DIY Nasal Saline Rinse Solution

I hab a cold (said in most pitiful of voices). I always seem to have colds or some sort of congestion between being around kids, and having sinuses that are chronically swollen. People have been telling me for years about how much I need to do nasal rinses, and while I did them sporadically, I've only recently started to do them regularly.  I'm sick of being sick, and  if they help keep me from getting horrible sinus infections that are having to be treated monthly with antibiotics, I'm willing to shoot pressurized water up my nose.

For the record they AREN'T sinus rinses. You do NOT rinse your sinuses, but rather your nasal passages. If we could rinse our sinuses we would get mondo infections because anything we inhaled could get in them.  This little disclaimer was brought to you by my old ENT who got verrry annoyed when people talked about how wonderful sinus rinses were.  

Does everyone hate the dentist?

Hating going to the dentist seems like one of those universal things like hating taxes, and knowing that every other driver on the road can't drive.  I don't 'hate' the dentist, but I'm not a big fan. My dislike is probably due to the fear that I'll either be in chronic pain, have them do more damage, or lose the pretty teeth that I still have. No one else in my family has decent teeth, so I cling to the hope that I can stay as far away from the dentist as possible (and still maintain my award winning smile).  Insert here: funny joke about my husband's name and how I 'won' him...


This week, that didn't happen since I was in that tilted throne 3 times.  I chipped a back molar around a filling and was told that I had get a crown. With apprehension I returned, prepared for the duel pain of having a tooth drilled and having to shell out a thousand bucks for the privilege of dental care.  No, we don't have dental insurance, and our research has shown that we would pay just as much, if not more, if we did.

The drilling, not so bad. The getting numb wasn't pleasant but not unbearable.  Next comes the most digesting thing you've ever tasted--having the impression of your tooth done. That...was awful, but not as awful as my dentist's assistant first jamming down my gum around it--bruising my gum, and making me tell her that she needed to 'be done, like now.' I'm pretty tolerant but when I can taste blood, my tolerance quickly wanes.   The goo in the mold is awful...and since she used way too much of it the first time around, the dentist told her she had to do it...again! Oh joy, 20 minutes of nasty.  Then we get the temp put in place.  I was worried because they were having trouble getting the bite correct, and when I left and started to de-numb I realized that, despite all of the shaving it was still too high.

I had all of this done the morning I left for MAGfest, so I was out of town for the next 4 days as the stupid tooth continued to hurt. Actually, for the first two days, my tongue, where I apparently bit it, was horribly painful (thank God for ibuprofen) but the jaw wasn't happy either. I went back 5 days after the initial appointment to have her file it down a little. She did, but the pain still didn't go away. What do you do when you have weird pain? Why, I ask my friends and the Internet.

All of my facebook friends more or less told me to go back, and that pain for a week isn't normal, so I called her and they got me an appointment within 2 hours.  At this point the staff knows my name, and finally I managed to slink into at least one appointment on time.  The previous two appointments I'd managed to sleep through because of alarm snafu's--yeah, that was embarrassing.   After explaining that the pain felt like a nerve was exposed and peeling me off the ceiling when she blew cold air on it, she realizes that the cement wasn't sealing well and decides to take the temporary crown off, and use a different type of cement.  I heard her describe that she was going to 'pop' off the temp...but it wouldn't move.  Her assistant (this one I really like) came back with pliers and I braced myself. 'Pop' "oh, that wasn't too bad but umm, you want me to bite down on cotton? Crap that hurts!!!" At this point my complains are muffled by Dr. Phil on the TV, and the cotton in my mouth.

Ugh...did I mention there was no numb going on at this point? Aside from the pain when the temp was removed, it wasn't really needed but I'm generally leery about dental ANYTHING without a big shot of something numbing first. After removing the temp they used a new kind of cement, a kind that I had had put as a temporary filling before. This stuff is glorious--tastes like cloves and burned the side of my tongue like super strong toothpaste.  The pain almost immediately subsided and hasn't come back.  Oh glorious clove laced, nerve soothing, cement.

The moral of this story? If it hurts, tell the nice lady with drugs. She can fix it!

Not my teeth...mine aren't that white

Medical Mayhem...No More!

Warning: It's a long post! In short, I figured out the cause of my chronic hives--read and give your input on being your own medical advocate!


