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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Epilepsy / April 2006Recycling some old good advice
When I first started reading this news group before Windows became the dominant operating system someone gave a great piece of simple advice that I haven't seen repeated since the original author suggested it. He or she reccommended that you always have your blood drawn for a serum level on the same day of the week each time you go for a blood test. This advice was especially helpful for me because my neurologist is the kind of doctor who has always kept me on the strangest dosing schedules. Whether he had me increasing or decreasing my medication on odd or even days or switching a.m. and p.m. doses by having my blood work done on the same day of the week he always had good comparisons. For nearly thirty years I've always had my labrotory work done on Mondays. Why Monday's? Just because it was the easiest way for me to remember and the doctor would always get the results during that week. I was hospitalized in 2002 and my neurolgist remembered to order lab work on Mondays when possible. Hope someone finds this useful. Jim If my memory or living circumstances were that good, I'd do something similar. Unfortunately the weather often precludes getting out for bloodwork at a regular time. Making dates and keeping them are two different things. I don't drive, live alone, use the buses for basic transport, so standing in driving rain on Monday morning, for example, or a blizzard, or -20C weather (approx. 0F for Americans on list) makes it a crap shoot when you live in Nova Scotia. We get hit with everything pretty much but tornadoes. As well, since I don't work, and spend most of the time indoors, one day blends into the next; some days, the only reason I know it's Tuesday is because the radio station I listen to plays back to back songs by the same artist. Mainly, I tell time by what is on TV that evening, and since some shows can be repeated later in the week or on weekends, that, too, gets confusing. So, for the most part, I will wait to do something like that when I have a few dollars for coffee in my pocket and it's worthwhile to brave the weather on crappy days; the hospital and my favourite café are near each other. My doctor only requires blood tests when I come in for refills, the end of every third month or so, it's a great time to buy a lb of Irish Cream. Doing the test more than that wipes out any interval for comparison. For example, the same dose month to month wouldn't show a change if upped or cut for at least 6 -8 wks. Her words, not mine, because she is more concerned with long term effects. Short term things I can always report if I need to, like side effects more seizures or less. And, of course, since I'm Canadian, there is always the point of system efficiency--it takes the reports at least 7 - 10 business days to get to her desk. Americans have the advantage of "private" systems that make it easier and quicker to get things done in some respects. The last time I had an EEG, I had to wait four months once scheduled and another three for the results. =========================================== Paul J. Chiasson http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/paul.chiasson/ paul.chiasson@ns.sympatico.ca vsmon@ns.sympatico.ca ai714@chebucto.ns.ca ========================================== > When I first started reading this news group before Windows > became [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > work on Mondays when possible. Hope someone finds this useful. > Jim I have a related question. We asked Steve's neurologist if he should be having blood draws to check his Lamictal level. She said no, because there "is no known theraputic dose" That sounded strange to me. We go to the new neurologist at the University of Chicago in a week, and will see what he says, but I thought I'd get the opinions of those who have been going through this. Thanks! Hi. The time from when you 'give blood' to when lab results get back are probably local to you? (each Province/Doctor) When I was adjusting doses up with Tegretol, then down to add a second med., the lab that drew the blood and did tests was in the same building as my Neuro. He'd usually call me the next *day, if I had to increase or decrease part of my AM or PM doses. It didn't have anything to do with Private vs. Public system. It could depend on whether they have to send the test away, versus having the lab local to where he works. G./ It's probably more to do with backlog and priority--Hospital ER vs Family Practice. I wouldn't know. If the wait times in the local ER at the QE II are any indication, triage deals with the greater Halifax area. Some fool decided to shut down all the ER's between downtown and Fall River, a 30 min. drive, several years ago and concentrate everything at the QE II. It's unfortunate, because there are three separate hospitals in the downtown area alone--The VG and IWK Children's as well as the QE II--plus the Dartmouth General across the harbour, and all the adult ER's were scrapped in preference for the QE II locale. No one has yet cottoned to the idea that the outer municipality is left to sink or swim with maybe a paramedic unit or two. It's part of the reason I simply stay at home and sleep seizures off as best I can. In some cases, the after effects last days; but going to the ER to be told to go home and take an extra dilantin and an Advil after you wake up is more trouble than it's worth. =========================================== Paul J. Chiasson http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/paul.chiasson/ paul.chiasson@ns.sympatico.ca vsmon@ns.sympatico.ca ai714@chebucto.ns.ca ========================================== > Hi. The time from when you 'give blood' to when lab results get back > are probably local to you? (each Province/Doctor) [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > could depend on whether they have to send the test away, versus having > the lab local to where he works. G./
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