Thursday, October 17, 2013

Facing the Music

I don't like taking medication.  If there are side effects, I get them.  Maximum effects.

I've been on the lowest dose made of an ACE inhibitor for borderline hypertension.  However, with that tiny dose, I got the side effect of a dry cough and nasal congestion.  All summer I suffered, but I thought it was allergies.  I live in an area where summers are hell for anyone who suffers from allergies, with all kinds of particulate matter in the air, from pollen to dust, much of it kicked
up by the grass seed industry that surrounds me.

I'd never suffered like I suffered this summer, however.  And suddenly a bell rang in my head, something the pharmacist had said the first time I filled that prescription for the ACE inhibitor.  I consulted the pharmacist again.  Bingo.  ACE inhibitors are known to cause a dry cough and nasal congestion in many people.

I made an appointment to see my doctor, who is actually a nurse practioner at the health clinic.  And went off "the pill".  Boom.  Dry cough and congestion gone!  Instantly.  But it had also rained, and continued to rain.  The air was cleared of allergens.  So was it the pill causing my misery, or all the dust and crap in the air?

When I saw my doctor, about the bp pill and also to get a mammogram order, she urged me to try it again, or she could shift me to a diuretic low dose, said it had no side affects at all.  But first she advised me to try the ACE inhibitor again.  I agreed to do so, knowing I had no clear knowledge of whether it had caused my suffering all summer or if it was the bad air of this area, due to the rain that came at the same time I went off it.

I thought this time I'd have a good test.  If my misery returned, it's the pill.  If not, it was the bad air.

But, as luck would have it, I came down with a bad cold within three days of seeing the doctor and two days after I went back on "the pill".

I am having trouble getting over this cold.  Or am I?  Is it the pill causing the dry cough and congestion now, or still the cold?  Bad timing again.

In the meantime, I figure if I lose weight, I won't have to worry about terrible side affects of some pill.  I can't ride my bike right now because the seat is large and irritates the nerves on my butt and bad right leg, which has been bothering me lately.  I found this step exerciser at Goodwill for $6 and to my surprise, I've been using it nightly since I bought it.  It's fun!



It's kind of like walking in sand.  I suppose someone got rid of it because the pistons are sort of "stiff" and can no longer be adjusted.  If they lock up completely I can just replace the pistons.  I like it.  The cats freaked out the first night I hauled it out to walk on while watching TV, but they're over that now, because I do it every night while watching TV.  20 minutes one night, 30 the next.  Now it's much longer.

I've tried to stay in for the most part since I caught the cold so I don't infect other people.  I've gone out for groceries a couple of times and finally yesterday, going stir crazy from isolation, I drove out to check out some kittens, I hope to help get fixed somehow.  I'd helped this old couple a few years back and now they've had five kittens show up halfway down their very long gravel driveway that goes back to property their daughter owns, way out in the country.  They live in the bushes but eagerly come out on the drive, when it's time for food.  The old couple don't live out there, but drive out daily to feed them.  They believe someone dumped them off when young.  Now they're four or fie months old.  I think they'd still tame because I think they once were tame.

I took these photos of them from my car, and on maximum zoom so they are blurry.



I didn't trap them yesterday because the driveway along which they live was getting a lot of activity.

The trees are turning quickly.  The weather this week in Oregon is spectacular--clear and sunny with cold nights.  Dying leaves are so pretty.  These are trees in town, near where I live.





Well, my neighbor is back to work today, finally, since the government re-opened.  I feel sorry for her knowing the backlog of work she will face for months as a result.

I read so many stories of how the shutdown cost ordinary people.  I felt really bad for some people in Portland and Eugene, who had saved up money and planned for years, to take a coveted trip down the Colorado River.  You have to wait for so long to get the permit since it is a popular trip.  And their permit launch date coincided with this darn shutdown and the park was closed.  They lost thousands upon thousands of dollars each, and their dream trip of a lifetime.  One of the people interviewed who lost out was a waitress, who had saved up for a long time to take that trip.  The stupid lawmakers who forced the shutdown should personally pay them back, I think.  Tea Party lawmakers---anty up and pay back ordinary Americans you hurt with your antics.

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