type 2 diabetes, hypertension & cholesterol, along with acid reflux wee
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 24 February 2024 15:46 (seven months ago) link
5
Antidepressant (venlafaxine)Statin (Rosuvostatin)Blood pressure (Olmesartan)Beta blocker (Metropolol)Sleep aid (trazodone)
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Saturday, 24 February 2024 15:46 (seven months ago) link
All but one of those started in the last 3 years lol
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Saturday, 24 February 2024 15:48 (seven months ago) link
6 prescriptions (two 2x/day) plus supplements and a sleep aid, 11 pills/day total
― that's when I reach for my copy of Revolver (WmC), Saturday, 24 February 2024 15:56 (seven months ago) link
Omeprazole + blue punisher ecstasy
― cozen itt (wins), Saturday, 24 February 2024 15:57 (seven months ago) link
three, all hrt: 2x estradiol 1x spironolactone
the only other regular medication i’ve ever taken was for my very bad acne in high school (incidentally hrt has eradicated my adult acne)
― ivy., Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:01 (seven months ago) link
or rather that’s 3x 2x, medication is hard
― ivy., Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:02 (seven months ago) link
2
― soup of magpies (geoffreyess), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:03 (seven months ago) link
4, all with breakfast:
Metformin x 2Jardiancemultivitamin
― Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:09 (seven months ago) link
Lisinopril, pantoprozole, the Walgreens Claritin knockoff and yer basic multivitamin.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:10 (seven months ago) link
None except a couple vitamins.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:14 (seven months ago) link
ugh Alfred you're so happy
i average out at 5 (i'm not counting fish oil, just cuz)unless i'm deeply hungover or anxious in which case +2-3
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:18 (seven months ago) link
If you’re not taking high blood pressure meds consider yourself blessed and privileged enough to not have so much stress that it affects your physiology. Also I took birth control pills for most of my life that had nothing to do w maladies or aging but did ensure that I could manage my reproductive system. That said, 2.
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:25 (seven months ago) link
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOThjMDE0YWYtMzQ0Mi00MDIxLWE1YmMtZmUwZDE3ZDliMTViXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDIxNTEyMQ@@._V1_.jpg
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:29 (seven months ago) link
two, feeling lucky ready through all this
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:29 (seven months ago) link
"reading" not ready ffs
xxp loll
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:30 (seven months ago) link
if Negroni existed in pill form -- well.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:31 (seven months ago) link
lolol
i have a friend whose mom is super proud that she's never had to take daily meds - i just kind of feel like unless i'm in a horror movie stranded on a desert island, where's the issue? i dunno
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:31 (seven months ago) link
anti-depressant, anti-histimine, anti-inflammatory for arthritis. anti anti anti
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:33 (seven months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNCYbfmS-EQ
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:34 (seven months ago) link
0.5 beta blocker, keeps the headaches away.1 antihistamine keeps the allergies away, except for a couple of days each year.multivitamins sometimes, when days lengthen or work is more demanding than normal.
― StanM, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:37 (seven months ago) link
xxpost in that case I take an anti beta
― StanM, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:38 (seven months ago) link
i didn't realize beta blockers were effective for headaches! i have them on hand for public speaking type things
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:40 (seven months ago) link
have to say beta-blockers not noticeably reducing my headaches :(
at least not in number (possibly in intensity, how would i know)
― mark s, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:44 (seven months ago) link
the only other regular medication i’ve ever taken was for my very bad acne in high school (incidentally hrt has eradicated my adult acne)― ivy.
― ivy.
oh god since i started HRT my skin has _glowed_
which is just a hormone thing, transmascs on T get _so much_ acne
anyway my life is at an Ozzy Osbourne level of polypharmacy
five vitamins in the AM - one d3 supplement, two general multivitamins, two calcium gummies... i'm supposed to get a DEXA but i keep putting off rescheduling it. every goddamn day i get a text notification from one of my providers telling me about one of my upcoming appointments or asking for feedback on how they did on my previous appointment. anyway i have a compression fracture but they couldn't tell at what level from the MRI. they kept telling me to "lie straight" which is not easy advice to follow when one is as kyphotic as i am. anyway they want me to get a DEXA, i'm supposed to get my labs redone because my potassium level was elevated, i told them "look it's fine i bought bananas that week" but they want a retest anyway. i only have one job right now but the amount of time and energy it takes managing my medical stuff feels like a second job.
