OT Questions about CAT scans

You're right. There are a couple OTC medications now being sold in a HBP formulation for those who have blood pressure problems.

Reply to
Karen C - California
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The decongestant is the culprit. But we live in an age where the majority wants a cure-all. That's what sells. Try and find a simple OTC cough suppressant, or worse one with an expectorant that doesn't offer to fix half a dozen other symptoms.

Tara

Reply to
Tara D

You can ask your pharmacist for a couph suppresant with codein and you will be given a small bottle and required to sign a Federal form. This doesn't have anything else in it. Or better yet, have her doctor prescribe something that suppresses a cough without the side affects.

Dianne

Reply to
Dianne Lewandowski

Does codeine suppress coughs? Here we go again, codeine, as I know it, is a pain killer. If I didn't have a cough, my head wouldn't hurt and I wouldn't need the pain killer.:-)

I do, quite regularly. I have a good relationship with my doctor, and he knows me too well. He will specify which prescriptions he gives me are optional, and more importantly. which aren't.

In Canada, we have three levels of medication. Prescription, OTC, and behind the counter. You don't need a prescription for them, but they are restricted and you have to ask for them. codeine falls in the last category. As does Polysporin Eye/Ear drops (go figure). I've given up on OTC, and figure all the good stuff is BTC. :-)

Tara

Reply to
Tara D

The decongestant is the problem.

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Reply to
Brenda Lewis

Depends on the type and cause of the cough. Codeine does relax the muscles so it will ease an uncontrolled, spasmatic cough to help a person get to sleep. It is also possible to cough hard enough and long enough to cause physical pain so it helps a lot if you have reached that point. My doc is generally against cough suppressants for acute conditions (don't know what she would do for a chronic cough) but agrees if you cannot stop coughing long enough to fall asleep, you will stay sick longer so she will resort to bedtime-only dosing with a codeine syrup.

Reply to
Brenda Lewis

Yes. That is what I have in mind: can't stop coughing long enough to sleep. I totally agree that it is important to cough. It's natures way of clearing our lungs. But it is nice to know there is something available when the need is serious enough.

Dianne

Reply to
Dianne Lewandowski

Thanks, I didn't know that about codeine. Mostly, I get the expectorant. Personal and family history of not budging it once it settles in the lungs.

Tara

Reply to
Tara D

Ah, you have icky lungs like I do. I do live on expectorant at times. Some winters the lungs stay clogged for two-three months and that's the only way to get any air.

Reply to
Brenda Lewis

I'm just going to give a blanket "Thank You" to everyone for all your suggestions and kind thoughts. Mom's CAT scan went fine. She has to go in to see her local Dr. again in the morning, but this is just to check on how well she's responding the the BP meds she (Dr. is a she) gave her. Since we know the X-ray results won't be available for about 24 hours, I'm guessing the follow up appointment will be Thursday or Friday. What I didn't know was that apparently Mom's BP has been incredibly high for quite some time. She's already feeling surprising results from the meds. Long story short, she had a spinal cord injury that was left untreated (man, is there a pattern here or what?) too long, serious nerve damage was done and once the repair was made to her spinal cord, she eventually gained some feeling back. She's already noticed that her right leg is feeling warmer than usual. I don't pretend to understand it all, but apparently her right side took most of the nerve damage and her extremities are cold to the touch almost all the time. Her leg was actually warm to the touch this evening. The veins that normally ride pretty high on her feet were actually looking more "normal".

I won't be going with her in the morning, since it is just a BP check, but I have insisted that she let me know when the follow up for the CAT scan appointment is, so that I can go with her. We're both a bit calmer now that we've had a day or so to get more used to the idea. Having had my Dad die from a massive coronary, when we had absolutely no idea he had any heart trouble at all, I panicked just a wee bit.

We know I "suffer" from White Coat Syndrome (or whatever it's called) but Mom's never been one to get shook about Dr. visits. I'm usually the one that has to go back days on end to see if we can get a lower and more accurate BP reading.

Again, thank you all for your encouraging words and suggestions. As was pointed out, at least it's been caught before any major episode occurred. Hugs back to you all! Tegan

Reply to
tegan57

If the tech saw anything really troubling on the screen, you would not have been told "the results will be available in a few days". There would have been a radiologist in there ASAP, prepared to admit mom to the hospital on the spot.

