Plans?

So much for my plans to hop onto the Master Moves and rotate judiciously.
When the frost got all the plants and the front of my white porch showed up again, the bottom board was a startling spring green. Some kind of fungus had taken it over. I could just picture that leering out of all the snow all winter, so I gave it a mould and mildew treatment and when it had hopefully dried by yesterday, I went out in gale force winds that could stand a paint stick perpendicular in a paint can and I covered the whole cheerful green mess with sparkling white.
I was almost finished when I sort of slipped on a fern root and kinked my back. I was saved by a Manitoba Maple I'd spared from my dreaded pruners. I got out of that danger zone very carefully.
I went out to do the job standing upright. I struggled back in stooped over like a rheumatically challenged 90 year-old.
Bed was pretty much a waste of time last night.
My liver was not happy because of the Master Moves from before and my back and neck were thoroughly ticked from my painting misadventures.
Typing this is painful. I quit.

Start Slowly

No cramps last night.
Today, I've forgotten the pills with breakfast. By the time I'd taken my enzymes and ox bile, I completely forgot the Spirolactone.
I must get one of those pill organizers. I really must.
My feet are all puffed up with fluid and the ingrown nails the chiropodist is supposed to have fixed are bugging me.
Maybe I should get some toenails off like she suggested. I have my doubts that I'll be wearing sandals in the future, any way.
I did not have a happy day yesterday. I got too brave when I first used my new Master Moves exercise disk on Monday. True I was just holding onto a chair and twisting on it, but I did it for too long and right where my liver hides out, I have a pain.
It's not as bad today.
I got Koch's Master Moves to get some more circulation to my liver and I guess I overdid it. I didn't do nearly what they were doing on the Shopping Channel demo, but it sure hurt. Tomorrow I shall hop onto that contraption and twist a minimal amount.
Now, I get to go clean the windows outside and then paint the window sills and touch up the front of the house before winter gets here...
That gives me a window of three hours today.
Up and at it. That activity should make up for skipping the Master Moves today. And yesterday.

Talk To Your Doctor

Yes!

I was right.

Those miserable leg cramps and spastic hands were a withdrawal symptom. I had a perfectly peaceful night last night...good sleep with no getting up to use an ineffective massager on my feet and legs, or to take a Magnesium capsule that didn't work very well.

I've already forgotten the pills at breakfast today, so I'd better remember at lunch. Otherwise, I might soon be very uncomfortable.

Even a diuretic can screw up your system so you get withdrawal symptoms.
I suggest that you try diuretic teas rather than pharmaceuticals if all you're trying to do is fit into your jeans or weight in at the local weight loss club.

If I find a way out of Spirolactone requirement to deal with Ascites, you can bet I'll be decreasing my intake of that drug very gradually. When they say 'don't stop taking a drug with out talking to your doctor first' I suspect they mean that I'm going to have withdrawal symptoms.

What might that infer, I ask you. Addiction?

Cancelled

I hope I drew the right conclusion.

I've been extra vigilant for the last three days or so, about taking my three Spirolactone pills. The night before last and last night, I had no leg or foot cramps. So, in spite of the pharmacist thinking it was not a case of withdrawal symptoms that I was experiencing with the Spirolactone being forgotten perhaps, I decided that I was going to cancel the clinic appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I was certain that I had taken the Spirolactone the days previous to the crampless nights sleep.

Having done the cancellation, I hope I do not get cramps tonight. I rather appreciate a crampless night of quality sleep.

Here goes...nighty-night.

Spirolactone Withdrawal Symptoms?

While I'm waiting for an appointment at the clinic next Tuesday, I might as well still consider all possible causes of these leg cramps at night. There is no point in changing diuretics if this is already the best choice and it may well be the best choice.
I've been considering some possibile causes for cramps other than the build-up of Potassium in my system. Once I tried to stop codeine which I was taking as a cough suppressant/'asthma' control, cold turkey when it got so that it was no longer effective at levels I was willing to put into my system.
I think everything but my heart and my brain went into a cramp during that experiment.
The doctor told me not to do it, and just like that time in the Garden of Eden when God said, "Thou shalt not..." They/I did it anyway.
If the Doctor of the Day had only told me why, I would have paid attention to that, but he was not into 'why'. Just think of all the problems Humanity could have been saved if we'd only known 'why'.
So much for Theology!
I began to wonder if I'd simply been having Freudian slips and forgetting to take my Spirolactone. Maybe that was why I was getting the leg cramps.
I asked the Pharmacist if it was possible to get cramps from forgetting to take the medication for a day or two.
He asked if I'd forgotten to take it.
I told him that if I was capable of forgetting to take the medication and could not remember taking it, perhaps I could not really say whether I'd forgotten to take it or not, but the pills did not appear to be getting lower in the bottle.
I guess I'd better get one of those pill organizers and fill it up first thing every morning so I know when I've taken my pills. I need to figure this out by Tuesday at appointment time, so I'm not asking for a change of diuretic that I may not want.
I think I'll try to get a blood test for my Potassium levels while I'm there.
I could save the Gov't. a lot of money if I could just get an App for my communication device that I could stick my finger into, have it take a drop of blood and process it right on the spot.
How economical and convenient would that be!
Maybe Santa could bring it, if it's not down-loadable.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Potassium Sparing Diuretics

