Wednesday, November 02, 2005
I hate my guts!
I saw the primary care doc today, and I was right....the opioids are shutting down my entire digestive system. What's worse, the fiber supplement I was taking for the constipation was probably not ever making it to the bowels, swelling up in the stomach instead.
The primary care doc called the gastroenterologist while I was there. Between the two of them, they came up with something I can try. I was warned that this may not work, but I promised to give it a shot as it can't be any worse than I am now.
I have do to the opposite of what you might suppose.....switch to a NO fiber diet as right now I'm not able to digest it at all. That means no fruits or veggies unless they're pureed, and then in only small amounts. And no meats, which means I'm gonna be living primarily on eggs and rice.
I'm off the methadone temporarily until we can get my guts to work. I have prescriptions for Erythromycin and Miralax. The first is an antibiotic that stimulates motility in the stomach, the second is for the constipation.
Once my tummy starts functioning again, I am to ease into low dose methadone. I may not be able to take it around the clock at first, but will have to find some sort of balance between pain relief and digestion. It is as complicated as it sounds.
We want to stick with the methadone if possible because it is generally more easily tolerated than the OxyContin. I'm keeping my appointment with the gastroenterologist next week, both to check in and to see if she has any other suggestions should this not work. So now I'm trying to treat celiac disease, diabetes, gastroparesis and this most recent crisis all with diet....yikes.
I'm trying not to be jealous of people with only one illness to treat, but right now, I'm not succeeding very well.
The primary care doc called the gastroenterologist while I was there. Between the two of them, they came up with something I can try. I was warned that this may not work, but I promised to give it a shot as it can't be any worse than I am now.
I have do to the opposite of what you might suppose.....switch to a NO fiber diet as right now I'm not able to digest it at all. That means no fruits or veggies unless they're pureed, and then in only small amounts. And no meats, which means I'm gonna be living primarily on eggs and rice.
I'm off the methadone temporarily until we can get my guts to work. I have prescriptions for Erythromycin and Miralax. The first is an antibiotic that stimulates motility in the stomach, the second is for the constipation.
Once my tummy starts functioning again, I am to ease into low dose methadone. I may not be able to take it around the clock at first, but will have to find some sort of balance between pain relief and digestion. It is as complicated as it sounds.
We want to stick with the methadone if possible because it is generally more easily tolerated than the OxyContin. I'm keeping my appointment with the gastroenterologist next week, both to check in and to see if she has any other suggestions should this not work. So now I'm trying to treat celiac disease, diabetes, gastroparesis and this most recent crisis all with diet....yikes.
I'm trying not to be jealous of people with only one illness to treat, but right now, I'm not succeeding very well.
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