Anyway, this is my current morning medication load, which I'm supposed to take around 8am; but my stomach generally doesn't allow me to until I'm awake for a few hours (if I do, my stomach gets really disturbed, and it sometimes makes me vomit).
There's a similar load for the afternoon, and then a smaller one in the evening (both of which also make me want to puke, so I take them well after lunch and well after dinner):
So, from the top proceeding clockwise (plus dosages, and purpose):
- Fluticasone Propionate (Flonase): 2 pumps per nostril, twice per day.
It's a nasal steroid that stops histamine reactions in your nose and sinuses. Without it, the CPAP, and mold spores, both make my sinuses fill up. 2 pumps in the morning, and two before bed, let me use the CPAP without my sinuses and nasal passages clogging constantly. It also counteracts the tendency of my airway to swell and become restricted (Esophagitis, with multiple causes. It's caused by my reflux, my allergies, the same reaction that causes my seborrhea, and by the airway irritation caused by the impingement of the tumor) makes me feel like I'm choking or drowning). The only problem is, like any corticosteroid, it causes additional water retention and bloating, particularly if inhaled through the lungs; though the nasal version reduces that effect.
- Sublingual liquid vitamin B complex: 2cc, twice per day. Each 1cc squirt is in theory 100% of B1, B2, B3, and B6, plus B5 at 400% and B12 at 20,000% (yes, 200x RDA)
- Gummy Vitamin C: Four each, twice per day I get C deficient if I don't take a lot (I also drink a bunch of OJ, for the C and for the potassium). Theoretically one is 100% of RDA.
- Gummy multivitamin: Four each, twice a day. Each one is supposed to be 100% RDA on about 20 vitamins (including the C and B vitamins I take above). I take four, twice per day, which is just about enough to keep me from becoming deficient in everything except vitamin D (which I take four of in the evening).
- Etodolac (Lodine): (big pink pills) 400mg each, three times daily (two in the morning, one in the evening). It's one of the strongest anti-inflammatories on the market. I take it for all the inflammation; but particularly for my knees, ankles, and fingers. Without it, I'm pretty much crippled. We're switching to 500mg twice per day, because I don't need the full 1200mg, and the more you take the more side effects there are. It can also cause water retention, stomach problems, and other unfun stuff
- Magnesium Oxide and Zinc: (medium round white pills) 2 each, 400mg/15mg, once per day. In theory each is 100% of the RDA for magnesium and zinc; but again, if I don't take this much, the other meds make me deficient
- Omeprazole: (white capsules) two each, 20mg, once per day: To control my ulcerative colitis and GERD; and to prevent the other medications from upsetting my stomach worse (particularly the etodolac, and the little brown oval pill)
- Little brown oval pill: I'm going to write a whole separate post on that one later. It needs it's own post, and I haven't talked about it on the blog yet.
- Bumetanide: (medium round pink pills) Four, 2mg each, once per day. The strongest diuretic on the market. The normal dosage is 2mg, I take 4 times that every day. It strips the body of minerals, vitamins, electrolytes etc... but it also keeps my edema mostly under control. In the afternoon I take 4 each 80mg furosemide (lasix), also four times the "normal" doage. Between them, they keep my edema MOSTLY under control... but my weight still varies as much as 16lbs per day.
- Potassium Chloride: (HUGE oval pill) 2 each, 1500mg, three times per day. Plus I drink a quart of OJ (which has another 1800mg of potassium), and I also mix some potassium chloride powder in with my drinks during the day (usually another 3000mg worth during the day). I need to take all that (yes, 17 grams... At 20mg per kg - I currently weigh about 185kg, for 3,250mg - it's more than enough to stop your heart if it hit your blood stream all at once; but most of it doesn't get into your blood stream), just to keep enough potassium in my body to not be paralyzed (among other negative consequences). They're so big they trigger my gag reflex, and I actually half-puke just about every time I take one, and have to swallow it down to keep from .
- Not pictured: In the afteroon I take my second dose of potassium, and my furosemide, as I mention above; plus a second little brown oval pill. In the evening after dinner, I take my second set of vitamins, including my vitamin D, my third etodolac, my third dose of potassium, and 100mg of levothyroxin (a thyroid supplement).
It's a hell of a lot... but it mostly works, most of the time.