anyway, five vitamins in the AM and five pills - mood stabilizer, acid reflux drug, BPH drug, prep, ADHD drug. then in the afternoon i got eight - mood stabilizer, acid reflux drug, andtidepressant, two pills for bph, two prazosin for night terrors (that's a new change, up until this week's psych appointment it was three), progesterone.
that's a shit-ton of bph pills considering i had my balls chopped off, but i tried discontinuing them and i stopped being able to pee, so i guess i'm on them for life. regarding the estradiol, i do a weekly injection - it would be probably about 5 mg daily (2 1/2 pills) if i was doing oral. oh, and in the am i do two snorts of flonase in each nostril for my allergies. i was going to embark on one of those really long-term anti-allergen programs to get over my cat allergy, because being a lesbian with a cat allergy is really inconvenient, but i got too much other shit to do.
i finally went to the eye doctor and got an eye exam, for instance, but now i gotta find somewhere to get it filled. can't be just everywhere because i got prisms, those online shops can't handle that. i'm seeing my psych every month to evaluate my meds. every week i got three therapy appointments - one dbt group, one individual therapy, one couples counseling with my girlfriend-ish. then there's the physical therapy every morning. i'm overdue for a dentist appointment. i've had chronic gingivitis, the sort that always seems on the verge of blooming into full-blown peridontal disease but never quite does, but i haven't found a new dentist since selling my house and moving. one of the big stress factors in my life is not just the uncertainty of trying to find a new job, but knowing that once i do i'm going to have to find a whole new set of providers who will take my new insurance, plus figure out what treatments they will and won't pay for (i've never done ketamine therapy, for instance, because my current insurer pays 100% for TMS but as little as they legally can for ketamine).
this feels like a watershed moment to me. this feels like a proper introduction to the phase of my life where the primary thing i talk about is all the medical shit i got going on. i feel kind of excited and happy about it tbh? ok i'm only 47, but my healthcare experience... i'm getting a lot of experience hanging out in waiting rooms with people 25 years older than me.
― Kate (rushomancy), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:47 (seven months ago) link
PRE-TRANSITION KATE:
"Oh, boy! I get to take Beta Blockers! Does that mean I'm going to stop being a beta male?"
PRESENT-DAY KATE:
"Well... technically?"
― Kate (rushomancy), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:48 (seven months ago) link
Five - two for hypertension, two for hypothyroid -- love that the first would be helped by my losing weight, but the second makes losing weight very hard to do. And I take the doctor-issued vitamin D supplement that is apparently mandatory now.
― trishyb, Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:56 (seven months ago) link
Two regular/one PRN for perimenopausal crazies--I'd love to be on HRT instead, but can't because of hormone-fueled breast cancer.
One to keep the acne away.
Occasional NSAIDs or Tylenol for various aches and pains.
Supplements (doctor's orders because levels came back low): vitamins B and D. Temporarily supplementing calcium because I have a broken ankle. Magnesium at night when I remember.
So fivish total if you don't count the supplements.
A hospice nurse I worked with once told her plan for being an aged adult (65+) is to tell her doctor: "I will take no more than five medications. You pick which five." We had 85 year olds with terminal dementia coming into hospice on, like, 15 meds, which is nuts and totally contrary to current de-prescribing trends in geriatric medicine.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 24 February 2024 17:08 (seven months ago) link
I take only one prescription med because I'm moderately hypothyroid. My wife (who's five years older) takes no prescription meds at all! We both take a few vitamin and herbal supplements, plus some over-the-counter drugs as needed. Considering we are middle class, white, and officially old people on Medicare, I guess this puts us in a tiny minority of that cohort. /bragging
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Saturday, 24 February 2024 17:44 (seven months ago) link
^^^excellent cohort to be in, well done!
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 24 February 2024 19:26 (seven months ago) link
my son's daily meds are four 300mg sodium valproate tablets and one 100 mg sertraline a day.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Saturday, 24 February 2024 19:41 (seven months ago) link
Lately SNRIs and beta blocker haven't still been able to stop my heart from racing so might need higher dose of BB.
