Day + 77, I'll Drink (An Ensure) To That!

By yesterday afternoon, I was getting frustrated that I hadn't heard from my doctor. I had promised myself that I was not going to mischievously skip another day, and as the clock approached 2 o'clock I started to get anxious. For the last month, I have been on a Zaroxalyn / Lasix diuretic regimen, a combination that helped my edema but also made me sick. The last couple weeks have been awful, as I have spent the days nauseated and with a poor appetite. I was removing fluid weight from my body -- but since I was not eating, I was also losing real weight. Taking the pills would have guaranteed that not only would I have a miserable weekend, it would probably push my ribs out another inch.

At about 1:45pm, the phone rang. It was my nephrologist.

Although it took a day for him to get back to me, I have to give him credit for dispensing advice to me without seeing me or having recent copies of my labs. The last time I saw him was in mid-May, when he sat me down in his office to give me the news that started all of this.

His advice: Get off of the Zaroxalyn... that's powerful stuff. I can't recommend modifying your Lasix until I see some labs. Try 80mg Lasix alone today and Sunday, then check in with me on Monday and we'll go from there.

When I heard these instructions, I immediately felt relief. However, this feeling quickly turned into anxiety, as I recalled my first experiences with Lasix in May when the edema started to take hold. First it was 10mg of Lasix to stop the spread. As my edema got worse, it was upped to 20mg. Then 40mg. For a week I started to manage, but then it came back with a vengeance. When I arrived at BUSM, it was upped to 120mg at one point. Eventually that dose proved to be ineffective. Ever since, the only way Lasix would work for me would be to take it intravenously or have it combined with an agent such as Zaroxalyn.

So here I am being told to get off the Zaroxalyn, the drug that was making the edema go away. I would no longer be sick, but would I now start gaining fluid again? I guess there's only one way to find out. I swallowed two 40mg pills and took a nap.

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Yesterday evening brought a number of surprises. First, it appeared that the Lasix was working. Not with the tenacity that the Zaroxalyn provided, but it was working a little bit. Also, I discovered that I didn't have the nausea that usually came when I took it. My appetite returned in force, and I snacked. Oh, I snacked.

My weight has gone up 5 pounds since Monday morning, but the edema does not appear to be any worse (or better) since then. It's too soon to tell whether that extra poundage is real or fluid weight. Now that I have my appetite back, I guess we'll just eat and see.