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Health Update- April 2023

Hello again all! Thank you for still sticking around, even though this is only my second post of the year. And really, my posting has been spotty the past few to several years. But, enough of that. I would like to start sharing my health updates again- even if it’s not every month. It would be nice for me -and maybe you?- to see how far I’ve come since I was doing these regularly.

My last health update was Sept 2020- let’s do a quick recap of that, shall we? I was struggling with jaw and joint pain, severe migraines regularly, mood swings and crazy fatigue. Sleep and vision was funky.

I share that here to help get in perspective of where I was – while I was doing better than I had been, I was still pretty much a wreck. And it was a novelty to not have to sleep with an ice pack.

Migraine: typically only one nuclear migraine every three months. One severe migraine a month on average and those are typically less than twenty four hours. They average at 7/10. I am now on Emgality (Aimovig was Great but stopped working for me). It is also a monthly injection so it has few/no side effects. I also have diclofenac potassium when the headaches get too bad and I want to stop them from turning into migraines. When they do reach that next level of pain and I need something to just knock them out, I have naratriptan. This ‘system’ has had such an impact on my health and mental health. Knowing that I have ‘stages’ of medication to halt the progression of pain is such a relief. I am so glad that I finally started seeing a neurologist again.

Sleep: This is helped by taking a few things at night- Naltrexone and Biofilm- Phase 2 Advanced.

Memory/Brain Fog: My memory has improved although there are still so many times when I cannot remember something that I know that I know. I am typically able to find the correct word that I’m wanting, although when I’m tired/stressed/whathaveyou, I can’t come up with them. Brain fog is mostly non-existant these days.

Vision: Aside from my vision just changing as I’m aging, this is just fine.

TMJ: This is only a pain once in a blue moon

Fatigue: Less than it’s been in ages, I think. But I do drink coffee now- ha. But really, I do still struggle with this but it’s so much less than it used to be that I try not to let it bother me too much. Maybe once a week or so am I really just exhausted to where I don’t want to/can’t do much.

Fibromyalgia: I rarely have any issues with this anymore. I’m coming to realize that the only time I do, is when I’ve not been as active. (i.e. I’ve been sick with the flu/cold)

Weight Loss: Baby steps by baby steps, it’s slowly happening- this was my answer in 2020 but it still holds true. I’ve lost almost twenty pounds since 2020, and it’s all been extremely slow.

Mood: Back and forth on this one, taking Xiao Chai Hu Tang really helps on the days/weeks when I’m struggling

Digestion: a bit better than my normal.

Allergies have eased too – I can now have chicken eggs again- limited amount but that I can at all, is so nice. They’re much cheaper than duck eggs! And it makes it easier to bake and eat out/buy bread and things. Also, I can have limited gluten without effect- looking at you, tortillas. AND- and this is a two-edged sword, I can eat processed sugar without issue.

Current Protocol: W. L Energizer , COQ10, CalMAg, Candidastat, Xiao Chai Hu Tang, Naltrexone, Biofilm- Phase 2 Advanced. Prescriptions: Thyroid, Diclofenac Potassium, Naratriptan and Emgality

Overall Health: Doing better than I would have dreamed I could be, three years ago. Still dealing with limitations and pain but amazed that I have so few migraines and couch days.

~Laura

To see my latest posts, check out The Year of the Bear and Calor!

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic migraines, chronic pain, health update, lyme disease

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Categories health

Health Update- April to August 2020

21 Aug

Oh dear, I haven’t done a health update since March! It always makes writing these out a bit more interesting when such a length of time has passed. So because of that, I’ll just tell you that from March until around the end of June, I was struggling with debilitating fatigue and joint pain.

And here it is now, nearing the end of August and I’m determined to finish this! Part of the problem is that when I have been feeling well enough to be slightly human, I’ve been focusing on other projects instead of SGL. I really do want to change that and today is the first step in doing so.

SO. Yeah, debilitating fatigue has carried through this latest month as well. With some migraines off the charts.

Overall Health: Ups and downs these past months. But, bad fatigue and getting hit with severe migraines.

6/1-felt tired when got up in am. took hr nap, felt a bit better. head didn’t hurt much, felt well enough to go to dog park. fatigue hit early afternoon. migraine at @ a level 4 at 3pm. calf hurting pretty badly, almost at cramping point in evening. Some migraine but not that terrible. -i’ve noticed that i’m not as itchy or flushed. hands still swollen most mornings. since starting the adrenal support, i think i’ve felt a wee bit more energetic w/ a bit less brain fog.

2nd- very strong fatigue. took 2 naps and didn’t do much at all, all day b/c of it.

3rd-IV late am. strong fatigue all day but antsy energy in afternoon – normal after an IV. migraine kicked up in early evening, calmed down though. YI pretty much gone, heat rash chill today, brain fog strong, mood a little improved. allergies not so bad either. increased adrenal support to 2/day. needing ice pack at bedtime

-think i need to decrease the Yin Chao to 1/day, see if upset stomach eases

4th-woke up w/ migraine, stayed all day. only taking 1 yin chao, helped stomach.

~days in between- lots of naps, fatigue, brain fog. some mood struggles too

8th-started molybdenum. low migraine in am but was able to go to costco. bad fatigue hit on way home, lasted pretty much the rest of day. long nap and doing nothing.

10th- felt a little better, little bit more energy even tho the fatigue kept me blurry brained and was still down most of day. dogpark in am, migraine increased in evening.

-started progesterone creme on 11th. have still had strong fatigue but have had strange energy a good portion of both days 11th and 12th. calves are really painful, esp left. got heating pad that helped. brain fog strong. -fatigue has not been as overwhelming as it was in june, pain overall has diminished. still very tired & days of pain though. occasionally more sensitive to light.

9th- itchy in evening. calves are in a lot of pain, twitches on right side. some in left hand too.

