Back on Diuretics and Continuing Antivirals

I stopped taking diuretics about a month ago.  I had been on hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg once or twice a day for the past two years.  At my last appointment about six weeks ago with Dr. Harris, he suggested I discontinue the HCTZ and try 20 mg of Lasix twice a day instead to see if any of my symptoms improved.

I tried the Lasix for about three or four days, then I decided to just go off of the diuretics altogether for awhile and see what happens.  It didn't help that the Lasix distinctly tastes like burned rubber.  Yuck!

It's been a month and, honestly, the only difference I have really noticed is that I gained at least five pounds in the first few days and I feel all puffy.  I have continued to try to eat a low sodium diet as always which is probably in the ballpark of 2,000 mg per day, plus I have increased my water intake significantly to about 1-1/2 to 2 liters a day.

In the past few days, though, my right ear has been feeling a little sloshy and my left -good- ear has been feeling a little full, too.  This all happened on the diuretics in the past, too, so I can't say it is something new.  But it is disconcerting.  So I decided to hop back on the diuretic bandwagon.  I will give the Lasix a fair trial.

In the meantime, I continue on the Famvir 250 mg twice a day.  I am on Day #5.  Nothing new to report yet.  I have been feeling well overall this week with the exception of a couple of days of worse than usual balance and some mini-spins similar to those I had shortly after the last round of gent.  Since I had a pretty good attack last weekend and ended up with mild vertigo, how I am feeling this week is pretty typical of how I feel post-attack.

I go back up to House Ear Clinic on July 5th to see Dr. Wilkinson, the doctor I saw for my second opinion back in December and who kindly prescribed the antiviral therapy for me this week.  His colleague, Dr. Lorenz, returned my call to Dr. W on Tuesday and, in the course of discussing my history, he strongly encouraged me to go through with ENG (vestibular) testing.  Sigh.  I have to admit he gave very valid reasons for having the testing done, so I suppose I will agree to it.  I go back up to House on July 5th for a follow-up, so maybe I will call before then and see if they want to do the testing then.

So I continue on guinea pig status...