Drug interactions- a side effect story

I've been debating whether or not to post about this for a week.  But I'm all about honesty and not holding anything back.  And I make so many mistakes, what's a few more?  If I had a dollar for every mistake I made I would seriously be a millionaire.


I went to the dentist last Thursday for a filling.  I normally do my due diligence and research the drugs they might use and side effects and if it's safe for a PH patient.  Well, I didn't do my due diligence about novocaine.  I hate that I have to know drug interactions for every possible drug, my disease, my drugs, and everything else because I can't trust any doctors.  Even though they supposedly went to school and know more than I know.  No one understands PH and I hate it.  If one more person says something about how easy it is to treat hypertension I might just start screaming in their face like a crazy person.  I might... don't tempt me...


So I slacked off.  I mean, it's just novocaine, right?  I hadn't heard of any PH person having novocaine (novacaine? I guess both ways are right) problems.  How much could she possibly give me?  I got home after getting my cavity done and I started to feel really weird.  I managed to get some oxygen on and crawl onto the bed before that insidious feeling of passing out took over.  I thought I was safe on the bed.  I thought I could stop the passing out by doing some "hook" maneuvers (a way for pilots to fight g-forces by forcing blood to the brain and increasing blood pressure).  Sometimes it works.  I woke up in a tangled, bruised mess crammed into a 2 foot space between my dresser and the bed frame.  I fell off the bed when I passed out and kinda banged myself up quite a bit.  My back still hurts a week later.  It was really scary.  Jeff was on duty, I couldn't get to a phone and I was very, very alone.  And very, very scared.  That was a fun night.  Jeff happened to call me after I was able to move around a bit.  I thought that was kinda weird and very fortuitous.  He normally calls about 3 hours later when he's on duty.  He stayed on the phone with me until I managed to shuffle back out to the couch.


Sometimes I wake up in the morning amazed that I made it through another night.  I'm serious.  I was too scared to shower alone the next day so I waited until Jeff got home from duty.  Now, I know some of you are reading this and are mad that I didn't call you to come sit with me.  But really... I know that you all have lives and commitments.  And dealing with someone who is sick- really sick- is somewhat of an ugly eye-opening experience.  Dealing with someone who struggles with oxygen strapped to their face to get off the couch and shuffle to the bathroom is not fun.  This illness is not pretty.  Believe me, if I thought I was gonna die I would have called 911.  Once I could crawl to the phone :-P


I was fine once I came to, dry-heaved myself into a crying heap (THAT was a bowl of cherries... but more like the Witches of Eastwick kind and not the yummy kind), and managed to suck on some oxygen.  This disease really sucks.  There are lots of illnesses that suck, but PH is a really bad one.  Everyone thinks I look so great.  Everyone thinks I am fine.  But my heart is struggling.  Every minute.  What's your resting heart rate?  Mid 60s?  Mine is always over 100.  Imagine that.  My heart is pumping almost twice as fast as yours just to keep me alive.  Trying to do anything (oh, like stand up and walk around) raises my heart rate even more.  My whole chest vibrates and pulses with my frantic heart beat... frantically trying to keep me upright and breathing :-)


I felt really stupid for not researching novocaine first (or calling my PH doc to ask if it's okay to use).  It's embarrassing.  I did talk to my PH doc yesterday and a reaction is not normal unless there was something added to the novocaine (like epinephrine).  And of course I was reminded to call them before I do any elective anything.  Yeah, yeah, I feel stupid.  Don't be like me.


My heart is really weak.  It's weaker than I think it is, obviously.  My body can't even handle a simple shot of novocaine.  Which scares me if you think about what THAT means.  I keep waiting... and hoping... it would be nice for this to happen before my heart gets too weak and can't handle the surgery.  


BUT on the bright side- now my teeth are nice and happy and I don't have to worry about the dentist and antibiotics before cleanings (required after transplant) and yadda yadda for 6 months!  I had a good weekend and the bruises are subsiding.  I found some treasures at Target a few days ago.  Cute white plastic prep bowls with measuring lines on the inside!  Some stuff called Lemi Shine that is supposedly great for hard water spots on your glasses in the dishwasher.  Sunset magazine and a magazine for canning.  I needed canning lids (just the seal part) but Target didn't have 'em so I had to go to Wal-Mart. Icky ol' Wal-Mart.  I still feed bad that I wasn't quick enough to pay for that lady's stuff.  I'll pay it forward the next time...

Oh, and in case you're wondering... Jeff and I have seriously considered Life Alert (or similar).  I would get it if he deployed.  But since we're hopeful the transplant will alleviate some fears of me passing out or other issues, we haven't gotten it.  Plus, I really just needed someone to help me off the floor... not ambulances and medical teams.  But it is something we have discussed.  Shoot, we have discussed everything.