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SmiggyG

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Everything posted by SmiggyG

  1. I have not tried Prevacid but I do take 40mg of Nexium daily. I have no adverse problems at all from it. It's actually the best med I've ever been on. I was prescribed Prevacid as well but my pharmacy at work has a much better price on the Nexium. As far as I know they are basically the same and I was told by my pharmacist that they have different fillers and different salts. I'm not real sure what they meant by salts, be they claimed it was practically the same. Greg
  2. Thank you all so much for the support. It means so much to me. As much as I want to just say I quit I can't. As I said I've been there over 18yrs. That leaves me with only 12 more and I could retire. I'd hate to throw that all away but on the flip-side I can't keep this up anymore. Tomorrow (today now) I'm going to make some calls to try to come up with the best solution. I need some resolution to all this. I can't eat or sleep which is not good for a POTS patient. I've let this get to me so bad lately that it's taking a toll on my family life as well and that's where it's gotta stop. I have 3 young children and my wife that need a strong, healthy, and happy dad. They are the most important thing to me in the world. Thanks again. I'll let you all know how this works out. It's gotta work out. I'm no angel by any means but I am a good person that spends most of my time trying to help out others. Greg
  3. Hello, this is my first post here. I've been reading the boards here since last year and want to thank all of you for making me feel that I'm not alone. I'm a 35yr. old male diagnosed with POTS by Dr. Grubb in the late 90's. With that said I'm still frustrated with the lack of understanding of my condition with family, friends, and especially work. Family and friends claim to understand yet they don't understand the extent or seriousness of what's going on with me. As for work, oh boy! I'm a hospital employee with an intermittant FMLA. (Family Medical Leave Act) I've been employed there for over 18 years. Up until this last year or so I've missed very little work do to my POTS but this year has been extremely difficult for me. My supervisors have accused me of abusing my time off and have even made me go get a second opinion. What is ridiculous about that is that I'm employed at the same institution as Dr. Grubb himself. Needless to say the 2nd opinion was done by an outside retired cardiologist that sees patients accused of abusing sick time. That all worked out fine with the so-called 2nd opinion but now anytime I miss work my supervisor requires me to get an excuse from Dr. Grubb's office which should not be needed due to my approved FMLA. Not a big deal but an extra hassle and their way of saying "we don't buy your story". I've run out of sick time and have been using vacation time for my FMLA. So last week my supervisior informed me that she will not grant me my scheduled 1 week vacation next month. I explained how important it is for me to have that week off because it's something we reserve and pay for almost a year in advance. I also stated the importance of being with my wife and 3 small children for this vacation. The answer was a big fat NO. So now I'm applying for a leave of absence without pay but after reading through the application I see it will be up to the dept. supervisior for approval. She has already said she will NOT ok it. I'm a very self conscious person that has alot of respect for my co-workers and my job. They don't understand the stess and depression I have when I miss work. I hate feeling like I'm letting people down or that I'm the "problem child" of my dept. What my employer or supervisor don't seem to get is that all this stess, depression, and anxiety is only making my condition worse. I've left messages w/Dr. Grubbs's office seeking suggestions and have yet to here back from them. Right now I'm only taking Paxil CR and Florinef to treat my POTS which has worked the best for me thus far. However it seems to not be as effective as before. Months ago they tried switching me to Cymbalta but I had one heck of a time with that med and stopped it after a week and went back to the Paxil-Florinef treatment. Just like so many others here I'm very sensitive with meds and honestly as desperate as I am right now I'm still closed-minded to trying other meds because of the way the Cymbalta did me in. Of course all of this has helped turn my home life into a mess as well. I'm supposed to be the strong one, the father, head of the household, etc. Yet I feel like a big whimp that just can't deal with all of this. Out of the 7 1/2 years I've had POTS I've finally lost control. I wish there was some way to take about 2 months to regroup and get myself back together but finances the way they are, work, and raising a family is not going to allow that to happen. I'm sure others here have gone though or are going through the same thing. I'd like to hear any suggestions anyone here can give. Thanks, Greg
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