Karens Health Log

Log of my health issues

11/30/2004

Tired

I'm really tired this morning, physically and mentally. My head is in a fog, and I wish it would lift! I'm quite achy again, and may have to take a pain pill to take the edge off but I'm afraid it will make me more tired. I'll see how I feel in a bit.

UC is a little bit of a pain still. BS was OK yesterday, despite me feeling very shaky.

11/29/2004

Same

Feeling about the same, my left hip is starting to really bother me again. Just a few more days off the prednisone then I should be able to go back on.

UC has been a bit of a pain, but is manageable. I think it could be all the stress of all I had going on last week. I behaved and didn't eat anything really bad, and didn't over eat on Thanksgiving. Or it too, could be not having the prednisone. I hate to be on the stuff, but it sure makes life easier on me.

11/28/2004

Blahhh!

Feeling very blah, exhausted, brain dead, and sore all over. I'm going to take it very easy today and get a lot of rest. My knees are about the same, and my shoulders and elbows are sore too - and that is probably from all the typing I did yesterday.

11/27/2004

About the Same

Feeling much the same, knees giving me the most trouble. I'm not quite as tired though.

I'm finding my eyes are being strange - I'm seeing better with my contacts vs. glasses all of the sudden, especially with reading. I'm wondering if it has to do with the changes in my blood sugar. With my glasses, text is suddenly smaller and further away is fuzzier. Both are the same prescription, but I see fine with contacts. I've got an appt next Friday for my yearly exam so I'll see what's going on.

11/26/2004

Not Fun

I really felt like crap yesterday, despite Thanksgiving! I didn't even feel like eating pie, I came home and took a pain pill and rested. It did make me feel better, but I was pretty wiped out. I'm still pretty achy this morning. My knees are really giving me grief. I know it is most likely not having the prednisone in my system, as well as the storms.

UC has been OK - and I don't expect problems today since I didn't eat anything yesterday I wasn't supposed to. I behaved!

11/25/2004

The Aftermath

I'm dealing with the aftermath of a major headache from yesterday, it has finally gone (not 100%). It woke me up again at 1am this morning, so I took 2 pain pills, and it looks like that did the trick. I woke up pretty achy and sore, despite the pain pills, but I'm doing OK.

UC was a bother yesterday late morning but calmed down.

11/24/2004

Yikes

Oh, I'm sooooooo stiff and sore! I don't think I moved for 6 hours!! I'm moving around a bit and trying to losen up. UGH. Maybe I need a pain pill. I had to take a pain pill yesterday afternoon from my right knee hurting. Either sitting or walking. It is still hurting some this morning too.

UC has been OK, and so has my BS... it hasn't felt like I've gone low.

11/23/2004

Same

I'm about the same pain-wise. Maybe a bit worse... but I'm in such a good mood, I don't care. LOL!

11/22/2004

More Achy

Little more achy, but not terrible. It is very cold out and going on the prednisone for the 2 weeks may cause more pain than normal. I'll probably take 1/2 a pain pill to take the edge off.

Nothing else to report...

11/21/2004

UGH

Quite achy and sore today... bit better since the shower but still very achy. The wind blew all night and it is very cold and humid out. Chills you to the bone. I'll stay in, and stay warm today and get a lot of rest.

UC has been good, and so has BS.

11/20/2004

Not Bad

Not doing too bad today... usual aches and pains. Dr W's office called me back and said they'd consulted with both Dr B's and they've decided to have me stop the prednisone for 2 weeks for the blood sugar tests. I'm on a low dose so they think I should be OK to come off of it - since it is only temporary... otherwise they'd taper me off. Good call on my part - even if I do say so myself!!

Doing OK other than that... UC is grumbling a bit but no more than usual.

11/19/2004

Stiff and Sore

I woke up really stiff and sore this morning, slept like a rock. But the weather is changing, and has been very humid and cold at night/mornings. Beautiful during the day. It is supposed to snow soon.

UC had a bad episode last night, but stopped after one attack.

BS is OK.

I did make a call to the doc yesterday afternoon and left a message about stopping the prednisone for a couple of weeks... I thought it was best - and thanks Min for your thoughts too - you're right!

11/18/2004

Diabetic Doc Appt

Dr W. is very thorough. I was impressed. He was very nice and put me right at ease. Here is what he thinks:

1. Most likely, not diabetes since I'm not going "high". I have all the classic symptoms of hypoglycemia, but a couple of differences. He thinks it is a type of hypoglycemia called Reactive Hypoglycemia. It is where your pancreas does produce too much insulin, but instead of losing weight, you gain it. (Bingo! Could be between that and the prednisone is why I've gained so much). I have to fast for 24 hours - and sit in his office from 8am to 4pm and they'll test my sugar levels 1/hour. I'm doing that in 2 weeks.

