Managing Multiple Chronic Illnesses Is Exhausting

Managing chronic illnesses is an undertaking clearly not meant for the meek. Don’t get me wrong, considering the alternative I’ll deal, but it’s exhausting at times. 

I’ve mentioned my eczema and the three creams I have for my feet. For the most part that chronic condition is under control-esque. It seems that when my feet flare my hands are stable, and vice versa. Since I’m not a shoe person and would much rather be in flipflops or barefoot, having to spend such quality time with my feet every day has been an adjustment. 

But this is an improvement over going to the dermatologist’s office for heat lamp treatments multiple times per week and then graduating to a monthly shot. 

One adjustment I’ll happily accept is my asthma calming down. I was diagnosed with severe asthma over ten years ago. I spent six months on a shot I had to go into the doctor’s office to get, every other week—it did nothing. 

Imagine you’re at dinner—you, your friend, and your cough variant asthma. I was literally unable to speak a few sentences without coughing. I remember apologizing to her profusely about all of the stares we were getting because I was hacking up a lung. Good friend that she is, her response was, “Ignore them.” And then she kept right on talking and listening. Patiently.

Then came the latter part of 2017. The stress of my father’s illness, who was living with me, only exacerbated my asthma. I wound up breaking my ribs due to the severity of my coughing. Not to mention, I was on prednisone (what I call the devil’s drug) repeatedly. But after going on a monthly shot that I was able to administer at home, it settled down. Fast forward nine years and I only have to use my rescue inhaler as needed. Fingers crossed it stays that way. 

And yes, if you’re keeping count, I was on a shot for asthma and a shot for eczema at the same time. My pulmonologist and my dermatologist had to have a tete-a-tete to ensure I wasn’t going to implode. Clearly, and thankfully, I didn’t. 

But I can handle an occasional inhaler and three foot creams. What is currently sending me over the edge is the GLP-1 I’m taking for my diabetes. I. Hate. It. I know people take them to lose weight and I fault no one for that. But kind of like last week’s mention about the book that didn’t work for me, I’m beginning to feel the same about these drugs.

This is the second GLP-1 I’ve tried. The first didn’t agree with my stomach. This one is supposed to be milder. Can we define that? I have been, we’ll call it regular, my whole life. Now, not so much. So my endocrinologist has suggested a combination of two cereals to address my situation. In addition, I have to take a bunch of supplements because my eating is off and I’m not getting all the nutrients my body needs. My endocrinologist says I’ll be on a GLP-1 for the rest of my life. Recently, I’ve started to question that diagnosis.

I’m tired of taking one medication to treat an illness. Then taking another one to treat the side-effect caused by the first. I keep thinking, there has to be a better way. 

I am not a medical professional, so do not take any of this as advice. But I feel like quite often people take their doctor’s word as gospel. Now, I’m not telling you to ignore your doctor’s advice. But I am suggesting three things:

1. Do your research
2. Ask questions
3. Advocate for yourself

If you need a second or third opinion, get it. I went to several ENTs before one finally said I needed a pulmonologist, who successfully diagnosed my asthma. And it was actually a dermatologist that recognized the signs of my diabetes. Thankfully, these doctors put me on the right track—which unfortunately, can take quite a bit of time and energy. Hence, my personal exhaustion.

But there’s only one you—sometimes this is a good thing—in my case, the world isn’t ready for two of me. So take an active role in your health care. 

I bought a skull case for my inhaler and I’m on a mission for a cute pill case. How are you making chronic illnesses easier to manage—I’m open to all the ideas?