

• (Amerge) Naratriptan 2.5mg (take at onset of migraine - migraine cocktail)

• (Compazine) Prochlorperazine 10mg (take with Naratriptan - migraine cocktail)

• Acetaminophen 500mg x2 (for pain and w/ migraine cocktail)

• Albuterol Inhaler (asthma)

• Wixela inhaler (medium asthma)

• Albuterol Nebulizer (DME) (bad asthma)

• Baclofen 20 mg (if muscle spasms increase)

• Diclofenac 1% gel (muscle pain & nerve pain)

I've been taking most of these for so long now that it's hard to remember a time that I didn't. I did the math and by the time I'm 70. So from today to when I'm 70 years old I would have spent just over 300 hours filling my pillbox. Woah. That's a lot of my life. 12 1/2 days. Almost 2 whole weeks. Just filling my pillbox.

This is what I take just in the morning alone. I'm lucky that I don't have more problems swallowing pills. I'm also lucky that everything I take is helpful. I have it pretty dialed in at this point as far as dosing goes and where to find the best deals on my supplements. 

I think of my medication like my glasses. I can't function without them and my world is so much better with them. I'm grateful for my excellent medical team who helped me come up with the right things to take. 

Frustrated

I think that's the number one word I would use to sum up my chronic illness. "Feeling frustrated" a good majority of the time. 

A big cause of that feeling comes from the moving target of my kind of illness. I literally never know how I'm going to feel, what I can or can't do, from one second to the next. I can kindove have a plan. I can guess. I can take what I think will be preventative measures, but there's zero knowing where my body will end up.

Case in point last night. I was coming off a hard weekend where my body just needed a lot of TLC and rest. I missed out on a lot of fun things we had planned (= frustrating). Then last night something was wonky with my breathing all... night... long. Was it asthma? Allergies? My lung muscles not working? Too much dust in my room? Heck if I know. I just had a very hard time breathing and slept like crud.

I'm a problem solver by nature, so this morning I look up tips for night breathing and find my pillows are long overdue for a wash. Not the case... the pillow. And my favorite soft one that I keep by my face (along with my stuffed shark) haven't been washed in at least a year. Ok, good place to start.

Me and my buddy Bruce

Then how about using my inhaler more? I thought I already was, but can't hurt. I already have an air filter in my room, but is it positioned right? And how about that throw rug, does it need a wash? And here we have my entire day.

Now my whole Monday has gone from everything I had planned on doing to trying to make my room as "lung friendly" as possible. This is life with a chronic illness. And it is very frustrating!!!