Diary of a lab rat!

[Teknobry]

May 1st

Evening all :D

Well, it begins again. After thinking about what it involves, I decided 'b0ll0cks, why not' and took the plunge. Taxi picked me up at 1130am, and brought me back to my 'prison' for the next 14 days.
For those who haven't got a clue what i'm on about, I've volunteered to test a new experimental heart drug, and am currently locked away in medeval clinical testing centre in manchester.

Day -1.

I'm still not sure why the first day is called 'day minus 1' something to do with it being the day before the test drug is taken... or something like that, lol.

Arrived here at midday, and was shown to the ward. Surprise surprise, there's just me in here, AGAIN! lmao turns out there are no other poor metabolisers but me in here, so I get an 8 bedroom ward to myself.
Usual checks, nurses went through my things for 'contraband' - not allowed any food, not even chewing gum. You're only allowed what they give you.
Some very sad news though - They are even more strict on camera phones, if found with one they will fine me £50 on the spot, with the possibility of being removed from the study!!:
However, i still smuggled mine in lmao
Very doubtful though i'll get nurse pics for you lot, but will see what i can do ;)

About 1pm, had blood test, blood pressure, urine sample, breathalised and some other pre dose tests. Once that was done, i was fed and told that its pretty much it for today, the fun begins tomorrow :( So, spent the afternoon getting aquianted with my large 8 bed bedroom, watching tv and lounging about. Was quite pleased to see some of the staff from the last time i was in here (last september) still remembered me and came over for a chat.
Watched some tv, fell asleep, got fed again at 6pm.

Bit annoying really that I've been in here for 9hours, and I'm already quite bored lmao
Will see if there are any good films on sky later, then attempt to get an early night, as looking at the schedule for tomorrow its very busy - I get the first dose (10mg) of this new drug at 7:45 am, then I'm having ECG tests every 15minutes to monitor my heart rythyms.. kinda worrying really :( Also seems to be loads of blood samples and other tests being done every 30mins from dosing, so tomorrow will certainly be interesting...

Well, not much more to say for now, will try get on the pc again tomorrow evening with hopefully news that my heart didn't explode and I'm feeling fine :D

[Teknobry]

Day 1

After a pretty good sleep, I was rudely awakened at 6am to get showered and ready for the days adventure :(

7.30am
Had ECG, blood pressure, urine, body temp, blood oxygen levels etc etc taken, and then I was to be canulated. (needle with a tap thing on it inserted into my arm, which stays there all day. Means they can just hook up syringes and take blood whenever they want instead of keep having to stick a needle in me each time)
This didn't get off to a great start, as the nurse who stuck it in didn't do it quite right, and they couldn't get any blood out of it. No hassle, she took it out and another nurse tried with a fresh canula.
Its not exactly shout out loud pain when this big needle thing is inserted, but it does hurt! So I was gutted when the 2nd canula they tried to put in didn't work either! :(
So... the head nurse person decides to have a go... and yep, she then missed the vain and had to abandon her attempt. My arm was really sore by now, so she called in a doctor who teaches the new staff how to do canula's. He tried it in my other arm... and HE failed!! lmao By now I'm getting quite fed up of having needles stuck in my arm then fishing around trying to get the vein. So, the head physician who was in the building is called, and he gives them all a condescending look, before picking up yet another canula and stabbing me with it.

..He failed miserably to lmao

so, for the 6th time a canula was stuck in my now pretty sore arm, lol. Finally, he got it right, and the blood tests could be taken, much to my relief!

I was then given the drug at 8am, and every 15minutes i had blood taken and was closely monitored for any change.

The next few hours passed by surprisingly uneventful! No changes to blood pressure, blood tests were coming back fine and I felt absolutely no different at all. The worst thing of all (except the failed canula's) was that I couldn't have anything to eat until 2pm, I was bloody starving! :D

2pm

So, finally get fed, which was just as well as I was ready to start eating the furniture. Tests had been dropped now to every hour to monitor how long it was taking for the drug to be metabolised by my broken liver enzyme, lol.

