These Are A Few Of My Favorite Drugs

     Well, hello there!  Emerging from my Chemo Cocoon to say hello!  So my usual Hell Week is turning out to be slightly less hellish, and I have to think it's because of a few good drugs! 
     I've spoken fondly of Zofran, or generically Ondansetron.  That is the antinausea med I take every 8 hours.  I also take Compazine, or Proclorperazine, which is the antinausea med I take every 6 hours.  The Compazine is the overlap to get me to the finish line to take the Zofran again.  Why do I like one over the other?  They both have constipation as a side effect--WHOA, hey, good TMI times right there, aren't you glad you clicked on this post today, hmmm?  Strangely, Zofran can have stomach upset as a side effect which seems a little counter to what it's supposed to do.  And both meds can make you dizzy and lightheaded and give you liver problems, and all the endless list of side effects that every medication under the sun can give you, culminating in death, I suppose.  So why do I prefer Zofran, if forced to pick a favorite?  Um...because it lasts for 8 hours, and more in that regard is better.  And it is a smooth little white oval that is easier to swallow than the little red tab that tends to get stuck on the back of my tongue.  No other reasons that those.  That's all it takes for my love and loyalty.
     But I do love the antinausea drugs in general--they are not always keeping all of the nausea at bay, but they are keeping the unwanted end result of nausea away.   I cannot imagine what a nightmare this was like back in the day when doctors hadn't figured out the antinausea cocktail/protocol for people in chemo.  The fact that you could end up in the hospital after chemo from being so horrifically ill/dehydrated, well the insult to injury ratio is just overwhelming.  I'm lucky it's 2016, my friends.
     But on to my next BFF, Ambien--okay, well, we're not on a brand-name basis here, so Zolpidem.  But not just any Zolpiden.  This is the 10 mg tablet.  Oh, yeah, baby.  That's the one.  So we know I was a big whiner about not being able to sleep.  And we know I tried to knock myself out with cold medicine.  And I finally got the Zolpidem, but it was 5 mg tabs.  So at 10 p.m. I would take my Zofran, then take my Zolpidem, then get knocked out until say, 1 or 2 a.m..  And then I would be awake until 4 or 5 a.m.  Another Zofran due at 6 a.m., so no sense trying to fall asleep again so close to that alarm going off...and then I'd just kind of be all discombobulated and napping/stumbling around all day and do it all over again.  Not feeling very rested on that routine.
     When asked about this, the doctor told me I could take another 5 mg tablet when I woke up in the middle of the night, so that's what I did.  But it still had me waking in the middle of the night, and it still would take an hour or more for the next tablet to kick in, so it was better than before, but still resulted in disrupted sleep.  Which isn't good for anyone, really, but I'm guessing not a path I want to follow when trying to kill a tumor.  All the benefits of restorative sleep, right?
     But then the insurance wouldn't refill that prescription.  Why?  Because the original prescription was written for "1 tablet per night" and I had started taking 2 tablets per night...so I ran out of tablets faster than a 1 tablet-per night-person would run out.  So the insurance wouldn't approve a refill until the time that 1-tablet a night person would need it.  So in order to get Zolpidem, I had to get a new dosing/prescription to receive approval.  Hence the 10 mg.
     And THAT'S what I'm talking about.  It's like you are medically treating animals in the wild on a nature preserve, and you have to take down this little antelope or gazelle or something small like that--shoot it with a 5 mg Ambien tranquilizer dart.  Go ahead.  You'll be fine.  But if you need to take down a rhino?  Well, you're gonna need the 10 mg dart, buddy.  That's the only way you're going to knock the legs out from under that rhinocerous, I guarantee it.  I take it at 10 p.m. and it keeps me sleeping until maybe 4 or 5 a.m.--enough uninterrupted sleep to feel less like I'm subhuman and enough to keep my body trending on a more normal day/night sleep/wake cycle. 
     I am worried that I will never be a good sleeper again.  I used to be a champ!  My family can tell you--I could sleep on a bed of nails, anywhere, anytime, in broad daylight, a brass band playing in my ear.  No problem. I've even fallen asleep having my teeth cleaned--just give me a horizontal surface and I'm golden!  But not so much anymore.  With the chemo-induced hormonal changes, maybe I'm just getting to that messed-up-sleep stage of life a little faster than I was going to otherwise.  But it's a bit of a bummer nonetheless--sleep is a really good thing.  And if YOU are not sleeping well, you should talk to your doctor.  The long-term negative health effects of a consistent lack of restorative sleep are nothing to trifle with--I'm not kidding.  If the former Champ of Sleep can seek some help, well, so can you. 

Post Chemo Jams:  The following were suggested by loving family and I immediately threw them on the playlist.  "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker (of course, why wasn't that there in the first place?), "Mission" by Lupe Fiasco (a shout out to all cancer survivors and just a pump-you-up kick cancer's butt song), and "Buena" by Morphine (oh my gosh, listen to that song right this second--I defy you not to groove on that bass and sax--it's impossible!)