13th-felt pretty decent today, til @430. got hit w/ overwhelming fatigue. lasted rest of day. migraine kicked up to an 8 minimum. ice pack at bedtime for first time in @ a week.

16th-felt pretty good all day. got quite tired in afternoon but not awful. stomach upset after dinner,not sure why? fatigue has increased since starting olivirex again (on the 17th). upset stomach many evenings.

22nd-strong fatigue, took nap in afternoon. lost vision in left eye at 830, ice pack, pain pills and short nap helped but then migraine came in. went to bed at 10pm. first time in a long while that i’ve been hit with one of these.

eyes still blurry and kinda painful the next few days. tired. achy. weak.

25th- vision loss again in late evening. cried. pain pills, ice pack, slept about 3hrs in evening. next day took 2 long naps, eyes still hurting a lot, achy body, just sluggish all around.

27th-felt better today, no nap. was able to write/read w/out too much trouble but eyes still painful and need glasses more than normal. completely on LH diet as of monday.

august 4th-good energy in am, minimum pain. fatigue hit @ noon, 11/2 hr nap late afternoon. joint pain kicked up early evening, migraine after that. close to cycle.

9th-fatigue and migraines the past 3 daysish. naps. not much other than ice packs, helping with migraines.

Migraine: They aren’t responding to normal treatments as readily. And I’m in the midst of one that’s been going on for almost a week now that I just can’t get rid of completely. I did have an appt with a neurologist for the first time in years and now have some new prescription meds to try and get these things under control

Sleep: I’m getting about 7 hours each night, with the normal 2 or 3 wakings. I do frequently take involuntary naps however. And I’ll add that I never feel rested after sleeping. – this hasn’t changed at all since march.

Memory/Brain Fog: This has improved some, but when the brain fog hits – it hits hard and doesn’t want to lift for quite a while. – again, this hasn’t changed.

Vision: Scintillating scotomas have made themselves known the past month odd. my eyes do hurt fairly frequently now and sometimes just don’t want to focus right away.

TMJ: My jaw has been tight/tense more lately and has been popping every so often. So this has increased although it’s not where it used to be. I’ll add that i’ve not been as diligent about wearing my night guard when I nap like I know that I should be…

Fatigue: This has been my biggest, most constant struggle for months now. My body just drags and aches every day.

Fibromyalgia: This has eased a bit lately. still present in joints though – especially in elbow and knees.

Weight Loss: Not much, but a little! And i’m excited for that.

Mood: Mostly this has been good…

Digestion: This has been perhaps, a teeny bit better since going on the Low Histamine Diet at the end of last month? I was hoping that there would be more noticeable improvement in this area though.

Here’s a list of symptoms that I don’t have as often lately:

-pain in hands/wrists

-severe calf cramps

-nausea from lights/sounds

-falling asleep standing in lines

-exhaustion from standing in lines

-jaw popping/getting stuck

-nightmares

-excessive itchiness

So, I guess that I’m still in the midst of that flare that I mentioned back in March. Which explains why I’ve been becoming more of a hermit, I suppose.

~Laura

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic illness, chronic migraines, chronic pain, chronic pain management, fighting lyme disease, health, health update, lyme disease, natural treatment for lyme, tmj

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Categories Uncategorized

Health Update August 2019

10 Sep

Hello again friends. Thanks for stopping by SGL for this month’s health update. Fighting Lyme Disease is definitely the hardest thing I’ve done – and that will probably always be true. This journey to health is so up and down that it’s easy to get disheartened. Thankfully, I’ve been coming out of the crash I was in and have been able to enjoy the last bit of summer. As well as start preparing for a new addition to our little family come the beginning of October.

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: There’s improvement in the wind, folks. I stopped taking the atovaquile/Malarone and my fatigue diminished greatly.

8-5 tired all day and dealt with keeping migraine down BUT, was up and about a lot. Had odd energy, pretty clear brain too
8-6 crushing fatigue late am on. Some fibro in feet and calves.
RELATED to: eating corn? Overdoing it yesterday?
8-7 better, about halfway between the 5th and 6th. Still fatigued but up and about.
8-8 low energy and so fatigued again
8-17 Started cordyceps 1/day am. Decent energy, tho tired in am, fatigue hit afternoon but didn’t nap! Fell asleep at 9pm.
8-20 increased cordyceps 2/day. Fatigue still very strong.
8-23 drove to bend. Seized back had eased enough from Wednesday eve. Felt pretty well all day, took short nap late afternoon.
8-24 – stomach upset off and on all day. Decent energy. Some fibro flaring in my feet.
Since stopping the Malarone on the 22nd, fatigue has eased considerably. Rash on face is still present, flares every 4 to 5 days probably. (Strange)

Migraine: One near-nuclear migraine with several that were really hard to get the pain level down. But, I really am surprised at how these have minimized. Now, before you get too excited, I do still have pain every day. But there’s been more days that I didn’t take any Clonidine til evening. I am chalking this improvement up to the 4.5 mg of the LDNs that I take every evening. (Low Dose Naltrexone).

Sleep: I’m getting more like 8 to 9 hours each night, with the normal 2 or 3 wakings. I am also putting this to the LDN’s. I haven’t been needing naps daily either, which is so very nice.

Screenshot_20190910-112456_Instagram

Memory/Brain Fog: This has improved a little bit more – I’m noticing I’m able to recall words/names easier. But when the brain fog hits – man, it hits. *same as last month

Vision: The scintillating scotomas have eased since I stopped the Malarone. I did start to lose my vision once this past month.

TMJ: It’s been hurting a bit more but I still am blaming that on the fact that when I nap, I don’t put in my night guard. It has been quite tense this past week though.

Fatigue: As I said, this has decreased even more. 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.

Fibromyalgia: Thankfully, this has eased as well! I only get the nerve pain in my feet when I’ve been walking a lot (or have sugar). My calf has calmed down SO much. My back has seized up twice this month but I think that’s because of my weight.

