Tuesday was my much anticipated doctor appointment. The visit was anticlimactic to say the least. I shouldn't have been surprised, I wasn't actually. I expected nothing and that's almost what I ended up with. When I finally got to see the doctor (after sitting in the exam room for close to an hour and while my very cranky one year old tried to open every drawer in the room) she apologized for not having returned my calls. She explained that the rhumatologist she consults with had been "out of the office" for the last two weeks and promised she would call him as soon as he were back in the office. I told her I had been feeling worse and worse and asked if she could prescribe one of those fancy new drugs made specially to treat fibromyalgia. I was so desperate for some relief. In the past we'd ruled these drugs out due to their prohibitive cost, but I didn't care anymore, I had to do something. If I had to, I'd cash in my 401K. She agreed and prescribed the new drug Savella. She promised she would call as soon as she spoke to the rhumatologist and that she would fax the prescription to the pharmacy.
A couple of hours later I walked to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. After checking with the Pharmacist, the cashier told me that they hadn't received anything from the clinic for me. I sighed deeply and walked out the door while dialing the clinic on my cell phone. My doctor wasn't available, of course, so the receptionist said she would leave a "call back". I waited all day and even called again but never received a call. The next morning I started calling again. The receptionist at the clinic was shocked of course that the doctor hadn't called me back and swore she'd given her the message. She was with a patient but the receptionist promised to "grab" her as soon as she was finished. Later in the day someone finally got her to fax the prescription. When I called the pharmacy they said they had received the prescription but that they didn't have Savella in stock. They'd ordered it and would have it the next day.
The next day I called the pharmacy and they said the prescription would be ready around noon. I picked it up at one, then my husband and I took our daughter on the glass-bottomed boat to see the fish which she absolutely loves. My husband held her, carried her and pushed the stroller since I wasn't able to. Afterwards, my husband saw a sign at a restaurants advertising a corn beef sandwich lunch special. Since it was St. Patrick's Day, he decided he had to have one. While he was eating I started reading the literature that came with the prescription. About halfway through the first page, bold and in all caps it read "DO NOT take this medication if you are also taking an SSRI". Shit! I'm taking 200mg of Zoloft per day which is an SSRI.
After lunch we went back to the pharmacist and asked him about the conflicting drug interaction. His opinion was that I shouldn't do anything until talking to my doctor. Holy shit! Was I an unwitting subject on some sick version of Candid Camera or something? Could this really be happening or was it just another of those fibro induced nightmares I live through every night?
We went back home and I got on the phone yet again. I begged the receptionist at the clinic to please have my doctor call me right away. The staff at the clinic must have thought I'd lost my mind or something. After all, how could so many things possibly go wrong day after day? They again promised they would tell the doctor that she needed to call me and I thanked them for being patient with me and reiterated that I knew none of them was to blame. I waited all day again and received no response.
At this point I was so beaten down that I just cried. Of course this made my fibro flare up even more. My husband was so angry he was ready to kill someone. I felt completely ignored and insignificant. Was I just going to have to live like this for the rest of my life; like a cripple? I waited another night, trying to be as patient as possible. The next morning I called the clinic and demanded to speak to my doctor. "I have to speak to her today...period." I hated being a bitch but this was clearly out of control. I was really suffering and my own doctor wouldn't even return my calls. Finally, about an hour later she called. "What's going on?" she asked seeming at first surprised at my desperation. I told her about the drug interactions and she seemed confused. She said she would have to research it and call me right back. She did actually call back in about 20 minutes and told me not to take the Savella. Since I had been doing so much research on the web, I suggested that I switch to a tricyclic antidepressant that had been shown to be more effective with fibro patients and that I would also be able to take the Savella at the same time. She agreed but didn't know how slowly to titrate me off the Zoloft so she would check with her psychiatrist friend and call me back.
Who knows when and if she will call back. Basically I'm no further ahead than I was before the doctor appointment. I seem to be building an immunity or something to the drugs I am on because I'm feeling worse and my sleep disturbances are returning. Last night I had nightmares about crushed baby skulls and many other terrifying scenarios. I also spent most of the night awake on and off. I slept on the couch so as to not disturb my husband.
