Tuesday 31 January 2012

Rest Day

Had a nice rest day today :). I did make some cupcakes. Still flaring and definitely over did it yesterday. I'm still learning >.>.

Pain: arms, especially elbows and R hand, L ankle, some toes, L hip, back

Monday 30 January 2012

Busy Day is Busy

Today has been a tiring day. I've probably used up more energy than I should have, and i'll likely pay for it tomorrow. But for now i'm happy that I pushed myself to accomplish something, as stressful as it's been.

Today I started off by telling my doctor about my mental state over my life. I am not completely comfortable getting into it, but i've been through some seriously emotionally trying times. It's very difficult for me to discuss, especially with a stranger. But there I was, talking about all of the things that have haunted me, in order to get help. And get help I shall :). It had been difficult for me to deal with the thought of having a chronic illness for the rest of my life. I know there are people who are diagnosed younger than I am, but at 22 it still seems like quite a shock. I haven't been handling it well, so now i'll see a professional about it and learn some better coping skills :).

Next I made the journey out to Endeavour. Endeavour is the school i'm soon to be studying Naturopathy at, and while it isn't too far away it does require a bus, then a train, then walking. I also got a little bit lost >.> usually I rely on my phone which I of course forgot at home. But I made it none the less! I was able to give them the correct information and I was off again.

A train trip, and a bus ride back out and i'm on my way to swimming. You would think at this point I would want to go home, as this is more than I would do in a typical day (let alone during a flare) but I wanted to swim gosh darn it!

And I got lost again >.>. Lesson learned. Remember phone. Or...maybe actually learn the way.

After wondering around for an hour I did eventually get there. A few laps and a leg cramp later I was on my way back home! Feeling quite tired but accomplished none the less :).

So todays lesson is: don't forget my phone. And figure out better ways to get around >.>.

Pain: arms, shoulders and R elbow and R hand especially, ankles, L big toe, hips. Back is doing much better.

Sunday 29 January 2012

Thanks for Noticing

Thank you to the two people who have chosen to follow me :). I'm afraid i'm not a very interesting person, and this is more of a boring personal type blog, but I appreciate that someone is interested in my story. I try to type at least something daily.

I'm not looking forward to visiting my GP tomorrow. I know it's something that is needed, because I know i'm not coping particularly well, but I hate the idea of doing a "mental health plan" >.>. It'll be wonderful to eventually see a therapist and learn better ways of coping with chronic illness, but it's so hard to talk about the emotionally painful things i've been through. I've decided to be strong though and accept the help that is being offered. It seems like this is the time in my life to start getting things fixed up within myself.

In other news, i've gotten a new vegan "cream cheese" which is wonderful! I've tried some vegan cheeses before and they have mostly been pretty awful, except for this one. The brand is Tofutti, it's called "better than cream cheese" haha :D. Although I wouldn't call it better, it had a nice texture and a pleasant enough taste. It also melted, which some vegan cheeses don't ever do. Now I just need some GF bagels ;).

Pain: arms, shoulders and fingers especially, back is mostly better, R knee is a bit off. Still flaring, but not as bad as yesterday. Hopefully it is going down.


Saturday 28 January 2012

No Longer Private

It just occurred to me that this blog was on private >.> i've been wondering why I haven't gotten even one page view that wasn't from me! Haha! So if anyone decides to read this now, welcome to my blog of mostly ranting about random stuff!

On a different note, I really don't want to eat dominos pizza anymore. I'm done with the awful cramps :(. I'm going back to making pizza and controlling the amount of cheese on it. Hopefully that will help.

I've also been officially accepted into Endeavour to do a bachelors of health science in Naturopathy :D! FINALLY I can go back to school! Hopefully i'll still feel this enthusiastic in a few months ;). My only real worry is having to write and how my wrist/thumb will hold up.

Pain: arms (especially R wrist and elbow), under ribs, R knee, back, feet, some toes.

Friday 27 January 2012

Inflammation of the Eyelid

So apparently I have something called Blepharitis, which is inflammation of the eyelash follicles along the edge of the eyelid. I'm seeing a pattern here with inflammatory conditions >.>. Thats why I have a little lump in my eyelid, that is a blocked oil gland. The doctor said it will be a lifelong thing, but with extra eyelid hygiene (warm compress, cleaning the eyelash follicles daily) it wont be a problem. How random. This is also why my eyes have been more sensitive as of the last year or so.

Pain: annoying. All over. Elbows especially. Fingers are getting worse I think. Really, really tired today. Took a two and a half hour nap and i'm ready for bed earlier than my normal time still :/.

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Flare

I've had a rough two days :(. Been much more sore. I'm not sure if it's the weather (rain, rain) or if I over did it at aqua aerobics...or if i've just been doing too much in general. Oh well, i'll have tomorrow off. Tired.