Screenshot_20190910-112524_Instagram

Weight Loss: Nope. But, I’m trying to get out and walk more and do mini workouts when I feel well enough to.

Mood: I’m very pleased to report that this has mellowed out again and I’m certain it’s because I started back up on Xiao Chai Hu Tang. Remind me to stay on these chinese herbs. It’s worth it. *I’m leaving this up because I’ve increased this to 2 tsps a day and it’s so worth it.

Digestion: This has been a little more touchy lately. Out of the blue my stomach will get really upset. I have some ideas of what maybe I’m not digesting well but…

Now, if you’re interested in what prompted me to stop taking the Malarone after a month of taking it, I’ll tell you. My doctor really wanted me to stay on it but a few days before heading to visit my parents, I was thinking about it and the 3 hour drive and all, and I realized that I just couldn’t do one. more. day. of taking the pills that were making me feel like I was going to fall asleep at any moment. Or that were causing major brain fog, increased scintillating scotomas and increased fibropain. I debated about it, researched it, but decided that I know my body best, and that I was just at the end of what I could stand. Within just 12 hours of stopping, I could tell a difference. And then, just days after, there was even more of a change. I’m so glad I remembered to be my own advocate.

~Laura

How are you feeling lately?

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic migraines, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, health, health update, late stage lyme, lyme disease, natural treatment for lyme, symptoms of lyme disease

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Categories health

Health Update July 2019

3 Aug

It’s funny how the hardest part of writing these updates is this introduction. I rarely know just what I want to say right off, so I end up staring at the page, wishing I could just write something, because the rest of the post is done and then I can finish it off! Alas, intros are hard. Apparently. Maybe not for you though.

Anyhow, I’ve gotten this one written up at last.

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: I think I can say that, yet again, I’m doing better. Fatigue, while less than it was, is still a major struggle. My fibromyalgia has kicked up in my back and calves/feet again.

7/22- increased LDN to 2.5mg a day.
7/24- started atovaquile, taking at breakfast – before 9am. Felt decent all day, worked in yard am. Tired in evening but no big crash
7/25- fatigue all day long. Felt good aside from it. Couldn’t nap. Migraine tried to flare mid aft.
7/26- felt well, cleaned in am. Fatigue hit around 11am. Related to new pills?
7/29 increased LDN to 3 mg. Slept better, fuzzy brain early am next morning
7/30 – felt good in am, cleaned house and worked out. Tired in aft but not overwhelming. Napped after dinner. Migraine kicked up to a 7? Back/left calf hurt evening and all night.

7/31 – ran errands in morning, felt ‘off’ and was sensitive to smells while out. vision loss and nuclear migraine early afternoon, slept/cried/iced for about 4 hours, felt decent enough to get up and make dinner.

8/1 – fragile and dealing with aftermath of nuclear migraine. trying to keep the migraine from flaring again

Migraine: Only one nuclear migraine (and that was the 31st!) Mostly, the pain level gets to an 8. And hovers. I’ve had a bit of the odd visual auras (which I found out at my last dr appt that it’s called scintillating scotoma) but not near as much as last month.

Sleep: I’m still getting 6 to 7 hours a night, with at least 3 wakings. Majority of them I need the ice pack on the pillow. But there was about a week where I barely needed the ice pack. *yes, this is the exact same as last month!*

Screenshot_20190802-120408_Instagram

Memory/Brain Fog: This has improved a little bit more – I’m noticing I’m able to recall words/names easier. But when the brain fog hits – man, it hits.

Vision: The auras have eased. I just talked about this in the migraine section – go check out that article, it’s about these colors/blur/black spots. Well worth the read.

TMJ: I’m happy to report that my teeth don’t ache very often anymore. I’ve still been taking naps without my night guard (shame on me, I know) and that is when my jaw is most tense but… well, I figure that’s my fault. It only pops a few times a week now.

Screenshot_20190802-120336_Instagram

Fatigue: This has decreased a bit, it still hits me and when I take naps they can be a few hours long, but I’m not taking them every day. And I’m not falling asleep directly after dinner either –well, mostly. Overall, I’m able to do more, I just have to space things out and be aware that I need rest times in between.

Fibromyalgia: As I said above, my back is hurting again. And, I still have my calf aching/cramping/burning pain fairly regularly and my feet do these ‘great’ little nerve freaking out sessions.

Weight Loss: Minimal, but I’m determined to focus on this again!

Digestion: This is still, thankfully, at my normal.

Screenshot_20190802-120351_Instagram

As my notes said, I started taking atovaquile just over a week ago. I haven’t noticed any negative or positive side effects from it yet, so I’m waiting to hear back from my doctor. She has me on it for 30 days, just to see if we can kill off some of these buggers. (no, I’m not very technical, sorry.)

I’m still taking NP Thyroid every morning. As well as LDN every evening. Each week I’m increasing that dosage until I hit 4.5 mg.

Since I can’t remember the last time I updated my full list of supplements/vitamins, I’ll share them with you today:

Andrographis

Bearberry (I’m finishing up the bottle I have and then stopping)

Butterbur

Berberine

Calcium

Chaste Tree/Vitex

Complete Mineral Complex

Feverfew

Fibronol

H2PLX

Horse Chestnut

St. John’s Wort

Turmeric

COQ10

Iberogast

Xiao Chai Hu Tang

Liver

And that’s it folks, if you’ve got any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them. I did want to share the post that I wrote about the scintillating scotoma (before I knew what they were called).

Thanks for stopping by SGL today,

Laura

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic illness, chronic migraines, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, fighting lyme disease, health, health update, lyme disease, natural treatment for lyme, scintillating scotoma, symptoms of lyme disease, tmj, visual auras

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Categories health

Health Update Apr/May 2019

30 May

All I can say is at least I’m getting this up before June starts. My levels, and types, of pain have made getting this post up such a bear. fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: It’s been a roller-coaster ride these past six weeks. That’s really all I can think to say about it. I went from doing pretty well during the days and crashing so-so in the evenings to….rough days and passing out at 8pm because I just can’t stay awake any longer. (only to wake up an hour later and not be able to sleep again til midnight.)

