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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by wendy b. on March 31, 2003, at 14:25:34
i just got this weird f_ing call from my family medicine practice, they're referring me on to a dr who specializes in dialysis. evidently there were more white blood cells and also protein and red bl cells in the urine sample i brought them last wednesday; i had been on Cipro for a week to treat a UTI and still didn't feel any better. then my doctor was out thurs and fri, so i only just found out and trying very hard not to freak the hell out until he calls me back --- i have no idea what any of this means........
any nurses or other health-care individuals out there? sorry this isn't about mental health in general, but my stress level is high, so i'll slip it in anyway, and ask for your indulgence. please reply if you have any knowledge about these things.
thank you in advance,
Wendy
ps: i also posted on regular PB, thanks for putting up with this.
Posted by gabbix2 on March 31, 2003, at 14:56:31
In reply to anxious - urinary tract problems, posted by wendy b. on March 31, 2003, at 14:25:34
Wendy, that happened to me, and it scared the hell out of me, I thought I had Leukemia.
It ended up being side effect from one of my medications, which is why I was so tired. That scary too but apparently isn't, well relatively speaking. You know what you can learn to get used to with medication.
I'm trying to remember what medication I was on at the time, I know its listed as a 'rare' side effect of several though some antypsychotics and antidepressants.
I hope that offers you a little relief.
I know how scared I was.
Posted by wendy b. on March 31, 2003, at 17:18:54
In reply to Re: anxious - urinary tract problems » wendy b., posted by gabbix2 on March 31, 2003, at 14:56:31
gabbi,
thank you for writing back so quickly. the dr called about 1/2 hr after i posted this, and the nurse goofed up by saying the new referral was a specialist in dialysis. my doc didn't call me, which is his usual procedure, cuz he was out of town. he just told the nurse to schedule an appointment, and call me to tell me that she had done this. the referral is just a kidney guy, who runs the dialysis dept at the local hospital!
the protein in the urine was not good, and also the red bl cells, so my doc wants me to have my kidneys checked. he says it's a sign they may be weakened somehow, and there's a possibility that steroids might be prescribed, but we'll wait and see... he's trying to be thorough, and in doing so, pretty much gave me a heart attack... i called my mother and worried her unnecessarily, too, great, huh? i kept thinking: wait, wouldn't the next step be a urologist, not dialysis!?!?!?! (I'm too young to die!)
they scheduled me for an appointment two weeks from now, so it's not dire...gabbi, what symptoms did you have? what were they treating you for? and did you ever figure out which med caused it?
i am taking cranberry extract pills from the health food store, but also large doses of vitamin C, evidently it helps the bladder get rid of the baddies. have you suffered from many bladder infections? what do you do for them?
can't tell you how relieved i am, and thank you again for being such a pal... it means a lot to me.W.
Posted by Greg on March 31, 2003, at 17:36:25
In reply to Re: it's ok, Dr called » gabbix2, posted by wendy b. on March 31, 2003, at 17:18:54
Wendy,
I'm butting in here because I do it so well...My daughter is being treated for a UTI right now. I'm not really clear from your posts if the doctor has eliminated that as a possibility or not with you. In case it is what you have, the meds she's on now are Phenazopyridine, 200 mgs, 3x day for 3 days, and, Macrobid, 100 mgs, 2x day for 7 days. They seem to be doing the trick.
Drinking lots on cranberry juice will help also. I am VERY worried about you and I hope you'll let me know how you're getting along, if not here, write me at gbwhite at attbi dot com.
All my love to you and the wee one. I'll keep you in my thoughts babe.
XXOO,
Greg
Posted by gabbix2 on March 31, 2003, at 18:37:30
In reply to Re: it's ok, Dr called » gabbix2, posted by wendy b. on March 31, 2003, at 17:18:54
Oh Wendy I'm glad the dr. Called. There is nothing like being in that limbo state. Yes it would be scary to hear dialysis.
And thanks for calling me a Pal, I needed that today.I used to get bladder infections a lot, not so anymore though I had surgery for them.
Cranberry juice is good more for preventing U.T.I's than treating them.
For possibly weakened kidneys, these are some of the best, and you can usually buy them together in a "Kidney cleanse" at any health food store.
