Tag Archives: chronic migraines

Health Update : June 2017

14 Jul

Hello everyone!

I pulled up my migraine app to write the stats down, all the while thinking that I haven’t been keeping very good track lately when this confirmed it : 2 attacks the past month, my average attack duration is —wait for it…… 145 hours and 35 minutes. (coughcough) so I’m gonna skip this entire section of update because it’s all faulty.

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: the first three weeks of June were terrible. Straight up terrible. But! I also started getting nutrient IV’s and they seem to help so much. I feel like we are starting to figure some stuff out about this poor body. The last week-odd was so much better – all my symptoms calmed down SO much. Although disassociation is still a problem when I’m out and about.

Notes : 5-26 upped xcht to 2/day . Nauseous. Exhausted. Migraine kicks up then recedes on its own. Feeling a bit snippy and lonely today. Waiting to hear back from Dr about upping ceanothus or starting fibrobol.
5-28 starting fibronol, 1/day. Haven’t heard back from Dr, decided to just do it.
5-30 fibropain has been flaring for the past few days bad. Hard time getting it to ease. Trying the white Willow forte for it instead of Advil.
6-1 appt with Dr v today. Left side feels better now. Also started cycle early this am. Pretty miserable all day. Exhausted.  Migraine kicking my butt. Off of fibronol- was causing unexplained bruising.
6-2 first IV today
6-12 migraine not staying down today. Fibropain is starting to flare in late afternoon. Hard time focusing on anything for more than a few minutes. Really wanting to start the detox, hoping to get to the produce store tomorrow so I can. Migraine flared to a 10 in evening. Debilitating. Awful. Body was a heavy weight that I couldn’t move. Tears. Fell asleep around 8pm and slept off and on till the next am.
6-14 day two of recovery. Able to do dishes this morning but exhausted and achy now
6-16 still can’t get rid of this migraine and fatigue. It’s sticking around an 8. Evenings are still rough but seem to be getting easier as they go on. Nothing seems to ease the migraines much
6-20 2nd IV today:
Potassium
B complex (5, 6 a and 12 as well)
Vit C
Calcium
Magnesium
Saline
Fighting a cold as well. Been better this past week-ish. Fibropain has diminished -except for shoots of pain. Migraines responding to treatment better. Highest an 8. Fatigue still awful

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morning dose

*It wasn’t the fibronol that was causing unexplained bruising. I have since started back up on the fibronol because the bruising is still happening. I also realized that the Ceanothus was causing some serious herxing so I am going to start taking it only one drop a week.

Sleep: Still rotating Theanine and Melatonin in order to fall asleep. Having a hard time with falling – and staying – asleep again. Especially when the fibromyalgia kicks in.

Memory/Disassociation: Like I mentioned above, I’ve noticed that disassociation kicks in when I go out in public. I suppose I could be having it here at home too but just don’t realize it. hmmm. Anyway, memory might be improving a little.

Vision: I’ve started getting ‘floater’s in my vision a bit which my dr says can be a vitamin k issue (I think this is right, it goes along with some other problems I’ve been having)

Dizziness: Thankfully, this has stayed mostly calm – but not completely

Fibromyalgia: This seems to flare for a few weeks and then calm down. Right now I’m in the  it’s-coming-back-soon stage. It definitely reached higher intensities, especially during my level-10 migraines. Advil, heat and ice seem to be the only things that help.

Fatigue: this was consistently bad the first three weeks. It eased the last week odd but has since come back with a vengeance.

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Weight Loss : Since I cut processed sugar out and reduced any starches (beginning of May) I’ve lost a total of 5 lbs. I’m excited about this because it’s been steadily – slowly- dropping and any attempts before to lose weight didn’t work. As long as I stay strict like this, I think the weight will continue to drop. (it’s funny because it’s typically 0.8lbs a week.)

Mood: I’ve been good on this and yet not… The mood swings and major struggles haven’t come back but I’ve struggled with getting frustrated at the downward swing of my heath.

Bladder: I haven’t noticed any changes in this area

 

 

~ I am trying not to worry too much about the fact that I’ve started getting level-10 migraines again. Trying. Because, honestly, it’s freaking me out.