Spent the rest of the afternoon falling asleep, watching old episodes of red dwarf and reading the agony aunt section in the daily star - quality material :D

Not much else to report for tonight, will give more updates tomorrow. Relief though to know my heart didn't explode after the first drug dose anyway!

[ArsenaI]

You not got a games console or summit ? I think ide get realy bored there lol.

I hope the nurses are hot, you poor thing.

[Teknobry]

Dvd's and sky tv, but no games consoles. I might ask my bro to lend me his ps2. I had planned on buying a laptop, but not gonna get one until september now!

Some fiiiine nurses btw :D

[toxictbag]

This didn't get off to a great start, as the nurse who stuck it in didn't do it quite right, and they couldn't get any blood out of it. No hassle, she took it out and another nurse tried with a fresh canula.
Its not exactly shout out loud pain when this big needle thing is inserted, but it does hurt! So I was gutted when the 2nd canula they tried to put in didn't work either! :(
So... the head nurse person decides to have a go... and yep, she then missed the vain and had to abandon her attempt. My arm was really sore by now, so she called in a doctor who teaches the new staff how to do canula's. He tried it in my other arm... and HE failed!! lmao By now I'm getting quite fed up of having needles stuck in my arm then fishing around trying to get the vein. So, the head physician who was in the building is called, and he gives them all a condescending look, before picking up yet another canula and stabbing me with it.


Ouch.. at least its all for a good cause!.. right? ^-^

So far it sounds intresting :o hope it all goes ok ;)

[squerl]

Haha, this is awesome! Thanks for sharing with us.. keep it up :D

That really sucks, I've had that happen with normal needles and them not being able to do it right, doesn't sound nearly as bad as what you experienced!

[hooray for zombies]

I laughed when you said that the head doctor failed too, competence!

[KashMunni]

lol i know how u feel Teck except for me i had nothing to keep me company but cartoon network and discovery channel lol.. my leg got infected from this big gash i got on my leg when i fell of my bed haha yah from falling of my bed... it got infected like 3 days later and i was in the hospital for 8 days.. man that was broing and all i had was these ugly old nurses :( but atleast some 1 of'em let me play with their psp :) i had an operation and got my leg drainded from all this weird orange thick fluid yuck >.< that fluid made my leg all thick and hurt like a motha fuxor when i stood i couldve died from a heavy fever i had if i didnt go to the hospital.. i wouldnt have played L4D zomg!! >:0 lol but after the 8 days and operation my leg got an extra hole for a few days and u could even see my bone :O lol and i showed it to quite a few ppl at my school they all freaked except for my science teacher mmmhmm.... shyt happens.. now all i have is a nice big scar

[KashMunni]

and so many blood test soo many many blood samples taken from me..

o and something that gets hooked up to me isso annoying forget what it is some thing with an a ah! anti biodics.. goes into myblood to clear things up orw/e.. when it gets too lose *beep beep beep* ah again kash ? wth r u doing with tis tryng to rip it of!? lol jk but they did ask me that excpet with the ripand wth part xD the sucky part was my docto rjust totally ripped the tubes from my legs and the nurse had to hold me down so i wouldnt see >:( said i'd faint yah w/e wouldnt have fainted>.>

[KashMunni]

This didn't get off to a great start, as the nurse who stuck it in didn't do it quite right, and they couldn't get any blood out of it. No hassle, she took it out and another nurse tried with a fresh canula.
Its not exactly shout out loud pain when this big needle thing is inserted, but it does hurt! So I was gutted when the 2nd canula they tried to put in didn't work either! :(
So... the head nurse person decides to have a go... and yep, she then missed the vain and had to abandon her attempt. My arm was really sore by now, so she called in a doctor who teaches the new staff how to do canula's. He tried it in my other arm... and HE failed!! lmao By now I'm getting quite fed up of having needles stuck in my arm then fishing around trying to get the vein. So, the head physician who was in the building is called, and he gives them all a condescending look, before picking up yet another canula and stabbing me with it.