Though I'm just wound too tight inherently
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Saturday, 24 February 2024 19:53 (seven months ago) link
2 one for anxiety and one for ADHD. I try to take vitamin d and magnesium but rarely remember.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:01 (seven months ago) link
xp ugh samefor the first time in years I'm considering upping the benzos a bit because I think it might just be a healthier system overalllearned the very hard way to tread very cautiously there because of a klonopin prescription ages ago so taking my time, but going without is also pretty debilitating
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:04 (seven months ago) link
"I have PrEP on hand in the event that either me or my boyfriend want to open things up (we don’t)
― a hyperlink to the past (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, February 24, 2024 9:04 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink"
Growing up on fire island and following the HIV crisis then volunteering for advocacy groups in the 90s, it's amazing to me that prep is now a thing you can have on hand like this. So awesome.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:04 (seven months ago) link
❤️
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:05 (seven months ago) link
zero
― oscar bravo, Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:13 (seven months ago) link
zero is a good number, even the best number
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:17 (seven months ago) link
zero’s great but i’ll be real: i have struggled with a lot of shame re being put on medication and i have tried to accept it as a positive, in that it provides me with a handrail for things my body can’t do so even coming here & listing my meds took a few deep breaths
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:25 (seven months ago) link
0 sounds like hell
idk how many I take it might be 20 or so - amphetamines, hormones, benzos, vitamins, bits and pieces - prescribed, otc, grey market, recreational
I would not recommend upping benzos unless it's very urgent bc the dependence and later paradoxical effects are no joke. unless you have no propensity for addiction whatsoever. I have found pregabalin the most helpful thing for my years-long diazepam reduction (on hold for about a year at this point though)
― Left, Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:31 (seven months ago) link
VG otm Meds can save lives and the shame keeps many people away, often til it’s too late. Not to be grim but it’s true.
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:37 (seven months ago) link
3sertralinevitamin d&k (one pill)iron Yes vitamins are supposed to be supplementary, prefer to take regardless ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:37 (seven months ago) link
never heard of pregabalin!
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:43 (seven months ago) link
i got friends who are like "i have such a hard time remembering to take my meds lol" and with me, if i miss out on a dose of my mood stabilizer i know _very quickly_ and it is _not good_
never heard of pregabalin!― Swen
― Swen
it's a pretty niche variety of jefferson airplane slash, not surprised you wouldn't have heard of it.
― Kate (rushomancy), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:47 (seven months ago) link
I’m pro meds, they can be goddam miracles. Currently at 7 a day.
― Jeff, Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:49 (seven months ago) link
jefferson airplane is easily one of my favorite bands of all time lol
― Swen, Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:54 (seven months ago) link
Yeah I don’t think there’s any “right” number of pills to take, it’s whatever’s right for your circumstances. Both my kids actually take more prescription meds than I do, because one is autistic with moderate long-term depression and one is severely ADHD. Their pills help them. (And I mean, I’m not counting alcohol and weed here bcz not “pills,” but I’m hardly chemical free.)
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 24 February 2024 21:01 (seven months ago) link
2 for blood pressure, 3 for the sads and one chewy for sleepy time
― bookmarkflaglink (Darin), Saturday, 24 February 2024 21:03 (seven months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm2Dru2puLs
― Left, Saturday, 24 February 2024 21:04 (seven months ago) link
1x baby aspirin1x milk thistle 1x valerian rootmen's vitamin 2-3 per week
I tried ashwagandha awhile back, but I think it was giving me the shits
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 29 February 2024 00:16 (seven months ago) link
now what is a lipid panel?
― Swen, Thursday, 29 February 2024 01:08 (seven months ago) link
a lipid panel is a group of blood tests that track your liver function. livers are complicated so just one blood test isn't enough. they only have to draw the blood once; they take enough to do all the tests.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Thursday, 29 February 2024 01:18 (seven months ago) link
right, I feel like they might have done that when I had cancer but I'm not sure. I'll keep in mind.
― Swen, Thursday, 29 February 2024 01:20 (seven months ago) link
Lipid panel results can be addictive; I try to match this year's results with last year's
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 29 February 2024 01:22 (seven months ago) link
I don't want to see my liver test results, thank you
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 29 February 2024 01:23 (seven months ago) link
Xpost a lipid panel measures cholesterol and triglycerides (a type of fat that circulates in the bloodstream). Elevations in LDL cholesterol are linked to increased risk of heart attacks and stroke. Typical treatment is a statin (e.g., Lipitor).