~ It would be wonderful if I could go in regular for acupuncture and bodywork. And I really want to try the infrared sauna as well as the sensory deprivation room (because, I just couldn’t do the ‘tank’ – hello claustrophobia). There are a few other treatments that I’ve looked into that I would like to try but due to money – and insurance not covering anything I need for Lyme treatment – I just can’t. It has been a big point of frustration for me this month.

 

~I am going to start looking into getting disability which completely overwhelms me just thinking about it. If anyone has any tips or suggestions, I’d absolutely love to hear them!

~Laura

I am on Instagram where I update/share how I am doing pretty regular if you want to check it out

 

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Encouragement for living with Chronic Illness (part 2)

29 Jun

Here’s the second installment in this series where I share articles and posts on Lyme disease and chronic pain.

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The Guilt and Shame of Chronic Illness from A Delightful Home

To Those who find my Illness hard to Understand from The Mighty

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5 Things I wish you knew about Lyme Disease from the Mighty

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Don’t Say it Could be Worse from Kate the (Almost) Great

8 Tips in Understanding Lyme Disease Patients from It’s Not Just Lyme

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Thanks for stopping by, and remember to follow my Chronic Pain Pinterest board too!

Laura 

Do you have any links to share about chronic pain? I’d love to read them! 

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Encouragement for living with Chronic Illness

16 Jun

Hello friends! I’m going to share with you some posts on dealing with chronic pain over the next little while – I’ve got quite a few saved so I’m going to split them up and we’ll see how many posts we end up with.

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How to talk about your chronic illness from Kate the (Almost) Great

Loving someone with chronic pain  from Kate the (Almost) Great

Financial Tips and Resources for Lyme Disease Patients from Caravan Sonnet

Lyme Madness  from lymedisease.org

The Herx Reaction from Tired of Lyme

I feel like this post shows the chaotic state that chronic pain puts you in – puts your mind in. I was going to organize the posts by ‘topic’ but then just looked through them and they are all over the place. All well. The goal was to share them and hopefully encourage and enlighten those of you suffering, and those of you suffering along-side.

~Laura

Do you have a favorite post to share? Or something that has helped you in your chronic illness journey?

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Health Update for May 2017

26 May

Happy end-of-May dear readers! I’m typing this out on my back porch with Lady laying just inside the open door and Abby running back and forth between me and the bone in the yard and OH in the living room. It’s a good evening so far.

fightinglymemigraines

 

Migraine app notes: I had 10 attack days lasting average of 68 hours. I had 2 attack free days. I took 56 clonidine ( 4 more than last month) They happened 50% of the time from 12 pm to 6 pm. Average pain is 7.5, which is pretty good. Supposedly I’m sleeping around 8 hours a night, migraine or not. ha. If only. Top 3 aura/prodrome are muscle stiffness, fatigue/achiness and weakness. Top 3 triggers are neck pain, too much activity and lack of sleep.Top 3 symptoms are neck pain, jaw pain and aches. Frequent start positions are the same, temples, jaw, eyes, base of skull. Soaking my feet has helped a lot this month

Overall Health/Treatment: Up until this past weekend the neurological pain (aka Fibromyalgia) and all was terrible and I was pretty much on the couch. I had some bursts of energy  but not until recently  did it ease enough that I felt like getting up and doing something. I struggled with anxiety/guilt a lot as well. Focused on adding in/increasing supplements to support this poor body.  The evenings are the worst, no matter what I try. I’ve been going to bed in a lot of fibro pain and migraine, just praying I’ll be able to sleep.

notes: 4-28-Migraine was worse today. Aches eased until evening- went to dog park and made dinner then they increased in my calves bad. Barely able to keep migraine down today. Nice to have some energy and the brain fog lifted but the pain’s wearing me down. Have had some muscle twitches today

4-30- today has left me bone- weary. Even the movement of my tongue hurts my jaw. The all-over aches have eased a little, but the cramps are little shivers that regularly run through the base of my feet. Bad migraine today. Wasn’t aware of what was going on around me for a while. Nap helped but body is SCREWED up. Tomorrow is going to be a day of loving on it. 

What do you find hard to tell people about your health? 