Could Hyperkalemia result if you take Spirolactone and eat a lot of high Potassium content foods?
Today I called the clinic and got an appointment for Tuesday afternoon to discuss this choice of diuretic. Some tests would be good, too. It would help to know if it was actually an overload of Potassium that was causing the bruising and painful night cramps.
If it's a Potassium overload unbalancing my electrolytes, I want the Medi/chemical set-up for that to stop. Otherwise, some of my favorite foods should go off the list. Some of them, I'm not willing to take off my list of possible healthy food choices.
It says, "Avoid foods that contain high amounts of potassium, including bananas, oranges, lentils, nuts, peaches, potatoes, salmon, tomatoes, watermelon."
Watermelon is a good diuretic. When the Spirolactone fails to deal with my fluid load, eating watermelon and/or taking ginger tea, or parsley tea does a pretty good job. Cucumbers are also diuretic although harder to digest. Perhaps I'll take a vinegar pill first when I eat cucumbers. Vinegar can make cauliflower edible for me. Bananas, I don't eat a lot of and I'll be careful what I eat bananas with. I'll certainly avoid eating them with meals where there are a lot of potatoes.
I've practically lived on potatoes for the last three years and I still love them. At this point I'd rather change diuretics (I think) than give up mashed potatoes with cheese. Maybe next Tuesday my thinking will be ironed out after I learn the facts of that preference.
Also, I'm starting to get excited about seeing Mandarin oranges in the stores. I adore Mandarin oranges as much as I do raspberries and blueberries which are not on the sin list. Unfortunately only frozen berries are economical now.
And that's not all I'm not supposed to eat. One thing I like that I can have lots of is water. If the Town officials would just smarten up and not put fluoride into it, my kidneys would be happier with my water-drinking.
If people want to poison themselves it should be a personal decision, not foisted on the whole town by some itsy-bitsy by-law.
I don't want night cramps, but I 'm not giving up my mashed potatoes with cheese, either.
So, Doc, what's up?

Do Your Research

So! Back in 2007 when I was first diagnosed, I knew I had to take a diuretic to deal with the Ascites buildup. I was actually squishy. That is not good. It makes it difficult for all of one's organs to function in such a crowded area.
Usually I check medications thoroughly before I decide to take them.
I was desperate. Something had to be done. I could either have the fluid drained or I could treat it chemically. I decided to take the chemical route and was prescribed a Potassium-sparing diuretic...Spirolactone.
It moved several pounds of fluid out of my body in less than a month. I started off in the 170 lb range and wound up at 132 lbs over the Christmas Holiday. If only there had been a weight-loss contest for that period, I would have won the plastic surgery prize hands down with my feat of drainage. I looked like a prune with festoons of flesh hanging from my inner thighs and showing up on my stomach as well. My shoes even felt loose. I could have used some plastic surgery.
So, I've been taking Spirolactone for two years and eleven months now.
Today, I finally decided to check out the side effects. I'd been watching Dr. Oz going on about how deadly grapefruit and Statins could be when taken by the same person.
So I decided to check out Spirolactone and foods to avoid and I got an eyeful!
I learned that I should avoid foods containing Potassium.......
Now I know why all these cramps in my legs have been happening. I thought it was my fault for drinking so much ginger ale to help me burp when my digestion started blowing bubbles. I'd quit ginger ale because my digestion seems to be under control. No more bloating. So, knowing how sugar and the other things in pop were not doing me any favors, I quit.
Then I was away and had a smale Sprite with my baked potato and chicken.
My hands became spastic on the steering wheel. I hate that and sometimes my legs would cramp when I was driving. I took a Magnesium tablet to relax the muscles. Magnesium is not nearly as effective as it used to be.
Cramping is a side effect of Spirolactone use. One I've been supposed to warn the doctor about. Oh, yeah?!
Not only does Spirolactone cause cramping, it causes bruising. And it's not doing that great a job so I also have to take Ventilin and Pulmicort to control the Asthma that Ascites seems to bring along as a companion. I hate bruises all over my hands and arms. Before I go out I have to apply make-up to the bruied areas below my long sleeves.
Oh, yes! Spirolactone makea people drowsy. Nice!
Thank you, Doc. Maybe we need to talk about this.
It took me long enough to smarten up and check that diretic out.

