Sometimes I feel like my life isn't really my life anymore. It feels more and more beyond my control every day. < pity party > At the doctor on Friday I was prescribed another new drug. This one is supposed to help with the amount of protein I am losing in my urine and also help sustain the kidney function I still have. It is a drug in the blood-pressure-regulating category. Although my blood pressure is 100% controlled with the ACE inhibitor I've been on for the last 5 years, this one is a different kind which will hopefully do wonderous things for me. I have to buy a blood pressure cuff to take my own blood pressure every day to make sure it doesn't go too low. Additionally, my doctor is really insisting on putting me back on immunosuppressants. Either Cyclosporine (which I've been on 3 times before) or a new one I've never been on called CelCept. They both have nasty side effects - besides making one prone to every germ floating around, they also make the stomach angry. I don't usually do well with immunosuppressive thearpy - I end up getting sick with one infection after another and/or throwing up all the time to the point of losing a lot of weight. The 'good' side-effects are very minimal. A lot to consider - prolong the life of my kidneys *slightly* while living in stomach-upset misery, or have fun while I can without the side effects? Then, today, the doctor's office called to say I also need to start taking Sodium Bicarbonate 3 times a day. You might know this drug as "AlkaSeltzer" but for me it will help bring down the acidity in my body, restore normal C02 levels and bring my now "critically high" potassium level down. Lovely. So this means I will now be taking drugs 3 times a day, in addition to weekly shots. I just hate putting all this crap into my body. I wonder just how much good its really doing... < /pity party > Ok, I'm done complaining now. :) Please resume your regular LJ reading...