Apr 16 started doxycycline   Apr 30- good energy most of the day. 1 mile walk plus housework. Migraine kicked up afternoon, clonidine calmed. Started thyroid 9am. Tiny bumps on face in evening, not sure why?
May 2- decent energy in am, hit with fatigue around noon. IV in afternoon.
May 3- felt pretty well today, fatigue hit afternoon. Tiny bumps on face again this evening and a tad bit last night.
May 5- bumps again today, also around collarbone, some itchy. Fatigue early afternoon, napped but then foggy and dehydrated rest of afternoon. Hungry like crazy in evening, migraine kicked up a lot.
Observations: fibropain is less intense. Migraines are still sharp and increase a lot in evenings. Clonidine helps, overall but not always. Evening hunger is common. Fatigue is light in am but hits mid afternoon at least. Needing a nap most days. Foggy brain after.
Went off of thyroid on may 11th to see if it was causing the rash on my face. Fatigue hit hard whole of following week, rash still present although not as bad? Fibromyalgia flared the same week. Started thyroid back up on the 17th.
May 17 – visual aura and nuclear migraine.
May 21 Fatigue has eased a little bit since Sunday. Felt off all day, fending off another crash this evening

Migraine: SIGH. The pain has been quite terrible lately, with one full blown visual aura/nuclear migraine this past Friday and three more attempting to blow up.

Sleep: I’m hitting 6 to 7 hours a night, with at least 2 wakings. Majority of them I need the ice pack on the pillow. Several I’m having night sweats -even with the ice, joy oh joy – and of course, never waken feeling refreshed.

Memory/Brain Fog: Brain fog has stayed around again. It’s kept my ability to focus on things at a minimum.

Vision: I have had ~~four~~ FIVE visual auras in the past week. That’s about four more than I’ve been having every few months. I’ve noticed that even in between lately, my eyes aren’t quite right. Looking at black text/white background can be difficult…

TMJ: I have just realized this has eased. My teeth aren’t hurting as much or often as they used to. It has only popped a few times in the past few weeks. My jaw still regularly hurts but overall, this has definitely improved.

Screenshot_20190529-083154_Instagram

Fatigue: This is still my biggest current struggle. It can go from just marginally dragging to laying me out and making me fall asleep within half an hour. (this makes for interesting planning of errands…)

Fibromyalgia: In a way this has decreased slightly. But my left side (top of head down to toes) frequently aches. If I stay away from processed sugar, the fibro stays down –remind me of this next time I’m tempted to cheat and have sugar.

Weight Loss: Non-existent.

Mood: This has been a bit topsy-turvy the last little bit but I’m sure it’s because of the levels of pain I’ve been dealing with. And hormones – hormones out of whack are fun. Eesh.

Digestion: We’re back to my normal! woohoo!

Like I said in my notes above, I went off the Thyroid for several days to see if the mostly invisible rash that has appeared on my face was connected to it. I’m fairly confident now that it’s not, but the rash is still there (at least it is mostly impossible to see!) and I’m not sure why. I’ve also been trying to tell if the doxycycline has helped any of my symptoms, but really, with how I’ve been feeling, it’s so hard to separate the pain, you know? Even doing this update, it’s still all so foggy to be able to tell. I’ve also only been on the doxy for a month and a half, so I doubt that’s long enough to be able to tell anyway.

I will add about the Thyroid though, that I think the fatigue was going down after I first started it – so I’m hoping that will start happening again soon. I mean, I was taking Abby on a mile walk in the mornings, doing some house cleaning and making yummy dinners. Which, for me, is a pretty full/energy burning day. And now I’m barely getting her to the park, doing maybe 20 min of light cleaning and sort of maybe throwing a semblance of dinner together. Augh. I know this journey of healing is an up and down, switchback type of road but I’m ready to be through this particular rough stretch. Especially since I know that the pain in my left side would disappear if I was able to lose some weight.

~Laura

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic illness, chronic migraines, chronic pain, chronic pain management, ebv, exhaustion, health, health update, lyme disease, symptoms of lyme disease, tmj

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Categories health

Mar/Apr Health Update

19 Apr

Well, this has been waiting for me to finish it for about a week now. My ability to focus has been really quite terrible lately, you guys. It’s a subtle thing though. Since I’m completely in control of my schedule, I can flit around to different things without realizing just how quickly I move on to something new… But, to move on to more exciting news, I’m doing some better! Read on!

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: I would say that while I’ve had some low lows, I’ve done pretty well this past month-odd. Daily, noticeable pain and fatigue but not everyday has been debilitating. I keep seeing more glimpses of ‘me’ in the mirror – you know, when I’m not asleep or laying on an ice pack.

Migraine: Only one visual aura and nuclear migraine this time around (and that while on vacation of course). I attempted going off clonidine for a few days but that didn’t work as well as I thought it would. I’m still trying to get the edge off the pain.

Sleep: I’m getting about 8 hours with 2 or 3 wakings in the night. Most nights I am completely exhausted but have to wait til I can get the pain down to a decent level to go to bed. OR I’ve taken such a long nap during the day that I’m just not tired enough at a reasonable hour. Eesh.

Feeling like half of myself that morning

Memory/Brain Fog: Brain fog has stayed around, sadly. It’s kept my ability to focus on things at a minimum.

Vision: I only had one visual aura! The beginning of March I did have a strange… quality to my vision at times but that has since gone away.

TMJ: It pops only occasionally now but still aches so much that my teeth hurt daily. The front of my neck has started hurting again as well. I really need to get in to my bodywork doctor soon.

Fatigue: sadly, this has stayed strong. Naps are pretty frequent, ranging from twenty minutes to three hours. Eesh. Mostly though, if I space my activities out, I do pretty well. I have gotten back on the liver, daily, and it is definitely helping.

