Medical Diaries #2: Pills, pills, and more....pills

Hey all,
I was inspired to write the second installment of the Medical Diaries on pills, medications, drugs, whatever you want to call it because I'm feeling to fed up with them right now.

This picture represents my current medications. Doesn't necessarily seem like much but considering the fact that I'm only 20 years old and on this much.....ridiculous. Sickening. Terrible. Just plain wrong. So without further ado.....all my lil peeps.

Systane Ultra eyedrops, Refresh Liquigel (eye gel), and Restasis - 
The drops were first introduced to me in high school. Dr. Hasties told me I have the driest eyes she has ever seen. Within seconds of blinking they are dry once again. I had to take these 3 drops/day and whenever else needed. Then, last year, the gel came into my life. He stomped right in and demanded attention 3/day as well. Thicker than the drops, he makes everything blurry for a bit afterwards. Restasis is new to me about a month now? I take it morning and night and it burns some going in. Not as easy as the others. This is the only prescription strength eyedrop on the market right now.

Fish Oil - Honestly, not bad for ANY of you to be taking lol. This pill can help the heart, lowering blood pressure, diabetes, dry eyes, glaucoma, kidney disease, and psoriasis just to name a few. Betcha didn't know all that, eh!? Lol I take 2400mg/day.

Gabapentin - As I understand, this drug is supposed to calm the nerves. I take 600mgs both morning and night. At first I was only put on it for nighttime use when I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia to help me sleep. However, my rheumy thinks I have a high tolerance for it so he bumped me up in dosage. Still not seeing any results.

Hydroxychloroquine (aka Plaquenil) - This is most commonly known as a Rheumatoid Arthritis drug. It was the first RA drug I was put on when I was diagnosed and after being on it with no affects whatsoever for almost a year, they switched me to Methotrexate. Over a year ago, my rheumy took me off Methotrexate completely and switched me back to Plaquenil. So far it is exactly as the last time, no good news. I take 400mg/day.

Omeprazole - This quite honestly is for heartburn. I have incredible heartburn every single day if I do not take this pill. I am very temperamental with it, however. If I take two pills, I get sick, so even when the heartburn is REALLY bad, need to stick to my one pill. I take 40mg/day.

Metformin - This is technically a diabetes med or prediabetes med. I was put on it a year ago to try and regulate my menstrual period. We thought it was working for awhile, but it most definitely isn't anymore in any event. I take 1000mg/day.

Trazodone - I try real hard NOT to take this. It is a sleeping pill. Since I have insomnia, sometimes it really helps to have that little extra boost. However, taking 1/2 of one pill is plenty for me. I get wicked loopy....some of you would probably love to see that lol. I just don't like taking it though.

Maxalt - This small 10mg tablet is new to me, very new as of this week. I've never used it but it is my new migraine med. I am very excited to try it because I don't need to sleep. now, if any of you get migraines you understand how exciting that is lol. Normally you've got to sleep for hours to knock the migraine out even with your med! This could really change things.

Ondansetron - This goes hand in hand with the Maxalt. It is an anti-nausea med to be taken with the Maxalt. Stick it under your tongue and it dissolves and should prevent all nausea (woohoo!).

Magnesium - Did you know that Magnesium has been proven to help prevent headaches? Why do you think I'm on it? Lol this is another new med that I started this week. 250mg/day

Prenatal vitamins - No, I'm not pregnant....instead of taking iron supplements, I take prenatals now because they are so much higher in iron. I really need the iron due to my PCOS.

Estroblend (Estrogren) - No, I'm not going through menopause....I have not done my post on PCOS yet, but part of this means that I have too high testosterone production. By takin estrogen, I am helping to boost my estrogen production.

Lexapro - This is my miracle drug. This is what I partially credit for pulling me back into the grips of reality from The Big D last year. I am actually on a really low dosage which is great. Lexapro is an anti-depressant and it just gives me the little boost I need. It's kind of like hope in a tiny pill lol.

Spironolactone - Fairly new med that I was put on this winter. Though this does not have any direct medical cause with it, it is to help lessen my hair production. More will be talked about this when I put up my PCOS post. I take 200mg/day.

Tramadol - This is a painkiller, a very low painkiller. I wasn't taking it very much because I didn't notice a difference. However, I found out from my new doctor this week that it is a pseudonarcotic and he really doesn't suggest using it. So that tells me even more that I was right going with my gut and not taking it!

Apri - This is my current birth control that I'm on. No, it's not for the typical reasons, strictly medical I can assure all of you. Lol.

Well, there you have it, folks. That's my med schedule right now lol. Morning, noon, and night. I hate that I'm taking them, but I keep telling myself the doctors are trying. A lot of people I know do not support me in taking all of them but that really isn't their decision to make. Don't judge me off it. I am not a druggie, I'm simply a sick girl that's trying to make herself better. I'm trying to work with my doctors.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I will get into these more when I get to the post on them assumingly, but if you have questions PLEASE feel free to ask. This stuff is confusing. It's confusing for me sometiems and I'm the one taking them lol so please do ask if a question comes to mind.
Hope you're all doing well. Much love,
Hannah