This year has been a roller coaster of medical issues.  Ironically most of them started after this fateful trip to my OB-Gyn to ask about a pre-conception consultation.  We had been trying for about 4 months to get pregnant and no go.  For some reason, I always thought that I would have trouble getting pregnant, but this was one time I didn't want to be proven correct. There are so many feelings tied to your fertility. I mean, in essence, evolutionarily it is what your body is created to do.  To have this ability taken out of your hands is heart breaking. By the end of the consultation, the nurse practitioner (note: for the most part, I really like this woman. She listens, she's kind and she's given me amazing referrals) told me that she thought that I had PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome), needed to lose weight (thanks, I hadn't noticed), and needed to figure out any issues I had with depression and potential ADD.  Oh where to start! I went to the doctor because I wanted to get pregnant and left with a script for birth control (it helps w/ the PCOS and mood swings), I cried.

Let's knock off the depression story first. I was diagnosed with depression when I was pretty young.  I was in middle school, and depression, puberty and a tumultuous home life didn't go well together.  At that age, I was given the magic pill of Prozac.  I don't remember much about that time, but my mother claims it saved my life. I don't doubt it, but that Prozac started a decade long journey of self doubt, shame, and endless pills.  I suck at remembering to take medicine. I put it off until the last minute (like everything else) and then I 'forget' to take the pills.  Ironically, when I had to take a pill that had an immediately effect (if I took the pill, I didn't get hives and could breathe. If I forgot, I had a horrible itchy day ahead of me), I only forgot to take it once in 4 months.  I felt self doubt because I couldn't make my mind do what I wanted and shame because depression in the 90's was still pretty taboo.  People didn't openly discuss having depression and I always felt like I was 'different' and there was something wrong with me.

In attempts to figure out why I was having weird mood swings, I hit up my local insurance covered psychiatrist.  I had found this lady for my husband because I quickly realized the man needed some help with his ADD that had stymied him from reaching his goals for years.  I saw it in him, because I saw it in me.  I have a brother and mother with ADHD. I know the face of it. What I didn't realize, was that the hormones and brain chemistry that cause one, are really closely tied to depression. Have ADD and depression? It isn't uncommon, but is frequently misdiagnosed.

I left this appointment in tears as well. This lady thought that my mood swings were bipolar disorder. WHAT?! I'm not bipolar! I get hyper, but I'm never reckless, and the more that I talked to people, the more that I thought she was full of it. After two of the worst weeks of my life attempting to take Abilify, I knew it was time to find a new doctor.  The 'mood stabilizier' she put me on made me homicidal and suicidal. I hated myself, I hated my husband, I hated my mother, I hated my situation, I hated EVERYTHING and couldn't get away from it.  I wasn't sad, I was MAD.  I stopped take the medicine and miraculously felt better.  New doctor time! This time I went with my ob-gyn's recommendation and the sky opened up, and the angels sang.  I walked into this man's office and he had a picture on his wall that looked like it was painted in my favorite place, Maine.  He confirmed it was.  He was wearing a Van Gogh (my favorite artist) tie, and he....he listened to me.  He gave me amazing advice, told me that nothing indicated that I was bipolar but instead it indicated that I need to stop take anti depressants all together to see how I was drug free, and that I probably had ADD.  Angels singing people--angel are freaking singing here.  I am not taking anti-depressants, and haven't since then and for the most part am great. I have some swings but by being off medication, I have learned what causes them and what I can do to prevent them (ironically eating is a huge issue).  It hasn't been easy, and I still get over anxious about stupid stuff, but I'm okay. I'm better than okay, and I have a psychiatrist that I trust, and enjoy seeing. We have some great conversations actually. My next step is to seek out regular cognitive therapy to teach me coping skills for my anxiety.  I'm a work in progress.

Okay, the real reason I was writing this post was because of my adventure with the PCOS diagnoses.  First, I had to get blood tests, and an ultrasound to confirm the diagnoses.  Then, I was told to find an endocrinologist to prescribe me metformin.  Metformin, whens working correctly, works by allowing your body to better process sugar. It is a diabetes medicine that is used for people who have PCOS.  It can help suffers lose weight, reduce the instance of cysts, reduce swelling and help them get pregnant. In me...not so much.

I first went to my primary care physician to get the script, since I had to wait more than a month to get in with the specialist.  I started taking the lowest dose in July, and then when I saw the endocrine a month later, she told me to start increasing my dose.  Then we had an earthquake, and a hurricane and my in-laws came to visit, and I had a sinus infection...all...in...the...same...week. I hit up the redi-med for the sinus infection, and was given some antibiotics and a steroid pack.  As soon as I finished the steroid...I broke out in hives.  EVERYWHERE.

