So much for the Sudafed experiment

[bunrab]

In my last post, I mentioned taking pseudoephedrine (actually store brand, but Sudafed is so much easier to type) for a nasty cold, where I couldn't sleep for the postnasal drip and hacking cough. I took it one night, worked well, managed to get through the day without it, took it again the next night - just one, to last long enough to get to sleep. It felt so great - I could feel the line of dryness moving up my nose like the terminator moving across the face of the earth. So, I took a third one the next night - and got woken up a few hours later getting zapped by my defibrillator. So much for the Sudafed experiment. There's a reason they tell us not to take that stuff.

Got an appointment with the cardiologist in a couple weeks - didn't see the need to go in right away, since I can tell what happened and why, and I know enough not to do it again.

Meanwhile, saw regular doctor today, got Astelin nasal spray, which is supposed to clear up the snot locally in the nose, without affecting the whole system or causing high blood pressure or racing heart. I sure hope it works. I am really, really tired of being a great waddling ball of slimy snot.

Comments

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

meh... sorry. (but thank heavens for the defib.) hope you are feeling better soon. xo.

[crustycurmudgeo.livejournal.com]

Wow... I recommend putting a call in to the cardiologist anyway. The ICDs have an awfully high threshold and getting to it at night while resting, even with a little Sudafed, is something to worry about. My ICD threshold was set to 180 even though my normal resting rate is 60. To get up to 180 I'd have to be in solid v-tach going into v-fib.

[bunrab.livejournal.com]

Actually, all three times mine has fired have been while I'm asleep, and they've woken me up. I have always had really weird dreams, and I talk and shout and wave my arms and kick at things in my sleep (though never sleepwalking, thank goodness), so my heart rate can get right up there at night. My spouse reports that frequently I seem to be shouting at a bunch of children and attempting to throw them out of my house.