Questions I'm Pondering - Followed by a Story

First off, the HOUSEKEEPING.  Did you happen to catch the contest over on Scrutiny by The Masses?  Or the post at Diets In Review, where I dish on nutritious hot dogs, if there are such things, and Why is Fat the New Norm? And I'm reposting this tidbit:  If you haven't yet registered to trade on Zwaggle - why not?  If you use this here handy dandy link, I'm giving each of you extra points from my very own stash - that's how strongly I feel about this company. It's a win-win situation - no money changes hands, and you can get your kids some great new-to-you stuff with speed and ease. Sign up, sign up!  Plus, if you enter using this link, I'm going to give one lucky person a Starbucks gift card.  Couldn't you use a cup of coffee?  I'm here to tell you, it's a good deal. I just got Emma a brand new pair of Stride Rite sneakers for school next year.  No cost to me. Score!

And now, for the questions...

• Where is Allegra's cell phone? I am not missing it - or her ability to text at warp speed - at all. But the pathetic sobs as she searches are about to send me to the MOON.
• Will I be able to pull off this Barbie cake for Emma's birthday party tomorrow?  I've been feverishly watching youtube videos and searching online for info, but I'm kind of winging it and really, really nervous. I'm also making a lemon cake for the adults with strawberry filling...
• What made me think it was a good idea to skip dinner and eat three yeast rolls instead?
• And, ahem, about half a pan of frosting?
• I did, however, plan the birthday party VERY well. It's NOT at my house - it's a martial arts party at the gym.  Yay! I have to do NO cleaning, the kids are entertained by someone else, and can I repeat, it's not at my house!
• What do you want to bet I forget that I put the camera battery in to charge and leave it at home?
• My little girls wanted to share their favorite video with you.  If you have a little kid, check out the site Totlol.com and then look for the video titled The Duck Song. I have to tell you, we ALL walk around repeating the song over and over.

The story that follows explains where I've been for the past few days, but it's probably fairly boring.  Unless you like a tale of drama and me, once again, making a wrong choice and not listening.  And, ahem, thinking I was going to die. And migraines.  And really expensive medication....

Wednesday evening I took Thai boxing class and it was fun.  I didn't get hit in the head, no injuries occurred, and yet, as I was sitting in front of this screen as I do every evening about 9 p.m., I was struck by the realization that I was starting to get a very bad headache.  Not yet a migraine, but I've had so many of these that I knew if I looked at the computer one.more.minute, that would be it for me for a couple of days.  Shut down, straight up to bed with an ice pack and two tylenol pms.  I hoped that I'd caught it in time.

At about 7 a.m., I woke to a sharp, stabbing pain through my left eyeball, directly into my brain.  Apparently I hadn't caught it in time, and I lay in bed for a good fifteen minutes trying to scour up the effort required to go to the bathroom and get the Maxalt.  I cursed at myself for not getting my new prescription for Treximet filed - I'd heard it was great stuff and I'd delayed filling the prescription because I really didn't have the money, and I was also hoping that if I didn't fill it, I wouldn't need it.  Oh, hai, stupidity, there you are again.  Finally, I got the medication and went back to bed with another ice pack.  Two hours of writhing pain, and I gave in to my husband's incessant questions and asked him to go get the Treximet prescription filled.  He came back an hour later and handed it to me, and I groggily ripped the bag open. Not having my glasses on, I was unable to read the box, and my head hurt too bad to even think of reading the insert of information - and I ALWAYS do this.  But I was in so much pain I just wanted the pill that second, and as I popped it in my mouth I became aware of my husband's gaze pinning me to the bed.  "Should you take that?  You already took a different medicine - how do you know it's safe?"  Very legitimate, knowledgeable queries, and I was having NO part of it.  "I'm fine.  I always do this.  There's no trouble," I snarled at him and lay back down.

Those of you with brains know where this is going, I'm sure.

He left and I closed my eyes, feeling the pain pulse through my eye and pierce my brain.  Gradually, I began to feel sleepy, and I didn't resist the pull of slumber and began to go under.  I was, oh, probably 90% asleep when - there's no other way to describe it - I became aware of my heartbeat.  Now, that sounds dramatic, but it felt almost as if my heart was trying VERY hard to pump its way out of my chest. I was asleep, I do know this, but I was aware - it was the most odd feeling.  I remember bringing my hand up to my heart, and feeling it pump, pump PUMP PUMP, as hard as if I'd just run a race.  I have no history of heart trouble, except for some brief palpatations during a period of severe stress two years ago.  I vividly remember thinking, I wonder if I should have taken both of those medicines.  I wonder if I'm going to die.  Well, at least if I do, it'll be in my sleep and I won't know.  And I won't care, because my head will stop hurting. I rolled over, said an Act Of Contrition just in case, and that was all I knew until four hours later.

