(no subject)
Dec. 22nd, 2017 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckI have things to say about last night's choir concert, but I'm sufficiently tired that I'm not sure I can quite articulate them. At this point, I'm mainly staying up in order to take my medications. I last ate about an hour ago, so I'll be up at least another hour and a half.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that time because reading is mostly out.
I am thinking that I might try stopping the Flonase nasal spray over winter break to see whether or not stopping it changes my rather sudden asthma problems back to the state that was normal for me last year. I'm very, very suspicious of the timing of the asthma relative to starting the Flonase, and I really don't think that adding a twice a day inhaled steroid that's going to run me $30-$40 a month is the best solution if the underlying problem is the Flonase.
I just want to know, one way or another, so that I can weigh factors. Using the Flonase makes using the c-PAP regularly more feasible which is pretty hugely important, but I really need to avoid asthma problems because I have zero options for a rescue inhaler that won't cause serious problems (basically, if I use Albuterol*, it's because the other option is going to the ER and getting Albuterol there because that's all they have. If I'm going to deal with huge physical anxiety symptoms, racing thoughts, etc. I really prefer to do it at home where it doesn't cost $$$).
*I had one pulmonologist, a decade ago, suggest Xopanex, but looking at the research on that, it's still Albuterol, and the studies that looked good didn't show any improvement in side effects over regular Albuterol. Xopanex is Albuterol that's been filtered to remove either the left handed or the right handed molecules. Can't remember which, and it doesn't matter. The theory is that one of them is the cause of all the side effects while the other is the cause of all the benefits. Which... Sounded like snake oil when the doctor told me and, judging by the research I looked at then, was also no better than the unfiltered version, really, really expensive, and not on our prescription provider's list of things they'd pay for. I decided it would be kind of like paying through the nose to get organic, artisanal Twinkies. You know, really expensive but, even in the best case, still a Twinkie.
I really am more than a little punchy...
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that time because reading is mostly out.
I am thinking that I might try stopping the Flonase nasal spray over winter break to see whether or not stopping it changes my rather sudden asthma problems back to the state that was normal for me last year. I'm very, very suspicious of the timing of the asthma relative to starting the Flonase, and I really don't think that adding a twice a day inhaled steroid that's going to run me $30-$40 a month is the best solution if the underlying problem is the Flonase.
I just want to know, one way or another, so that I can weigh factors. Using the Flonase makes using the c-PAP regularly more feasible which is pretty hugely important, but I really need to avoid asthma problems because I have zero options for a rescue inhaler that won't cause serious problems (basically, if I use Albuterol*, it's because the other option is going to the ER and getting Albuterol there because that's all they have. If I'm going to deal with huge physical anxiety symptoms, racing thoughts, etc. I really prefer to do it at home where it doesn't cost $$$).
*I had one pulmonologist, a decade ago, suggest Xopanex, but looking at the research on that, it's still Albuterol, and the studies that looked good didn't show any improvement in side effects over regular Albuterol. Xopanex is Albuterol that's been filtered to remove either the left handed or the right handed molecules. Can't remember which, and it doesn't matter. The theory is that one of them is the cause of all the side effects while the other is the cause of all the benefits. Which... Sounded like snake oil when the doctor told me and, judging by the research I looked at then, was also no better than the unfiltered version, really, really expensive, and not on our prescription provider's list of things they'd pay for. I decided it would be kind of like paying through the nose to get organic, artisanal Twinkies. You know, really expensive but, even in the best case, still a Twinkie.
I really am more than a little punchy...
no subject
Date: 2017-12-23 12:15 am (UTC)I guess I was incorrect in assuming the wheezing is due to your reflux issues? And I take it you can't use inhaled cortico-steroids to try to get ahead of the wheezing?
I decided it would be kind of like paying through the nose to get organic, artisanal Twinkies. You know, really expensive but, even in the best case, still a Twinkie.
LOL!
no subject
Date: 2017-12-23 12:33 am (UTC)I started Flonase in August and started having trouble as the weather got colder. Poking around online (.edu and .gov sources) has given me the impression that Flonase can, very rarely but still occasionally, cause more asthma trouble. Most people, it helps, but once in a very great while...
I get weird side effects from a lot of different medications, and something has changed to make this winter different from last winter or any of the winters in the last decade since I started taking singulair. The list of possibilities includes me just getting older but also includes two new meds (Flonase and Halcion), the c-PAP, and a rejiggering of when I take my thyroid medication.
I can use Flovent, which is an inhaled cortico-steroid, but I don't think we can afford to keep me on it long term. As I said in my post, the copay was pretty damned steep for our current budget. We'll find a way if we have to, but I want to try stopping Flonase during Cordelia's break and going back to claritin (and adding sudafed) to see if, once I'm past the rebound, the latter two meds work well enough to get buy. I know that I don't have problems with either sudafed or claritin, even long term.
Fiddling with things to try doing without the Flonase is a relatively inexpensive thing on the monetary side. I figure that the worst thing that happens is that I'm sick on Christmas Eve/Christmas and miss out on my husband's family's gathering (or need a chance to nap during it).
Besides, the Flonase is leaving my nose and sinuses sufficiently dehydrated that I'm constantly aware of it as a discomfort during the day (my c-PAP has a humidifier built in). We have a whole house humidifier running at a setting that grows mildew on the windowsills, so... Turning that up further or using supplementary humidifiers is a bad idea.
And that was likely a lot more than you wanted to know...
no subject
Date: 2017-12-23 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-12-23 12:46 am (UTC)As far as I could tell, it didn't work less well than bog standard albuterol, but with the same probability of side effects, the price of trying it out didn't seem worthwhile, not during the decade plus when I had no symptoms. Does that make sense?
no subject
Date: 2017-12-23 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-12-23 08:05 pm (UTC)