A liver panel tests ALT and AST (tests of liver injury) and bilirubin (assesses gall bladder function). There are all sorts of reasons why liver tests might be abnormal so your GP might recommend additional evaluation as a first step
― that's not my post, Thursday, 29 February 2024 03:54 (seven months ago) link
thank you for correcting me
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Thursday, 29 February 2024 03:56 (seven months ago) link
Three pills: A near-microdose of Wellbutrin (100 mg), Strattera, and a antihistamine.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Thursday, 29 February 2024 05:27 (seven months ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 1 March 2024 00:01 (six months ago) link
I take one prozac every day, along with vitamin D. Up until fairly recently I was taking mirtazapine most nights a week to help with sleep, but I don't need it so much now. Still, I'm glad I still have them for times I might (WILL) need them.
Recently I had to take these really expensive antibiotics to help with shingles, and I was hiccuping all day and night for the first 24 hours! Weird.
― Duane Barry, Friday, 1 March 2024 00:15 (six months ago) link
My parents used to joke that they should just dump anti-cholesterol medication in the drinking water.
Me: Multi-vitamin with D/C/zinc, sometimes a ginger tablet or ibuprofen. Sometimes (rarely) at night a melatonin.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 1 March 2024 00:30 (six months ago) link
i don't take any pills but i think Dan S has a good attitude
i do have a lot of herbal tinctures prepared by herbalist friends who practice TCM & Ayurveda etc, and they have instructions written like "take 4 drops 4x a day" that i mostly ignore, but some of them really do seem to help.
i find St John's Wort to be very energizing when i'm feeling the general depression-fatigue malaise. i probably reach for that one the most
― A street taco cart named Des'ree (Deflatormouse), Friday, 1 March 2024 00:31 (six months ago) link
i find St John's Wort to be very energizing when i'm feeling the general depression
Good to know.. I used to write off most herbal supplements as money-wasting scams (or, at best, placebos) but I think I'm coming around to some of the old standbys. It's funny how they come in and out of vogue, though
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 1 March 2024 00:41 (six months ago) link
I'm on mirtazapine but unfortunately it hasn't done anything to help me sleep in years. I could probably take it in the morning and it wouldn't make any difference
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 1 March 2024 01:01 (six months ago) link
It is quite effective as an antidepressant though tbf. Prozac stopped working then they put me on amitriptyline for a bit until a different GP wondered why the hell I was on it because apparently they don't prescribe that for depression any more
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 1 March 2024 01:04 (six months ago) link
I was prescribed mirtazapine (Remeron) years ago for depression. I once took 15 mg at bedtime, and it was a good thing I was sitting on bed afterwards because it just knocked me the fuck out for hours. It was nice getting sleep, but I felt drowsy the whole next day and then couldn't sleep the next night. I'm not going to try that again unless I'm in deep pain and want to be comatose.
I have friends and one relative who have taken it regularly and it seems like it maybe has a paradoxical (or acclimatizing?) effect, with higher doses being less sleep-inducing
― Dan S, Friday, 1 March 2024 01:12 (six months ago) link
Regarding lipid panels:
You want your total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) components of the lipid panel to be low, your high density lipoprotein (HDL) component, the “good cholesterol”, to be high. A higher HDL than LDL is a good sign.
The often cited ratio is the total cholesterol divided by HDL. If your ratio is above 5:1 you definitely need to be on a statin. It should preferably be below 3.5:1
― Dan S, Friday, 1 March 2024 01:13 (six months ago) link
Xp it did knock me out at first but tbh not as much as amitriptyline did and after about 6 months it wore off
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 1 March 2024 01:19 (six months ago) link
I'm an insomniac and come from a family of insomniacs. Good sleep is rare for me and I highly value it. I took benadryl every night when I was a college student needing to sleep to be fresh in the morning, it worked then thankfully.
