I will preface this write up by saying it’s not meant to criticize the source nor GLPs.
On 4/4 I injected 10mg of Reta that I had received a few days earlier from GYC. They had just had a GB for Reta 50 for a great price. Up until 4/4 I had been injecting 8mg a week for the previous 6 months. But to make things easy I upped it to 10 to get 5 weeks per vial.
On 4/5 during breakfast (24 hours later) I noticed that I was full halfway through my meal of yogurt and berries. I couldn’t finish my meal which was unusual for me. On Reta I can usually eat as much or as little as I want. Soon after breakfast I started having hiccups. Which only got worse as the day went along. They were happening so often that I was not able to hold my dinner down. I was only able to sleep that night with the help of gabapentin which I read about online.
This continued in the days after so I quit eating after lunch. After the first week it was only getting worse. There were times when my diaphragm was spasming in such succession that it was cutting off my air supply. I was just not able to breathe in if they caught me after breathing out. So I scheduled a doctor’s appointment which led to chest x-rays, bloodwork, three changes to medication, a visit to the ER (what a total waste of time), an EKG, a Neurology appointment and a Gastroenterologist appointment. The Gastroenterologist scheduled a CT scan of my abdomen and chest, and an Endoscopy (EGD). The Neurologist scheduled an MRI of my brain to look for lesions. By now I’m around day 20 with nonstop hiccups. I’ve missed 2 weeks of work. I can barely eat, sleep, breathe or talk without issues. Most days mornings were ok, but after lunch things took a turn for the worse.
On day 20 the hiccups were better and I only had 3 hours of hiccups. On day 21 I had my EGD. He did find a hiatal hernia during the procedure but said it was too small to be causing my issues. He blamed GLPs. They all think I’m using the Sema I’ve been prescribed which I’ve never used once. They know nothing of the Reta. GLPs affect the vagus nerve which controls the movement of the diaphragm. He says once the drug is out of my system things will get better. He thought I had just quit using the Sema but I told them during intake that I quit 3 weeks prior. He said it could take weeks to exit my system.
The day of the procedure I had no hiccups. I have had no hiccups since. And before you ask, yes, I tried everything. Vinegar, lemons, spoon fulls of dry sugar, holding my breath, breathing in a bag, drinking from a glass from the wrong side, pulling my tongue, pulling my legs into my stomach, drinking water nonstop, valsalva maneuver, squeezing my nose, etc. Nothing helped.
When this all began I suspected the Reta so I joined a testing group and donated one of my vials which was sent to Jano with a 2nd vial from another participant. The results returned today. One vial tested at 57.88mg and the other 58.24. So taking an average of 58mg I calculate I injected 11.6mg that day which was a big jump from 8mg. I guess big enough to anger my vagus nerve. Needless to say I am done with GLPs. I’m not even going to chance it.
Something so simple as a hiccup turned my world completely upside down. It was a wild 3 weeks and I cannot believe it finally ended. There are people who get hiccups for years and I’m not sure how they keep going. I consider myself a strong person but I just couldn’t live like that.
If you made it this far thanks for sticking with me and reading until the end. Lol
