My doctor told me to make a note of the myoclonic jerks I’ve been having, and it’s quite scary to find that they are a lot more frequent than before, and a lot are in my body rather than my limbs. They are a form of epilepsy, and I noticed by reading my notes on the screen when I was having blood taken the other day, that my doctor has it down as myoclonic dystonia, so I need to read up on that.
I have to ring up the surgery this afternoon for my lithium blood test results from the blood test on Friday. I don’t expect there to be anything wrong. There isn’t usually a problem. I could leave it, working on the principle that no news is good news, and let them ring me if there’s anything wrong, but I like to chase things up, just in case.
We’re going to do our big shop at some point this morning. We’ve also got men coming to take up the floor in the dining room to look for a leak that might be causing low water pressure. Great fun! Fortunately for me it’s at the other end of the bungalow.
I don’t expect I’ll do anything very energetic apart from the big shop today. I want to finish watching the remaining bits of my “Gavin & Stacey” boxed set of dvds that I had for Christmas and have been watching over the weekend and I’d like to do a bit of reading too.
Monday mutterings
Posted on February 8th, 2010 at 8:55amQuick shop
Posted on February 7th, 2010 at 9:40amI’m going to pop into town this morning, mainly to spend some points and a discount voucher at ‘Boots’. It’s handy that it’s this side of town. I might go to a couple of shops close by but I don’t want to go right into town. I’m tired and achey and I don’t feel like doing much so I shall take things easy for the rest of the day. My brother and his family are coming over for tea, as it’s his birthday tomorrow. I can’t believe that my baby brother will be forty-two!
Unconscious Mutterings
Posted on February 7th, 2010 at 9:34am1. Humbled :: cut down to size
2. Buns :: sticky
3. Snowstorm ::
4. Sweetheart :: neckline
5. Punch:: drink
6. Glass :: apple (?!)
7. Classical :: music
8. Heels :: high
9. Twitter :: tweet
10. Husband :: lacking one
Decent sleep at last!
Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 9:14amI slept better last night – yay! Hopefully my waking up time will stay at 6 o’clock or later now, at least for a while. This morning Mum and I are going off on the bus to ‘Morrison’s’ which is a few miles away, just for a browse around as we won’t be able to bring much home on the bus. It will make a change anyway. Mum gave me the choice of going there or to a small town locally, but the town is on a very steep hill, and just going to the one shop will suit me better today. My back is playing up a lot and my knee is a bit sore too, so I’m going for the easy option. Apart from that I don’t plan to do very much at all today. Mum and Dad are going out tonight, so I’ll have some time home alone – yay!
Friday Fill-Ins
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 1:38pm1. I know some really nice people.
2. January seems like the longest month.
3. You can’t help but smile at babies.
4. Ready to rumble*; bring it on!
5. Where have you looked for your keys?
6. Lunch is now available.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to curling up in bed with my kitten and watching tv, tomorrow my plans include shopping, and Sunday, I want to have a lie-in.
*Shades of Ant & Dec there!
Tired and achey
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 1:28pmI enjoyed meeting my friend this morning but I’m feeling totally whacked after my trip into town. I’m really tired and my back is playing up big style. I’m going to have a hot shower once I’ve finished on here, and fed the cat, and then head off to bed with my massaging hot water bottle. I need a nap and rest to try and help the pain in my back..
Pain, pain, go away!
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 7:50amI woke up really early again this morning, before five. I seem to have got into this cycle of being really tired and falling asleep late afternoon/early evening, and then being wide awake for the rest of the evening and waking early the next day. I need to try and sort my sleep pattern out. It’s not good for either the bipolar disorder or the fibromyalgia to get it disrupted.
So far today I’m not feeling too bad, but my back is aching a lot already. I never used to have any problems with my back, except when I was carrying Son 2. I find standing for any length of time makes the pain worse, and the only thing that really helps is heat or snuggling up with a microbead cushion against the part of my back that aches the most.
As for the other options, well, the painkillers a) don’t work very well, and b) would give me a painkiller addiction if I took them on a regular basis, so I save them for emergencies. I also find that a valium is helpful to relax the muscles when things are really bad, but I can’t take them on a regular basis either.
Of course anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) would help, but they could also increase the lithium levels and make the level of lithium in my body toxic, as I’ve said many times before.
I suppose I’d better get used to dealing with this amount of pain. I don’t think I have a low pain threshold, in fact I had 7 of my 9 tattoos done in one day, which I think proves that I’ve got a pretty high one. I wish we could see one another’s pain, then maybe people would be a bit more sympathetic. Anyway, time to get of my soapbox now I think!
I’m meeting my friend for coffee later, and have some shopping to do while I’m in town and then I plan to have a very lazy afternoon resting my sore bits. The way my back is feeling at the moment I may even need to have a session with the massaging hot water bottle before I go out.
Ills and spills
Posted on February 4th, 2010 at 9:39pmThe atomic kitten has really excelled herself today. She tucked into my tea (blackcurrant cheesecake) and then topped everything off by doing a poo in the bath tub! Mum was not impressed when she went to take a bath!
I haven’t been too clever myself today. I’ve spilt two full glasses of fizzy water and juice, and then poured orange juice into my ice cream instead of into a glass. I think the spilling things is due to the myoclonic jerks, which make my body twitch or jerk involuntarily. Please God don’t let it be a symptom of yet another problem. I have enough trouble dealing with the ones I’ve got.
Talking of which, when I was having blood taken today I was able to see the main page of my notes on the computer. Some of the conditions listed were: Bipolar affective disorder, myoclonic dystonia, hearing loss, inflammatory myopathy, & rheumatoid arthritis (not active). I think the inflammatory myopathy is something to do with the fibromyalgia.I’m glad that someone is taking the hearing loss seriously. I don’t think my family have taken that on board, even though I often hear things wrong. I had my hearing tested privately and was told that I have 30-40% hearing loss in my right ear. Then I saw an audiologist who said that it was slightly better than that. It’s not bad enough for any help at the moment.
Oh well, I just have to get on with it all. There is such a pile of stuff that it gets on top of me sometimes, especially when I’m tired and achey. Sorry about the moaning. I’ll get off the pity pot now.
The atomic kitten
Posted on February 4th, 2010 at 2:34pmFor a very small cat Jemima has a very big personality. She sort of runs or bounces everywhere and chirps away like no cat I’ve ever known before. Apart from anything else she loves ‘human food’. I was eating pizza lying on my front on my bed earlier (slovenly I know, but don’t care!) and the little madam was not only eating it, she was closely following my fork and come the end was actually standing on the plate with her two front feet. I think I’m going to call her ‘the atomic kitten’*! She’s certainly a character! I’m really achey after my busy morning so I’m going to chill out for the rest of the day. I bought myself a massaging hot water bottle this morning so I’m going to try that out after a nice hot shower.
*British pop group
Just a quickie
Posted on February 4th, 2010 at 7:56amJust a quick one this morning. I slept better last night despite waking up and throwing up about 1am (TMI – I know)! I’m in a bit of a rush this morning as I want to get my dusting done before I go out. I’m meeting my friend for coffee and I want to do my shopping before I meet her, and then after I’ve seen her I have to go and get some blood taken for my lithium blood tests. I don’t plan to do very much this afternoon, which is just as well because I’ll probably be knackered after this morning! Anyway, dusting calls – it’s a trial having OCD!