2. I've got some nodules on my thyroid and it is definitely enlarged. I have to go in next Friday for an ultrasound. He said with my past history of thyroid problems and the possibility of Auto-immune thyroid disease, and Dr B diagnosed, I'll probably have to go on the synthroid, despite the hormone levels being OK. But, we'll wait and see what the ultrasound says. I've felt for years that something wasn't right with my thyroid despite the test results.

He also brought up the fact that prednisone increases blood sugar levels - and so 2 months ago, when it was increased, I stopped losing my sugar as often and it wasn't going as low. Then I saw a correlation between that, how bad it was in August/Sept versus how it has been since the increase of prednisone. He said that the prednisone is definitely messing with the levels.

He didn't tell me to stop taking it - but I think I will for the next couple of weeks to get it out of my system so they get an accurate diagnosis. I know I shouldn't do this without consulting my docs, but I have a feeling I need to. I'm not on a really high dose, so I should be OK... and even with the prednisone my readings are on the low end. He's going to do a cholesterol check, etc., when I go in 2 weeks.

11/17/2004

Tired

I'm still very tired, despite getting 8 hours sleep - tired physically as well. I know the stress is being hard on me, but hopefully it is behind me now. I'm pretty achy, but not quite enough for a pain pill. I'll rest this morning since I'm not going to work until later this morning so hopefully that will help.

UC has been as OK as it can be, and BS is fine too - as far as I know. I think it dropped yesterday before lunch but I grabbed something to eat and once again forgot to test my sugar. I felt better after I ate, so it must have dropped

11/16/2004

Remacade & Stuff

My treatment went fine yesterday - although my BP was 140/92 to begin with (work stress related) then 1 hr later, it had dropped to 110/78. Just give me a recliner and a movie and I'm a happy girl, IV in my arm or not. ;-)

He didn't want to change anything right now, since I am pretty stable. No flares and just the regular aches and pains. He's watching my feet, knees and knuckes though.

Nothing else to report... just the usual stuff... feet hurt a little more today than yesterday though. I'm thinking I may take a pain pill. I'll see how I feel in a little while, maybe they're just cold and stiff.

11/14/2004

Tired Still

I'm pretty tired still, but much better than I was yesterday. I got some pretty good sleep last night, and a 2 hour nap yesterday. I'm going to mostly rest and relax today. I'm pretty achy all over, but not quite bad enough for a pain pill.

UC is OK, and BS was OK yesterday too.

Remacade appt is tomorrow... and appt with the diabetic doc is on Thursday.

11/13/2004

Stuff

I went to the gastro doc yesterday and things seemed to be improving (I know they have from my symptoms since I don't have really bad days too often) but it is time for my yearly colonoscopy - which I knew. So I scheduled it for Dec 21, after this school term is over and before the end of the year, for insurance benefits. No biggy - the worst part to me is the prep the night before. I'm asleep for the other. I've also noticed a pattern, that is a lot like my RA. The week before my Remacade treatment, things seem to get a little worse - so that is proving that the Remacade is helping the UC as well as the RA.

I'm feeling OK today, my feet are hurting but I'm not going to be walking much today. I got about 9 hours of really good sleep so that certainly felt great!

11/12/2004

Tired...

More tired and exhaustion but surviving. Really long day yesterday, and didn't get a lot of sleep. I'll try and catch up this weekend, despite having a lot to do. I'm pretty achy, but not really bad.

UC is grumbling this morning - figures... that I've got a gastro doc appt this morning! This is just my yearly check, and I'll be scheduled back for any procedures I need - and they'll make medication adjustments then, or that is usually how it is.

BS was OK yesterday, but I ate 3 hours late, so it dropped to about 70 1 hr before I ate, but I had a piece of candy and that brought it back up to 80.

11/11/2004

Ball of Stress

I'm a big ball of stress... work is absolutely crazy. My shoulders are so tight that not even a muscle relaxant is helping. Not much I can do though, until I get this stuff at work done. I'm trying not to stress, taking one thing at a time, but it is still hard. I got about 7 hours sleep last night, so that was an improvement. Hopefully I can get caught up tonight.

Not much pain, except my feet and knees. There's a storm here again too. I'm feeling kinda crappy but there's NO way I can stay home. I just have to muddle through. At least I don't have class tonight! :-D

UC is OK, nothing much to report.

11/10/2004

So-So

Feeling so-so today. Usual aches and pains, but maybe a little more than usual. Only got about 5.5 hours of sleep last night, so I'm really tired.

