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Showing posts with the label extra medications

Balance

Systemic Mastocytosis requires a delicate balance of rest, diet and medications in order to keep my body as stable as possible. In addition to managing my medications closely, I need to effectively monitor and manage my use of energy.  If my energy gets too low, my health crashes into anaphylaxis, neurological issues and/or miserable intestinal issues. If I cut back on rest, I struggle with the same problems. If I stray from my diet... same thing. If I forget a dose of medications... same thing. After well over a decade of managing my own health, I'm pretty good at listening to what my body is telling me about my health because, if I don't, my health often will cascade out of control before I even get a chance to throw specific extra medications at the problem. Sometimes, however, things can get out of control for no known reason... today was one of those times. I had a fairly productive morning doing a few little things that are all hobby-related. This kind of stuff isn&

A "Down Day"

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I haven't written much about my illness lately and since today is a day of recovery for me, I thought I should write a few words today.  Seeing some of these symptoms in writing might give some important insight to some other patients as well as provide some insight to those in my life who may be wondering how and why I need a "down day" when I use this term. Yesterday morning, I felt fairly good considering my overall health. I classified it as a good day when I awoke and had a long list of things I had hoped to accomplish throughout the morning. I took care of a little bit of laundry and I did my daily physical therapy (mostly for my extensive spinal injuries but this also helps with my Systemic Mastocytosis). I made lunch. Then I was out of energy and needed to lay down to nap for a few hours. This is a typical, run-of-the-mill good day with a debilitating chronic illness. I get quickly and easily worn out just from a few mundane light activities.  When I awoke fro