But I am completely immune to it at this point in my life. I've been taking Ambien (zolpidem) for years, and it never fails to help me go to sleep, but it doesn't keep me asleep for that long. I listen to audiobooks in the middle of the night, they give me a sense of community and help me block out the feeling that I've had since childhood that nights are a time of total isolation and loneliness
― Dan S, Friday, 1 March 2024 01:48 (six months ago) link
The first time I took benadryl I didn't realise it makes you drowsy, I bought it because I had hayfever and I fell asleep in Central Park at lunchtime. Unfortunately if I have insomnia it does nothing
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 1 March 2024 01:54 (six months ago) link
Good to know.. I used to write off most herbal supplements as money-wasting scams (or, at best, placebos) but I think I'm coming around to some of the old standbys.
tbc the stuff i take is not commercial but grown and processed by an herbalist friend and delivered to me in a bottle with a lovely hand drawn sun on it
if you buy it from the vitamin shoppe be aware that not all brands are equal, do your research
― A street taco cart named Des'ree (Deflatormouse), Friday, 1 March 2024 02:04 (six months ago) link
I'm an insomniac and come from a family of insomniacs.
same
yeah at this point staying asleep is the problem
sometimes i wonder if it's all the radios and tv sets and white noise machines i leave running all night because i can't fall asleep without them :)
― A street taco cart named Des'ree (Deflatormouse), Friday, 1 March 2024 02:06 (six months ago) link
I took a Valium once and once only several decades ago to get me through a stressful interview. Kind of worked but then I went home, fell asleep for 10 hours and missed going to see Dutch instrumental noise-rock band Gore at, if memory serves, the Fulham Greyhound. Probably not for me (Valium not Gore).
― doleful lundgren (Matt #2), Friday, 1 March 2024 02:44 (six months ago) link
Pretty typical old man meds, one for thyroid, one for prostate, one for plaque. Plus a multivitamin, melatonin for sleep and this one weird ass supplement that is the only thing that keeps me regular.
Is this the ILXers over 50 thread?
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 1 March 2024 05:13 (six months ago) link
i heard interesting things abt ashwaganda but idk how much it would interact with all other other fkn meds i’m taking
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 1 March 2024 05:45 (six months ago) link
good turn out, interesting results
― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Friday, 1 March 2024 12:17 (six months ago) link
Sorry to hear this dude - I've been on a low dose of it for over a year. My partner's experience similar to yours tho I personally found the opposite - usually sleeping OK but still often depressed tho not severely. Was also on Ami for a few years before this (more for nervous tension) and same. The morning grogginess from them can be brutal in its own way thankfully never enough to make me have to say "but first coffee" only think it every morning.
― nashwan, Friday, 1 March 2024 12:31 (six months ago) link
I sometimes listen to the Sleep With Me podcast. It’s great for putting me to sleep, but if I wake up while it’s still running it can be really jarring for some reason.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Sunday, 3 March 2024 03:53 (six months ago) link
tbh if I can't sleep I think there is something going on in my brain that will fight literally anything you put in it. maybe I'm just a night owl. I don't think I've ever had anything that works long term, I get used to everything after a few weeks and it doesn't work any more. he says eyeing the clock that says 4am.
― Colonel Poo, Sunday, 3 March 2024 04:04 (six months ago) link
when i was on Remeron i used to eat sugar out of the bag
― Swen, Sunday, 3 March 2024 09:16 (six months ago) link
xp I can’t imagine having that kind of insomnia. When my sleep is interrupted more than maybe once or twice a night, I wake up feeling like the world is going to come to an end.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Sunday, 3 March 2024 18:05 (six months ago) link
i probably didn't sleep much at all for 1.5-2 years. even my prescribed Sleep Aid did nothing - but after they put me on a beta blocker last year and paired it with that, suddenly I am sleeping again.
also find that I have to jump in the shower for like a minute before sleeping, it just makes me feel more comfortable when I get into the bed
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Sunday, 3 March 2024 18:25 (six months ago) link
xp fwiw it's not something I have to deal with all the time, at least not recently, it's just odd nights here and there when my brain just won't shut down
I do tend to wake up a lot in the middle of the night though. it's rare that I sleep through the night
― Colonel Poo, Sunday, 3 March 2024 18:57 (six months ago) link
Thread reminded me to take a blood test, so should get results on cholesterol soon...
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 3 March 2024 19:22 (six months ago) link