I’d complained to Nilesh about my continuing aching elbow when visiting him for treatment of my gout. He’d talked about some new treatment for tennis elbow that utilized the nitroglycerin patches used in the treatment of heart disease. The patches were cut up and placed over the inflamed tendon and were getting some interesting results in the improvement of this ailment. He warned me about the side effects...severe headaches...and advised I cut the squares into quarters and use one over a 24-hour period. He also prescribed eccentric weight lifting exercises (eccentric contraction refers to a muscle lengthening as it works...as in lowering a weight verses lifting it), as well.
I tried my first patch in the morning. I opened the box to find an oval-shaped item instead of the square I was expecting, which made cutting it into quarters difficult. I elected to cut it in half and applied it before heading out the door for work.
As predicted, I began to get a headache around noon. By 3 p.m., I wanted to scream. I finished up and returned home determined to last it out. I remembered being advised not to take Alliev or Advil, but that Tylenol would be okay. I took some and laid down for a couple of hours, but by eight I had no relief and pulled the patch off. In a matter of thirty minutes, the headache was gone.
With my head and elbow aching, I elected to do no exercising. It’s been a tough stretch since returning from the Adirondacks. I feel like I’m melting away...as though that bad Dorothy has thrown a bucket of water on me and caused all my muscles to shrink and conditioning to disappear. I know I’ll get over it all, but I get frustrated easily.
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