Screenshot_20190418-085844_Instagram

Fibromyalgia: It’s decreased slightly. My left calf is still tense/self flexing throughout the day and occasional cramping in my feet. Most of the time I can kind of ignore it, although when it settles into my knees like it likes to do, it’s harder to ignore (like right now)

Weight Loss: Oy. I was losing steadily and slowly and now it’s just to the point where I’m hoping I can start working out again so I don’t end up at the weight I was when I first started losing a year ago. Augh. < this is the same as last month! Oy.

Mood: Well, this has evened out again – without the use of Xiao Chai Hu Tang.

Digestion: Much improved. I’ve even increased the amount of vitamins/supplements I take and my stomach is still doing fine. I’m so relieved.

Since I wrote the above, I’ve been in to see my main doctor. It was a good appointment, and as she’d been studying Lyme again lately, she was excited about what she’d learned. Due to that, she’s had me start doxycycline and I’ve got to get to Costco to get my prescription of Armor thyroid to start as well. I don’t believe I’ve ever taken an antibiotic before (?) so any advice that you may have, I would love to hear them. At the top of the notes she printed out for me, she wrote “Laura, you are doing great! Things will go perfect.” Which is more encouraging than the normal version of ‘we can figure this out’ don’t you think?

a quick selfie while on vacation

*I’ve been on the doxy for a few days, and without knowing if how I’ve been doing is related to that or not… I need to document it. I started it the 15th of april, and took a detox bath that afternoon – and had a terrible reaction to the bath. I was weak and my heart was pounding and as the day continued, my head got worse and the aching increased. And I was SO hungry in the evening. Eesh. The next day I was better but again, crazy hungry in the evening. The morning of the 18th, a terrrible, horrible, no good cramp in my left calf woke me up. I could feel my right calf cramping up as well. It went on forever (I really have no idea in reality…) before it eased.

I plan on looking up the info she was sharing with me and then I’ll pass it along to you!

~Laura

Tags: brain fog, chronic fatigue, chronic migraines, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, health, health update, late stage lyme, lyme disease, memory loss, natural treatment for lyme, sleep, symptoms of lyme disease, tmj, visual auras

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Categories health

Health Update: May/June/July 2018

31 Jul

I am going to admit something to you right away – I’m starting this but have no idea when it’ll get finished and posted! With my OH’s graduation and party on Sunday, my parents coming into town today and donation boxes/a dog park run to do before they get here, I’m just not sure how much of this I’ll actually get written today. But, “Well begun is half done”.

**Update: It’s now July 30th and I am just now getting back to this post! The party has been thrown (along with a second one beginning of this month) the parents have come and gone, along with another couple of guests, many dog park runs have occurred and I’m woefully behind on so much that I’ve intended to do. But, this is step one in getting back on track!

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: I have been a bit better this month. Fatigue has still been a major problem. My back seized up early one morning and it took almost two weeks before it stopped hurting. I’ve seen some improvement in my every-few-weeks flaring, which has been such a relief.

May 14 saw bodywork Dr. Worked on whole left side.
May 15 saw main Dr. Going to start neuroflam. Also went major grocery shopping today. Was worn out in afternoon, dehydrated, some brain fog. Took detox bath in evening, wiped me out.
May 16- woke up with severe fatigue. Slept again until noon. Joints achy and a 7 migraine. Fatigue isn’t so severe this afternoon.
May 18- a better day. Was able to do some light cleaning, cooking, etc. Migraine didn’t hit till later afternoon and then harder in evening. First evening in at least a week that my hip hasn’t hurt and my calf hurts half as bad. Fatigue isn’t near as bad but still underlying.
May 20- monthly started. Hungrier than normal. Not much fatigue. Went to the beach for the morning. Severe migraine early afternoon partly from lack of food. Some cramping/tingling in feet, calves and hands
May 23- took Abby to the park, went to get my hair cut and to two stores.. Worn out and a migraine trying to come in evening. Hip didn’t hurt though!
May 24- woke up early with bad migraine and very hungry. Had a snack and slept again. Migraine was still bad when I woke up, but early afternoon it has eased some. Strong fatigue today.
May 25- woke up feeling better enough that I drove to Eugene in the afternoon. Hit with 8 migraine in the evening, and Soo hungry but ice, clonidine and food kept it from increasing. Took a short nap around 8pm.
May 30 – fibropain flaring all week. In hands especially tonight, maybe because I worked in yard this am. Migraine flaring up to an 8 but then stopping. Fatigue hit hard yesterday, easing off today.
–have been ‘seeing’ things in the corner of my eye. A bit of heart pounding. Fingers hurting/have to focus to straighten all the way.
June 3- severe migraine out of the blue in evening. Vision gone in left eye. Debilitating. Day 15.
June 4- recovery day and keeping the pain down.
June 5 – fighting migraine down. Hit hard in evening. To a level 9. IV today, glutathione push.
June 6- pretty good today. Upset stomach in late am and late evening. Clonidine keeping migraine down. Some fibropain.
June 11-fatigue hit hard all day. Migraine tried to flare throughout the day. Took 2 naps. June 13- decent fatigue but was able to get up and putter around the house as well. Took a long nap. detox bath in the evening.

Have been struggling with bad fatigue for a week and a half. One vision loss migraine.
June 26th iron and nutrient IV.
June 29- best I’ve felt in a long while. Energy, mental clarity,
July 1- day 15, fatigue and some mood issues. Needed a nap in the afternoon. Fibropain pretty strong in joints in late evening. But such an improvement from this time last month
July 19- back feeling a little better in am. Took Abby to the park. Afternoon, fatigue hit hard. Fibro flared in evening. Slept on ice pack all night
July 20- back still hurting (a week and a half now) mainly on left side. Possible kidney moved down again?

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* I’ve been on the DIM Detox since the end of May and I have slowly but steadily seen an improvement in my mid-month flaring like we were hoping! I did have to cut back to 1/day after increasing to 2/day and having a flare but it’s helping!!!

