Archive for February 2nd, 2014

Medical changes

Posted on Sunday, February 2nd, 2014 at 9:02 pm

Since I am not currently financially capable of making an Austin run, I have elected to discontinue use of the twice daily clonidine.  This is the alpha antagonist that works in the brain center that controls the heart and circulatory system.  Discontinuing usage carries a certain risk, as in its absence, the brain reverts to normal and overcompensates for a short while.  I am monitoring my blood pressure often and being very careful in my activity during the withdrawal period.  I still have three days dosage left in case I need to use one to reduce spikes in pressure that won’t respond to to the beta blockers, which I am still using.

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I have had pressure spikes around 190/100, and I have at times felt my heart beating strongly. But the actions I took handled the spells quickly enough.  So while there is a risk involved, I feel like I am handling the situation well.  I went without clonidine before, and I know that the beta blockers will keep my pressure out of the danger range.  It wont return the range to optimal, but it will keep me out of serious risk.

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During the last couple of months, I have been experiencing problems with blood pressure while on clonidine.  Pressure has been elevated for weeks, above where the beta blockers alone would maintain it.  It is one of the issues of the prolonged usage of the drug.  It will sometimes become ineffective or actually work against pressure maintenance.  It has also been the source of my edema, which has been notable during this same period.  So I feel that it is probably in my best interest to stop usage, at least until my system can adjust to its absence.  And it will allow my kidneys to return to proper function so that my feet and lungs are not swelling.  I have on a couple of occasions had breathing problems just from walking a couple hundred yards.  I hope to be able to get back to a normal physical routine when I have cleared it from my body.

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One thing that will make a difference is the lack of sedative effect.  Usually, a dose will induce sleep for two to three hours.  This has been quite disruptive to my sleeping schedule.  I have typically been sleeping between two and four times a day.  It makes my involvement with anything but computer work anything but reliable.  Now the metoprolol hasn’t helped, as the dilation of capillaries in the brain makes for vivid dreams that tend to wake me.  Hopefully I can get past that, though.

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So the dropping of the drug will hopefully be a positive move.  While I have seen normal blood pressure recently, it isn’t a regular event.  So a slight increase in blood pressure may well be a positive swap for the erratic readings I’ve been experiencing, along with the drowsiness and edema.  The next few days should be telling.  And if it doesn’t work out, then maybe the time period of this trial will allow me to acquire funds to get to Austin to acquire a new supply.  I’m hoping for the best and doing everything in my power to get through this withdrawal safely.

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Half way through Babylon 5 season 4.  I have discovered a couple of movies that were made after the series quit airing that aren’t in my collection.  I will have to search for them.