briarrose

Ann Everything you said is true. I get extremelly exhausted right before my period starts, probably sleep nearly two days straight and have overall fatigue for about 10 days every month that is worse with my period. Since I've been getting epogen injections with a blood count every week. They have noticed that I usually loose about a unit of blood with my menstrual cycle. This makes my hypotension worse, nausea, dizziness, etc.

I'm sure if you walk into any pharmacy, they would gladly look it up for you. But I wouldn't take something that looks different either. Thousands of people die each year because they are given the wrong medication.

Hey Meghan I know it's tough. Just hang in there and be determined to not give in to this horrible illness. Easier said than done, I know. I'm a single mother of six children. I work full time, recently had to go to 12 hour shifts from 10 hour shifts. I have a side job for some extra income that I do on my nights off. I used to go to school, had to quit, didn't understand why I was having so many medical problems. A couple of years ago I felt like a super human, I only slept about 4 hours a night, every night. Now I have to sleep at least 8 (sometimes I sleep 12) or I exacerbate my symptoms. School has been put on the side line, but I think about it everyday. Hopefully with all of the treatments that the doctors are doing on me right now, maybe by fall I can return to school. Just know that your not alone! Steph

My situation at work was already precarious because I filed a sexual harassment complaint against a male nurse who couldn't keep his hands to himself. Ever since then my employer has wanted to get rid of me, I'm considered a trouble maker for not keeping my mouth shut. So imagine my fear when I got sick. I immediately seeked counsel with an attorney that specializes in these matters. They told me that as long as I had my ducks in a row, I was pretty safe and I legally can NOT be disposed of. So I went back to my doctor and had him fill out the family medical leave paper work from the hospital I work for. He stated that I had a chronic illness and would have intermittent leaves, for the rest of my life. The attorney said that I can miss up to 6 months a year without them putting a hand on me. There are laws against people with chronic illness being fired. Just do some investigating, if you get fired; get a lawyer and sue their **** off! Here's the website for the family medical leave act: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/

Yep, I posted this at the NDRF website - topic was "An additional wardrobe to accomodate this illness." Up until a couple of months ago I was cold all of the time. You don't want to touch my ice cube feet or hands, my knees, nose and rear. The funny thing now is I can have icy extremities and my core can be sweating. This is so weird.

Yep, I've been suffering from chronic nausea for sometime now. Nausea is worse when my pressure is low. It makes it hard to eat, but to some degree you get use to it. Dr. Grubb just gave me a script for Zofran, I'll let you know how it works. Picked it up from the pharmacy last night, it cost me 280.00 after insurance and the insurance company would only allow me to have 20 out of the 30 pills prescribed.

Yep I experience this too. My normal body temp is about 97.6. If I'm running 99.0, I'm not feeling very well at all. Which can occur from lack of sleep. Try to tell a doctor that when your temp is 98.6 (which is normal most people) that I'm actually sick. Hard to convience one!

I think purplefocus said it best. I'm a night shift employee anyway, that doesn't help. Dr. Grubb says I need a regular schedule Nights I don't go to work at my fulltime job, I work from home. I've been up since 2300 last night and it's now nearly 8am. I'm dizzy and my blood pressure is under 100 right now. I asked my primary care doctor several times for something to help me sleep. I told him that I'm tired but my mind doesn't shut off. He said that is a sign of anxiety. I told him I know the difference between anxiety and insomnia and I haven't suffered from anxiety since I divorced my husband. I saw Dr. Grubb this week and he gave me Sonata to try. I'll have to break down to night and see how it works. Steph

These were posted at NDRF This site contains a wizard that asks your information, then gives you a list of sites and programs that you may be eligible for: http://www.helpingpatients.org/ This site allows you to search for assistance based on the drug name or drug company: http://www.rxhope.com/programinfo/main.asp http://www.rxassist.org/default.cfm http://www.doctorhealthynet.com/fre...dicine_home.htm http://www.needymeds.com/IndexText.html