 

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Health Update – April 2017

28 Apr
 It’s been a very rough month, full of reasons that I have to move, even when I’m working with no spoons. Ugh. As important as I know doctor appointments are, I admit to wishing many times that I could just stay home on my couch.
I wrote a post on pain keeping you up at night a few weeks ago, go check it out! If you want to follow me on instagram –  I do regular updates on how I’m doing and share lots of happy puppy pictures.

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The Dark before the Dawn

13 Apr

I’m sitting up at 1:30 am exhausted, knees bouncing and eyes blurry. I’m exhausted. Yet unable to sleep because of the nerve pain throughout my body. This is a relatively new symptom and I’m sick of it already. It seems to be present when my migraine is minimal/absent. And while I am so very thankful that the migraines seemed to have eased slightly, I’m not too crazy about what’s replacing them. Do I want the migraine back to what it was before? No. No thank you and good night. But, that’s not really a choice I get to make anyway. So. Here I sit, the house silent and dark but for the diffuser I set to going and the one light on behind me.

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I’ve been thinking about pain a lot lately. It is, after all, my one constant companion  – aside from Abby who wants to follow my every movement – so these are some of my thoughts:

Pain is isolating, my friends. No matter how hard I try to not let it – it does. It pulls you from the world that’s spinning and moving and progressing and puts you in a sort of vortex. Where time speeds up and then seems to stop. Where one breath is agony yet days disappear in a haze.

Pain is deceptive. It doesn’t have to show itself on people’s faces or in their limbs to be felt – to be excruciating. I look as healthy as the next person but ask me to walk up a flight of stairs, carry something heavy or just walk around for several hours and …. well, it’s not gonna happen easily.

Pain is….hidden. The constant refrain of ‘I don’t feel well’ , ‘I have a migraine’ , ‘I’m exhausted’ , gets wearying after a while. So. You stop saying it. But then you find that you’re covering how you really feel. And ignoring new – and painful – symptoms. And then one day your doctor mentions that you seem to be doing better and you have to stop a moment and admit the truth – you’re hiding it. From your doctor. The very last person you should be hiding it from.

Pain messes with your brain. Do you really have a new symptom or are you just tired? Is the difficulty in typing stem from the fact that  you impaled your thumb or that some of your brain-to-fingers skills are dulling? Are your eyes blurry because you’re tired or something more malicious? What about these aches/nerves on fire – are you on the road to more neurological problems or is it just some herxing going on?

~Seriously, you can’t decide what’s legitimate or not. ~

 

~glorious day, I just realized I’m no longer having to bounce my legs to ease the pain. I think I’m gonna go crawl back in bed under my electric throw (the only thing that truly eases these) and see if I can sleep. To be continued….~

I’m actually going to end this here. It’s been a few days since I wrote the above and I just want to add that one day, however far or near, this pain will end. jer3017

~Laura

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Health Update – March 2017

29 Mar

 

What a month! Spring is starting to show up here and we are so very ready for it. I’m dreaming of a small container garden and getting the landlord here to spruce up this yard of ours (he’s also a landscaper.) This time last year I had roses on my bush, it’s definitely a delayed spring!

Well, on to the topic of fighting this Lyme disease.

fightinglymemigraines

Migraine app notes – I’ve had 7 attacks, lasting in average of 72 hours. So, while they’ve absolutely been lasting longer, I’ve had 6 attack-free days. Which I believe is a record! I’ve been getting an average of 7 hrs of sleep each night – this doesn’t typically account for the getting up a few times and tossing and turning. I’ve taken 38 Clonidine. They happen 80% of the time between 12pm and 12am (ha! so helpful,that). Average level is 7.9. Top three auras/prodrome are fatigue/achiness, headache and weakness. Top three triggers are neck pain, interrupted sleep and lack of sleep. Top three symptoms are jaw pain, neck pain and throbbing pain. Frequent start positions are the same as usual, temples, eyes, jaw and base of neck.

( Comparing to last month, I added one attack-free day and the pain increased slightly while the duration rocketed up.)

