Hello again friends, thanks for coming back to SGL. It has been several months since I’ve done a health update and I honestly debated about continuing them. But, as I decided the beginning of last year, I need this monthly posts to help me keep an idea of just how I’ve been. It’s so very easy to get lost in the day to day haze of pain and brain fog that I can’t recollect the better days – or the worse ones.
The other thing I wanted to do was to change up the format for them but I couldn’t figure out a way to do that, that would still provide the information that I need (and that I want to share). If you have any suggestions, or a blog to recommend that does regular health updates, I am definitely open to hearing them.
As a look at Overall Health, it’s harder to peg this one down since it’s been so many months. I have had good stretches alongside ones that I barely dragged through each day. I do feel like I’m in the middle of a better stretch – this would mean that my fatigue isn’t so overwhelming, migraines are calmer/respond to treatment, brain fog tends to be a little less, etc. And let me tell you, I’m so thankful for this pause in extreme pain.
Let’s move on to the rest of the update, shall we?
Here are the notes that I kept on my phone:
Nov 30 – exhausted and headachy all day. Took 2 short naps. Cycle due any day. Hungrier than normal past few days.
Dec 2 -mega fatigue all day. Took 2 naps. Migraine kicked up bad , hard to get the pain to ease. Tylenol, Bayer, ice pack and a nap finally did.
11th – woke up with fatigue and migraine, pretty severe till @2pm. Felt better but still both present all day. A bit moody in evening
12th – woke up pretty good, pain hit @2pm, finally eased @4. Left calf and foot hurting and painful cramps. Poor circulation in legs recently . A bit moody in evening again.
14- woke up exhausted. Fatigue staying all day so far. Some head pain as well
Dec 29- very busy day in bend. drove home in evening. No major migraine/fatigue/crash whole time we were there. Did really well
Dec 30 – woke up very tired but ok. Took nap early afternoon. Ran errand. Felt really good early evening. Aches and migraine kicked up in evening. Soaked feet and took tylenol, eased it.
Dec 31 cycle started. Felt pretty well all day, tired but not terribly.
JAN 1ST- cycle aches all day. Lazy day with minimal activity. Joint pain increased in evening. Went to bed with ice pack on knees. It’s been weeks since I needed that
Jan 14 – introduced bananas back into my diet. Felt good in am, very tired by noon. Pretty short attention span all day. About an hr nap after lunch. Exhausted and achy pain suddenly in evening. Was able to calm it down decently with ice and tylenol.
Migraine: the severity has decreased most of the time. Sometimes, I get sideswiped by a particularly nasty one however. I’m still taking 4.5 mg of the Low Dose Naltrexone every night and I believe these have helped a lot.
Sleep: I’m getting about 7 hours each night, with the normal 2 or 3 wakings. I am also putting this to the LDN’s. I do frequently take involuntary naps however.
Memory/Brain Fog: This has improved some, but when the brain fog hits – it hits hard and doesn’t want to lift. Sometimes I won’t notice how bad it is until I leave the house/try holding a conversation with someone
Vision: I have had several scintillating scotomas, and do occasionally have times where my eyes just don’t want to focus.
TMJ: My jaw doesn’t pop very often at all anymore and mostly, this pain has diminished. It’s never gone completely, but many days it’s not so severe that I am distracted by it.
Fatigue: I am able to push myself more than I have in years, probably. But, of course, I do have days where I just am relegated to the couch because I am so fatigued. Or that I just need to space out what I plan, to give my body the rest it needs. – this hasn’t changed much from my last update back in August
Fibromyalgia: This is a persistent, constant pain. Especially in my knee, elbow, ankle joints. Frequently it rears in my hip as well. I have noticed the random twitches that I get have been increasing over the months.
Weight Loss: Not at all. It’s been more of a weight gain issue. Very frustrating.
Mood: This has been very back and forth lately.
Digestion: This has been good for me – which means, still not where it should ideally be, but for me, it’s okay.
Dec 14, 2019
Earlier this month, I did some blood tests and am waiting to talk with my doctor about the results. I am, of course, hoping that they will reveal just what is going on inside me and will give us a path on which to base the new protocol that I’m going to start.
Over the month of December, I cut out ALL sugars – even natural – in the hopes that it would ease some of the inflammation in my body. But it didn’t seem to do anything, so I’ve been able to add bananas and honey back in. I’ve been adding them back in very slowly, trying to keep track of how I react. I am looking forward to adding strawberries back into my diet soon!
the start of a good life 
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