..He failed miserably to lmao

so, for the 6th time a canula was stuck in my now pretty sore arm, lol. Finally, he got it right, and the blood tests could be taken, much to my relief!


lmao!

[Teknobry]

Wednesday May 2nd, Day 2

Finally got that evil canula taken out this morning!! Up at 7am, had blood pressure and blood sample taken, then the canula removed. Its been a pretty easy day really, just a couple of blood pressure and body temps taken, then in the evening one blood sample taken. For the next two days there are pretty much no more tests, until I take the next drug on day 4 (or5?)
So, spent today sleeping, eating, watching telly and attempting to use up my 1900 free minutes I've amassed on my phone!

Going to have to think of stuff to do over the next couple of days, as I'm gonna have loads of free time. A new group of volunteers turned up today on one of the other wards, seem pretty sound, couple of scousers amongst them who are good to take the p1ss out of, lol

[Teknobry]

I laughed when you said that the head doctor failed too, competence!

Trust me, by that point I was not finding it amusing! lol.

[squerl]

Man you need some video games up in there.. or at least a lot of interesting books and movies.

[agenthenry]

oh man my arms hurt from just hearing about that canula, cant stand needles >.<

[2mean]

hey at least you get to watch loads of Red Dwarf and look at fine ladies, that my friend, is a dream come true for many :P

Good luck with the tests anyway!

[hooray for zombies]

Trust me, by that point I was not finding it amusing! lol.

Probably not.... But I was!

[Teknobry]

Thursday May 3rd, Day 3

Up at 7am this morning, had the usual blood tests at 730am, and that was me done for the day as far as proceedures go!
Boredom hit in by about 11am, had spent most of the time on the net looking for laptops (what a minefield that is) 1130am comes, and I get called back to my room...
Seems that my platelet count in the blood sample was low, and that a repeat was required. I asked what would happen if the repeat was also low 'oh you'll be sent home'
RESULT! If I get sent home now, I'll still get the full £1600 :D
So, spent the next 3 hours hoping that the platelet count would be low again and I'd be on my way home!!

3 hours later...

'Your results are spot on, it was probably a lab error with the earlier sample'

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Gutted, was well hoping I'd be leaving, lol.

So, watched itchi the killer, had tea, fell asleep, lounged about a bit...

Nothing much else really, tomorrow seems more of the same, although its visiting day tomorrow which is good, and my bro is going to be lending me his xbox to keep me quiet :D

Roll on tomorrow...

[KashMunni]

'Your results are spot on, it was probably a lab error with the earlier sample'


aw damn that must've sucked big time xD

[WeedWacker]

Whats the drug their testing on you called, or you have no idea?

[Teknobry]

Kash... Yes i was GUTTED when I found out, lol. 5 days for £1600 is a far better deal than 14 days, lol.


The drug is that new, it doesn't have a brand name yet. Currently its name is 'CK-182572' or something along them lines! lol.

Drug medicines are huge £££££ worldwide, a new drug like this is under the tightest security.

[KashMunni]

So how was Friday? r u a flesh eating zombie yet?

[dontleave]

What is it supposed to do? Don't pull a Norman Osborne on us...

[Teknobry]

The drug I'm testing is supposedly a new breakthrough (aren't they all?) in heart attack treatment. It somehow increases oxygen to the heart without putting any extra strain on it, or something.
I'll ask one of the docs a little more about the finer details tomorrow when I take the 2nd dose of it.


Friday, May 4th. Day 4

Did sweet fa! - lmao

Usual blood test &amp; vitals taken first thing in the morning, and that was about it. Had a visit from the lovely gf in the afternoon. Just mooched about the place during the day either playing pool, sleeping, watching tv or chatting to the other weirdo's in here, lol.
Tomorrow is a bit more lively as i'm taking another drug..w00h000!

