Except for the general fatigue and malaise, I've been feeling pretty good the last week or so.
My sis and my niece dragged me out into the world Friday and Saturday and it was so wonderful getting out to a real restaurant and the mall and being around my two beautiful nephews. We had a great time and except for the usual rhinitis, I didn't have any problems at all.
I had run out of ranitidine by Saturday night, so I missed two doses, then forgot to take either the ranitidine or the Prilosec Monday morning. So, of course, by last night my tummy was torn up and three new fever blisters popped up.
Oh. The fever blisters are new to the tummy upsets connected with the disease. In the past, I've gotten them anytime my stomach was upset because of the flu or whatever, but I hadn't had one for a year despite all the tummy upsets since. Then, when I went through the bad spell recently, I had five! It sucks. Of course, it could have been a virus.
It's pretty bad when you're so sick so often that you can't even notice when you catch a virus!
Anyway, I was feeling much better this afternoon. I took my mom to shop at Target and while there I got my $4.00 prescriptions filled. While I'm grateful for Wal-mart for starting the $4.00 prescription program, I still have a lot of problems with them, so I choose to go to Target who matches the program.
And, boy, am I glad. The professionalism and service at Target was superb, while all my experiences with the Wal-mart pharmacy have been nightmares. So, I got my prescription strength ranitidine, loratidine (Claritin), and doxepin. I haven't ever taken doxepin yet, and will start in the morning. Also had the Klonopin filled, which should help me get my circadian rhythmn back. Klonopin is great when you are anxious and really makes you go to sleep. When I get the least bit anxious, my symptoms go haywire. Not being able to sleep at night when I want causes anxiety. I've been taking Serex (oxazepam) which is what I keep on hand when I need an anti-anxiety med and still need to function. It doesn't make me sleepy, it just makes me calm and eases my mind. Unless I'm really upset, then it really calms me down. It adjusts itself somehow to the level of anxiety being experienced. It will let me go to sleep even if really anxious if I lay down then, and I always wake up without a "trank" hangover.
Anyway, then we went to a little diner which has really excellent southern cooking. I had country fried steak with gravy, potato's and onions, steamed cabbage, and fried green beans. It was soooo good. But, I guess there was a trigger in there somewhere.
Ten minutes after finishing, the bone pain started. For some reason, it always starts in my right arm, moves across the back, then starts down to my hips and legs. Then my stomach started rumbling with the first signs of diarhea. My mom gave me a Tramadol which she had and made me take it before it got too bad.
That was a good thing. By the time I got home, I still had to go to bed for a couple of hours and I still hurt some, but it was nothing like the last time about a week or 10 days ago when I waited until it was bad before I took a Darvocet. Both times, the bone pain had occurred on days when I had taken a Cymbalta (yes, I dole them out to myself every few days or so), so Cymbalta does help the myalgia but has no effect on the bone pain when it hits.
The bone pain is crushing.
Anyway, now, about 5 hours later, there is a general ache in the bones when I move, getting a little worse so I'll probably have to take another painkiller before bed, the diarrhea has passed for the most part and I'm left with only a bad queesiness.
Still, I am getting out in the morning and going to the library. My family is helping me get out and about more, and that helps. It really does.
It also really helps when I hear from my readers. Thank you all. It inspires me and keeps me going to know that I am helping others by sharing my days and helps them to not feel so alone. Yes, there are others like you and like me suffering from this strange, bizarro illness. It's something that is so very hard to understand unless you actually experience it, and it takes time and patience for loved ones to understand sometimes, not to mention the medical community. But, we can understand one another and we can all help one another through another day, every day.
So, please, let me hear from you. Post your comments or email me at livingwithmasto@aol.com.
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