Migraine: These have slowly decreased from May to end of July. I haven’t had a ‘nuclear migraine’ (aka, vision loss/debilitating) since beginning of June. They are still daily, of course – finish?

Sleep: This hasn’t changed much other than, with the fatigue, I’m needing more naps. Not every day, thankfully, but a lot of times when I do nap, it’s a few hours before I wake up. Which then makes it hard to get to bed before midnight… I am glad that I still don’t need melatonin to get to sleep like I did for so long!

Memory/Brain Fog: This was a big enough of a struggle that I started taking Neuroflam (thankfully I can get it for about $30 cheaper than this amazon price). To experiment, I have been off of it for a few weeks…and I think it really was helping. OY. I was hoping to save that money but anything that helps with mental clarity is worth it. I’ve been so foggy that sitting down and writing (either on here or on my book) has been such a trial that I just haven’t done it. Sadly.

It took at least half an hour to get the needle in to a good vein this time. Second try with the Iron push. Verdict? Doesn’t kick the fatigue.

Vision: Since the beginning of June, I haven’t had full vision loss but I have had some minor sparkles, spots or blurriness. I have been able to attribute them to exhaustion or hunger. When they have been tied to the oncoming of a severe migraine, I’ve been able to halt it from fully forming.

Fibromyalgia: Ahhh, joint aches. Self-cramping. Sporadic tingling. Pain that is trying to claw its way out of my body. This has increased over the months and I’m thinking that it’s due to the fact that I’ve been having cane sugar occasionally. As well as starch. I am okay with never feeling the need to move just because the pain is so bad.

TMJ: This is one thing that has eased off and stayed down, mostly. My teeth will still ache and my jaw is almost always tender to the touch. It doesn’t pop too often.

Fatigue: This has been a doozy for a while now. My last two IV’s, we’ve gone without the glutathione and done Iron and nutrients but it’s not kicking the fatigue like the glutathione. OY.

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Weight Loss: I was doing good on this for about a month and then…I stopped working out and more lax on what I would eat. I’ve started working out again though so I’m hopeful I can start losing some again!

Mood: Overall, this has been good- even- calm. A few times a month (?) it goes more wacky than it normally would.

Bladder: since May, I haven’t had any other …strange behaviors in this quarter.

I follow Aubrey on Instagram and just had to share this bit of humor.

If you want more frequent updates on my health journey – as well as Abby adventures, crochet projects and whatnot – follow me on Instagram!

*Disclaimer: I will say though, that I tend to share more…. real-life photos there than I do here. I only share a portion of them here on SGL. I have gotten some comments on my ‘death/zombie’ photos and such – if you don’t want to see pictures of someone in chronic, debilitating pain, I suggest you don’t follow me on IG. or Facebook, heh. I know it can be hard to see and read about, but this is my life and the life that so very many people are living. We didn’t ask for this. If you don’t like it, and there’s nothing wrong with that, please don’t make critical comments about our hard days – even if you mean them in jest. They still wound us. I appreciate each one of you that follows my blog, IG or Facebook.

I caught Abby being a goof the other morning, here it is, just to make you smile,

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic migraines, chronic pain, ebv, fibromyalgia, health, health update, late stage lyme, lyme disease, natural treatment for lyme, symptoms of lyme disease, tmj

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Categories health

Health Update April/May 2018

8 May

Once again, I am so glad I do these updates! It helps so much in keeping track of where I’ve been – and where I am. While I have been frustrated lately on just how expensive all my treatment is – how come insurance just won’t cover lyme treatments?! – I have to admit that it is all worth it. Out of curiosity, I brought up last year’s update and the difference is striking. I don’t take melatonin or theanine to sleep anymore – ever! While my fibromyalgia is still painful, I can crochet pretty much as long as I want and it doesn’t get to the point of making me cry/scream. I no longer have disassociation. I am able to keep up with housework better overall. The things that I started taking/increased are all some of my favorites now – St. John’s Wort, Butterbur/Petadolex, iron supplement, etc. I have decreased the ceanothus to once a week though because I react to it so strongly.

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: It’s a bit tricky to know how to summarize… The fatigue, fibro and migraines just seemed to hit and not want to ease for several weeks. Going to IV and bodywork didn’t help as much as they normally do. But the last few (?) weeks, I have noticed a bit of an improvement. Often, I see it in individual days rather than an increase over several days…

Mar 22- fatigue and migraine today. Crashing in evening with fibropain and migraine. Two or three clonidine.
Seem to flare on days 15 and 22
Mar 24 – fuzzy brain and fatigue. Migraine hard to calm down throughout the day.
April 4th – IV (push, not drip) yesterday. Woke up with a headache. Took 2 clonidine during the day to keep it down from a bad migraine. Felt pretty good otherwise. Had energy and ability to focus. Left calf tensed up quite a bit this evening – migraine flaring
April 5th – severe fatigue today. Migraine off and on. Hard time focusing. Left calf tight and foot tingling late evening. Three clonidine today
April 8th- a little fuzzy brained all weekend. Fatigue too. Some cramping.
April 9- took one drop clonidine am. Mega fatigue hit late morning. Bad migraine early afternoon and most of rest of day. Started SAT.
April 13- increased SAT to 2/day. Some fatigue and migraine
April 16- bodywork Dr.
April 17- calves cramping. Some fatigue. Nightmares
April 18- foggy brain and fatigue. Calves still cramping. Increased SAT to 3/day
Have mostly forgotten to take daily liver the past week. Haven’t noticed any difference? Fatigue has eased although it is still present. Brain fog is the same. Was busier this past week odd than have been in a while and have not CRASHED like I thought I would. Sensitive to smells and loud noises.
April 23rd- started Mineral complex again. Migraine off and on all day. Energy even though I’ve been tired and took two naps. Was a productive day.
April 24- was tired but not overwhelming. Took one nap, maybe two. Fibropain flaring in late evening, hip hurting too, going to bed a little early, hoping to sleep it away
April 26- fatigue hit today, even more so in the evening. Was hard to even eat dinner. Taking iron supplement didn’t help, like it normally does. Was also hungrier than normal. Front of neck has hurt a lot the past few days. Increase Mineral Complex to 2/day
April 28 – woke up feeling pretty good, fatigue eased. Front of neck still hurt but eased as day progressed. Took Abby to the park with start of migraine but eased by evening. Went to movie, took 3 clonidine before and during. Didn’t crash like I expected to afterward.
April 29- woke up feeling even better today, still with some fatigue. No clonidine so far. April 30 – increase Complete Mineral Complex to 3/day. May 4th – start Molybdenum

