I did blood tests a few weeks ago; while most of the results were reasonable, there were a few values that were on the high side. As these were concerned with kidney function, I booked an appointment with my nephrologist; to my surprise, this was for a few days after I booked. It always amazes me that here is a specialist whom one can see almost immediately whereas for other specialists, especially skin doctors, one has to wait for weeks if not months.
He looked at my results; I thought that he was going to say something about the high level of urea in the blood. Urea is a waste product that the kidneys remove from blood and higher than normal BUN (blood urea nitrogen) levels may be a sign that the kidneys aren't working well. This passed without comment.
What did need treatment was the high potassium level; high levels of potassium
can cause problems with the heart. My potassium level is high because I have
to take a certain medicine (prescribed initially by the neprologist a few
years ago) to combat a
hormone imbalance
that affects blood pressure but also upsets the sodium/potassium balance. He
said that he would prescribe for me a medicine that would reduce the potassium
level and that I should do blood tests in a fortnight to see that the medicine
is working (and not causing any other problems). I was slightly taken aback by
this: if there is a medicine to reduce blood potassium then why haven't I been
prescribed it earlier? I was soon to find out.
My wife went to the pharmacy to collect the medicine, Sodium polystyrene sulphonate,but for some reason the pharmacist first asked my wife if she knew what the medicine is for. She phoned me and I told her that it is supposed to reduce the level of potassium in the blood. The pharmacist then tried to get hold of the nephrologist, but he wasn't answering his phone; then the pharmacist phoned our GP and eventually was given the OK to dispense the medicine. I don't understand why this was necessary but maybe it's just as well that they check the more unusual medicines.
My wife returned with a big tub of reddish powder. The instructions are to
place a spoonful of powder in water and drink (the tub comes with its own
spoon). Unfortunately, the powder does not dissolve in the water;
instead, one drinks a suspension. It's like drinking water with sand in it -
some of the powder gets drunk with the water and some stays in the glass. Of
the powder that gets drunk, some gets swallowed and some stays in the mouth.
So I pour more water into the glass, stir and drink; this allows about 90% of
the remaining powder to be drunk. The final grains of the powder get drunk in
the third glass of water (actually, I'm drinking it with blackcurrant syrup as
I don't like drinking plain water very much). At least the powder does not
contribute any flavour, as opposed to the revolting mixture that at one one
had to drink before a colonoscopy - fortunately, the preparation for that
examination is much easier now. I am to drink the medicine two or three times
a week; three hours after I have taken any other medication and three hours
before taking any more medication.
Are there any side effects? After the first time that I took the medication,
my legs felt very stiff as if they had swelled up with water, but this could
be because of the hot weather and the work that I was doing that day, that
caused me to sit for several hours with great concentration and so not moving
my legs. I'll see whether the swelling appears today.
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 468 | Spring is in the air | Holiday, Dubrovnik | |
| 936 | Return to Sorrento (2016/1) | Holiday, Sorrento, Italy |
No comments:
Post a Comment