Posted by Catherine Sheel on May 14, 2006, at 12:05:38
In reply to Re: wellbturin and pitting edema, posted by Lithia on May 14, 2006, at 7:00:43
L -- I'm sorry about your edema. It IS painful. And it messes with your head, your image of yourself, you feel trapped in this body that isn't yours, your body feels out of control. I mean we already have a mind that doesn't feel is quite ours...and now to have a body that isn't ours too...
I tried to find the CAUSE of the edema (ie, the mechanism of action of edema with depakote) but i'm having a hard time. Ginkgo biloba only works with edema bec. it makes the blood vessels less leaky. And unless you think you're having a hormonal thing like me...it might not help. But i agree, I don't think it will hurt. I wonder if you're just salt overloaded between the Lithium which is a salt and the depakote which is has sodium tacked on the end of its name. I'm not saying decrease your salt...i find that impossible...and maybe your body has so much that you could decrease your salt to zero and it wouldn't make a speck of difference. I guess you could try it for a couple days or so. If you can be so diligent...you'll find out there's absolutely nothing to eat that's worth eating. It means you have to become Betty Homemaker because everything in the store has salt.
Good luck with your alternative doctor. It's hard to find one that will work with your current meds...who will be understanding of the fact that you have to be on those. I found my acupuncturist through a college of acupuncture ...so I felt confident he was good. He was a professor there. However, I couldn't drive all the way to Santa Barbara...and i couldn't afford to go to acupuncture all the time. But I really liked it. This alternative, naturopath in my town...is someone different.
I think you have more patience than me. I was on Lithium for almost a month, gained weight and bloated (this was 2 years ago) and bailed on it. I think my pdoc hates me...I never stick with her plans. But then I'm a veterinarian and pretty much know what's going on medically...sometimes I can't always access their stuff. But I try as much as I can. But I think it helps me feel more confident to tell them yes and no sometimes. Although, clearly I've felt patronized and blown off by doctors all the time. And actually, the medical community probably thinks vets are idiots when what i'm finding is that we're a whole lot more thorough then they are. My GP did her 2 minute exam with my clothes on...no gown. You know...I ALWAYS made the clients take those little sweaters off their chihuahuas!
-C
poster:Catherine Sheel
thread:641723
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060510/msgs/643869.html