Friday, April 15, 2011

Medical Expenses

For almost 2 years I took a daily medication (beta blocker) to help keep my migraines under control. It worked pretty well, but I still had quite a few bad days where I had to break out the Maxalt. The beta blocker was only costing me $10/month, but the Maxalt fell into the most expensive tier of my insurance, so it would cost me $40/month and that was only for 10 pills. The typical migraine took 2 pills to fully clear up. After ruling out physical reasons for the migraines, my Dr strongly urged me to start eliminating some things from my diet and also going off of the beta blockers to get a "base" of what was going on. My previous Dr had the dose on the beta blockers so high my BP was super low and all I wanted to do was sleep. I hated it! Not only was I constantly tired, but I was STILL getting headaches! I had some other medical things going on and the specialist flat out tell me to stop drinking Diet Coke because it was causing me all kinds of other problems. I figured it was worth a shot to give it a try and see if something as simple as eliminating Diet Coke could make that big of a difference. If it helped even one of the problems I was having, it would be worth it. No more beta blockers I gave up caffeine, except for one cup of "real" coffee per day I was still drinking a significant amount of Caffeine Free Diet Coke Then I gave that up As of January 1, I have not had a single drink of carbonated beverages. No Diet Coke (caffinated or otherwise) and switched to pretty much just drinking water and a very limited amount of brewed iced tea. Because I had weaned down on the caffeine, giving up the soda wasn't as hard as it would have been a few months earlier. The good news, I've not had to take ANY medication for my migraines since giving up carbonated drinks! It's AMAZING! I drank my last Diet Coke on New Year's Eve and it's April 15, NO HEADACHES! I was having at least 2-3 per week, so going this long without one is a huge accomplishment. The weather is getting nicer and I've not had to waste a day in bed nursing a migraine. I'm spending time with my kids outside, I'm working on training for my first 5K and I am LOVING every minute of it! Oh and as a hidden bonus, I'm saving money on my grocery bill by not buying soda