Pau D'arco Cornsilk, Redclover
are particularly good,
If everything checks out fine, it is still good to take these because our meds are pretty hard on the kidneys and liver and relationships (oh but I digress)I think it was Either Effexor or Chlorpromazine that caused the increase in white blood cells,
most likely chlorpromazine.
Protein in the urine could be from anything I think, it could be that there was just a little blood. (Im not positive though)If you don't have a lot of swelling in your body
I don't think its a crisis.
It sounds to me like they are just being thorough.
Thats what it was with me, though I went through
two weeks of agony.
What a blathery letter with no help. I will try and find some concrete stuff about exactly what I had, but I move so damn much I never know where anything is. :(
Posted by SBOATRN on March 31, 2003, at 20:06:48
In reply to Re: it's ok, Dr called » gabbix2, posted by wendy b. on March 31, 2003, at 17:18:54
Hope everything works out well. It's always to good to have it checked out. Best to ya !!!
Posted by Willow on March 31, 2003, at 21:29:17
In reply to Re: it's ok, Dr called, posted by SBOATRN on March 31, 2003, at 20:06:48
Wendy
How much vitamin C are you taking? I do think it can be more of an irritant for your kidneys than good. Safer to eat an orange instead, and they taste great right now. The navel seedless ones are so sweet.
My doc once goofed when he sent me for an ultrasound. He ordered an ultrasound of my whole inners, from stomache down - every organ imaginable. And on the requisition slip he wrote history of ovarian cancer. Well duh me looks it up. Turns out every symptom I had matched. I went numb and it was all I could talk about at chat. I'm still here and everything is fine.
Drink lots of water, read a good romance, and hug your baby. All will be well.
Willow
Posted by noa on April 1, 2003, at 4:39:47
In reply to Wendy?, posted by Willow on March 31, 2003, at 21:29:17
Wendy, glad you got that call, after the anxiety you had from the nurse's comment. People don't realize how something they say that they don't think of as that significant can be very powerful to other people.
Posted by wendy b. on April 1, 2003, at 6:15:07
In reply to Wendy?, posted by Willow on March 31, 2003, at 21:29:17
Willow, dear,
> How much vitamin C are you taking? I do think it can be more of an irritant for your kidneys than good.
hmm, i'll look into this. what i'm taking is a pretty standard, chewable dose, something like 833% of the MDV. do you think this is too much? i will take a minneola to school today, we have a bunch of those - have you ever tried them? my daughter loves citrus fruit, me, not as much, although i know it's good for you...
> My doc once goofed when he sent me for an ultrasound. He ordered an ultrasound of my whole inners, from stomache down - every organ imaginable. And on the requisition slip he wrote history of ovarian cancer. Well duh me looks it up. Turns out every symptom I had matched. I went numb and it was all I could talk about at chat. I'm still here and everything is fine.of course - and we're glad about that! my normal tendency is to freak out at any health problem. and i'm really as fit as a fiddle. then i read on a medical web site last night all the different kidney diseases one can get - the list was so long! and frightening. not the thing to do before bed!
> Drink lots of water, read a good romance, and hug your baby. All will be well.
romance novel? and "baby" is 11! we still do hug, though... thank you so much for your kind words...
love.
W.
Posted by wendy b. on April 1, 2003, at 6:20:29
In reply to Re: Wendy?, posted by noa on April 1, 2003, at 4:39:47
> Wendy, glad you got that call, after the anxiety you had from the nurse's comment. People don't realize how something they say that they don't think of as that significant can be very powerful to other people.
noa, thanks for writing... yes, the nurse was a little scary. the doc says: i'll go in there and give her a good talking to, when i told him i had been freaking out for an hour. but she really is a dear woman, and i asked him not to. she actually remembers my daughter and me and is always nice to us when we go in... i think if the dr had called me first, this could have been avoided. i am a natural-born worrier, of the type: "oh, my god, here you are, going along, healthy all your life, and taking it for granted, and now you are so ill, you'll have to be on dialysis for the REST OF YOUR LIFE!!"
you know, stuff like that!thanks for the empathy, i needed it --
W.
Posted by noa on April 1, 2003, at 19:46:28
In reply to Re: Noa, posted by wendy b. on April 1, 2003, at 6:20:29
That's nice that you can be forgiving. I suppose maybe you caught her on a bad day and a bad moment when she made a poorly thought out reference to dialysis that just pushed your anxiety buttons bigtime. It sounds healthy to me that you can regain perspective so quickly!
Take care.
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