I have been sick for almost 2 weeks now. I have had this dry, hacky cough that produces nothing, I can't sleep, and off and on I feel achy and my joints hurt. That last part isn't constant, it just seems like if I have a particularly heavy cough day, my joints ache. I am not a fan of going to the doctor, mostly because I don't like paying for it, not because of any fear or dislike of doctors.
On Monday, after 9 days of this cough and broken sleep, I made a doctor's appointment. After going over symptoms I have and those that I don't, my doctor made the determination that because I've had asthma due to allergies in the past, this is most likely what it is...WHAT?? Did I include wheezing or a barking sneeze in my symptoms? No. This wasn't even the doctor that determined I had asthma due to allergies...DUE TO CATS. He prescribed me an albuterol inhaler to see if that decreased my cough. Recommended I could take allergy medication to see if that helped too. WHAT?? If that didn't help, to call back in a few days and we'd take the next step, maybe XRays.
The inhaler made my cough looser, DUH, but didn't decrease the frequency of cough, but it made me jittery as hell. The OTC allergy medication I usually take made no noticable difference. The next day, I suffered through work and shortly before lunch time, called and left a message for his nurse that it wasn't working. She called me back 6 hours later (I give many props to her for being at work til 6:30) and said that the doctor was sending over a prescription for codeine cough syrup. I've taken it before, and wasn't a fan, but number 1, who's going to argue with a nurse at 6:30pm and number 2, I was desperate for sleep.
After waiting 50 minutes at CVS (OMG - another blog post altogether), I went home with my laced cough syrup, dosed up and went to bed. I woke up Wednesday and proceeded to make up for all the coughing I missed overnight. My eyeballs were bulging and I'm sure there was a very prominent vein in my forehead. I dosed up and went back to bed. The medicine calls for a dose every 4 hours. Every 3 hours, it wears off, and I cough my head off for the next hour.
This morning, I called the doctor's office at 7am. Left a message for the nurse that I was really frustrated because I felt like the symptoms were being treated (SORT OF), but nothing was being done to fix (OR EVEN FIND OUT) what was wrong with me. In addition, I woke up with one bloodshot, gummy eyeball. I hacked through work all morning, and at 12:30, my lunch time, I called the doctor's office. I asked the receptionist what their procedure was for these callbacks, and I was told that the morning calls are usually returned over lunch (I'm sorry, do you return calls on your lunch hour?? I certainly don't. ) At 2 pm, there was still no call back. I called again, explained to the receptionist that I was really upset that I hadn't heard from anyone yet (like she cares) and she put me through to ANOTHER nurse. I had to explain all over again, the symptoms I had, what meds I'd been taking and how I was really frustrated with this process. She said she'd have to talk to my doctor and call me back.
At 3:15 (after a coincedental and disturbing phone call from an insured who had a cold for 2 weeks and when he finally went to the doctor found out he had fluid in his heart, it was damaged and only working at 30% capacity) the nurse called me back and told me that the doctor was going to send over a prescription for prednisone for me. I pretty much said "thank you" and hung up. I was so mad. Prednisone? Really? You're still going for this allergy thing? I don't think so. I have no desire to take a steroid, especially when this guy has NO IDEA what's actually wrong with me. I mean, I was mad anyway at the situation, then the fact that NO ONE is listening to me really pisses me off AND I'M PAYING FOR IT!!!!
So, I went back to my desk, looked up the number for another doctor and made another phone call. I explained my situation, my symptoms and my frustration to this new receptionist. You know what she said? "We have an appointment available at 3:15 tomorrow, would you like that?" I could've kissed her - although since I still have no idea what's wrong with me - I doubt she'd appreciate that.
Hopefully tomorrow, I'll have some answers, or at least a plan to figure something out and a doctor that I actually have confidence in. Some sleep would be nice, too. =)