Overall Health/ Treatment: Some days I feel like I’m starting to do better – and then the little evil bugs laugh and do a stealth attack. I’ve had a few symptoms ease/disappear which is wonderful. I’m going to keep my notes from this month instead of re-typing them. =)

3/18 note  – started taking iron again today – at 5 ml 2x a day to get used to it. am continuing taking antibiotic (doxycycline) for another 2-4 weeks to see if it helps or not. started a probiotic ( sacro-b) what with taking the antibiotic longer.  went off of: garlic, ehb, epo. Finishing my bottle of Silver, then going off it too. dr suggested i start having bone broth. she also wants me to do a metal toxicity test, i’ll do it after i get back from bend next week. since we aren’t making any headway with what we’ve been trying, she wants to go a different track. Dr also wants me to start taking butterbur. need to start taking the xiao chai hu tang again.  –pain has been awful these past two weeks, plus i got sick and then started my cycle a few days after getting over the cold. migraines hit hard in evening and sometimes i wake up with them in am. have lost 1.6 lbs last two weeks.

3-24 – started back up on doxycycline on the 20th. As well as the sacro-b. Upped my iron to 15ml a day on the 22nd. Taking phosphorus 1-2x a day. Needing melatonin to sleep still. Pain is definitely worse in evenings. Still daily migraines, tmj and calf/feet tenseness and a bit of cramping. Migraine seems to ease a bit more quickly the past few days. Skin is clearing up again, hopeful it’s the antibiotics and it’ll stay clear. Able to focus again, have even been writing.

3-29- ceanothus – trying 3 drops am, 2 drops aft, 1 drop  eve to see if it helps with the evening migraine and fatigue. have gained back the weight I’d lost.

Migraines: They have increased in intensity without hitting 10 at all, I don’t think! that’s cause for celebration, folks. This past week-ish they seem to respond to treatments a bit better. The rest of the month, they were resistant to everything.

Digestion/TMJ: Once again, my digestion is off. Looking forward to stocking the house with healthy options and see if I can get it to calm down again. TMJ… I’ve been clenching/grinding so much lately that my teeth hurt most of the time. The jaw pain is normal now. Finally rescheduled my appointment with the ‘jaw doctor’ as I’ve labeled her, since I had to cancel my last  appt when I was sick. (anyone else find that statement ironic, ‘when I was sick’?)

Sleep: I’ve been needing Theanine or Melatonin to get to – and stay – asleep. It’s frustrating since I was able to get off of it for a while. BUT! The night sweats have gone away.

Memory/Brain Fog: Brain fuzziness (a step down from fog??) reappeared while I was in Bend. Over-stimulation perhaps? It was strongest on my birthday, sadly. Gives one the sense of not being present. I’m hoping this eases soon.

Vision: My eyes still frequently get blurry, or just take a bit longer to focus than they should. It hasn’t progressed though.

Feet/Leg cramps: The cramps are random and maybe once a week now. Typically it’s just tenseness – which can be distracting and painful on their own. Sometimes soaking them in epsom salt helps.

Dizziness: This got worse recently, but I haven’t been watching my salt intake.

Joint Pain: This has mostly shifted to my knees/ankles. I’m so thankful that it has left my fingers – that was the worst for me.

Fatigue: This is still a struggle. Like I said above, I’m gonna try taking 1 drop of Ceanothus  to see if it helps.

~I have started following some fellow lyme disease sufferers/warriors on Instagram and in talking with one of them the other day, I learned that ‘they’ have recently learned that you can get Lyme, not just from ticks, but from other nasties like mosquitos, fleas and spiders. SPIDERS, people. I’ve been thinking back on my symptoms lately and kept getting stuck on the timeline of when I was in Culinary school and got a rather awful spider bite on my cheekbone. It swelled up so bad that it impaired my vision. Now, I grew up in an older house and got bit all the time so I didn’t think anything of it. But now…. It doesn’t really help much, other than to mentally be able to put more of a year on it. By then, I’d had migraines for a few years but after that… everything started to crash. Literally.

That’s all for today folks, I’m gonna rest and then – hopefully – get out to go grocery shopping!

