Saturday, December 3, 2011

Two Years Out

I had what amounts to my 2 year check up with my rheumatologist. Back in August when I saw her I had been off of my Plaquenil for a few weeks and was doing great. She wasn't too happy about me being off the medication and recommended that I go back on the medication since we didn't have a diagnosis and she didn't want me to relapse.

So I started taking the medication again for about 2 weeks. At that time I noticed that my eyesight went from being "normal" for me without glasses to being pretty foggy with or without my glasses. So I decided to stop taking the meds. I have had NO problems since then. I've had 2 surgeries and have managed to not experience any joint pain, muscle pain, no rashes or fever etc. I feel good about the decision NOT to take the medication.

My check up was scheduled for December 1 and my husband thought I should just cancel it but I went anyway. Of course the doctor asked me if I was taking the meds and I told her I wasn't. I told her about my experience with my eyesight and she tried to play that down telling me that only after people had taken the medication for 10 or more years did they have problems with their retinas and such. I told her that I didn't want to go back on the medication regardless.

She feels that because I am "undiagnosed" that I should remain on all this stuff for another 6 months to make sure I'm not going to get sick again. This may come back to bite me in the butt, but I'm just not convinced that I NEED to take medication for something that is undiagnosed "just in case". So she advised me that I needed to call her right away if I had an unexplained fever or rash. I assured her that I would and let's face it...I'm not all that stupid! I'm not going to let it get out of control.

A few weeks ago I looked down at my arm and thought I had a rash and honestly my heart sank and I thought..."OH NO!" It turned out NOT to be a rash at all but the impressions of my sweater on my arm! So anyway...if I notice any of those things I will call her. In the mean time...Just Say No to Drugs!

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