Some of the highlights of the first few weeks of the hive adventure included:

• Not being able to walk because my hands and feet swelled up, and my feet hurt so badly that I couldn't put weight on them. I dehydrated myself on purpose because I couldn't walk to the bathroom. This lasted a couple of days.
• A visit to my primary care doctor that didn't seem concerned at all.  At this point I could barely walk and my 'polite' was turned off. I almost beat him when he told me not to swear.  He prescribed me heavy duty steroids...that didn't work at all.  He also wasn't concerned that my resting heart rate was over 100, and my chest constantly hurt. For the record--the heart rate issues were another dangerous side effect. note: *He is no longer my doctor.*
• All of this happening while my in-laws are visiting from across the country, and my parents came to meet them (not stressful at all)...
• Being told that my hives were caused by stress (umm..the hives were CAUSING the stress!)
• Taking more benedryl than I thought humanly possible. I drank an entire bottle of children's benedryl in a day.
• Serious breathing difficulties. I thought that I just had a sinus infection until the horrible wheezing was pointed out to me. This lead to....
• A visit to the ER because of the breathing difficulties
• A visit to the dermatologist 3 days later because the hives came back after the steroid the ER gave me wore off. He told me that steroids would make it worse, and gave me antihistamines that I could build up to a high dose of, and then back off a few weeks later.  They worked, but made me horribly stoned.
• My classes start and I was too stoned to remember most of the first few weeks
• Finally get an appointment with an allergist. He isn't much better at figuring this out, but puts me on a antihistamine that I can take daily, which...treats the symptom but not the cause.  He also put me on antibiotics for a month to see if we could fix the swelling in my sinuses. Stopping drinking milk reduced my headaches more than any medicine did. 

So...this goes on for months.  I have food tests, I stop eating dairy and realize that most of my sinus headaches go away.  No more wheat and milk together! All of this time I am choking down that one big ass metformin pill and occasionally attempting to up my dose.  I cancel my endocrine appointment a couple of months ago because I haven't ever been able to get up to two pills, and I'm sick of spending money at the doctors.  I decide to take the medicine increase seriously. Then, around my birthday my hands and feet start really hurting/swelling, and through the antihistamine, I get hives. We are on vacation in Williamsburg and I...am...flipping...out.  I feel like crap, and although we had some great moments on that trip, I want to go back for a re-do.

A few days go by and the swelling seems to go down again.  Then I decide to increase my dose of metformin again and the swelling/achiness comes back so I decide to look online to see if that's a side effect of the metformin.  It is. Right under...hives, breathing issues, mood swings, increased heart rate/heart palpitations (which I'd been having). My heart rate jumped as I realized that I might have figured it out, and I start typing into the mighty Google God "Metformin allergies" and quickly (first page I look at) come across the account of a woman who had a sulfa allergy(wait...I have that) and broke out into hives on metformin. She doesn't know what to do. My husband sends me a link with the chemical name for Metformin, which includes the word 'sulfa.'  They are both sulfur containing drugs, but not in the same class.  However, it seems that EITHER (the study I read didn't know conclusively) that people with sulfa allergies are either allergic to ones that have similar chemical composition (like Metformin) OR are just at a higher risk for developing allergies to other drugs. Personally, I broke out in hives with sulfa drugs when I was 6 and haven't touched it since.  I've broken out in virus hives, after being sick a couple of times since then but have never, conclusively been found allergic to anything other than sulfa.  On top of that--- More research unveils people saying that they have sulfa allergies and metformin doesn't even work for them. Wait...what? I haven't lost any weight on metformin, and it caused me to swell. I thought it was because of the antihistamines that I'd had to take for the last four months.  Because of the swelling, I'd stopped taking the metformin, cold turkey, the night before. I haven't touched it again.  The more I read, the more people I talk to, the more I look down at my hive...free...skin, I realize that I  was being poisoned for months by something I was religiously swallowing every night.

The stomachaches that increasing my dose of metformin caused had kept me from ever taking the whole dose that I was prescribed. My dislike of swallowing pills, and being able to look something up in Google saved my life. Not a single of the 3 doctors, including an allergist made the connection.  The ER barely asked me about drug allergies, and what medicines I was taking and simply gave me some MORE steroids and sent me on my way.  This has to be stopped! If there is some discernible connection between metformin allergies and sulfa allergies, people should know.  I found a few places that mentioned that there might be some cross reactivity, but only after I realized that I was allergic to the medicine.

