Side Effects

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I guess I spoke too soon about not having any side effects from my medications.

I have been seeing signs of side effects. My biggest concern is I am now extremely sensitive to salt. Every time we dine out, I gain at least two pounds. Before transplant, this did not happen to me (or so I would like to think). I could eat out at a restaurant or at the cafeteria, and not worry about bloating. These days, even at the end of the day, I can feel that I am retaining water. It can get so uncomfortable that I often have to wear loose pants (I cannot wait until it is warm enough that I can wear a skirt). If we get away for the weekend, forget it – It’s an automatic five pound swing.

I am not too concerned about the clothes. I like loose-fitting clothing anyways (except for the occasional skinny jeans). My primary concern is that the constant weight fluctuations cannot possibly be healthy for me.

I am also very tired in the morning and get really hit with a huge mid-afternoon slump. I used to think that this was not a big deal since a dose of caffeine usually puts me back on track. However, lately, I have been getting so tired that I cannot get up in the morning. Back when I was on dialysis, I felt that had more energy in the morning than now.

Fortunately, it can be fixed by a cup of coffee or chai. My lethargy when I was dialysis can last the entire day.

After my recent visit with my transplant nephrologist, I think we figured out part of the reason. One of my blood pressure medications – Minoxidil – is sensitive to sodium and therefore causing water-retention.  It may also be the culprit for my morning lethargy, but neither the doctor nor the nurse mentioned that the medication is causing that. Minoxidil does cause hair to grow in places where you do not want it (It is commonly known as Rogaine).

Unfortunately, now that it is a year after my transplant, my blood pressure medication is managed by my primary nephrologist. I now have three doctors: the transplant nephrologist, my primary nephrologist, and my primary care doctor. It really does make managing my medication a bit complicated. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for having so many doctors, each with their own specialty, managing my care.

I did e-mail my primary nephrologist to ask for his opinion – possibly lowering the dosage. However, all he did was prescribe a Lasix, a potent diuretic which I am a bit hesitant in taking. I had a bad experience with diuretics, and I really do not want to take one more pill. Perhaps we can present our case better when we meet him in person.

So in the meantime, I am taking some steps to minimize the side effects. We minimize dining out to reduce our sodium exposure. It still takes me 2-3 days to remove the weight that I gain when we eat out.

I am also allowing myself time to get up: I gradually sit up until my body is fully awake. So far, it seems to be working.

I guess we wait… until my next doctor visit.

What do you all think? Let me know; I am very interested in your input and feedback.

TAX DAY!!!

Finally taxes are done!  We know it’s almost last minute, but we had a good excuse. Well, at least we did this year, but we also procrastinated, which is probably a topic for another day (or not).

Our primary challenge this year is that I was on disability last year. We did not know how to handle the proceeds from that period. Although I used TurboTax, I usually just let things import from last year, enter my W2 and other income information (like interest and dividents) and let TurboTax do its thing. We have a relatively simple return, since we did not have enough medical expenses (Thank you Medicare and additional insurance) or deductions to itemize. Also, we did not get a tax-related statement from EDD. Not sure what to do. 

I googled what is usually done and ran into a Form 1099-G for disability payments. We did not get one, so we (more I) were on the verge of panicking. We need to file in three weeks, and we cannot wait for the form. Fortunately, the calm one in our household (Hubby) said that if needed, we can simply file for an extension. I’m glad he helped me think through this.

We called EDD and listened to the long message (twice!) The first time the telephone query system said that there is no 1099-G in record for me. Now, we are confused.

We called my HR department and they said I should have a claim. The lady was helpful and gave me my claim number, both for our company and EDD. 

We called EDD again (and listened to the long message one more time) and finally talked to a live person. He told us that the proceeds during my disability is not taxable, since these are insurance payments. My husband and I were elated. No forms to wait for – at least for California!

Because work has been somewhat hectic, I decided to wait for last weekend to finish our taxes. Should not be too bad, right? We’re almost done; all we need to do is print.

However, upon detailed review – I saw that the state return is off – way off. OMG! What could be wrong? I felt like an accountant going through the forms in detail (which is okay since I am OCD that way). After a thorough review, I realized that TurboTax defaulted to my taking the whole year off.

I did both the Federal and State interview and found where I could plug in the amount. Fortunately, we saved all of the statements from EDD and I calculated the total amount. We checked the form for errors, printed, and DONE! Hubby mailed it off the next day.

Thank God I caught the discrepancy.  Lessons learned in this exercise: disability disbursements are not taxable in the state of CA (since these are deemed as insurance payments) and when there is something new in your taxes/life, do the TurboTax interview – it will save you considerable stress. I am hoping that someday somewhere (in CA), someone can benefit from my stress.

And of course, don’t procrastinate… but that is a subject for another post.