Of course, "grossly normal" (what the tech is looking for) is not the same as "completely normal", which won't be determined until a full-fledged radiologist MD looks at it. But at least we know that it's nothing that the tech is worried about causing immediate severe consequences.

Take a deep breath. Have some chocolate and a glass of wine.

Reply to
Karen C - California

Reply to
Brenda Lewis

Ah, that varies by state laws. In NH and MA at least, you need a prescription for any thing with any possible narcotic effect.

Cheryl

Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

" snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

That sounds like positive news in it's way, they don't appear to be falling over themselves to treat her. Continued good luck to her and you try to relax a little lol

Reply to
lucretia borgia

Well, right now Mom is in hospital. It's a fairly large (I think I heard them say it was around 5 centimeters, which sounds tiny to me, but what do I know?) aneurysm, but right now their main goal is to get her blood pressure lowered. Whatever they are using is working, as it was still 192/108 at the clinic around 10 am, but by 6pm at the hospital it was 154/87. I missed seeing the Dr by about 15 minutes this evening, but it seems as if she's thinking about not actually doing surgery to fix it just yet, since Mom hasn't been having any chest pain. I plan on going down tomorrow, book and project in hand, and camp out until I actually speak with the Dr. so I can have her explain this to me. IF they do the surgery, she'll be moved to St. Luke's, which is one of the best heart care hospitals in the country, so I feel fairly good about that. Still shakey, but a bit calmer about it.

I know you all are family, but she's the only immediate family I have left, so I don't mind admitting this has me just a wee bit scared. Sorta like the cat, I know it will happen eventually, but I'd like for it to be further on down the road!

Again, thank you a for all your good wishes, good thoughts and encouragement. Tegan PS, Cheryl, found a new vampire book called "Dead End Dating"... but it's not handy so I can't tell you the author. It was funny in the same way as the Betsey books are.

Reply to
tegan57

5 cm is 2 inches; doesn't sound "tiny" to me.
Reply to
Karen C - California

Reply to
Brenda Lewis

Great news, Tegan. Just be sure she stays on the meds regularly, not skipping them.

Isn't it amazing how quickly some things can be made better. Sounds all good.

It sounds like an understandable situation for you to panic a bit. Glad that things are now on a good track. Did the doctor give your mom any dietary restrictions, ideas? Just something to check on.

And back to you, too!

ellice

Reply to
ellice

Sounds like they're doing the right things. What med is she on? Camping out is a good plan.

Totally understandable for you to be anxious. Just keep some good thoughts, yourself.

More hugs and good thoughts to you and your mom, Ellice

Reply to
ellice

Mom is actually home. They got her BP down to an acceptable (??) 154/78 and decided that so long as she followed some basic rules, she could go home. She does have to watch her diet a bit more closely, no heavy lifting (which means I get to lug the ginormous cat litter container out of the trunk! LOL) and she has to try and at least cut back on her smoking, if not quit outright. We have an appointment with a heart surgeon Monday, so we'll know after that if he thinks it should be repaired or if he thinks it might repair itself once the BP is lowered to a more tolerable level. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't catch the name of both the BP meds she was given, but one sounded like clonadine (I'm guessing, since that's what it sounded like, but I didn't see the container). Oh, Lopresser is the other one. She's a bit perturbed that she can't take the arthritis med right now, but the Dr did approve her taking tylenol and also the tramadol (Ultram, if I understand right). I gather one of the more promising signs is that she's not had any chest pains at all. She was more concerned with her hip (which was her whole reason for going to the Dr in the first place.. ironically, that's still not been dealt with!)

Her Mother died of a brain aneurysm, so the very word sent both of us into overdrive on the panic scale, I think. Until recently, I'd never heard of anyone that didn't die once an aneurysm was detected, so yeah, I panicked big time!

But she's home, seems to be feeling fine. One cat met her at the door and had some very unkind cat words to say (something along the lines of "How dare you leave me to fend for myself with only HER (me) to see to my needs", I'm quite sure). The other, being a rescued feral cat, had not put in an appearance while I was there, but I'm sure the minute I left she came out to do her share of complaining. And of course, my old girl is pretty vocal about the amount of time I've been gone this week.

Again, I can't thank you all enough for your encouraging words and support.You have no idea how much it means to me. Tegan

Reply to
tegan57

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