A "Down Day"
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 from my nap about three hours later, I was feeling weak... my legs were especially weak. At this point, I couldn't tell if maybe my morning physical therapy session was too aggressive or if my health was failing. I was fatigued too... feeling fatigued after a three hour nap, however, is a big indicator of some other underlying problem.
I did pick up on this indicator so when I put together my dinnertime medications, I added some extra medications... 'just in case'. I also ensured my emergency medications were within reach... 'just in case'.
We had chicken for dinner. I don't know why... poultry of any sort is a known problem for my health and consequently causes all sorts of problems quite consistently so choosing chicken for last night's dinner wasn't the wisest choice. I suppose we were both tired of beef and pork and needed a change.
I bought two chicken breasts... put some olive oil and lemon juice on them... sprinkled some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, and rosemary on them... and slid them in the oven for an hour. I added some potatoes and corn... overall, a tasty meal... but, as expected, the chicken did not agree with me.
Within minutes, I felt crampy in my intestines... I felt a bit bloated even though I did not over-eat in the least. I had indigestion. I was beginning to get a lot of bone and joint pain and had difficulty just walking across the living room from the kitchen. My hips were killing me... my thigh bones were aching... my shin bones were so painful they felt bruised, particularly near my ankles... my spine actually felt as though I had big bruised welts on it like I had met with an angry lunatic wielding a baseball bat. It was pretty clear that my health was still headed south.
Additionally, I didn't pay much attention to it last night, but I was having difficulty seeing print... my eyesight was blurry and reading was difficult. This should have been a clear-cut sign to start taking emergency medications immediately. Sometimes, however, a symptom or two just does not register as a threat... last night was one of those nights when it comes to the vision problems I experienced last night.
Since I had already taken some extra medications because I noticed my health deteriorating over time, my deteriorating health slowed its decline. I really needed more medications though.
When I took my bedtime medications, I again added some extra medications. Unfortunately, I did not take any extra medications to target my growing gastro-intestinal symptoms. I would soon realize this was a mistake.
The moment I laid down in bed, I realized my mistake. My stomach and intestines were gurgling... they felt inflamed. The moment I laid down in bed I realized had a minor issue with acid reflux... at this point, there was no avoiding the crashing of my health. I knew that sleep would not be in my immediate future... residing in the bathroom would be... I just groaned as I used up more precious energy to get up out of bed.
I was completely exhausted and in pain, but I moved into the bathroom with my fanny pack of medications and some reading material. I knew I would be in for a long night.
While in the bathroom, I added some additional medications geared more for these gastro-intestinal issues. Slowly but surely, this helped stabilize my body again.
I eventually crawled back into bed... this time propped up with a mass of pillows to avoid the acid reflux... exhausted... in pain... cold... chills... shivering... and still a bit crampy but feeling much more stable.
Had I not noticed some of those early symptoms as they started appearing and not taken any of those early extra medications, history as proven that my health would have suddenly crashed into anaphylaxis compounded by the added gastro-intestinal problems I experienced later in the night. The gastro-intestinal problems alone are miserable, demoralizing, painful, nauseating, disgusting and extremely tiring to say the least. Adding anaphylaxis on top of all this at the same time evokes intense feelings of doom.This time, however, I noticed some of the signs and started medicating early. This was enough to keep things a bit safer and it slowed down the progression. This is all good.
In hindsight, I should have taken more additional/emergency medications right in the beginning. I would still probably need a down day today, but I would have given my body a fighting chance to avoid some of last night's health problems. I also may have slept a whole lot better through the night!
Sometimes these 'episodes' can be quite violent. Sometimes these episodes come on slowly and seem a bit tame by comparison. Regardless, after any night of rather lousy health, there is a need for a "down day" of recovery.
Today is a "down day".
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 from my nap about three hours later, I was feeling weak... my legs were especially weak. At this point, I couldn't tell if maybe my morning physical therapy session was too aggressive or if my health was failing. I was fatigued too... feeling fatigued after a three hour nap, however, is a big indicator of some other underlying problem.
I did pick up on this indicator so when I put together my dinnertime medications, I added some extra medications... 'just in case'. I also ensured my emergency medications were within reach... 'just in case'.
We had chicken for dinner. I don't know why... poultry of any sort is a known problem for my health and consequently causes all sorts of problems quite consistently so choosing chicken for last night's dinner wasn't the wisest choice. I suppose we were both tired of beef and pork and needed a change.
I bought two chicken breasts... put some olive oil and lemon juice on them... sprinkled some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, and rosemary on them... and slid them in the oven for an hour. I added some potatoes and corn... overall, a tasty meal... but, as expected, the chicken did not agree with me.
Within minutes, I felt crampy in my intestines... I felt a bit bloated even though I did not over-eat in the least. I had indigestion. I was beginning to get a lot of bone and joint pain and had difficulty just walking across the living room from the kitchen. My hips were killing me... my thigh bones were aching... my shin bones were so painful they felt bruised, particularly near my ankles... my spine actually felt as though I had big bruised welts on it like I had met with an angry lunatic wielding a baseball bat. It was pretty clear that my health was still headed south.
Additionally, I didn't pay much attention to it last night, but I was having difficulty seeing print... my eyesight was blurry and reading was difficult. This should have been a clear-cut sign to start taking emergency medications immediately. Sometimes, however, a symptom or two just does not register as a threat... last night was one of those nights when it comes to the vision problems I experienced last night.
 |
| Some of my usual emergency medications (my everyday daily medications would fill this table completely)... these medications were within reach last night so, while I was practicing with a manual focus lens, I just so happened to shoot a photo of these medications. |
When I took my bedtime medications, I again added some extra medications. Unfortunately, I did not take any extra medications to target my growing gastro-intestinal symptoms. I would soon realize this was a mistake.
The moment I laid down in bed, I realized my mistake. My stomach and intestines were gurgling... they felt inflamed. The moment I laid down in bed I realized had a minor issue with acid reflux... at this point, there was no avoiding the crashing of my health. I knew that sleep would not be in my immediate future... residing in the bathroom would be... I just groaned as I used up more precious energy to get up out of bed.
I was completely exhausted and in pain, but I moved into the bathroom with my fanny pack of medications and some reading material. I knew I would be in for a long night.
While in the bathroom, I added some additional medications geared more for these gastro-intestinal issues. Slowly but surely, this helped stabilize my body again.
I eventually crawled back into bed... this time propped up with a mass of pillows to avoid the acid reflux... exhausted... in pain... cold... chills... shivering... and still a bit crampy but feeling much more stable.
Had I not noticed some of those early symptoms as they started appearing and not taken any of those early extra medications, history as proven that my health would have suddenly crashed into anaphylaxis compounded by the added gastro-intestinal problems I experienced later in the night. The gastro-intestinal problems alone are miserable, demoralizing, painful, nauseating, disgusting and extremely tiring to say the least. Adding anaphylaxis on top of all this at the same time evokes intense feelings of doom.This time, however, I noticed some of the signs and started medicating early. This was enough to keep things a bit safer and it slowed down the progression. This is all good.
In hindsight, I should have taken more additional/emergency medications right in the beginning. I would still probably need a down day today, but I would have given my body a fighting chance to avoid some of last night's health problems. I also may have slept a whole lot better through the night!
Sometimes these 'episodes' can be quite violent. Sometimes these episodes come on slowly and seem a bit tame by comparison. Regardless, after any night of rather lousy health, there is a need for a "down day" of recovery.
Today is a "down day".
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