Happy Wednesday,

Laura

 

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Health Update – Feb 2017

10 Mar

Happy Friday friends! It’s been a while, I know. Sometimes life just kicks you down a bit and you’ve got to let go of the blogging goals. (plus my parents were in town last weekend to celebrate OH’s birthday, such a fun time!) So, this update is late, but at least it’s happening. Here we go:

fightinglymemigraines

According to my migraine app (Migraine Buddy), my migraines have averaged 30 hours. I’ve had 26 attack days, 5 free days! They’ve happened 80% on weekdays at an average of 7.5 pain intensity. My top three aura/prodromes were weakness, muscle stiffness and fatigue/achiness. Top three triggers were neck pain, interrupted sleep and too much activity. Top three symptoms were jaw pain, neck pain and throbbing pain. They frequently started in the temple, jaw and base of skull.

Overall Health: About the same as the past few months, although I’ve been dealing with the emotional side of it better these past few weeks. Realized at the doctor’s last week that I haven’t gotten rid of any symptoms, have only added more. Rather discouraging.The never-ending search for what will help is exhausting and I’ve been dreaming of being healthy and able to homestead like I want to =)  Plus I got sick earlier this week so not sure if my newest treatment attempt is helping or not.

Treatment: I started taking Ceanothus on the 9th of Feb and it seems to help so far as it gives me a burst of energy (kind of like caffeine) and I’m not as bitterly cold all the time. It seemed to get rid of the nausea as well, and eased the joint pain. By the end of the month, when I went in to my dr, I hadn’t improved much past that so she suggested I try an antibiotic for two weeks. I’ve been on it for one week but have been sick for most of it… so is it helping? We’ll see. If this doesn’t help, I’m not sure what we’ll do. My OH is getting frustrated that we’ve made so very little progress and I have to admit that I’m right there with him.

Migraines: They might have eased since Jan… it’s hard to really remember. They have been hitting hard and frequent. Typically in the evening.

Digestion and TMJ: my digestion has been a bit off again lately. perhaps too much sugar?? TMJ—well, that’s a story in itself. Remember when I said my goal for Feb was to ‘survive dentist appointment’? I survived it but the news was not-so-friendly. I’ve added grinding to my clenching of my teeth over the last four years. And that constant stress spreads a whole host of fun symptoms – explaining at least in part why I’ve gotten worse. I’ve got to reschedule to meet with a craniosacral chiropractor (was supposed to go in this past week but the cold I got prohibited that!) in the hopes that the therapy will help realign my jaw. Thankfully, my teeth themselves are fine and there’s no further need to go to the dentist. Huzzah!

Sleep: I’ve been having to take Theanine to get to sleep again lately. It’s frustrating but I’d rather get at least six hours than lay tossing and turning and be guaranteed  to have a migraine the next day.

Memory/Brain Fog: This has improved the past few months (!!!) While I still struggle to gather my thoughts when I’m in a crowded/noisy room, and anything long term is hard to remember, I’m not kicking myself for forgetting the littlest things like I was doing. Brain fog is pretty rare now, typically only occurring when the pain is severe.

Vision: My eyes are still frequently blurry but it seems to be slightly better than it was. I’m hopeful this continues to clear up!

Feet/leg cramps: Still tense and minor cramping. Very few bad cramps. Mainly in feet lately.

Dizziness: Only if I’m really tired and have had too much salt. Thank goodness this is mostly gone!

Joint Pain: This one has eased as well although the ache is definitely still present. Any lessening is a blessing!

Nausea: This is gone and, as I said above, I think it’s in thanks to the Ceanothus. I’m not for sure but I’m so thankful that it’s gone.

Moodiness: This one has also mostly gone away. I’m pretty sure my OH is as glad as I am about this. hehe.

Fatigue: This is one of my biggest struggles and I’m not sure why it hasn’t been on this list at all yet. Even with the energy burst from the Ceanothus, my fatigue is REAL, people. I’m looking forward to the day when I can look at a flight of stairs and not feel a sense of dread.

It’s so nice to have seen at least a few symptoms ease/disappear but I’m afraid that joy has gotten swallowed by the rest of everything else. Until this past week of sickness, I was getting the dogs to the park about three times a week. I’ve also started trying to get Lady to walk .5 mile while there. She’s older and needs to lose weight and it gives me a reason beyond myself to. get. moving. And that’s always a good thing.

That’s the update for February, although it is late! Have a fabulous weekend and we’ll hope to see you back here next week.

~Laura

p.s. don’t forget to spring your clocks forward on Sunday!!! 

