More fun in ER today

ER because of the aloe? I don't get it.... did you have some sort of reaction?
I'm sorry, Sarita. Things HAVE to get better soon. What is the next step for you?

I don't know if it was related to the aloe juice or not...it just came on like gangbusters about 20 minutes after I downed it.  I knew it was the kind of pain that wouldn't respond to my dicyclomine/heating pad/ginger tea/deep breathing regimen.  I get this kind of pain maybe about once a month or once every two months.  The kind where you are gasping for air, huddled on the floor like a wounded animal, like a thousand knives are being punched into you.  Hadn't had an episode like that since August.  It was awful.  My doc wondered if it was the aloe that produced it this morning.

So today I've had a cocktail of Demerol, morphine, and now Vicodin.  I'm hopped up like crazy but the pain is so much better now.  My doc called in a script for Vicodin to the pharmacy when I need it next.  I was so frustrated at the hospital.  I hate the neurological effects these drugs have...total brain fog and I can barely stay awake for the rest of the day.  Luckily I only need them rarely...I can't imagine having to live on these pills like some people do.

My friend has been taking care of me all day; she took the day off work to bring me to the hospital.  I love her so much!

Yes, she is an awesome, amazing friend.  I am so lucky to have a few of them and they have totally pulled through for me over this past year...even coming to Mayo with me, etc.  Not a day goes by I don't thank my lucky stars for them. 

I'm feeling a bit more lucid now.  Pain's coming back a bit but I'm going to bed soon so hopefully will be able to sleep through it.  Also, normally a cocktail like that would totally stop me up but I'm still having the big D!  Crazy! 

The doc today said my bloodwork looked good, WBC count was normal this time.  She did a fecal occult blood test which came up positive again, and thought about doing a CT scan, but didn't want to do another one so close to the one I had done in September because of exposure to too much radiation.  I don't think they would have found anything anyway. 

Does anyone else ever get really intense pain like this, pain that doesn't respond to your typical regimen?  Do you take anything strong for it?

Why did she prescribe juice in particular rather than the pills? I don't know if it would make a difference--seeing how it sounded like you had a bad reaction--but there would be less of it on your stomach at any one time with pills. Since it can have a laxative affect (so why would you of all people be taking it??), maybe it made your intestines seize up? Sugar alcohols = laxative effect = intestines that like to move around and visit other parts of my body. Maybe you had a similar reaction.

I am very sorry to hear that you are doing so poorly. I know what it's like to pace the floor hurting, but I don't know what it's like to not even be able to get up due to pain. Did you say before that you have a roommate? I would hate to think of you having to live by yourself when attacks like that can come on so suddenly.

Just posted this in the Crohn's forum about my pain.  My internist just called for a chat. 

My PCP just called to talk and she is waiting for some food allergy testing to come back; sending my poos off to a parasitologist in Arizona (for yet another battery of parasite tests); and is willing to do the Prometheus tests for me for IBD antibodies.  But she was like, "Sarah, are you sure this maybe isn't the result of your looming career decision?" As some of you know, I am contemplating entering medical school, and I suppose she thinks it could be the stress of that causing all this GI stuff.

She's a great doc and I emulate her.  But can the stress of thinking about med school (not really a huge stressor in my case) cause GI bleeding, fevers, insane D, etc.?  She thinks it can.  I know she is just trying to help and is looking at every option, but it makes me feel helpless that maybe there is nothing I can do about this, that maybe it is my mind doing it. 

Gads.

The fevers I can believe because stress will bring our immune system down and leave us more suseptical to infections and bugs however I didn't think that the blood could stem from stress. I would be curious to hear what my GI would say... I might bring that question to him to find out and will let you know what he says.

that sounds like it would be good for you.

i have to tell you, sarita, you are an inspirational young lady, i think of you on the bad days, "if sarita can crap all day long and still go to work, play in a synphony (can't even spell it!) and laugh about this all, then i can too!" great bit hug to you... i know stress is powerful, but i have a feeling that doctors say that when they are out of options... also didn't this all start before you wanted to go to med school?
i don't know what else to tell you... enjoy your mini vacation if you go..
--bunny

Oh my gosh, bunny, thank you for that.  Sometimes I feel tough and other times I feel like a blubbering idiot (especially in the ER when I'm hopped up on 239487 pain meds and they start asking me questions...I'm like, "What do you think you are DOING?").  I think we all have our strong and weak moments.  Sometimes you just have to push on through; other times we need some respite.

I've been wanting to go to med school since I was an adolescent.  This is a dream about 13 years in the making.  The more doctors I see and hear about, however, the more discouraged I tend to become.  Sometimes I think the work I am doing now is more effective than being a physician would be and consider going to grad school for social work.  It's a very confusing time for me, for sure - but I mean, come on, is it really confusing enough for me to start crapping blood??  Jeez louise...I feel more stable than that!

Being a dr. is social work. Just think, when you go to med school, you can pointedly ask questions that other students wouldn't come up with because they've never been really sick. You may even come up with new theories and new methods of treatment (which of course you will share with us here!!). Then you can be a dr. and think of all of the people who will be so grateful that you can help them and that you listen to them and don't think they're crazy. And you can turn them all onto this website to help them deal with whatever problem they have.

And as a dr. your skills will be in high demand among free clinics and with elderly patients who can't afford to see a specialist under normal circumstances. You could do volunteer work to help out the community. I think being a doctor--especially a good, caring one--would be the best kind of social work. You may not be helping kids find a new home, but you may be helping a child that's in pain and osteracized because of his bowel disorder.

Be the doctor you wish you had!

Hey saria, welcome!  Like your screenname (heh heh).  You should post a new thread introducing yourself to let all our new peeps welcome you!  How'd you get diagnosed with IBS?  Are you a "runner" or are you more the "can't-go-enough" type?