Daily Ponderings

The first ever reported case of Pulmonary Hypertension was recorded 121 years ago. 37 years ago, still not much was known about the disease. Today, we have 9 FDA-approved medications to help improve symptoms experienced by the disease. There is still no cure. YET.

All of the PAH medications come with side effects. Some people experience side effects for a little while, and then they don't deal with them any longer. Some people have side effects constantly. Side effects can include one or more of the following, depending on the medication(s) being taken: -Dizziness -Low blood pressure -Fluid retention -Irregular heart rhythms -Nausea -Excessive bleeding -Dehydration -Nosebleeds -Liver failure -Blurry vision -Loss of hearing -Headaches -Anemia -Nasal congestion -Sinusitis -Flushing -Muscle pain -Heartburn -Diarrhea -Jaw Pain -Bone pain -Rashes -Itching -Swelling

There are currently 4 oral medications approved by the FDA to treat PAH symptoms. *Tracleer (bosentan): Tracleer is an ERA, which stands for endothelin receptor antagonist. Endothelin causes the blood vessels to narrow. Tracleer blocks endothelin, which is produced in overabundance in PAH patients. This helps to reduce blood pressure in the lungs, and to improve activity level. Tracleer is taken twice a day, 12 hours apart. Tracleer requires monthly bloodwork to check for liver failure. *Letairis (ambrisentan): Letairis is also an ERA, and also works very much in the same way as Tracleer does. It is taken once a day. Letairis does not require bloodwork, although some doctors may still want labs checked occasionally. *Revatio (sildenafil): Revatio is a PDE5 inhibitor. This means that Revatio relaxes the blood vessels of the lungs to increase blood flow, making it easier for the heart to pump. Revatio is taken three times daily. Revatio is commonly know as Viagra! *Adcir...

I have been taking medications since I was 2 years old. My oldest med is digoxin, a heart med which helps keep the heart healthy and the rhythm function stable. Since I have a congenital heart defect, my doctors way back then thought this med would help to keep it functioning better. I used to take the digoxin by dropper, and I still remember loving the taste and wishing my mom could give me more when it was time to take it! Ha! Eventually I moved on to the tiny pill form of digoxin, and that meant the beginning of childproof caps. I never worried about that for a very long time because my parents (well, my mom  mostly) gave me my pill to take every day. This also included pills like antibiotics and such for the times I was sick. There were a LOT of those times for me growing up. Being sick sure stunk big time!! Years down the road when I began to keep track of taking my meds on my own, I struggled with trying to open the stupid childproof caps on the bottles. Of course, I would...

My mom didn't make it over here today like she wanted. She was too busy cleaning and getting ready for my sister's arrival on Friday. Oh well, that's ok! I changed the bedding and didn't start a recipe until later in the afternoon, so I only made one thing instead of two. I made the pecan turtle bars, and MMMMMMMM. I'm not sure I can share them. lol I'll make the other cookies tomorrow, and maybe the pecan pie. We'll see how much energy I have! So, I take my Revatio (Viagra) pills at 7am, 3pm, and 11pm. It's supposed to be taken 8 hours apart. This afternoon around 3, I was on the phone with my mom while I was trying to open the new bottle of Revatio tablets I had, and during the conversation, I thought I had taken my dose. After I got off the phone, I spent 5 minutes struggling to remember whether or not I had swallowed the pills. What the heck??? This isn't the only time I've done this. There have been plenty of times that I go to take my pil...