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Health update – January 2017

31 Jan

 

Well, folks, as I’m writing this I’m fighting nausea like nobody’s business – along with a migraine, so forgive me if it doesn’t all make sense.

fightinglymemigraines

Here’s the update from my migraine app from this past month : I have had 1 attack-free day. They average at 34 1/2 hrs. I’m (supposedly) getting 8 hrs of sleep a night. 76% of them occur on a weekday. The pain average is 8, minimum a 7, maximum a 10. Fatigue/achiness, muscle stiffness and headache are the top 3 auras. Neck pain, interrupted sleep and lack of sleep are the top 3 triggers. Likely triggers are interrupted sleep, pre-cycle and neck pain. Symptoms are neck pain, jaw pain and fatigue. Frequent start positions are temples, eyes, jaw, neck and base of skull. Relief methods that seem to work are clonidine, pulsatilla, oils and food/water.

~While I love having this app, it isn’t as accurate as I’d really like. part of that problem is that one must pay close attention and then input said attention into the app. So. perhaps it’s not fully the app’s fault. (coughcough)   To compare with last month’s though, the average time has gone down, while my nightly sleep has gone up! Most are now occurring on weekdays, and average pain has gone down one level. Fatigue is still a major issue; neck pain is a consistent trigger and symptoms have stayed the same.

What’s interesting about this ‘synopsis’ is that I would have said the pain had gone up this month…. but! I will trust what I put in the app and roll with it.

Overall Health: Honestly, I’ve felt so rotten this month that it’s really started to affect my moods and productivity. The chronic pains that have flared up again are so bad that I just don’t want to move majority of the time. Heaven save me from living on the couch.

Treatment: I made the mistake of running out of several vitamins/supplements at the same time and have been paying for it….dearly. I’ve added almost all of them back in, as well as iron and feverfew. My Dr. says she has rarely seen someone as low in iron as I am. I’m also super high in fibrinogen, a protein that is essential for blood clot formation. I’ve been needing to take 3-4 clonidine a day for the migraines.

Migraines: They seem to have gotten more intense as the month has progressed. Only one hit a ’10’ though. something to be grateful for. The clonidine and natural pain killers I use haven’t been very effective. At all. Nothing has been touching these things = super fun, that.

Digestion and TMJ : Digestion has been some better. Jaw pain is about the same.

Sleep:  Aside from taking Theanine a few nights last week, I haven’t been taking anything to help me sleep. It’s so nice. I am waking up once or twice a night and am sometimes still able to get back to sleep when I wake early in the am. This is not to say that I’m waking up rested and refreshed (I was probably a pre-teen the last time that happened). I’m fighting exhaustion , and taking naps all the time.

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Memory/Brain fog:  This has been a continued struggle. I am praying that the iron i’m taking helps with blood flow and gets more oxygen to my brain, thus improving this. Fog hasn’t been too awful, but gets worse when i’m in a crowded room.

I get to add another few items to this months list:

Vision– my eyes are having a hard time focusing, even with my glasses on. it’s of course worse when I’m tired or the migraine is worse but it’s a pretty constant thing these days.

Feet/leg cramps –  these are back like crazy. i’m thankful that most of the time it’s just a matter of tenseness rather than straight up cramps but it’s still painful.

Dizziness- i’m having to remember to stand up slowly. no sudden movements.

Joint pain – like none other, people.

Nausea – Out of everything I’m adding here, this is the one that I’d ask to go away first. it’s what’s keeping me down today, when the migraine isn’t bad.

Moodiness – yes, it’s bad enough that it gets its own category. I was so glad when my moods evened out months ago that it’s frustrating this problem has resurfaced.

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I have also lost almost 5 lbs – and then promptly regained it.

Well, there it is – January’s health update! I’m not off to a very good start this year but my doctor is such an encourager, that I’m clinging to her optimism. I’ve also been going to a chiropractor for my back/hip pain and am summoning up the courage to call the dentist and make a TMJ appointment. So perhaps February will see a change.

Check out my Chronic Pain page to see all my health updates and health advice!

~Laura

 

 

 

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Health Update – Dec 2016

3 Jan

Hello again lovely readers! I really need to start keeping better notes on how I’ve been. A full month in between is hard to keep track of. Because, right now, I’m liable to say ‘I’ve felt awful this month’. But the truth is probably a little more of ‘ I took some steps backward in health but I had some really good days and have gotten better in this or that area.’ But, without really good notes, I just don’t remember. So. Goal for this coming month is to sit and write a bi-weekly account of how I’m doing.

