Just the mere fact that I alone am responsible for my health and that I need to look out for myself, got me checking and doing some research into the active ingredient contained in my neurological medication. I guess you will be asking what brought about this need. Well whilst waiting for my test results from my haematologist to be out, I found myself pondering over the events of the last two years and recalling to mind the near death experience I had. The events surrounding that particular experience and the fact that my general physician had mentioned that some of those medications should be changed got me wondering if really they still had a hand in what I was experiencing once more.

Yes I know that after I had recovered back then, my neurologist had changed those medications but it just never occurred to me to check the active ingredient in what I was now consuming. To my biggest surprise, it turned out that the active ingredient in this new medication had side effects related to what I was currently experiencing, shortness of breath, weakness and dizziness. I therefore scheduled an appointment with my neurologist, at the earliest convenience. He noted my complaints and changed my medications to something that had none of the side effects stated above. Leaving me wondering why it took so long for me to note and raise the above issues.

However, I still had a scheduled appointment with the haematologist and feedback received from the hospital this week was that my tests results would take longer than a week to be out. So this has moved my appointment with the haematologist further on. Nonetheless, I really feel much better since I saw my neurologist because of the relief from the the dizzy spells and shortness of breath. Although the weakness seems to persist a bit.

So here I am, being thankful at the same time wondering when it will all be over. I thus decided to fight back this week by focusing on some of my unique supplements which had proved overtime to be effective.

1. A daily supplement of 100 mg of zinc to help prevent cell damage associated with sickle cell anaemia
2. Drinking lots of water and fluids to maintain good circulation
3. Having your blood homocysteine levels checked to find out if you have a vitamin B12 deficiency that requires treatment.

I noticed that there seemed to be some changes in the way I felt when I took a daily supplement especially of vitamin B12 as it gave me a bit of added strength to perform my routine duties.

So until next week when my test results are out and I might have consulted with the hematologist, I’m suggesting that you warriors out there also try some of these nutritional supplements above (under the supervision of your doctor) and share your thoughts on how you felt after taking them. I really look forward to hearing from you. Take care.

Reference: PeaceHealth 2021, accessed 9th February 2021; https://www.peacehealth.org/medical-topics/id/hn-1273007