What is quiet amusing is one of the other studies which is being carried out is for a new drug treatment for anxiety disorders. Turns out that previous tests had the volunteers on quite a high dose, it caused them to hallucinate, become extremely giddy, hyperactive and unable to sleep. Apparently a nurse caught 3 lads in the corridor at about 2 in the morning having cartwheel competitions, lmao
The new batch of volunteers for that study are on a lower dose, yet you can see its having an effect on them, proper speed/ecstacy like symptoms, they just can't stop talking and are proper grinning/happy all the time. They've still got another 16 days of trialing the drug as well, so its only gonna get worse lmao Will be funny to see how daft they get.

[Teknobry]

Saturday May 5th, Day 5

Started the 'controlled' drug today, for the next few days I'll be taking a tablet twice a day, and blood monitored to see how it interacts with the heart drug. The controlled drug is one thats already on the market and has been for some time, so at least I know its pretty safe!

My arms are now looking like some dirty scottish smack head's, the inside of both elbows are still nicely bruised and covered in prick marks from the needles :(

Kept myself entertained laughing at the people doing the anti-anxiety drug study, one girl on it got taken off it already because she was being sick and getting double vision, but the others are having less serious symptoms - extremely bubbly and chatty lmao

Been having table tennis and pool competitions with some of the other lads in here to keep ourselves occupied. Problem is they leave tomorrow, and so they'll only be 4 volunteers in here then :(

Going to be a rebel tonight and watch the del la hoya fight. Am supposed to be tucked up in bed by midnight... fight coverage starts at 2am... ninja TV watching skills will need to be employed :D

[squerl]

As long as they don't stop paying you for not following the rules!

[cbre88x]

Hey..if you get the Del la Hoya fight..power to ya man..watch that shit.

[Teknobry]

Sunday 6th May, Day 6

Well as the del la hoya fight was on last night, I decided to be a rebel and stay up and watch it :D
Got busted by some nazi nurse at 2am, who came in, told me off, turned the lights out and told me to go to sleep! lmao :lol: I felt like a naughty kid being told off!

Just like a naughty kid, 10mins later I'd turned the tv on and was watching the fight :P

Unfortunately... the main event didn't start till 445am, it went the full distance and so I didn't end up going to sleep till 545am....upon which I was then woken at 645am for dosing and vitals :cry: :cry: Tired tekno! :lol:

Crashed out from about 10am till 1pm, been awake since then and feeling fine. Mim dropped off my bro's chipped Xbox for me tonight at about 8pm ish, so will be killing time for the rest of the week on that.

The other group left today as well, so there are only 4 of us left here, but having a good laugh with them, and one of the lads is pretty handy on the pool table so getting plenty of practice in against him.

[caboos]

wow if i dint have a massive phobia of needles i would do that lol sounds more intresting than what i do all day

[Teknobry]

lol, one thing you can't have on this study is a phobia of needles!

[FadedEchos]

I dunno, I think my day job kicks getting needled all day right in the ass. Game testing ftw!

Here's hoping you hit a semi-serious side effect and get sent home early! ;)

[Teknobry]

Thanks...... I think? lol

[squerl]

You still keeping busy? I feel sorry for you during the days because at least here there's never anything worth watching on TV. Hope you got some good Xbox games.

[Teknobry]

Whats kept me busy the most in here is new PC hunting! I've spent hours everyday trying to decide whether to get a gaming laptop, or spend half the cash on the desktop and get an ok-ish laptop, or blow it all on a decent desktop rig.

Think I've finally decided on a shuttle system - portable desktop! :D Might post the spec up, see what people think if there's any changes I should make.

The remaining volunteers in here are sound, there's four others but one of them never leaves his room. Have a good laugh with the other three though, it would be really mind numbing if they weren't in here.

Got some ok xbox games, halo 1 &amp; 2, need for speed most wanted, burnout 3, unreal tournament, colin macrae rally and some others.
TV is UTTER sh1te during the day here as well, so I tend to just fall asleep in the afternoon, lol.

[KashMunni]

maybe u can just upgrade the desktop u already have (if u have 1) and just spend w/e else u have on a nice lap top

[Teknobry]

Kash, the gaming laptop I want just isn't within reach, so buying something below parr I think will just leave me wishing I'd bought a better one.

If I get the shuttle, I can sell my desktop pc then, instead of having two pc's.

[Teknobry]

Monday, May 7th, Day 7

Well the half way stage! Or thereabouts. Very quiet day really, still just the 4 of us in here, so time was spent doing the usual sleeping, eating playing pool and watching tv.
Its mint having the xbox in here, got a load of stuff on the hard drive, got 5 series of 'scrubs' on there which I've been working my way through :D
Absolutely nothing of interest though to mention today, except the ridiculous amount of time I'm spending sorting out the bits for a new pc i want, lol.

Tuesday May 8th, Day 8

Well, today started off pretty much like the rest, with blood sample, O2 level and blood pressure taken. After a very long, hot shower I was made my way to the common room to mong out for a bit. There were a few people in who were coming in for post study medicals - on every study you have to come back 2 weeks after its finished to have a full medical, make sure there are no residual side effects or anything. One of the lads who was having it done for some reason had left his shoes in the ward, but had come in the common room to watch tv :|
Anyway, about 1030am, all hell breaks loose! lol
Fire alarms were blaring, staff rushing everywhere, we were herded out the door, through the fire escape and led all the way round the building to the muster station at the far end of the carpark. Unfortunately for the lad in his socks with no shoes, it was pretty cold and had been raining, bwhahaha!

After 20mins we go back inside, it was only a drill :(

So, with so much excitment, a sleep was called for :D

From 4pm-7pm I was allowed a visitor, gf came to see me which was cool, and I managed to blag the docs to let her come onto the ward where I was staying rather than have to go sit in the reception with her :D

Tomorrow... is the 2nd time I have to take the experimental drug, so its a long full day of tests every 15mins again.

I also have to be canulated, I really hope it goes better than the last time:(

[Teknobry]

Wednesday May 9th, Day 9

Woke up bright and early at 620am to get showered and changed before canulation at 7am. Despite a well experienced nurse doing it, he failed the first time putting it through :( bloody hurt an all, lol. Another senior nurse then had a go, and got it spot on :D only downside was it was near the bend in my elbow again, which meant everytime i bent my arm I could feel it pressing inside the vein, not a nice feeling at all!

Had ECG done then, blood taken, O2 %, blood pressure etc then was given heart drug dose at about 745am. Was pretty much confined to the ward for the next 6 hours as tests were done every 15minutes to see how the drug is being metabolised alongside the controlled drug I've been taking for the last few days.
No side effects I'm glad to say :D Spent the time watching episodes of scrubs and playing time splitters on the xbox (mint game btw!) Worst part about it all was not being allowed any breakfast... I was finally fed around 2pm! :(

Fell asleep in the afternoon for a couple of hours, tests by then were done 2 hourly or so which meant I could leave the ward and go play pool for a bit. The evening was pretty uneventful, spent yet more time on the net sourcing new pc bits.

Had last blood sample taken at 1145pm, but I think the vein had collapsed or gone into spasm as they couldn't get any blood out of the canula, despite creating a painful vacuum with the syringe. After a good ten minutes they managed to get the required 4ml's of blood, but my arm was aching that much I asked for the canula to be removed - there's hardly a need to have it in overnight anyway, just 1 blood sample needed tomorrow and that can be done with a needle.
So, least I get to sleep properly without having that fcking thing stuck in my arm all night :D

[Teknobry]

Thursday May 10th, Day 10

Up at 7am to have blood taken, was really glad I didn't have that canula in, nurse had no problems using a needle, was quick and painless :D

Much quieter day than yesterday, dosed at 7.45am and that was me done until 715pm. Spent the day killing time and lazing around, every day kinda feels like a sunday in here :lol:

In the evening chilling in the common room, just the 4 of us here so watching dodgeball, mint film!

Not a great deal to report really, was a day spent surfing the net and not much else!

[squerl]

Just hearing about all those blood tests makes me uncomfortable.. I'm not afraid of needles at all, it's just a really weird feeling having blood taken out.. dunno how you deal with that.

4 days left then?

[The One]

They dont take blood from me, I break their hands if they get near me...............

[Teknobry]

Friday May 11th, Day 11

Ended up watching half of some weird film called 'disco pigs' last night, as a result didn't go to sleep till 330am. Alarm went off at 6.50am, and I felt like sh1te, the dodgy sleeping pattern I got myself into really caught up to me, and after dosing and breakfast, I fell asleep from about 830am until I was woken for lunch at 1pm, lmao

Still felt tired, but a long hot shower did the trick. As usual had most of the day to do whatever, so was pleased to find a book I'd ordered off amazon (Max brooks zombie survival guide lmao) to the centre here had arrived, so immersed myself in that :D

The end is nearing, I'm out of here early sunday morning, so just one more full day to go now :D

[KashMunni]

woot :D

[caboos]

wow its been some ordeal lol well im happy for you and iv been reading all your posts lol, i think you should send them to a magazine see if they publish your Diary

[Shrubberyjsc]

Hang in there! Count down the hours if you have to, and don't let them come near you with another canula!

I seriously hate needles. Bleck.

[caboos]

lol shrubb has the best advice, but im very happy for you that your getting out finnaly, iv been hanging on your every word lol

[Teknobry]

Saturday May 12th, Day 12

Well my last full day here! :D The regular routine of morning blood tests and blood pressure, followed by the last dose I'll have to take.

The day went pretty quickly actually, mainly because I bought a load of stuff off ebay and amazon, lol.

Been thinking about the two weeks I've spent here, overall its gone pretty quickly. I must admit though, having my own ward again was great, if I had to spend 2 weeks sharing with others I dunno if it would have been as good - although suppose that depends on who you end up sharing the room with, could be a really good laugh, or you might end up with people that get on your nerves.
The study drug I took turned out fine, one of the doctors had a chat with me about it, seems the dose was small as they were far more interested in how the controlled drug affected metabolic breakdown, rather than how the study drug affects the heart. Good news really then for me :D

There were far less proceedures and tests done on me this time round compared to the last time, which left me with loads more free time, although I dunno if thats a good thing really, as you are 'paid' according to how many tests and proceedures you have done, so the more the better really £££ wise!
Still though, can't complain to much about the amount I got, seeing as really it was like taking two weeks off work to just chill around and have your meals cooked for you :D I was also able to use a weeks holiday pay from work whilst I was in here as well, which was a bonus!

I'd recommend people give it a try...although it GREATLY depends what the study is that you're signing up for, read the notes thoroughly before deciding, as some will suit you far more than others.
Well, my next post will be from home, I should be out of here by 9/10am tomorrow morning.

Might see if I can squeeze in another study in september before I start my new job ;)

Sorry the post was a bit late, its good to know people enjoyed reading this, and if I do manage to get another study in september, I think I'll do the same again!

[caboos]

great well enjoy your money, not much els to say except i hope your heart doesn't explode within the next few weeks or so.

[Teknobry]

Well, so far no heart problems! :D

Already bought a dell XPS m1710 gaming laptop, its sweeeet!!!

Next up to be bought, new stainless steel boost pipes for the car, and the gf wants a holiday :( lol

[hooray for zombies]

If your heart explodes, can I have your laptop?

[caboos]

If your heart explodes, can I have your laptop?

LOL LOL LOL awesome


o and im happy for you Tek

[Teknobry]

haha, seriously if my heart explodes i'm being burried inside my car holding my laptop, no f*cker is getting either of them! lol.

Cheers caboos :D

[caboos]

screw family screw friends screw loved ones... I want my laptop