I hate sulfamethoxazole

The diagnosis read "antibiotic poisoning". I guess it is best described as an allergic reaction - but these aint a bunch of histamine responses baby.

Please indulge me in some more self talk- I am trying to take my mind off the discomfort. If you'd rather not read my whine --- you can jump to WHINE OVER.

It's day four and I just took my temperature and am shaking like a leaf: 103 degrees. Yesterday, I suspected something fishy as I woke up in pain and running a fever for the third day in a row. The leg pain started Sunday which I thought was really unusual. What I thought were bug bites were readily becoming some sort of rash. No where on the medication information pamphlet supplied by the pharmacy did it indicate that fever was a side effect. Headache - but not the migraine I was feeling. Nothing about limb pain either.

Feeling stuck, I decided to be a Google doctor for the morning and typed in some search or another on limb pain and UTI's. Eventually after perusing a few sites, I found a URL for drug side effects and lo' and behold there were around 80 posts to this site discussing many of the symptoms I had *not posted by the manufacturer mind you* and the use of sulfamethoxazole.

I was calling all morning - both my OB GYN and GP don't open until 9. I scheduled an appointment with my GP and asked them to call me if they had a cancellation. I got a hold of the NP at the OB GYN - told her what was going on and she told me to stop taking the medication and that fever was a sign of a reaction to the medication. I had been taking the stuff for 3 days!

I have been alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen - they neither alleviate the fever, the leg pain, or the migraine - they just make them more bearable. I took two Tylenol as I began this post where I started off at 103 - I got it down to 101.5 - woo hoo.

I am pretty much bed ridden - feel good here and there - but more often than not, can't do much. Steve wants to punch someone. He had to take the day off from work, because the supplemental respite worker I have come on Mondays and Fridays called in sick. This did not make for a happy husband. I am trying to keep my mind off of it - I am not nauseas anymore at least. That would be the worst.

But another day off from work, and there are a few there who are none to happy with my schedule lately. I have no options - I cannot go in so I must face the consequences. I have to check in with the doctor today - he threatened me with steroids if I don't start getting better. Being that I just had a 103 degree temperature and haven't been on the medication for 36 hours, I see my fate. There goes the biggest loser challenge - I am toast. I envision myself as Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Terminator. Oddly enough, having eaten only 3 small meals in total since Saturday - I haven't lost a single pound. I have been pumping myself up with fluids hoping it will help pass this junk in my system - and it has left me swollen.

They have decided holding off on treating my actual infection since the reaction to the medication is a bigger concern. Hurray. Something to look forward to when I am feeling better.

WHINE OVER

I have to laugh at the kids throughout this - they just love hanging out in my room with me - they brought an assortment of toys and a tent and get up on the bed and jump and giggle. As much as I am not feeling well, I like the distraction and the entertainment. I made it downstairs yesterday afternoon and hung out there the rest of the evening, even going outside for a bit (Beautiful day here). When we came inside, Zach grabbed me by my hand and brought me upstairs into my room, gestured for me to get into bed and climbed in bed with me and then began to play. Why my room is so fun I have no idea. I am glad that me being stuck in bed isn't freaking them out and gives Steve a small break.

Zach had 6 hours of therapy today - and I was able to witness it through the walls of our bedrooms. He did really well - although he did cry when pushed by the one therapist. The little guy just doesn't like to work. No emerging skills that I can tell of, but I try not to get hung up on that - they say that a a lot of kids are labeled as stubborn before they understand the child is autistic - I am here to tell you this is not the autism - the little puke is just stubborn sometimes. Imagine that - with Steve and I as parents. :)

The big dilemma Steve and I face right now is what to do about the fall- to put him into a school or continue the home based program. I'll write more about that at a later time when I actually weigh the pros and cons on it - right now my reaction is that I want to cry when thinking about sending him on a bus to school - at the same time I will be Sophia. While Sophie gets it and is excited, he will not have a clue as to why. Why can't any of these decisions be straight forward?