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resaebiunne

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Wow, it's been 3 and a half months since I last visited the forums... I've been so busy with work that I just haven't had time to read the forums.

Well, I lost my job here in Auburn due to budget cuts (I'm a contractor and an engineer, and engineers are very expensive ;) ). So I've been busy finding jobs. But unfortunately after I lost my job I woke up one night in a near status epilepticus state which was triggered by some alcoholic drinks I had at the bar earlier that evening. I believe I woke up after a tonic clonic seizure, because I was confused and couldn't get back to sleep, and I decided to go to the ER. I took an uber to the ER and got dropped off at the hospital entrace and couldn't find the emergency room entrance, which is off the visitors parking lot, so I wound up wandering around in the cold for 20 minutes before I figured out where the entrance was and my seizures stopped, but I went in the ER anyway because I was concerned I might black out. So the rather critical ER doctor lectured me about driving (Yes, I can drive, my last neurologist cleared me to drive and I have legally obtained a Florida state drivers license!) and asked who my doctor was. I have a doctor here in Auburn, NY who I saw and who was fine with my meds and everything (I moved to Auburn last October). So, they took blood. The nurse hooked me up to an EKG and put me on oxygen and they let me rest for a few hours. Then the doctor came back and wondered why I was on oxygen. Blah. I still couldn't sleep and it was 4am at that point and I had work the next morning. The blood test results came back and I was low on depakote. So they gave me depakote. They let me rest for a few more minutes and discharged me and I decided to walk home since the ER is 2 blocks away from my house. Annnd, I was late for work :noevil:

I then proceeded to get a kidney stone a few days later. Thanks Topamax. And Tums. I guess I wasn't drinking enough water, but I'm not sure. At least I was drinking some water, because I was bringing a water bottle to work, but that's only about 16 ounces, so not really enough. If you've never had a kidney stone, it is THE MOST PAINFUL THING. It was so bad that I couldn't keep still in my room. I wanted to rip my groin off. They did strain my urine, did a CT scan. Never found a kidney stone. Somehow it passed under the radar.

But the story doesn't end there. After the ER the second time (for the kidney stone), the next morning, the pain came back. So I took some Ibuprofen. I didn't have pain meds yet from the parmacy. Ibuprofen didn't work (and I took a LOT, way too much. Remember, I was foggy from the seizure, so I wasn't thinking clearly.) So I went to the ER again in cringing pain. They put me on morphine. That wasn't such a good idea because apparently I don't respond well to narcotics. So, after some time, I get discharged from the ER (I have no idea how long, because I don't remember), but I remember I walked out of the ER and sat in the waiting room and stared at my phone to get an uber and just diddled with my phone and couldn't figured out what to do. And the security guard was just staring at me and I was staring at him. For like 20 minutes. Finally I got up and walked outside and sat down somewhere else and tried again, but no luck. So I decided to walk home. Well, I managed to get close to my house, because when I called 911 they told me where I was. Cutting the story short a bit, I wound up calling 911 again because I really couldn't find my house, it was literally not there to be found, and I was even using my phone, but couldn't figure it out so that was my fourth time in the ER and I wound up in the hospital for 3 days while I recovered from the morphine reaction. I was referred to a urologist who I finally just saw today as I just got back from a 3 week vacation visiting family in Florida.

A few days after I got out of the hospital, I get a call from my neurologist who calls me in for an emergency appointment. They knew about ALL of the ER visits and the hospitalization, seizure and kidney stone. She asked what all happened and asked me all sorts of questions. She told me I went to the ER in a mentally impaired state (morphine reaction, 4th visit) and even that someone called the cops and reported me!

At some point I realized I had been taking HALF of my dose of depakote. For at least a month. I just updated my medic alert profile and it said the wrong dosage! Something was truly amiss.

So my vacation to Florida was truly needed. However, I came home with 3 job offers and landed a fourth the day after I got back to NY. I start a new job in Germantown, MD on April 29 so I'm scrambling to move. I even found an apartment that will be ready to move in on April 27 so I won't even have to stay at a hotel, I can just drive down and move right in. Pretty sweet.

Hope everyone is doing well and that your year is going great!

:e::banana::e::banana::e:
 
At some point I realized I had been taking HALF of my dose of depakote. For at least a month.
Yikes!

However, I came home with 3 job offers and landed a fourth the day after I got back to NY.
Hooray! Aside from having to move, that's awesome. Good luck with the new job.
 
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