Migraines: While I haven’t had any level 10’s (and just a few times of a hint of my vision going), these have been bad. And have often not responded to anything I do to get them down. And then other days, one clonidine is all I need. Very back and forth.

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Sleep: I am able to sleep longer than normal – up to 8 hours some nights! It’s been so nice. But. I have been waking up more often to use the bathroom.

Memory/Brain Fog: this has increased, frustratingly. Quite often, I won’t realize how bad it is until I leave the house.

Vision: Like I mentioned above, I had a few times of vision loss. But it was very minimal – the sparklers in my left eye that is the precursor to it, and then nothing else.

Fibromyalgia: This is just bad enough to be obnoxious but not debilitating. My left calf is always tense/hurting. My joints ache frequently and have had some random stabbing pain in my palms or base of feet.

TMJ: The front of my neck has HURT so much these past weeks. Even going to the bodywork doctor didn’t help it like it normally does. My jaw isn’t popping quite as much but my teeth still ache frequently.

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Fatigue: This has eased….most days, thank goodness. I do think the H2PLX has helped a lot. I tried going off my iron supplement and while I didn’t think at first there was any difference, there was. (it got to the point that I’d fall asleep mid-project…or almost fall asleep in the checkout line at the grocery store.) I now am taking it most every day again.

Weight Loss: I have been able to lose a tiny bit!

Mood: This has calmed back down again and I am so very thankful for that.

Bladder: Ahhhh, this one. This one has me a bit baffled. All of a sudden last week, I was needing to use the bathroom about every 10 minutes. And I’d wake up about 5 times a night. GAH. I don’t know why either. Thankfully it’s calmed down but it’s still more…active than it should be.

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~ Check out It’s the Lyme Life – may 2017 and Encouragement for living with Chronic Illness (the start of a 4- part series) for more!

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic illness, chronic migraines, chronic pain, ebv, fibromyalgia, health, health update, late stage lyme, lyme disease, migraines, natural treatment for lyme, symptoms of lyme disease, tmj

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Categories health

Health Update Feb/Mar 2018

22 Mar

With it raining outside, corned beef in the crock pot, roasted veggies in the oven and the ingredients for veggie burgers prepped, I’m feeling accomplished – and worn out – this morning. But I’m finding that if I just rest for about an hour, I’m typically ready to get back up and do some more things. Like make the veggie burgers. And vacuum. But just learning that I can replenish my energy supply, has made such a difference on my attitude – and in what I can realistically accomplish in one day. Of course, there are many days where I am relegated to the couch. And on those days, I seem to be fine with it – read : my brain is so fuzzy that I don’t care where I am as long as I don’t have to hold myself up. Slow progress is progress. And coming to terms with where I am physically does a whole lot for me mentally.

fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: Still able to see improvement but fatigue and fibromyalgia have been flaring this month. A tad bit of mood struggles.

Feb 20- flaring fibromyalgia. Bad fatigue. Migraine kicked up early afternoon. Upset stomach mid evening for no apparent reason. This has been going on for a week ish, off and on
Feb 22 woke up with migraine from the night before. Went away by mid morning. Felt decent most of the day. Came back early evening to a sharp 7. Took one clonidine.
Feb 23- migraine kicked up quickly to an 8- neck and shoulders stiff, teeth aching, early afternoon. Two clonidine. Finally eased. Got really tired after making dinner. Calves very tight in evening.
Feb 29 – some fatigue, upset stomach because I ate some coconut ice cream last night. IV today. Still feeling pretty decent the past few days, even though cycle is coming. Have been able to get multiple things done each day.
Mar 2 – fatigue. Achy. Fibropain flaring a bit. If I wiggle my toes, a… Tingly (?) Feeling runs up my left calf. Have been overly hungry this evening. Took 3 clonidine again today.
Mar 5- . Felt decent all day till after a bath. Migraine hit pretty hard and left arm started hurting bad.
Mar 6- woke up with migraine and arm still hurting. Had to sleep with an ice pack all night in my arm, tender to the touch, very achy.
Mar 7 – woke up with fatigue and migraine but has eased as the day went on.
Mar 8 – did better today overall until mid evening. Then crashed- migraine, fibropain, back pain. Took clonidine. Then Advil (for my back) a while later. Then fibronol, magnesium, feverfew. So tired but such pain
Mar 9- crashed pretty bad this evening. Was rough today but not awful. Tonight, fibropain, migraine, jaw is super tight and painful. Augh
Mar 11 – jaw hurt and popped all day. Fatigue was less. Migraine off and on all day. Crashed in evening, left calf is very tight making from my toes to hip ache, teeth are throbbing, migraine pulsing. Make. It. Stop.
Mar 15- saw Dr vogel today finally. Whole left side tense and hurting, right side was pretty upset too. Worked on my right kidney a bit as well. Had migraine and fatigue today, nap only helped a little. Brain fuzzy the past few days, mood a little off.
Mar 19- 20 a bit brain foggy and fatigue but able to do things. Crashed in the evenings significantly.

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Migraines: While these have increased in severity again I am still having days with minimal/none.

Sleep: This has stayed the same, where I’m getting 7 hours a night (almost to the minute). I wake up about 2 times a night. I’m not needing many naps during the day but have mostly been able to when I need them. I did sleep almost 9 hours last weekend though.

