Major fatigue....

[Cindylou]

Hi all,

I have been feeling like I just hit a wall. Don't know if it's coming on the heels of all the hoopla surrounding graduation. Monday I went in for my INR check and felt real fatigued, dizzy, light-headed, etc. I only had the lab appt., but when I told the nurse how bad I was feeling, she put me in an extra room until my doctor could see me. I slept for two hours curled up on that dumb little exam table! Anyway, she ran alot of blood tests and a urinalysis and told me to come back the next day, Tuesday, to go over everything. The only thing that came out high was the D-Dimer test, however she said that could be elevated due to recent surgery. So, now what? I asked if the coumadin could be making me so fatigued, but she was more inclined to think it was the fentanyl patch jump from 25 to 50 in recent weeks. So I made an executive decision: called my pain doc to request going back down to 25, which he okayed, and also decided to go off the coumadin. I KNOW coumadin can be fatiguing. Hopefully I will see an improvement in my energy levels soon.

[KBear]

CL- I hope the medication changes help, without leaving you in too much pain. I find that I am unusually tired when I am depressed, for me, it is when I am going into a depression, but before it is unbearable.

[Carmen]

HI gals,
Have you heard that Bono just had back surgery in Germany? I want to say, is there a Doctor Ritter in Germany? I am not positive about the doctor's name but it was definitely in Germany. It was the kind of article that you can kind of smile about since you know he could afford anyone and he choose someone from there. They had to cancel at least one of his concerts, and maybe it was two so no U2. Carmen

[Carmen]

Hi CL.
I am sorry to hear about the fatigue you are feeling at this time. That is awful. Fatigue is so debilitating. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so I can almost know how you must be feeling. I hope it is something that will pass and you won't be bothered by it anymore. I am glad you were able to see the doctor. i almost always thought that there must be something wrong. I am glad you were able to figure it out. You are so intuned to your body. If you think about it though you have had a lot going on. I could never do all that you do. Take it easy. Let everyone fend for themselves for a few days. i will be thinking about you and hope that you are now doing better. Carmen

[Greg]

Hey CL,

Are things feeling any better today? I sure hope that it wasnt the fentynal patch. It seemed like getting into the new PM clinic was a gigantic accomplishment and I'd hate to see you finally get some releif only to have to turn around and tone it down. But maybe on the bright side, your pain is going down and the reduction in pain meds isnt negatively affecting you? ....maybe? I sure hope so! Take care and hope you feel better. I just wish there was something more I could do to help

[Justin]

Sounds like the jump in Fent.

[KBear]

CL- How are you feeling? Any better?

[Cindylou]

Hey K-Bear, Greg and all.....I actually wrote a post the other night, but it looks like it didn't go through. I am up at the cabin, so not too surprising....service can be spotty at best. Yes, thank-you for asking.....I am feeling so much better with my energy levels since going down on the fentanyl and I stopped my coumadin too. Most likely, it was the fentanyl jump, like Justin stated. Of course, dummy that I am, I FORGOT my box of patches when I packed for the cabin! The doc obviously won't call in a script of that nature up here. (I tried.) I was supposed to change it yesterday. So far so good. But I'm nervous. I was planning on staying up here for a whole week....lots of summer chores getting the cabin spiffed up for the season. The best solution we could come up with is when my husband goes home tomorrow he can fedex it to me up here Tuesday, to arrive Wednesday. That's still 4 days past due so not sure how I am going to feel. The only other solution I wanted to try that my hubby was against was this: our youngest son who just graduated from college is actually driving up this evening from twin cities and going to spend the night at the cabin......I wanted him to break into our house somehow and get my meds to bring up. No family members have keys yet to our new place. Hubby says absolutely not. Poo! I did have one other idea and that was to call the locksmith that changed all our locks when we moved in to meet my son there and get him in the house, but that could cost $200. Ouch. All because I am so forgetful! I am planning on driving my son Monday way up into the northwoods, another 5 hours north and east up the Gunflint Trail for his summer job and want to feel up for the task. I will likely have to spend the night in a nearby hotel as it is too far to do the trip in one day by myself. That's my biggest concern is feeling well enough with my patch being so low. Does anyone know if I upped my Oxy for those few days if that would offset the drop in my fentanyl patch potency? I sure won't ever forget my meds again!

[KBear]

Glad you are feeling better. That sucks that you forgot your meds. I love your ideas though, sounds like something I'd come up with. I would up the Oxy, until you can get new patch. Maybe wait until you feel like you feel like you aren't getting the same pain relief from the patch, then take one. I have never taken my pain killers on a schedule (unless they are the long acting ones). I just take one when I feel the pain coming on. So, some days I may take 1 Vicodin and other days it may be 5 Vicodin. My doctor said that is fine, as long as the average is 3/day. I think it would be fine for you to do the same.

[Cindylou]

I do agree with your scheduling of your pain meds K-Bear, especially since your Doctor has okayed it. It's the way it should be. I'm on a "2 maximum a day" script and my place definitely counts the pills when you go in, so I am between a rock and a hard place. I would have to call them to up my dosage, which I still may do, until I can get to my patches. Thanks for the support, as always. :thumpup: