Greetings,
Well, I seem to be getting this new addition to my medication regime under control, hell I am actually up at a reasonable time, that is a start. I am thinking that I may try getting to bed at a reasonable hour in the next couple of days and seeing whether it can all wear off by the morning, here's to hoping. The good thing is that I am actually beginning to manage the side-effects.
Yes, the side-effects are really annoying, especially for me. Feeling "fuzzy-headed" and lethargic is just not me, as many who know me will tell you. I am getting these under control, mostly through taking some time each morning to get through that bit in order to get on with the rest of the day. Of course, I am still having a day every now and then which is spent on the couch as the universe catches up with me. I am beginning to think that this means I need to slow down a bit.
I am beginning to think that I may actually begin to need a little more down-time than usual for a while, especially with these new meds working on me. I don't usually laze around too much, it is just not me, but I am thinking that this may actually be useful if I can get the timing right. I am hoping that the increase in rest here and there may help with the side-effects of the medication, and with other things in general, but I suppose we will just have to see how it goes.
Cheers,
Henry.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
21/01/2010 - Some Trying Days
Greetings,
Now I am going to attempt to explain what has been happening to me for the past couple of days. Recently I had a change in medication to deal with a side-issue. I have been getting chest pains near my sternum for a couple of months now. I went and saw my doctor, he poked and prodded and said he did not know what was going on. I was sent for an x-ray, the upside of this is that it cleared a lot of things off the list but still not solution. We are both thinking it is either a muscular or cartilage problem. The result of this was to increase my medication.
It was known that the side-effects of this combination of medication would result in some drowsiness and some lethargy. What I did not know was it would result in me sleeping for an extended period of time and also feeling "fuzzy-headed" and sluggish all day. While the medication has indeed reduced the pain in my chest, it has resulted in some other side-effects. The increased sleep is an increase of more than six hours and anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not the type to stay on the couch all day, well that is exactly where I have spent at least the last one.
This is truly one of those situations of the question of whether the cure is worse than the problem. I will be giving the current run of medications their chance, and will be giving myself some time to adjust to them. I am just hoping that the resulting in-between time is not too bad and that people will understand exactly what I am going through.
Cheers,
Henry.
Now I am going to attempt to explain what has been happening to me for the past couple of days. Recently I had a change in medication to deal with a side-issue. I have been getting chest pains near my sternum for a couple of months now. I went and saw my doctor, he poked and prodded and said he did not know what was going on. I was sent for an x-ray, the upside of this is that it cleared a lot of things off the list but still not solution. We are both thinking it is either a muscular or cartilage problem. The result of this was to increase my medication.
It was known that the side-effects of this combination of medication would result in some drowsiness and some lethargy. What I did not know was it would result in me sleeping for an extended period of time and also feeling "fuzzy-headed" and sluggish all day. While the medication has indeed reduced the pain in my chest, it has resulted in some other side-effects. The increased sleep is an increase of more than six hours and anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not the type to stay on the couch all day, well that is exactly where I have spent at least the last one.
This is truly one of those situations of the question of whether the cure is worse than the problem. I will be giving the current run of medications their chance, and will be giving myself some time to adjust to them. I am just hoping that the resulting in-between time is not too bad and that people will understand exactly what I am going through.
Cheers,
Henry.
Friday, January 8, 2010
08/01/2010 - "The Fog"
Greetings,
Ever had one of those days where you had great things planned? You sit down, pull up a document or something and just sit there and look at it. Your brain will just not engage, all of the stuff that is written seems jumbled, you have to read everything three times, you just can't think straight. If you didn't know better you could have sworn that you were drunk. Well, for the fibromyalgia sufferer, this is more frequent than a person would like.
The brain fog is one of the mental symptoms of FM and it can be one of the most annoying. For a person who tends to write most of the time, aside from the pain and movement restriction, this is one of the most annoying. On days with "the fog", as I have named it, comes in; thinking seems to take more effort than it should, words just do not make the sense that they should, and even words you have written yourself seem to be less meaningful than they should. This makes getting any sort of work done a true chore.
On the worst days dealing with this symptom, about the best that I achieve is to sit in front of the TV and watch DVDs or play some mindless game. Something where I can be passive and do not actually have to put much thought into it. Of course the result of this is what could be called a "wasted" day. Nothing is really achieved and as such frustration sets in as a result. This of course leads to negative feeling and even some more physical symptoms.
On days when "the fog" rolls in, I tend to avoid contact with most people. This is because I have enough frustration thinking for myself, let alone dealing with other people. On days like this I might as well not bother to think about much as most of the time it is pointless. It is only with a great deal of persistence that it is possible to cut through this fog.
"The fog" is really annoying and can hamper a person's existence, especially when they have things they need to get done. For those sufferers who are studying this can lead to some real problems, especially with deadlines for assignments and other assessment items. In my case, I usually battle this particular symptom with caffeine. This allows me to be able to think at a normal sort of level again, and does stave off some of the lethargy which tends to be associated with it. On other people's part, all that is required for the person with FM is a little patience, they will get through, it may just take a little more time.
Ever had one of those days where you had great things planned? You sit down, pull up a document or something and just sit there and look at it. Your brain will just not engage, all of the stuff that is written seems jumbled, you have to read everything three times, you just can't think straight. If you didn't know better you could have sworn that you were drunk. Well, for the fibromyalgia sufferer, this is more frequent than a person would like.
The brain fog is one of the mental symptoms of FM and it can be one of the most annoying. For a person who tends to write most of the time, aside from the pain and movement restriction, this is one of the most annoying. On days with "the fog", as I have named it, comes in; thinking seems to take more effort than it should, words just do not make the sense that they should, and even words you have written yourself seem to be less meaningful than they should. This makes getting any sort of work done a true chore.
On the worst days dealing with this symptom, about the best that I achieve is to sit in front of the TV and watch DVDs or play some mindless game. Something where I can be passive and do not actually have to put much thought into it. Of course the result of this is what could be called a "wasted" day. Nothing is really achieved and as such frustration sets in as a result. This of course leads to negative feeling and even some more physical symptoms.
On days when "the fog" rolls in, I tend to avoid contact with most people. This is because I have enough frustration thinking for myself, let alone dealing with other people. On days like this I might as well not bother to think about much as most of the time it is pointless. It is only with a great deal of persistence that it is possible to cut through this fog.
"The fog" is really annoying and can hamper a person's existence, especially when they have things they need to get done. For those sufferers who are studying this can lead to some real problems, especially with deadlines for assignments and other assessment items. In my case, I usually battle this particular symptom with caffeine. This allows me to be able to think at a normal sort of level again, and does stave off some of the lethargy which tends to be associated with it. On other people's part, all that is required for the person with FM is a little patience, they will get through, it may just take a little more time.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
03/01/2010 - Weather
Greetings,
Well, not the best way to start a year. The weather has been changeable so my joints have been giving me hell. This has been going on since Christmas. The weather can really affect me sometimes, and can cause all sorts of issues.
This is one of the problems with FM being much like arthritis is that it is affected by weather. Wet weather, dry weather, I don't mind which. I just have problems with weather that is changeable. If it stays to one or the other I don't mind but when it changes then this is when problems start.
On the same subject, with no suprise I prefer warmer weather than cooler weather as it gives me less issues. The cold tends to seep in to the joints and cause all sorts of problems. This of course means that I have some problems with winter. Cold is simply not fun, sudden changes in temperature can cause similar issues so going from hot to air conditioning is not necessarily good. Anyway, I think I have sprouted enough on this subject.
Cheers,
Henry.
Well, not the best way to start a year. The weather has been changeable so my joints have been giving me hell. This has been going on since Christmas. The weather can really affect me sometimes, and can cause all sorts of issues.
This is one of the problems with FM being much like arthritis is that it is affected by weather. Wet weather, dry weather, I don't mind which. I just have problems with weather that is changeable. If it stays to one or the other I don't mind but when it changes then this is when problems start.
On the same subject, with no suprise I prefer warmer weather than cooler weather as it gives me less issues. The cold tends to seep in to the joints and cause all sorts of problems. This of course means that I have some problems with winter. Cold is simply not fun, sudden changes in temperature can cause similar issues so going from hot to air conditioning is not necessarily good. Anyway, I think I have sprouted enough on this subject.
Cheers,
Henry.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
8 - 11/12/2009 - My Little "Twinge"
Greetings,
Disguising and understating pain is something which I seem to have a true talent for. I mentioned on Facebook at one point in time that I was not feeling well and had a bit of a "twinge" of pain to deal with. Now, while it was somewhat the truth, the actual situation is something a little different. In essence, this is something like a "bad day" for me.
Where to start? Well I suppose at the beginning would be the most obvious. I woke up with some constriction across my chest. The muscles were aching quite a bit. I thought it was nothing so decided that I just needed to do a bit of deep breathing and it would all be good. I breathed deeply and instantly got sharp stabbing pains on both sides of my sternum, not a good start. Things with regard to my chest would only get worse for a while.
Along with the breathing issues associated with my chest, I also noticed a distinct lack of movement without pain. Anything that involved rapid or large amounts of movement of my arms was not good and caused me pain. This was not good and was actually the longest lasting aspect of the chest pain. The breathing eventually got easier and the pain lessened eventually taking deep breaths, but rapid movement was still a problem.
The next on the list was my left shoulder. This actually stiffened up quite a bit not long after the limiting aspect movement across the chest had lessened, which is about right for me. This was mainly stiffness on my left side a limited movement again. The chest area around the left shoulder was a little sore but nothing like my chest before.
Just to add a little more on to this situation, my left leg around the hip decided it would play up as well. This happened at the same time as my chest and continued with the shoulder issue. This was a sharp stabbing pain into the hip joint, but was more toward the spine, sound familiar? Yes, you guessed it sciatic pain. So at least I could nail it down to one nerve cluster. This would result in movement issues due to pain mainly, and as with any nerve issue it spread down the leg to my ankle. This of course made things rather difficult for quite a period of time.
So the question that comes to mind is how I dealt with this particular situation. Well medication is always helpful to a degree. In my case it was three different types of pain-killers all at once, but as anyone who knows me at all, this only came after I could not ignore the situation anymore. I tend to only resort to pain-killers once every other avenue has been exhausted. I don't tend to like to take pain-killers for several reasons, the two big ones being not wanting a dependence on them and the other being the amount required to actually do any good.
Pure ignorance and denial of the pain is one of the most basic, but tends to be the least effective of all of them. Distraction therapy is always much more successful. Getting involved in doing something to take my mind off the pain works much better. I altered what I was doing during the day somewhat, but not all that much. Stubbornness seems to be one of the key aspects which keeps me going during times like this. In many ways it is the stubbornness and distraction therapy which does the prime job and the painkillers are more of an assistance.
Well, that's about it. This is what one of my "bad days" is like. On a scale this situation, while it lasted for a couple of days actually rates pretty average to below average for one of my real "bad days". The get worse than this and sometimes, much worse than this. I don't tend to like to focus on this sort of thing as it depresses me, but it is just the way it is. I always look forward to what tomorrow will bring, no point in letting the issues and pain beat you, that takes all the fun away.
Cheers,
Henry.
Disguising and understating pain is something which I seem to have a true talent for. I mentioned on Facebook at one point in time that I was not feeling well and had a bit of a "twinge" of pain to deal with. Now, while it was somewhat the truth, the actual situation is something a little different. In essence, this is something like a "bad day" for me.
Where to start? Well I suppose at the beginning would be the most obvious. I woke up with some constriction across my chest. The muscles were aching quite a bit. I thought it was nothing so decided that I just needed to do a bit of deep breathing and it would all be good. I breathed deeply and instantly got sharp stabbing pains on both sides of my sternum, not a good start. Things with regard to my chest would only get worse for a while.
Along with the breathing issues associated with my chest, I also noticed a distinct lack of movement without pain. Anything that involved rapid or large amounts of movement of my arms was not good and caused me pain. This was not good and was actually the longest lasting aspect of the chest pain. The breathing eventually got easier and the pain lessened eventually taking deep breaths, but rapid movement was still a problem.
The next on the list was my left shoulder. This actually stiffened up quite a bit not long after the limiting aspect movement across the chest had lessened, which is about right for me. This was mainly stiffness on my left side a limited movement again. The chest area around the left shoulder was a little sore but nothing like my chest before.
Just to add a little more on to this situation, my left leg around the hip decided it would play up as well. This happened at the same time as my chest and continued with the shoulder issue. This was a sharp stabbing pain into the hip joint, but was more toward the spine, sound familiar? Yes, you guessed it sciatic pain. So at least I could nail it down to one nerve cluster. This would result in movement issues due to pain mainly, and as with any nerve issue it spread down the leg to my ankle. This of course made things rather difficult for quite a period of time.
So the question that comes to mind is how I dealt with this particular situation. Well medication is always helpful to a degree. In my case it was three different types of pain-killers all at once, but as anyone who knows me at all, this only came after I could not ignore the situation anymore. I tend to only resort to pain-killers once every other avenue has been exhausted. I don't tend to like to take pain-killers for several reasons, the two big ones being not wanting a dependence on them and the other being the amount required to actually do any good.
Pure ignorance and denial of the pain is one of the most basic, but tends to be the least effective of all of them. Distraction therapy is always much more successful. Getting involved in doing something to take my mind off the pain works much better. I altered what I was doing during the day somewhat, but not all that much. Stubbornness seems to be one of the key aspects which keeps me going during times like this. In many ways it is the stubbornness and distraction therapy which does the prime job and the painkillers are more of an assistance.
Well, that's about it. This is what one of my "bad days" is like. On a scale this situation, while it lasted for a couple of days actually rates pretty average to below average for one of my real "bad days". The get worse than this and sometimes, much worse than this. I don't tend to like to focus on this sort of thing as it depresses me, but it is just the way it is. I always look forward to what tomorrow will bring, no point in letting the issues and pain beat you, that takes all the fun away.
Cheers,
Henry.
Monday, December 7, 2009
7/12/2009 - Energy Levels
Greetings,
Well, today we are going to talk about energy levels. This is a subject which is a little bit funny, especially as while I am writing it, I am really not feeling the best. One of the associated symptoms of FM is having a lack of energy. This makes it difficult to achieve things.
The lack of energy experienced may have some relation to other things that might have happened over the previous couple of days. Then the energy level might actually not. In my case, at the moment, it is attributable to a problem with a complete lot of sleep over the past couple of days and the fact I had a big weekend. On the other end of the scale, I have been fine in the morning once I got past the usual waking up issues, and then suddenly got really tired during the day.
The real problem with energy levels is where you are so tired that all you can really think to do for the day is sit in front of the TV and watch movies all day. This tends to be really annoying for me as it makes me feel that I have managed to get nothing done for the day. Of course this can lead to depression a bit, which can make things even worse. So, instead I try to look at it as a period of enforced rest, therefore resting is useful so I can be productive for the next day.
In the case of those days where there is something to do later in the day, this can be a bit tricky. This is actually the case as I am writing this. I have training to do this evening and I am hoping that if I conserve my energy during the day that it should not be too much of a problem for me. In most cases this conservation means doing only a little bit today so I get my achievement feeling, but not so much that I use to much for me to be useful this evening. I will just have to see how it goes I suppose. This pattern actually works for me for the most part.
Energy levels are something which most people can feel fluctuating as they do. The changes in energy levels for a person with FM can change quite drastically and in a short period of time. In this way it is important that this energy is managed so that the greatest benefit can be achieved from its use.
Cheers,
Henry.
Well, today we are going to talk about energy levels. This is a subject which is a little bit funny, especially as while I am writing it, I am really not feeling the best. One of the associated symptoms of FM is having a lack of energy. This makes it difficult to achieve things.
The lack of energy experienced may have some relation to other things that might have happened over the previous couple of days. Then the energy level might actually not. In my case, at the moment, it is attributable to a problem with a complete lot of sleep over the past couple of days and the fact I had a big weekend. On the other end of the scale, I have been fine in the morning once I got past the usual waking up issues, and then suddenly got really tired during the day.
The real problem with energy levels is where you are so tired that all you can really think to do for the day is sit in front of the TV and watch movies all day. This tends to be really annoying for me as it makes me feel that I have managed to get nothing done for the day. Of course this can lead to depression a bit, which can make things even worse. So, instead I try to look at it as a period of enforced rest, therefore resting is useful so I can be productive for the next day.
In the case of those days where there is something to do later in the day, this can be a bit tricky. This is actually the case as I am writing this. I have training to do this evening and I am hoping that if I conserve my energy during the day that it should not be too much of a problem for me. In most cases this conservation means doing only a little bit today so I get my achievement feeling, but not so much that I use to much for me to be useful this evening. I will just have to see how it goes I suppose. This pattern actually works for me for the most part.
