I was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon (Aug 26) following a checkup at my ObG. Apparently, I had been having minor/moderate contractions for several days (maybe weeks), but was unaware. While at the doctor's office, they started to become more frequent and more intense, maybe the result of my being up and active for the doctor's visit. The doctor also observed that I had dilated past 2cm and my cervix was paper thin, meaning my uterus was stretched to capacity and ready to go into labor.
My doctor immediately sent me to the hospital in an attempt to suppress my contractions and avoid an early delivery. After monitoring how frequent and intense my contractions were, they quickly decided to put me on an IV of magnesium sulfate (Satan) and catheterize me (Satan’s twin brother). They also gave me a round of steroids for the babies' lung development in the event early delivery could not be prevented. My contractions were occurring every 2 minutes with high intensity before the meds finally kicked in and relaxed her uterus. Over the course of the evening and night, the contractions slowly reduced to about every 10 to 15 minutes in frequency, which was great at that point. Over the course of the day, my contractions reduced to 1 or 2 an hour. The morning of Aug 28 they finally weaned me off the IV meds and put me on another medication to stop contractions called Procardia, which is actually a drug for hypertension but serves another purpose in this case. The hope was they would observe me for ~48 hours on these meds before sending me home with them (by Saturday).
Side effects of the magnesium sulfate are numerous. Since it works on the central nervous system, it slows down all your bodily functions including things like vision, digestion, motor function, etc. I felt as if I had the headache from a hangover and the grogginess of taking a whole lotta valium. My vision was blurry so I couldn’t look at people straight, read, or watch TV. I just lay in bed all day. I was on a clear liquid diet, but that didn’t matter much since I had no appetite anyway. Another side effect of this drug is bloating and fluid retention. Besides the great pair of tree trunks and cankles that resulted, the fluid also got sponged up by my lungs. I wound up with pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) which they tried to get rid of through diuretics but couldn’t get to quick enough to stop me from coming down with what felt like the flu. Even after coming off of the magnesium, I just felt like I had a bad case of bronchitis. I was achy all over, it hurt to breathe, and my cough was unproductive.
My doctor immediately sent me to the hospital in an attempt to suppress my contractions and avoid an early delivery. After monitoring how frequent and intense my contractions were, they quickly decided to put me on an IV of magnesium sulfate (Satan) and catheterize me (Satan’s twin brother). They also gave me a round of steroids for the babies' lung development in the event early delivery could not be prevented. My contractions were occurring every 2 minutes with high intensity before the meds finally kicked in and relaxed her uterus. Over the course of the evening and night, the contractions slowly reduced to about every 10 to 15 minutes in frequency, which was great at that point. Over the course of the day, my contractions reduced to 1 or 2 an hour. The morning of Aug 28 they finally weaned me off the IV meds and put me on another medication to stop contractions called Procardia, which is actually a drug for hypertension but serves another purpose in this case. The hope was they would observe me for ~48 hours on these meds before sending me home with them (by Saturday).
Side effects of the magnesium sulfate are numerous. Since it works on the central nervous system, it slows down all your bodily functions including things like vision, digestion, motor function, etc. I felt as if I had the headache from a hangover and the grogginess of taking a whole lotta valium. My vision was blurry so I couldn’t look at people straight, read, or watch TV. I just lay in bed all day. I was on a clear liquid diet, but that didn’t matter much since I had no appetite anyway. Another side effect of this drug is bloating and fluid retention. Besides the great pair of tree trunks and cankles that resulted, the fluid also got sponged up by my lungs. I wound up with pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) which they tried to get rid of through diuretics but couldn’t get to quick enough to stop me from coming down with what felt like the flu. Even after coming off of the magnesium, I just felt like I had a bad case of bronchitis. I was achy all over, it hurt to breathe, and my cough was unproductive.
Contractions during Aug 26 ObG Visit
Toni & Me in the Hospital
1 comment:
My name is Kym Rose and i would like to show you my personal experience with Valium.
I am 30 years old. Have been on Valium for 30 days now. Valium helped me realize that many of my symptoms WERE anxiety related. Got prescribed 5mg every 8 hours for leg and arm spasms.(Only need at most 1 a day) Only bad thing is the vivid dreams after a few days of use.
I have experienced some of these side effects -
Giddiness, drowsiness.
I hope this information will be useful to others,
Kym Rose
Valium Prescription Information
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