My joints, weeks later, still ache constantly.  My feet and hands still feel puffy and swollen but nothing like they were.  I stopped the nightly antihistamines that were making me so tired that every day was a trial, 5 days ago and I haven't had a damn hive since.  I was taking claritin in the mornings but didn't today and I'm fine. I'm more than fine. I am free.  After all this, and almost a year. I am no longer on antidepressants, antihistamines, or metformin.  I'm almost completely drug free. It makes me wonder if I should have gone to the doctor to start with, and what my next step is.  As far as having a baby, we have options and this time has made me realize that every day that we don't have kids, is a day where I can learn to be a better parent.

Going forward, I will never take a medicine without through research. I never going to simply take medicine to mask symptoms without first exhaustively attempting to find the cause.  The doctors sort of just shrugged and told me that my hives were auto-immune. I knew they weren't and that I was getting worse, not better.  I wasn't going to settle for just waiting for them to 'burn out,' and I needed to figure out what was going on.  We need to research! While there are many more drugs on the market than ever before, we also have more access to researching them than ever before.  Don't just blindly accept what you are told, go and find out everything that you can about it.  A well informed patient is one that is less likely to be killed by someone else's mistake.

Have you had something similar happen to you? How are you your own advocate?

Medical Mayhem update

I've been waiting to write this, as I've been waiting for things to actual come to a conclusion.  Sadly, nothing seems to be as clear cut as I wish it could be.  

I'm not wed to the diagnoses of bipolar disorder being my issue.  While I'm not against admitting and facing my issues, the more I research the less I think it is me.  I am currently not taking any medicine and am waiting for an appointment with another psychiatrist.  What is with the good doctors not accepting insurance? I'm praying that we'll be reimbursed by our insurance to somehow offset some of the 300 plus cost of just the intake visit. This doctor comes highly recommended, which means enough to me to shell out the big bucks. So first issue not resolved! While I'm not taking any medicine, my 'moods' haven't been too bad as long as I eat every few hours and never allow myself to get super hungry.  I've been having issues getting motivated to leave the house, I haven't gone too far into a depression.  

I was diagnosed with PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome), I don't have many of the classic symptoms (thank god!).  These can include hair loss, thinning, excessive facial hair, acne or patches of dark skin.  I do however have irregular periods, fatigue, weight issues and a blood test confirmed.  I was hoping, praying that I would go into the ob-gyn and they would prescribe me the metformin then and there.  No go. Instead, she told me to go to an endocrinologist. Wow, helpful to have drive all the way over here after waiting 3 weeks for an appointment to tell me I need to get an appointment with someone else.  The next appointment that I can get, is in August. I made an appointment with my primary care physician in two weeks hoping they'd start me on the meds before August.

Another treatment for the symptoms of PCOS is birth control pills. I'm sort of mad that I'm now taking birth control pills when, what I want, is to have a baby. Yes, it is counter intuitive! She really wants, however, to see how much of my depression is actually hormonal.  So, she also put me on prenatal vitamins. 

May I go on a short rant about prescription prenatals? I'm pretty sure they are giving me awful headaches.  Plus, I can't find any list of what is in these pills online. WTF--if they were sold over the counter, it would be required to list what, and how much minerals and vitamins were contained.  The only plus--the over the counter ones are a hell of a lot cheaper (with my co-pay) than they would be over the counter.  I'm going to see if the headaches continue, and if they do, switch to another pill.

I have continued with acupuncture and, at least, my back hasn't been bothering me.  Does it work?  I'm STILL not sure!  I feel pretty good, so I'm going to continue it.  I will however determine that no one will EVER be allowed to stick needles in the back of my hands.  It was really painful, to the point that I had to take a needle out after she left the room.  Most times I don't even feel the needles, but this time it hurt like hell on both sides.  The needle in the middle of my forehead didn't hurt, nor did the one on the top of my head, or my feet.  Once again--anyone have acupuncture stories? 

So days have been really bad, but so far this week has been pretty good.  I am struggling with my weight, energy levels and moods but since I started eating every couple of hours, I haven't gotten in a single fight with my husband.  Cheers!  

Tomorrow is our anniversary. While it is really the anniversary of the day we got married, two years ago, we refer to it as the "paper signing day" because we eloped.  It has been an amazing two years and I can't imagine my life (at least not happily) without my hubby.  Thank you my love.  

On 'Paper Signing Day' waiting before the ceremony