5/3/14: had a productive meeting yesterday and then made the three-hour drive home in terrible, Friday afternoon, everyone-leaving-early-for-a-weekend-getaway traffic. Fortunately, I got home just in time to accompany my patient, long-suffering husband to the home of some friends for a wine tasting event, for which he had just made a delicious goat cheese and roasted vegetable tart. Yes, I am a lucky girl.
Another sweet thing he had done for me while I was out of town was pick up my allergy medication prescription, which had been sitting at the pharmacy for almost 10 days and was about to be reshelved. I had gotten a call from the pharmacy when the prescription was originally filled, but it was right after my doctor appointment and I was preoccupied with filling the prescription for the cream, which was coming from a different pharmacy in another city, and thinking about the doctor's longer-term recommendation and it just slipped my mind. Besides, I still had plenty of time before I use up my current supply of allergy medicine, so it just wasn't on my list of priorities. Patient, long-suffering husband gets the rebound...he shoots, he scores!
Had a great time at the wine tasting, but my foot started swelling about halfway through the evening (or, as they say in my part of the country, "it got all swole up") and I had to take off my sandals. When it was time to leave, it was a struggle to get the sandal back on and refastened. I've noticed an alarming trend recently. The pain level is not getting higher, but the amount of real estate affected by the pain is increasing. I sprained my right ankle more than 15 years ago, and since that time it has ached and swelled periodically, usually with weather changes. Now it hurts and swells nearly every day. Is it related to the CRPS, or is it "legitimate" pain because I'm putting too much pressure on it trying to stay off the inside of my foot? I don't know, and I'm not sure it matters. I just want it to go away.
As we drove home from the event, I thought more about my recent conversation with my doctor friend. He's right, I need to consider some other medications that might provide at least temporary relief. After my Lyrica experience, I have been hesitant to try anything else, but it's time. My next doctor appointment is two weeks away, but I resolved to call Monday morning and ask for a new prescription.
I picked up my allergy prescription bag on my way upstairs to bed. I guess I should at least make sure my allergies stay under control. I opened the bag to find...not my allergy medication, but a bottle of Cymbalta, which I suddenly remembered my doctor said he was going to prescribe. I had previously remembered every detail of the conversation: my concern about side effects, his assurances that it was in a different family of medications than Lyrica and likely would not have the side effects that concerned me. The only thing I had not recalled was the last part of the conversation: "...and I will call in a prescription." You would think the call from the pharmacy would have jogged my memory, but you would be wrong.
So, I should have started taking this 10 days ago. Now I officially feel ridiculous. I read up on Cymbalta to be sure I was comfortable with it. While it is used to treat depression and anxiety, it is also prescribed for chronic nerve pain and it is used with some success by CRPS patients, although the relief appears to be temporary ("temporary" meaning months). There are some potential side effects and driving is not recommended until you know how the medication affects you. I have nothing on the calendar today, so I started taking it this morning. Everyone cross your fingers!
I still have two weeks before my next appointment to see if it is going to work, although I'm sure it would have been preferable if I had started taking it right after the last appointment. It would have been even more embarrassing if I had let the prescription be reshelved and then called the doctor Monday morning to ask him for a prescription. My patient, long-suffering husband now gets credit for a three-pointer. If the Cymbalta works, it will be a game-winning shot at the buzzer.
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