Scattered Thoughts . . .

I t is still only 7pm but, so far, today is the first day that I don't have a fever since being bitten by a tick.  I have been in much need of some good news so not having a fever is quite a relief.  For 11 days, my health got progressively worse.  The worst days were the 10th and 11th days after finding the tick on me and those were quite bad days. Right after pulling the tick off me, I was given a single mega-dose of antibiotic.  Unfortunately, that wasn't enough and my health worsened over the long Memorial Day weekend that immediately followed the tick bite.  After the weekend, I was called back into my doctor's office and they started me on the longest "at home" oral antibiotic treatment immediately.  So, those worst days at days 10 and 11 were only the 5th and 6th days on the long antibiotic treatment.   Those 10th and 11th days were miserable and that was clearly indicated by my mood.  I don't remember the last time I was in such a miserable mood.  It s

I know it is only Day 5 of this latest antibiotic but, still, I feel the need to mention that I feel like crap.  This second course of antibiotics will be for 14 days so I'm still fairly early in this second round of treatment.  I'm not all that confident in its effectiveness though.  I'm still getting fevers every night.  My abdomen hurts.  My joints hurt.  My muscles ache.  I still have a headache.  And, I just generally feel like crap. What compounds this tick bite and whatever illness has been transmitted to me is the fact that I was still struggling with long-COVID when I found the tick on me.  So, between my mast cell symptoms, my long-COVID symptoms and now these tick illness symptoms, I'm not sure which thing is causing which symptoms.  There is no doubt that a few things suddenly came on and/or worsened after the tick bite so I'm fairly certain what is due to the tick bite.  Then again, the tick bite could be causing a worsening of my mast cell disease sin

I 'm feeling slightly better after a few more doses of antibiotic but my post-tick-bite fever is still lingering.  I still have a long way to go with the antibiotic so I'm still very early in the treatment which means I probably shouldn't be surprised by the lingering fever.  It is only a low grade fever but I am also taking NSAIDs which should be lowering the fever yet I still do have one so, without the NSAIDs, I can't help but wonder how high would my fever be?   I'm a bit more fatigued than what is "normal", I think.  It is difficult to discern what might be due to my primary illness (Systemic Mastocytosis) or due to this tick bite.  I am inexplicably exhausted though.  Hmmm...  maybe I should take some extra medications for my primary illness just in case this is related to that.  (EDIT:  I just did take extra medications.) Sheila and I did some grocery shopping this evening and I felt rather crappy through that relatively short outing.  I was a bit d

T he pain that has been radiating around the site of my tick bite is lessening but I'm still not feeling great.  My fever is increasing, little by little, especially this evening.  I'm at 99.9 degrees now.  We'll see how this develops through the night...  Why does this stuff always happen after the doctor's office has closed?   I'm assuming heading to a hospital isn't advisable until the fever inches above 101-102 degrees.   EDIT:  9:30pm - Before heading to bed, I decided to check my temperature again...  I was over 100 degrees.  I just checked again now at bedtime, about an hour after taking an Aleve and an aspirin, and my temperature has dropped to around 99 degrees again.  So that is good.  I definitely need to talk with my doctor (or any doctor) tomorrow morning.  

This week has been quite brutal.   My usual bone pain has recently moved to a level so painful that I, myself, am unable to touch my long bones especially my femurs and tibias.  At rest, the pain is in the seven out of ten range.  When I lightly touch my femur or tibia, the pain skyrockets off the charts.   I'm also overwhelmingly exhausted.  I slept half the morning today and most of the afternoon.  My excruciating level of pain isn't helping me get some useful rest at all, of course. My breathing hasn't been the best either which also adds to the fatigue problem.   My fevers continue to come and go too.   Needless to say, I'm not accomplishing much of anything over the past couple of months.  When things get this bad, I attempt to do a lot of research so that is what I have been doing most of my waking time.  Well...  most of my waking time (which isn't much time at all) is probably spent preparing and cooking meals followed by the time spent researching.  I'v

I 'm feeling slightly better than yesterday but I still feel quite lousy.  I'm feeling lousy enough that I am dreading going outside to remove snow from the roof and driveway.  I'm still exhausted and my joints ache.  My breathing isn't bad but my head is all congested and I'm coughing up phlegm so I'm still expecting to have some breathing problems when I'm doing something physical like working outside.  We'll see how my breathing really is later today when I do head outside to move snow.  I'm definitely not looking forward to it though.  Just the thought of heading out there is making me more exhausted. I had a fever last night before we headed to bed.  I was fever-free all day and was hoping that the fevers were finally behind me but apparently not.  So far, today, I'm fever-free so that is good. What isn't helping any is the fact that I am still vividly remembering trying to move snow while sick with COVID in past winters.  Saying it was

I think I feel a bit better than yesterday morning but that isn't saying much.  I still feel lousy.   I'm a little over 24 hours into this rebound and I can say with absolute certainty that this rebound is far worse than the original viral infection almost two weeks ago when I tested positive for COVID. I have a fever yet again.  It comes and goes but my temperature is currently at 100.5  degrees.   My nose is itchy and sort of burning which makes me want/need to blow my nose constantly.  Tons of mucus is flowing out of it anyway.  Lying down in bed is impossible.  Within a minute or two, I'm sneezing and my face is covered in mucus from my nose.  Needless to say, I only managed to get a few minutes of sleep at a time through the night last night.  I just cannot sit up enough in bed to get some sleep but I seem to do better on the couch...  of course, I'm still sitting mostly upright on the couch when I sleep.  I'll attempt to get some much-needed sleep on the couc

I haven't written here in quite a while because I simply have not had the energy to accomplish anything including even writing a simple blog entry.  I assume my main problem is that I am still fighting off this virus that has been coming and going since May.  January to May was miserable with a solid fever for four months, breathing difficulties, sore throat, congestion, vision problems, cognitive difficulties, and absurd levels of fatigue.  These symptoms have been coming and going in waves since the fever broke in May. I'd say my biggest complaint is the viral fatigue.  The fatigue from my mast cell illness is debilitating and what I would call "overwhelming" at times but this fatigue due to this virus is far worse.  Just standing for any amount of time is too much to do.  I don't even have the energy to simply stand long enough to stop and say just a short sentence to Sheila.  I need to sit down.  By the time I get cleaned up and brush my teeth first thing in t

Just about all of my "cold and flu" symptoms seem to be behind me but my level of fatigue is still quite overwhelming.  I spent just about all of this past weekend sleeping.  I awoke only to use the bathroom, eat and take medications.   I still have some minor symptoms of a cold...  some gunk in my nose and running down the back of my throat at times.  The fever has been gone for days though so that is good.  Headaches still come and go but are so minimal at this point that they are hardly worth mentioning.  I still get bouts of difficulty breathing but that could be due to my primary illness since I do experience this regularly anyway.  What I was experiencing a month or two ago, however, was well beyond my usual breathing problems (since being on medications to control these problems).  Overall, most of these untested, undiagnosed "cold and flu" symptoms seemed to have dissipated.  The fatigue is worse than usual though.  It is lingering.  It is overwhelming.