Doubts

So I asked a good question that let me know some idea of where I was with Cirrhosis, how much time I have and how to manage that time to my best advantage.
It really took a load off my mind not to have to re-home my Pooch. One does not want to sit around dogless for 10 years ...especially if you're a dog person. I'm a dog person.
Cats mystify me. They purr. They're terriffically amusing and some of them are good mousers although indiscreet about how they handle their prey in relation to their people.
Nothing ticks me off more than to set a beautiful table and see the cat sitting on one of the place settings meticulously washing it's face. I'm apt to go into orbit and have done so, just before kicking the cat out into a snowstorm and washing every plate on the table as well as switching table cloths.
It requires way to much cat-management thinking for me to live comfortably with a cat. No matter how cute they are, or how fantastically they purr, or energetically they massage, to keep Kitty where I want her instead of where Kitty wants to be.
So being at a Two, I've still got the dog, who stays on the floor, or at most sits on his chair, or my chair with me. Good Boy!
I've had some doubts about where I am on the Cirrhosis continuum.
I went to a a specialist in late June, who planted those doubts in my mind.
I don't know if my doctor set him up, or this guy flies in from another planet for office hours.
He wanted to know why I'd been diagnosed with Cirrhosis.
Really! I thought there was good evidence for that diagnosis...Ascites, digestive misery, bloating, blood tests showing the liver was out of whack and an ultrasound that indicated Cirrhosis. With all that evidence, what other conclusion could a sane person reach? I agree with that doctor. He was no kid. He knew what he was looking at. The Specialist was not in an elaborative mood about that question that he raised about my diagnosis. He could have looked way smarter if he had been been more talkative right then.
What really floored me was his report to my doctor saying he'd reasurred me that I did not have Hepatitis.
Everyone has ALWAYS known I did not have Hepatitis. How did Hepatitis get in there?
I wonder where that Specialist guy parks his flying saucer. I didn't see it...but my instincts told me that going there was a waste of gasoline and my money.
I'm trying to process it all.
Meanwhile I feel pretty good, although tired.

Questions That Work

OK. I'm going to tell you that I felt so relieved and elated at the Dr.s' answer to my great question, that to rejoice in it all and calm down has taken way more processing time than I would ever have believed.
Six months is considerable time to take to wrap one’s mind around a new idea of reality.
I'd been frustrated and depressed at having no access, first hand, to my ultrasound so that I could decide whether things were progressing or regressing with the choices I was making for myself.
I could not pry anything that made sense out of that doctor and I was at my wit's end. I realized that I had no clue about where I was on the cirrhosis continuum of progress.
I didn't know whether to give my dog away the next day, or try to outlive him.
So I asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the Undertaker is coming NOW, where am I in this Cirrhosis process?”
You could have wiped me off the floor when he said "You're at a...two. How old is your dog?"
I said, "Five, but he's a Chihuahua."
"I'd say you've got as good a chance as he has. Take care,"
And he grabbed his folder and left.
I haven't been the same since.

It was the best question I ever asked and I've asked a lot of questions. Believe me.

Thought Icebergs

“Say it!”
Maybe if I could.
“Come on. Say it!”
Even if there were no manners, fears, or other apprehensions saying ‘it’ can sound pretty silly.
When I try 'just saying' it, I say confusing things and people wonder how anyone could think like that. I don't know. I'm working on it.

Whole plays can be built on what is not being said.

I’ve never heard a playwright actually admit that they figured out the subtexts of the characters and then dumped them onto the stage together and let them fight it out in well timed Scenes and Acts. Playwrights are not going to say how they handle the subtext. Some of them ‘just get to know the characters and the characters work it out and sometimes surprise the playwright’.
How very diverting for them!
So…?
It’s been a long time since I put up a new post.
How come?
I intended to. One day last winter I was bashing ice off a steel roof that doesn’t get enough sun and doesn’t have enough slant for the snow to slide off. The genius contractor figured I needed an eaves trough. It did a great job of trapping ice so that it melted and ran back up under the roof.

That day the sun was shining and I was chopping with my hatchet and ice was flying all over the place. I was making minimal headway…time to hire some help.
Then it was time to go see the doctor.
I got ready. I was planning a post about something.
It never happened. I said something I’d never said to the doctor before and his answer knocked me for a loop.
It took a long time to process that new reality. Even now, I know it’s like an iceberg of thought…a tiny bit that is conscious to me. The rest of it seems to have taken up residence in the deep central parts of my cells.

So what was this idea that brought everything in Sirosis to a standstill?

Tomorrow, I’ll share that idea with you.