For a quick report from my migraine app – Migraine Buddy –   Average duration was 43 hrs. Average sleep a night was 7 hrs. 57% happened on weekdays, 43% weekends. Average pain level was 8 , high was 9 and low 6. My top Auras were fatigue/achiness, tingling near eye(s) and weakness. My top 3 triggers were neck pain, too much activity and pre cycle. Top 3 symptoms were neck pain, fatigue and jaw pain. Frequent start positions were temples, eyes and neck. Reliefs that seem to work consistently are : clonidine, oils, belladonna/pulsatilla and heat pad.

So, things have changed a little – duration has gone down a little, they are more evenly spaced during the week/weekends, average pain has gone up, and the auras/triggers/symptoms changed one item.

 

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: Better than November – sort of.  As of the last few days I’ve been feeling more like myself than I have all month.

Treatment: I’m still taking two Xiao Chai Hu Tang a day. I have added in one Ashwagandha a day. I started – and had to stop- taking Banderol as the the side effects (major fatigue) were just too bad. The Chaste Tree Berry daily seems to be helping my calf cramps. As I run out of vitamins/supplements, I am going to see if I notice not being on them. Excepting EHB, Ashwandha and a few others. I need to add in iron and butterbur to my regime.

Migraines:  These things have been brutal this month. BRUTAL. I’m pretty sure I told my mom I was dying last monday. That was a migraine like I haven’t had in a long while. Severe to the maximum. I don’t think they’ve gotten better since last month. they might really have taken a turn for the worse. But, the activity that naturally follows the holidays might have something to do with that.

Digestion and TMJ : While my digestion has been better than it was last month, it is still rather…touchy. I’m starting to juice again regularly – I’m going to mix it up and incorporate veggies that are high in iron ( spinach, beet, beet greens, etc) , otherwise the juice is kale, cucumber, celery, carrots, lemon, ginger and apple. Jaw pain goes away faster but is popping like nobody’s business whenever it wants to

Sleep:  The biggest change this past month is probably that I quit taking melatonin every night. I noticed I was sleeping the same length – and waking up the same amount of times –  without it. I’m glad to have one less pill every day. My app says I’m getting about 7 hrs of sleep, and I kid you not, I can predict within a half hour of when I’ll wake up in the morning from when I go to bed. Apparently my internal wake-clock works really well.

My app says I’ve been getting about 7 hours a night but I certainly don’t feel like it! I am still waking up 2-3 times a night to go to the bathroom, and sometimes can’t go back to sleep the last time. I’ve been taking a lot of long naps lately – but still am exhausted by late evening.

Memory/Brain fog:  I feel like my memory has been slipping again. Joy oh joy. I’ve added brain fog into this category because I feel like it’s something that I forget to mention – having had it so long it’s just a part of life now. The fog was heavy most days of Dec, it would lift for part of the day but it doesn’t ever lift completely- especially in a group of people, it kind of covers me like a cloak when there’s a lot of noises buzzing around me.

I did get in to my dr. for a quick acupuncture last week. I found out my results for my nutrient test that I took before Christmas. I’m low in iron, Vitamin A and Vitamin D3  (which reminds me I’m supposed to up the dosage I’ve been taking). It seems like my body is sensitive to almost everything I take to get kill the infections. Sigh. There is always going to be some herxing   but when it’s severe – it’s not fun to have to keep trying new treatments only to have to go off because of what they do to you. But, we keep on keeping on. My dream is to be as healthy as possible (for me) by the end of the year. Which also means, losing some weight. So, I’m going to start working out (in my living room) tomorrow morning. Hopefully three times a week. Combine that with eating healthy and juicing lots, I am hoping to see improvements in my joint pain/cramps, digestion and some weight loss! Here’s to renewed motivation despite chronic pain and fatigue. Lyme disease, I will kick your butt.

~Laura

p.s. that link about herxing is on a site that has a LOT of great articles about Lyme.

p.p.s. this is a great article about Inflammation and Lyme Disease 

 

 

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