Venting...

[Harpoon]

Grrr.....

First time since I've gotten out of the hospital (that's about nine months give or take a week) and my coumadin level's been really good and well behaved, until now....

Got bloodwork yesterday after I saw my primary care physician for a nagging cough, cold infection I picked up over the weekend and I get a call bright and early this morning, it's at 5.6.

Not too bad, but I was keeping on top of things so very well.

I called my cardiologist who also got the results and he has me off for a day, then 4mg Thursday and Friday, 8mg on Saturday and Sunday and more bloodwork Monday.

My dosing was alternating between 8mg and 9mg with every dose, it worked well.

Maybe the cold thing threw me off.


On the plus side though, it occured to me this morning while taking my other meds (I take coumadin at night anyways) that I can eat grapefruits again!!!!


Whoohoo! Thought I'd have to give up the grapefruit indefinitely but no, I can have my grapefruit juice and my grapefruits for breakfast and and and....


If only there was a recipe for grapefruit soup.




Eeeeewwwwww.......



Oh yeah, one other note from yesterday's visit with the PCP. he listend to my chest during the exam and made the comment right away that I wasn't in heart failure.

WHOAH!!!

I asked him about that and he said he didn't hear any evidence of fluid in my lungs, nothing. He also pointed out that there wasn't any swelling anywhere else from water retention, and said that my "excessive" weight was probably fat.


YIPPIE!!!!


I'M FAT!!!!


As opposed to retaining water which would my health a lot faster than being about 15 pounds overweight.


This is how my mind works. I could care less about cholesterol and coronary artery disease, I'll be long dead before that has a chance to take hold because my heart's so friggin' screwed up to begin with.

Mind you, I AM going to live forever. It's a proven fact, I just won't die. They've tried to kill me half a dozen times now and I'm still here dag nabbit, I will not die!


Unless maybe someone cut my head off.... Maybe.


So anyways, my INR is 5.6 and I'm off the rat poison for a day and I'm no longer in heart failure so I could care less if my body mass index is higher than it really should be.

The world is good, if only I could shake this friggin' cough which kept me up half the night!

No, it's not from the lisinopril!

 

[Nancy]

Hi Harpoon-

Well, your INR will get straightened out. The most important news is about the CHF and no fluid retention. That's superb! You're doing a terrific job on the low sodium, I would guess.

Fantastic!

 

[hensylee]

Harpoon - if they cut your head off, you sound like a guy who would just grow another body......!

 

[Guest]

It was probably the cold. Being sick raises the INR.

Were you not eating grapefruit because of the warfarin? Grapefruit has a negligible effect on warfarin. Yes, in theory it does something, but in reality it does not.

 

[Harpoon]

hensylee>>Nah, I'd grow another head, hopefully one that had a better complexion than the one I got now...

Maybe a "Tom Cruise" head...

=Þ


I saw my cardiologist today and we had a nice chat. He confirmed what my primary physician had said about not being in heart failure any more. The cough I've had he thinks is "benign" and probably some kind of cold type infection just like what he and a million other people have right now because it's winter.

I asked him about the INR and he didn't know, had to call and bang a head or two around to get results, 2.5. =)

We talked about some other stuff like my "moodiness" and he pointed out that I had been through a life altering experience and it was kinda natural (if not expected) for me to be a little "blue" once in a while or otherwise emtionally out of sorts. He's glad that I'm doing as well as I am and he really does think I'm "above the bar" again in so many ways.

The cough I have now is annoying, it pesters me and can be a real drag when I'm trying to get something done, but I guess I can live with it if ALL that it is is a cough, not some symptom of a heart related issue.

I'm gonna post about disability insurance elsewhere, we talked about that some too.

 

[Guest]

If the cough persists ask about changing from lisinopril. A nagging cough is the most frequent side effect of that drug. It is called an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. It stops the body from changing angiotensin I to angiotensin II (a blood pressure raising chemical). You can get almost the same results by changing to an angiotensin II receptor blocker. We need some angiotensin II or else we don't have enough blood pressure to pump through our kidneys.

 

[Harpoon]

I know all about lisinopril.... =)


Problem is, the alternative (at least the one I was on for a while), diovan, is about three times the price and when one doesn't have prescription coverage......


I have two kinds of coughs really, a tickle cough (that's the lisinopril) and a congestion sort of cough, where I'm actually producing something. It's this second cough that I'm more concerned about.

It's NOT CHF, my lungs are quite clear.

But something's making me cough, something's making my sinuses drain some which I think is where the fluid is from when I get the cough.


Bit of a puzzle here...

 

[Guest]

The worst thing about the lisinopril cough is that it will never go away. I know what you mean about tolerating it. I have had a mild case for about 13 years but I tolerate it because it is cheap and coontrols my blood pressure.

I knew one man who had a wife paralyzed by a stroke and she was put on it. He nearly had to put her in a nursing home because he was worn out from jumping up to see if she needed for mouth wiped. I suggested that he seek a different drug and after they chnaged it, he told me that I had kept her out of a nursing home. That is why I keep suggesting that people consider a switch.

My guess is that there are alternatives to Diovan that are covered. If not you could get a prior authorization so that it would be covered. But like I say, I live with it.

 

[Marge]

My doc changed me from lisinopril (an ACE inhibitor) to cozaar (an ARB).

The cough I got from lisinopril was not just an annoyance, it was absolutely horrendous, and made not only me but everybody around me thoroughly miserable. I understand ACE inhibitors are more effective than ARB's, but there is no way I could ever go back to lisinopril.

 

[Georgia]

May I suggest singulair? I'm not asthmatic, but it finally took care of the productive cough I'd had; Illinois is allergy central, and altho Claritin had done the trick for me for a long time, I guess it was too long. Doc had me try Singulair and that worked. Also use a nasal spray (Flonase) when things get bad (Aug. thru Oct.).

I had a beastly sore throat that lasted for weeks last fall; getting on the Singulair took care of it.

Of course, it's pricy; but with documentation that other antihistamines didn't work, my insurance pays as a name brand on the formulary.

 

[Harpoon]

I was on a trial of flonase early on with the cough thing, before I actually started showing edema, and it did absolutely nothing.

However, it might now.... Singular too maybe, I guess it's worth asking about though I'm not too keen on adding more meds to my list.

There are some nights when I'm "symptom free" and tonight seems to be one, save for a minor coughing fit I had after getting out of the car when I got home from work....

Dunno.

 

[LDS4EVER]

your a funny guy

your a funny guy

Hi its chris ,your a funny guy thanks for making me laugh. I had so many problems also with my level in fact after sept being in the hospital with a level so high and having bruses all over my body and a blood clot in my pelvis and recieving 5 pints of blood to help with my blood loss which i have no idea where i was leaking from lol made it home thank the good lord just this month my level has finally gotten normal and settled down im normal again yhhoooooo so i sure understand your frustraion and nancy was the one who helped me through it all she is like a mom to me its great i remember when the dr told me to withhold for a day and i went and had some avados hummmmm and now im craving grapefruit i wonder can i have it it sounds so good well you take care and i like what you said abotu all the other problems well die from being over weight or anything else well take care bye chris

 

[Harpoon]

=)