Side Effects May Include Facial Disfigurement and Humiliation

If you know me well, you know that I am all too familiar with the hospitals and emergency rooms. Let me preface this story by telling you that I went to the urgent care center yesterday because I thought I had strep throat. My tonsils felt huge and I was just absolutely sure that I had it. Also, Sara was diagnosed with it earlier in the week so that confirmed my suspicions. About an hour after I got home from the urgent care center, my face, neck and shoulders began to stiffen up. I had no control over my mouth and my tongue and I could barely talk. So off we went to the emergency room. On the way there, I was crying and Sara and Anna were crying because they were scared too. It was horrible! When we got to the doctor, the situation got increasingly worse. The doctor asked me what meds I had been taking and it turned out that the medicine Reglan (which I was taking to help increase my milk supply) had triggered something to occur neurologically. They called it Extra Pyramidal Symptoms. This meant that my brain was controlling the muscles in my face, neck and shoulders to stiffen. I literally had no control over what was going on with me. As soon as I told the doctor that I was taking Reglan he knew exactly what to do. He filled my IV with Benadryl and not 2 minutes later, I was absolutely fine. It was the weirdest and strangest experience of my life. So now, I obviously have an allergic reaction to reglan and will never take that again.

This whole thing just made me think about how powerful medication can be. They can save your life, but in a second they can change your life, too. I am happy to report that my face will not be disfigured. David is happy that he won't have a gimp wife for the rest of his life. He told me that everyone was staring at me. To which I responded, "Well, no duh! I'd be staring at me too!" My sister Dana called me a medical nightmare. I'm beginning to think that's true with all the stuff that's happened to me within the last year! So weird. I'm glad that is over.