At which point my head no longer hurt, but I was left with that all too familiar space cadet, slower than dirt feeling.   (I explained it to my daughter like this:  Normally, my brain works like this - snap, snap snap - now it works like this - snap, wait wait wait, blink, think, slow snap). The feeling that takes about 4 hours to depart - at which point I remembered to read the pharmacy insert.  Where, in bold letters, it clearly instructs persons taking Treximet to be sure that they have not taken Maxalt 24 hours prior.

Whoops.  I'm left to wonder, though, was it all in my mind, a powerful hallucination type thing, brought on by so much incredible pain and too much imagination? Or did it really happen, and should I be aware for next time?

And one other thing - when I finally looked at the paper, it was to realize that the copay ($50) was for only 9 pills - the case it was dispensed in held only 9 and was labeled as such, so it wasn't the way the scrip was written - but the whole retail was more than $225.  For NINE pills. Those puppies cost $25 EACH. 

Comments

[Anna]

Thank goodness for insurance. Good luck with the birthday party!

[Headless Mom]

Oh my.

Glad you're feeling better enough to write and get ready for the party.

Less than 14 days!!!!!

[Jan]

1. Allegra's cell phone - is on silence/vibrate? I hate that, sonny boy loses his all the time (generally in the sofa cushions) and you call & call which does NOT matter if it's on silent.

2. Migranes must be going around. I've got sinus issues right now. Not stuffy or congested feeling, but man I feel the ache right behind my eyeball and eyebrow. If I could just reach in & pull the eye out, I know it would feel all better.

3. The price of these meds are ridiculous. To think that was WHY you didn't pick it up in the first place is because of lack of cash. Not that I support to healthcare reform but there really needs to be something done about the price of meds that are offered to HELP people live better lives.

Glad you feel better. That pounding of the heart is a little frightning.

[Crisanne]

Enjoy the birthday party!! Glad you are feeling better, and I wouldn't take that medicine unless there is another adult in the house, just in case.

[mm]

When I started taking my current migraine pills- Zomig I also got that heart attack coming on feeling. It isn't funny. Those cost me $15 (Canadian) each. So, like you, I want to be sure it is a migraine and not just a stress induced, caffeine related, crappy day kind of headache before I take one.

I have heard of the new Treximelt that have the NSAID component in them but have not tried them, so if you try them again please let me know if they do work.

Not going to enter the contest as usually, sadly, they are for U.S. residents only.

Good luck with the cake.

[beebalm]

I have to make a Barbie cake for my daughter's 4th birthday next Saturday, so I'd welcome any tales of your experience! I'm a confident baker, and not afraid to wing it, but I'll gladly take any tried and true suggestions. Good luck!

[BeeBelle]

Best spots to find a missing phone:
1. under a seat in the car, or under the floor mats
2. behind the toilet or under the bathroom cabinets (if she carries it in a hip pocket, it can fall out there)
3. in the pocket of something she was wearing at the time, or on the floor wherever she took off what she was wearing at the time.

Depending on what kind of plan you have, you might be able to check for usage online to make sure somebody else didn't take it and use it.

We have AT&T and after my daughter dropped and broke her phone in a dressing room, we were able to get a cheap replacement from Radio Shack - I think it was a GoPhone, but it connected to our regular account.

P.S. My mother made my daughter a Barbie cake for her first birthday without directions - just baked the cake in a bowl, stuck the doll in (not a real Barbie, a special half-doll with a spike on the bottom from the craft store) and decorated. To be honest, it was dry, but the kids just wanted frosting and the adults had another cake.

[Jessica]

Wonder how long a child will whine about not being able to find something. I also enjoyed the days when Bryant could not find an electronic something or another since that would mean he would have to go outside and coonverse with people face to face, and god knows how hard that is.

The Barbie cake looks amazing, you have outdone yourself.

[Debby Pucci]

I am glad you are alive to type about it!

