Went to my GI appt

[calmygal]

went to my GI appt

I went to my first GI appt and it was a pretty good one i like her she was very nice and she said there was a lot that my regular dr was missing so i was glad i made the decision to go to GI. She said that my protein levels are low so that made her nervous and she said that there were some other blood levels that were low put i can't remember and my potassium is low 2.8 or 2.6 i think she said anything under 3 is dangerous. So that can all be from excessive diarrhea and one of my crohn's test from before had come back positive and of course i can't remember the name the appt was an hour and half long so its like i got so much information that it was crazy lol. So they are doing more blood work cause they said there is a lot my dr didn't test for that needs to be tested for and i am doing a pillcam and upper GI i think its called so anyone who has had that done please let me know sorry i haven't been on in a while i have been in the hospital for severe migraines, i have had a migraine for 2 weeks now and they can't get rid of them they are in my neck and back of my head and on top of my head it almost feels like i am getting a severe head cold like when you get all that pressure just with the neck pain just i haven't gotten sick its the weirdest thing i had migraines for years just not like this. They had tried a lot of things just haven't fixed the problem yet i have to go to another neurologist this week and a cardiologist cause they think the potassium might have done some damage to my heart and i had congestive heart failure so i have been busy lol! Any information on the other procedures though would be appreciated sorry for the length but its hard to explain everything lol!

 

[Astra]

Hiya Cal

sorry I've never had a pill cam, so can't help, but I've got the head pains exactly how you describe. I was given Amitriptyline, and dx as Occipital (Arnolds) Neuralgia.
The pain has nearly gone, the med helps me to sleep, but more importantly, it's keeping me calm whilst on Pred, a wonderful, lovely drug!
here is a link on it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occipital_neuralgia

Does it sound like that? hope you get some relief, the Amitriptyline will help.
xxxx

 

[calmygal]

thank you very much i will let my neurologist know about this and see what they say it was very informative!!

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Hi Calmygal, I'm also on Amitriptyline as Joan mentioned. I started taking Entocort about a month ago, and it caused me to have chronic headaches. So my GI put me on Amitriptyline, and the headaches have stopped. It's really nice! I usually have migraines about once every 1 to 2 months, and I haven't had a migraine yet since I started the Amitriptyline (knock on wood).

I also did the pill cam, a couple of months ago. (Of course, it found nothing and I'm still undiagnosed.) The prep was the worst part - they made me drink 1/2 the usual amount of prep the night before. I did the Gatorade & Miralax prep, and even at half the amount it still caused me to become dehydrated to the point that I required IV fluids. Not fun. But the pill cam part itself was easy - swallow the capsule, wear a belt that the data is transmitted to, and wait about 8 hours. Not too bad at all although the belt was a bit cumbersome (the battery is kind of heavy and the belt itself has to be pretty tight around the waist in order for it to receive the images). So I would recommend you stay at home and rest on pill cam day. Also, wear a shirt that is 100% cotton - I didn't find this out until I showed up at the hospital to swallow the capsule, but the nurse said that the belt can only be worn over your shirt if it's 100% cotton. Fortunately I was wearing a 100% cotton shirt - otherwise, the belt would have had to be against my skin which seems like it would chafe.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

[calmygal]

I have to drive almost 2hrs to go get the pillcam and be there at 7am and then drive home 2hrs and then drive back 2hrs to be there for 4pm to return the belt and then drive home 2hrs again. I have a 2yr old so i don't know of anything to do out there so its going to be a very long day for me. I am doing it on Nov 8th so i will let you all know how it goes!