Stomach flu is rough stuff

So I was strong armed into an ER visit this week because when I called to make an appointment to see my doctor about my stomach flu I mentioned that I lost my breath a bit from getting up and urinating and walking back to my recliner. I guess shortness of breath is a big liability for Kaiser so when they hear those magic words they want you in the ER.

So last fall I had a bit of a struggle with my breathing during exercise due to water retention related to sodium levels. This was corrected by vigilant control of sodium intake and increasing my lasix dosage.

Back then an ER EKG showed atrial fibrilation, of which I have been aware since about 2005, and something called right bundle branch block or RBBB. The RBBB was never discussed with me but the afib was used as a lever to get me onto Eloquis.

Doc threw a sh*t fit when I explained to him how the Eloquis was not working with my active lifestyle as he had instructed me to give up aspirin as it does not play well with Eloquis. No aspirin means less work at the gym and less miles on my bike. He changed the drug to Pradaxa, but still banned the aspirin. I guess he wasn't listening very well. It's about aspirin. Pradaxa is quite scary to those who look up it's potentially lethal side effects. I got the box of Pradaxa but have not taken any.

I have over the years developed disdain for the likes of Advil and Tylenol, finding both ineffective at reduction of muscle pain and inflammation and even headaches. They might work on fever, but honestly I have never tried them on a fever as I always have aspirin on hand and I know it works.

I do know that I get about a dozen generic Advils (ibuprophen) or Tylenols (acetaminophen) for about a buck at the Dollar Store and about 75 to 100 aspirin for the same price. So the math here is easy....a buck for a couple of months of aspirin or a few days of the ineffective high priced crap offered by big pharma.

BUY ADVIL STOCK!

Every doctor I have talked to about aspirin for the last 50 years must have stock in Tylenol or Advil as they seem offended when I tell them that aspirin doesn't bother my stomach. When I was younger and was running 40 to 50 miles a week I got in the habit of taking three aspirin at a time due to he intense pain running created in my knees. I know it would have been smarter to give up running for speed walking or bicycling back then but hindsight is 20-20.

Anyway, back to the point, if I go to the gym without taking aspirin, the recumbent bike hurts more and that reduces my time and intensity of working out. And yes I have tried to substitute Advil and Tylenol and no, it doesn't even help at all.

Last fall the EKG at hospital caused Kaiser to outfit me with a walking EKG monitor that I wore for 24 hours. The cardiologist reviewed what the wearable device revealed and said NO BFD, no treatment recommended or needed.

I have been aware for almost 20 years that I have afib, which my doctor now thinks is going to result in me having a stroke. Not that the afib is any worse than in 2002, but I think new drugs are available to push on folks with afib. But after looking at the laundry lists of side effects that can come with Eloquis and Pradaxa, the treatment, which includes giving up aspirin, is worse than the disease.

So I take two aspirin most days, about an hour before the gym or a bike ride. If I get a headache (rare), I take two aspirin. Aspirin, like Eloquis and Pradaxa, is a blood thinner and anticoagulant. But big pharma doesn't make big bucks from my use of aspirin, so doctors seem to have a smear campaign against it. If it works for me and doesn't break the bank like Pradaxa does, I'm sticking with it....sorry Doc.

DON'T LEVERAGE ME

I'm frankly pretty sick and tired of being leveraged into various treatments and tests that have virtually no chance of benefitting me. Cases in point....

1) The doctor keeps sending me a little box he wants me to poop in and mail back. Hell the
$$ Kaiser has spent on postage alone trying to score some poop would keep me in aspirin for years (the return postage is prepaid). Does the post office think it's okay to mail poop?. The doc thinks the poop will tell him if I might be getting rectal cancer. Probably also why he wants me to have a camera shoved up my butt looking for polyps. I'd like him to concentrate on what is much more likely to kill me, the fact that I have congestive heart failure. I dont need to know if I have colon cancer that might kill me five years from now when I already have a disease that could kill me before Biden is out of office.

2) Aorta ultrasound. I smoked as a teen & young adult but quit when smokes got too pricey and breathing too difficult. Snuffed out my last cigarette June 20, 1977. A pack was over 50 cents then, but just a quarter when I first started. Because I am a former smoker, I apparently qualify as a risk for aoritc rupture. So I must have an ultrasound to check my aorta and have received much pressure to undergo one. To be honest, I wouldn't mind showing up to the ultrasound place and letting them have a go at my aorta even though I have not smoked for darn near 50 years.

But in order for them to perform their test, they want me to fast for 12 hours. That means no breakfast and that might also mean no BM that day and that can lead to constipation, which is a greater likelihood (and problem) for me than a potential future rupture of my aorta due to smoking 50 years ago. And it's inconvenient for me with virtually no chance of benefitting me. If my aorta ruptures I think it'll be a quick way to die and knowing it might happen because I took an ultrasound for pre-knowledge couldn't be a benefit as far as I can see. But I bet there's a drug they could leverage me into taking for it.

So I'm an old male and that means I pee more often and smaller amounts than I did when I was younger, and I suppose it's due to enlargement of the prostate or maybe prostate cancer. And my present struggle against the stomach flu had me thinkng for awhile I might be having a prostate issue as my urinating was becoming less volumnous and causing some disconfort. But it seems as the flu is being defeated by my robust immune system, the peeing is getting back to normal.

SOME SYMPTOMOLOGY

Since you have read this far I am going to guess that many of you were looking to compare your own symptoms for reassurance that what you have is only the stomach flu and not something more deadly.

I can't guaranty anything but here are the symptoms in chronological order: I took some milk of magnesia on the 29th of march as I suffered a surprise bout of constipation. three hours later I had projectile diarrhea, and it recurred twice on the 29th, not too uncommon for a full dose of M.O.M. but I started feeling a little fatigued and my breathing was harder the rest of the day. I had mild cramping in my intestines, also not uncommon for MOM. I had planned a bike ride but skipped due to the fatigue.

Next morning I was due for the gym but I still had diarrhea, not normal for MOM and it recurred later in the day. I began increasing my fluid intake and checked my temp. I normally run 97.7 or so but noticed I was then at 98.9. I skipped the gym again, fatigue and intestinal distress.

March 31 more diarrhea and I concluded I had a bug. Checking with my facebook friend who had reported having stomach flu, she seemed to mirror my symptomolgy. She is a highly intelligent woman and is a paramedic and she referred to this particular bug as having made her sicker than she has ever been. She is notably younger than I am and has a very active lifestyle and probably a healthier diet. My facebook friends also include 2 microbiologists, complete with PhD's (one may have a master's), and a registered nurse who lives in Sweden. Oddly I get more useful info from the nurse and the paramedic than both of the highly educated virus afficianados combined. Sometimes caring is more important than degrees and I guess nurses and paramedics are in it because of caring, it's certainly not the money.

More to come....