Memory: haven’t noticed any change

Vision: Other than noticing they are blurry when I’m tired – especially tired and not wearing my glasses – my vision has been great

Fibromyalgia: This has flared just enough to be obnoxious but not debilitating. My left calf is always tense/hurting. My joints ache frequently and have had some random stabbing pain in my palms or base of feet.

TMJ: My jaw has been popping a lot along with my teeth aching frequently.

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Fatigue: This has flared enough that it’s kept me down on the couch at least half a day several times this month. I have started taking my H2PLX at lunch and dinner to see if it helps with the evening burn-out and I think it is, to a degree. I’m now thinking of increasing to 3 a day.

Weight Loss: GAH. I’ m trying not to be frustrated by this – I have gained. Even though I have been relatively strict on my eating (allowing some starch from time to time and a bit of ‘dairy’ every few days), I didn’t expect that to throw my plan of losing 5 lbs by my birthday so off track.

Mood: this has been a bit off again, but not terrible

Bladder: the same as last month -> This has eased a bit I think. It’s at least to the point of my normal (which still isn’t where it needs to be)

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~Laura

Tags: chronic fatigue, chronic illness, chronic migraines, chronic pain, ebv, fibromyalgia, health update, lyme disease, tmj

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Categories health

Health Update Jan/Feb 2018

21 Feb

If you follow me on Instagram, you know a little bit of what this update is going to say since I shared some of this last week. I’ll admit that I kept putting off writing this post. I’ve found it hard to want to share – which feels a little strange but there’s something scary about saying “I’m feeling some better!” I feel the weight of expectation landing squarely on my shoulders. Expectation that I won’t have any more set backs. Expectation that I’ll soon be back to full health. Expectation…expectation… Perhaps it’s just all in my mind, but they have held me back. So, I’m facing them and finally writing this post because I NEED to. I need to document this. fightinglymemigraines

Overall Health: One word: improvement. Do you know how scary that word is to type? I’m noticing I’m able to do things that I wouldn’t have months ago. Fatigue is still a big struggle. Focusing on one task has been tricky.

January 16-23 – all symptoms started easing. Needing naps occasionally- cut back on dosage of dmsa which helped with fatigue a lot. Only mild flaring in evenings now, including the restless fibropain. Still struggles with mood after increasing xcht to 3/day. Started h2plx on the 20th. Am avoiding fruit in the am, since the 20th to see if I have any changes in how I feel. Increased B2 to 2/day on the 23rd.
25th – woke up tired and decent fatigue but wasn’t couch bound. Migraine didn’t kick in till around 130pm.
1-26 felt good today. Did a bunch of cleaning and took Abby to the park. One? Two? Clonidine. Increased horse chestnut to 2/day till day 28.
1-27 upset stomach all day but felt good despite that, took one clonidine late afternoon. Took Abby to the park. Quick grocery store trip ( used a basket instead of a cart!), Worked on book.
1-28 feel good but so tired- couldn’t nap so took Abby on a walk.
1-29 felt good again, took Abby to the park. Migraine in afternoon, mostly kept down with clonidine. Some minor brain fog. Increased h2plx to 2/day
1-30 IV. Cycle started. Fatigue but still feel decent. Took Abby on a walk in am.
2-7 been feeling pretty well the past week. Been able to do quite a bit. Think I overdid it today though – with a lack of veggies, causing some cramping and my left calf is very tight. Brain fog has been increasing. Not feeling able to handle decisions/lots of stuff going on around me. This is my last week of chelation!!
2-9 fatigue has followed me all week – thanks in part to the chelation. Hip has been hurting the last two nights. Some minor fibropain in my left hand and left calf. Still avoiding fruit in the am as I’ve noticed that I am not as hungry throughout the day. Have even not been hungry for some meals this past few weeks.
2-15 have been doing well this past week. A bit of migraine and fibromyalgia flare up, but it wasn’t bad. Sleeping better and sometimes longer. Energy. More mental clarity. Hip has been hurting lately. Jaw pops/hurts a lot

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Migraines: These have decreased – yay! There have been a few days that I haven’t taken any clonidine – and several where I just needed one.

Sleep: This has stayed the same – with maybe some slight improvement? – where I’m getting 7 hours a night (almost to the minute). I wake up about 2 times a night. I’m not needing as many naps during the day – but often even when I do, I can’t fall asleep.

Memory/Disassociation: I’m starting to think I can take the disassociation aspect off of this list! Memory has improved slightly (?)

“and then, one day, you see a spark of your old self again.”

Vision: No visual auras at all this month. My eyes have been more blurry than normal when I’m tired lately.

Fibromyalgia: I can’t believe how much this has eased. My left calf still is tense most days. I’ve been able to crochet/ write just about as much as I want. When it does increase, it’s more in my joints – wrists, elbows, knees and ankles.

TMJ: It’s been popping a lot along with my teeth aching the past few weeks. I’ve had to push out my bodywork appointment almost two weeks and I am sure that’s a big part of this.

Fatigue: This eased dramatically once I cut back (and then finished) my chelation dosage. It’s still strong though, to where it is the main symptom I have day to day.

Weight Loss: I’ve lost almost all that I had gained in Nov/Dec. I have been able to get out and walk Abby a lot more these past few weeks.

Mood: Yay for mood consistency again!

Bladder: This has eased a bit I think. It’s at least to the point of my normal (which still isn’t where it needs to be)

All in all, I can’t quite believe the progress I’ve seen this past month. I’m finding myself saying ‘ I couldn’t have done ________ a few months ago’, quite a bit! I am still, of course, ill – fatigue holds me back daily, mental clarity is still something I lack often, etc. I just read through January 2017‘s update and can’t believe how far I’ve come in a year.

~Laura

Tags: health update, late stage lyme, lyme disease, natural treatment for lyme, symptoms of lyme disease