UC was really a pain yesterday morning and afternoon. It settled down by last night though.

11/09/2004

Yucky

Feeling a little yucky this morning. I woke up about 1:30am with a headache, and so I took a pain pill and a couple of muscle relaxants to zap it. I slept for about 3.5 more hours but woke up and my tummy wasn't liking me, probably not enough on my tummy. I'm hoping I'll feel better as my breakfast settles. I'm feeling pretty achy too, but I can rest while I'm taking a test this morning, here at home.

UC is being a bit of a pain too - so I'm glad I'm home!

I can finally chew well on my tooth! YAY!

11/08/2004

Melt Down

I had a little emotional melt down yesterday. I'm so tired, and all the stresses in my life are just hitting me hard right now. I tried to have a relaxing day - and for the most part it was, but then a lot of the day I just cried. It felt good to cry and get the emotions out, but of course it didn't solve anything. Nothing can be solved, I'm just going to have to ride it out the best I can. Today I've taken a Xanax to help me stay calm and get me through my day. I'm doing better today than yesterday, but still fragile and I'm getting upset too easily. I hate that!! I really do. This isn't like me at all, but I also know that I'm allowed to have some bad days from time to time.

Pains aren't too bad today, good thing!!

11/07/2004

Blah

Feeling pretty tired and blah today. My left arm, shoulders, wrist and hand are really tight and sore from typing as much as I did yesterday doing homework. RA pains aren't really too bad, the shower made me feel a lot better.

UC is OK, and BS still is OK as far as I know - I didn't test it all day yesterday since I felt OK.

11/06/2004

Better

Tooth is feeling better this morning, just a mild throb and the swelling has gone down since it doesn't hurt to bite down any more. :-)

RA pain isn't too bad, my feet have recovered from the day yesterday (I went shopping instead of resting!).

I forgot to mention, Thursday my right wrist/hand started to hurt like the wrist was flaring but didn't see the tendons extended as I used to. I put on my wrist support and babied the hand as much as I could and it finally went away Thursday night.

UC is OK, and so is BS. I thought I was losing my sugar yesterday while out shopping, so I tested it and it was 91.

11/05/2004

That was fun...

The dentist. Oh boy. Got the gas, got the comfy chair, got the swab with the numbing gel, got the shot, got the interlegemental shots, got the drill, got the gum cut, got the filling. There was more resorbsion than he thought there would be, and it went pretty deep but he was able to fill it in, and we're hoping it will patch it and stop it from resorbing more. Time will tell... if it fails then we'll still have the root amputation as a possible tooth saver.

The numbness is starting to wear off and I'm feeling some discomfort - not in the tooth but the surrounding tissues. The tooth is dead, so of course it isn't hurting. I've taken a pain pill to get ahead of the pain though.

Other than that, doing OK today. Not much joint pain. I'm pretty tired still, from the long week so I'll rest this afternoon.

11/04/2004

Not Bad

I'm feeling a lot better today, not so tired and I got a lot of rest yesterday afternoon and last night. I feel more human. I'm pretty achy today though, so I took a pain pill to help ease it.

UC has been OK, and so has my BS.

11/03/2004

Zombified

I'm feeling like a zombie, so tired. I'm having an early day today though so will go home and take a rest and a nap and hopefully go to bed early. I'm not too achy today and not much to complain about - other than lack of sleep and long days. One more work day after today.

I called my gastro doc's office yesterday to schedule my yearly followup - I know I'm going to have to take it up the butt again (colonoscopy) as they've told me I'd have to have one yearly. Oh joy... LOL! At least they put me out while doing it is all I can say. The prep the night before is worse than anything IMHO! Hopefully they won't have to check my acid reflux, but it might not be a bad idea since it has been over 2 yrs for that. But I'm not having symptoms with taking the Nexium so maybe I'll be OK. My appt is Nov 12, and we'll schedule procedures then.

11/02/2004

Cold

It is still really cold out, and I'm feeling it today. Between that and being tired. I'm OK though, not in agony. Just feel blah, achy and sore. I had a hard time getting warm yesterday - and still don't think my feet have thawed from the cold air yesterday at work. They're more painful than they have been too.

UC has been OK, and so has my BS.

11/01/2004

Not Bad

I'm still sore and stiff, but not too bad. It is very cold today but I haven't noticed feeling any worse from it yet. I slept well, and got some extra sleep for a change. The extra heat in the basement made me a bit sick yesterday - I just don't tolerate heat well at all.

UC has been so-so, but not too bad either.

As far as my BS, I tested it yesterday when I was feeling shaky, and it was 103. So strange. Something else must have been making me feel that way.