Your Love is Like Bad Medicine.....
Coffee: Eight-o-Clock, Columbian
Mug: White plain ceramic
Topic: Medicines and Such
About 1.5 weeks ago BabyGirl seemed to be getting a cold. Stuffy head, headache, coughing. But the coughing turned into doubled-over-hacking-and-spitting and the headache and cold never went away.
Her schedule with basketball cheerleading, wrestling cheerleading, dance and show choir practice had her leaving the house at 6:30 am and sometimes not returning until 10:00 pm and then trying to fit in up to 3 hours of homework. She was exhausted, grumpy (
Iowa Geek saw her quite grumpy one day - I swear she is never usually like that!) and we talked seriously about how to change this schedule because I could tell it was making her ill. She was just too tired for her body to fight this cold.
To make the story short; it wasn't a cold, it was a sinus infection - and the doubled-over-hacking-gasping-spitting-coughing she did for a week that made people think she was dying was actually her bodies way of keeping the infection from reaching her lungs; which it thankfully did very well as her lungs sounded fine. But she was put on a strong pseudo-med to break up the infection and get it out, and Augmentin 875 to clear it up. That was Monday.
By Tuesday her hands had tremors, she was nauseated and had a killer headache. By Wednesday she returned home from school looking like she was a walking case of influenza! She had diarrhea, a splitting headache, jittery hands and had thrown up 10 times. She was miserable.
A call to the pharmacist just made me angry. I hate when people talk down to me, patronize or me or lie to me. I guess when I explained her symptoms he under-estimated them. He suggested she try to take them with food (duh) or that if she is not spitting out what she is coughing up, it was making her nauseated. Nauseated!? She is puking her guts out - and that is after spitting out all the crap she coughs up! She was laying on the floor moaning in pain and discomfort... and this is a child that will go to school her on death bed rather than miss. (The fact that she made it all day yesterday floored me!). I told him I was a "Mom of three" and we had 'been there, done that' and what he told me was the obvious. It's worse than that.
A call to the doctor's office went the same... as I was talking to a receptionist who was putting words in my mouth and only listening to half of what I told her. A talk with the nurse that called me back was so fast I couldn't even explain to her what was going on. Instead she said she'd call over a new prescription to the pharmacy.
When I got to the pharmacy I found out the medicine they prescribed was
no longer made. (!??) OMGosh. Yes... this is my luck when it comes to doctors, medicine and such. It just seems to happen to us. The fact that he prescribed something the company doesn't even make anymore did not give me a good feeling! So while the pharmacist is calling the clinic and I'm wandering the store looking at ads for emergency walkie talkies that only dial 911.... they figure out yet a
third medicine to try.
When I returned home last night after 7:00 pm with the new medicine, my daughter was understandably hesitant to take it. I gave her reprieve. I told her we would start it this morning.
Apparently my daughter is allergic (or sensative, if that is the right word) to Augmentin 875. One thing I brought up with the nurse and the pharmacist - which shocked them both, is that she has only had antibiotics twice in her life. Once when she was about 4 and had a really bad ear infection and again once when she was about 9. Augmentin 875 is a huge dose for someone who never, ever puts chemicals in their bodies.
We are leary about the new medicine. It's Cefprozil and sticker shock about knocked me over as it's $112 for a small bottle. (Compared to the $24 Augmentin is!). She will start it this morning and admittedly I'm nervous. I don't want it to make her sick like the first medicine did. She has to cheer for a wrestling meet today and I'd hate for her to be miserable so far away from home.
*** I thought about deleting this whole post, as I know it's quite boring. But I'm going to leave it up because if someone is having serious side effects of Augmentin and looking it up on the internet, this post may help them. I'll update it later to post how she did on the new medication. This might help google searchers in the future to discuss with their doctors, other choices. ***Labels: Kat, Medicine Talk