[Nobody]

First, a little lecture.. You could have killed yourself with those things, so next time be careful… Now for a few questions before I offer some advice. Why are you switching meds? Your choice or your doctors? Both Treximet and Maxalt are triptan drugs that work as 5-HT1 antagonists. What does this mean you ask? They both do the same thing, only in a slightly different way, kind of like the difference between Tylenol and Motrin. They are both NSAIDs and do the same thing only some people swear by one while others swear by the other…

Now for some back woods pharmacy for you… The main active ingredient in Treximet is Sumatriptan which is the same drug found in Imitrex. As a matter of fact Sumatriptan is the oldest of the triptan drugs used in the U.S. and Maxalt is actually ‘newer and improved’ because it contains Rizatriptan which is a second generation triptan. But what makes the name brand Treximet better is that they mixed it with Advil to help give it added strength. The triptan drug acts to constrict the blood vessels in your brain, and thereby reduce intracranial pressure (relative brain swelling). And the Advil is an NSAID that treats overall body inflammation which reduces the stressors that triggered the migraine in the first place…

So what the heck does this have to do with your headache? Well, you could take an Imitrax with an Advil that you bought at Wal-Mart and you now have a low cost version of Treximet. You’ll have to take two separate pills instead of having it mixed into one sexy package, but at $25 a pop I’d take one Advil and one Imitrex and then take the hubster on a date to the movies with the money I saved… Just make sure the dose (mg) of Sumatriptan in the Imitrex is the same as in the Treximet (they should be by default) and that you take the same amount (mg) of Advil as is in the Treximet. (Also, for a little extra savings, as of this year you can now get generic Sumatriptan instead of name brand Imitrex, so ask your Dr. to authorize generics in your prescription.) And one final note, I haven’t found any dosing information on it, but it is logical that you can also take an Advil with the Maxalt you already own and it should work as good as the Treximet too…

This is what I do when I travel to third world countries and need to treat lots of people on a minimal budget. As long as the doses are the same it’ll work. The only reason doctors won’t normally tell you this is because they don’t want to get sued by you if you mess something up. And of course the drug companies won’t make as much money either…

And a Barbie cake eh? Is it the one where you back the cake in a pan that makes it into her ball gown and then you stick the top onto the cake after you frost it? If so, I’ve baked one for my girl’s birthdays before. I can’t remember where I got my cake pan and instructions, but I still see it in the baking sections of Wal-Mart, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby…

I hope some of this information is useful for you. And next time ask the hubster to read the directions for you, a little pain in the begining is better than dead for a long time....

[Brandy]

Glad to hear you're okay and headache free after the med mixing. Please be more careful with that. I've done the Barbie cake before. Have fun! As for the cell phone, I always check under the furniture, too. Have a good weekend!

[wookie]

Good god Carmen, don't ever do that again. It wasn't a hallucination.

[wookie]

Also, tylenol is an analgesic and an antipyretic, but not an NSAID class drug.

Common NSAIDs include ibuprofen (motrin) and naproxen (aleve).

Do your own internet research to confirm the safety of adding NSAID class drugs to your triptan drugs. While I found the rest of Nobody's post to be very informative, that slip up at the beginning sort of made me loose faith in their accuracy.

[UKCraftySal]

I've made "Barbie" cakes for my daughter (sadly at almost 13, those days are past!). I too just made my usual sponge cake recipe (an English Victoria sponge cake - can give recipe if needed!), and baked it in a bowl for a little longer than if it was in layer cake tins.

The worst part by far was performing surgery on the cheap Barbie-lookalike doll: wrenching off her legs was disturbing! But she looked great pushed up to her waist in the frosting which I artfully (!!) piped in little stars all over the "skirt", and decorated with candies etc. Good luck!

[Issa]

ROlls and frosting...yummmmm. ;)

Allegra's cell phone, um most likely is in a pants/shorts pocket, or is in her bed hiding under the covers. Or my son stole it and it's been chewed and slobbered on and is possibly in the dogs water dish. Oh wait, that's where my cell phone was.

[des]

can' t add much to the above good advice and caring concern except that sometimes when i lose stuff i appeal to St. Anthony. As of this date, all the stuff I have lost around the house at least, has been found :o)

[Nelson's Mama]

I mix my triptans on occasion (but not too closely and wisely), when I have a raging migraine that doesn't seem to be responding to my usual drug.

And as Debby recommends...I have a presription for Imitrix or generic filled and then take two Aleve or (naproxen sodium), which is the equivilent of the dosage of Treximet.

GlaxoSmithKline came out with Treximet when the patent on Imitrix expired...

[melissa]

oh my goodness... you know i might have actually done the same thing when i have a migraine. those suck. :( but, please be careful next time!!

barbie cake sounds like fun. i've got to find something for my daughter's 3rd bday at the end of August. i think we're going with a safari/animal/jungle theme... no idea what to do for a cake!!

[Young Wife]

Wow! I'm glad you're okay. Medication is expensive. I can totally relate. ;)

[kyoot]

Migraines take all the common out of common sense.