Energy levels are something which most people can feel fluctuating as they do. The changes in energy levels for a person with FM can change quite drastically and in a short period of time. In this way it is important that this energy is managed so that the greatest benefit can be achieved from its use.
Cheers,
Henry.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
3/12/09 - Randomness
Greetings,
This is actually amusing writing about this particular subject as most of the times when I am having a "bad day" I don't have the energy to write about it. One of the most annoying things about the condition is the randomness of it. I just don't know how I will be tomorrow, for the most part I can work through things but there are times....
Perfect example, last night, nice and comfortable, then I get this sharp stabbing pain through my knee. I rub it, it goes away. I continue doing what I am doing and then a about an hour later, same again. Of course, less that 12 hours later, the pain is gone from my knee. No explanation why at all. This is one of those things which drives me nuts about this condition.
FM is one of the most random set of symptoms and irritations I have ever experienced. The pain can be utterly random and for no reason.
One day I woke up with a stiff left shoulder, happens sometimes. Then I get a sharp stabbing pain through my chest. This pain persists for a couple of hours to the degree that I am thinking that there may be something wrong. I call for an ambulance as I am suffering from loss of breath as well. I tell them the symptoms and they get around here quick-smart.
I am bunged off to hospital. They give me an ECG and other stuff and then look at the results. It is at this time that I figure that they think that I am having a heart attack. The doctor comes in to talk to me and he is looking excessively confused about the whole thing. He asks about smoking habits and all of that sort of stuff. He finally asks about pre-existing conditions, I say "FM" he looks at me, rolls his eyes. "Right." he says "This was an attack of pain caused by FM." I am discharged from the emergency and go on my merry way.
This of course begs the question what happens next time? Do I think it is just an FM thing or do I call the ambulance possibly for a false alarm? This is one of the things that makes FM so annoying the standard sorts of pain from FM can mask underlying other problems. I have had pneumonia more than once and put the chest pain off as FM.
While FM is not directly life-threatening, some of the symptoms can mask things that are. This can be a real annoyance and can lead to all sorts of problems. Needless to say I am being a little more careful about my symptoms and trying to decipher which is FM and which is not. I am making some progress with this, but some days are really trying.
Cheers,
Henry
This is actually amusing writing about this particular subject as most of the times when I am having a "bad day" I don't have the energy to write about it. One of the most annoying things about the condition is the randomness of it. I just don't know how I will be tomorrow, for the most part I can work through things but there are times....
Perfect example, last night, nice and comfortable, then I get this sharp stabbing pain through my knee. I rub it, it goes away. I continue doing what I am doing and then a about an hour later, same again. Of course, less that 12 hours later, the pain is gone from my knee. No explanation why at all. This is one of those things which drives me nuts about this condition.
FM is one of the most random set of symptoms and irritations I have ever experienced. The pain can be utterly random and for no reason.
One day I woke up with a stiff left shoulder, happens sometimes. Then I get a sharp stabbing pain through my chest. This pain persists for a couple of hours to the degree that I am thinking that there may be something wrong. I call for an ambulance as I am suffering from loss of breath as well. I tell them the symptoms and they get around here quick-smart.
I am bunged off to hospital. They give me an ECG and other stuff and then look at the results. It is at this time that I figure that they think that I am having a heart attack. The doctor comes in to talk to me and he is looking excessively confused about the whole thing. He asks about smoking habits and all of that sort of stuff. He finally asks about pre-existing conditions, I say "FM" he looks at me, rolls his eyes. "Right." he says "This was an attack of pain caused by FM." I am discharged from the emergency and go on my merry way.
This of course begs the question what happens next time? Do I think it is just an FM thing or do I call the ambulance possibly for a false alarm? This is one of the things that makes FM so annoying the standard sorts of pain from FM can mask underlying other problems. I have had pneumonia more than once and put the chest pain off as FM.
While FM is not directly life-threatening, some of the symptoms can mask things that are. This can be a real annoyance and can lead to all sorts of problems. Needless to say I am being a little more careful about my symptoms and trying to decipher which is FM and which is not. I am making some progress with this, but some days are really trying.
Cheers,
Henry
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