Monday 23 January 2012

Leg Cramps

Third round of aqua aerobics today! I'm feeling energised and somewhat worn out at the same time, haha. I do feel like my body is appreciating being pushed a bit, although I did get a nasty calf cramp that caused me to sit out the last few minutes of the work out. But that's alright. I got all of the cardio in and only missed some leg work. It feels really good to be working out and strengthening my muscles!

Other than that I went and saw the physio again today about my knee. It was a different one yet again, so i'm not really sure whether there has been any progress. I haven't felt like there has been :/ so i'm not sure what to think about it.

Need to send in my Endeavour stuffs tomorrow.

Pain: wrists (R especially), hands, elbows (R), shoulders (R), sternum a bit, back a bit, R knee is quite sore, some toes. R calf cramped up.

Sunday 22 January 2012

Soup, soup

More soup.
I love soup.

Went shopping today. Talked to Sarah W about apartments. Visited some suburbs I haven't been to before. New GF/DF brownie mix. New soy milk. Physio tomorrow. Feeling alright.

Pain: Stiff hands/shoulders/elbows. R hand/wrist a little sore. R knee sore. Some toes stiff.

Saturday 21 January 2012

Cupcakes

So for some reason I haven't updated for a few days. I'm not really sure why >.> other than last night where I went to bed very early. Dentist trip went well, it ended up only costing $31 due to our lovely extras cover :D! I'm going back next wednesday for two fillings (though I know I have more cavities than that? Meh). Bran and I worked out a new budget as well, so that is always good.

In other news I made some yummy cupcakes from a GF/DF mix. The frosting mix that came with it was no good, so I used the sunflower spread and some powdered sugar and the great raw cocoa I have and made a lovely chocolate frosting. I think it was the macro GF cupcake mix from wollies.

Pain: R knee, arms, R hand was more sore today, some toes, R ankle, sternum.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Mad Soup Rush

I had a mad soup making rush today!

Woke up feeling quite tired and a bit sore (from water aerobics, one would think), but I decided to push on because i'm running out of soup. Thus, the mad soup rush, which involved chopping and throwing things in a pot as quickly and carefully as I could. Sure, now my fingers and hands are sore and a bit stiff, but i'll have a nice big pot of soup to feed off of for the rest of the week. Corn chowder :) yum. Wish I had a nice bread bowl to go with it! I used a recipe based loosely off of Jamie Oliver's chili corn chowder on the 20 minutes app.

In other news, I received my enrolment letter from Endeavour! Now I just need to pay and make sure they have my correct information and i'll be good to go come february.

Pain: low today, hands (R had especially), wrists, elbows, shoulders still extra stiff/sore, knee is acting up, bit of cramping.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Aqua Aerobics 2

Went to aqua aerobics again today. This time Sarah W came along as well. It was a bit easier, and quite nice to be moving around. I did get a sweat up so I feel like mission accomplished :). I'm still feeling off. Maybe it's time to call the doctor about the mental health check thingie. Dentist on friday.

Pain: not too bad, arms, knee, toes, hands, shoulders (R especially). I'm starting to feel like my hands are more stiff, the right one especially.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Rant

I'm feeling a bit sad today, though I was able to accomplish some chores. I've been feeling tired off and on and my wrist is bothering me a bit. I've also been getting what feels almost like muscle cramps around my knee and down my right leg. I'm not a fan. It continues to rain. I'm sure the plants are thankful. It's nice to have a break in the heat. I found some yummy gluten free crackers that i'm quite happy with. Also some vegan GF cookies that are good. My stomach had been a little bit unhappy today. Maybe from too much salsa?

I can't wait until I start school or something so I will have something more to write about.

Going to call a dentist tomorrow.  My teeth hurt.

Monday 16 January 2012

Rainy Day

Rainy day. Went swimming. No aqua aerobics class today. I need to go grocery shopping. Received my paperwork for school.

Pain: Hands, elbows, shoulders (L especially), knee a little, tail bone.

Sunday 15 January 2012

What's in a Blog Anyway?

I'm afraid I haven't been putting very interesting updates on for a while now. Though I know no one reads this, it's still a comfort to me to have it out there in the world. It'll be there for me to look back on what i've gone through. Someday i'll look back and wonder how I got through it, but for now it's just one day at a time. When I have more energy i'll start posting recipes again. I'll start posting pictures again. I'll write more than a paragraph. But for now i'll type what I want to get out of my brain and track my pain levels.

Pain: Hips, back, hands, wrists, R elbow, shoulders, legs are really crampy, R knee is sore.

Saturday 14 January 2012

No More Dairy

Mostly quiet day today. Took Milo to the park. Played some Sims 3. Later on we wen't to wish Matt a happy birthday. I've been tired all day. My wrists also started to play up again. I had milk in my coffee, I wont do that again. Going to buy some coffeemate tomorrow.

Pain: R KNEE!, arms, big toes. Wrists especially annoying, but not too bad yet. Back/hips playing up a bit as well.

Friday 13 January 2012

The Young and Socially Anxious

So tired.
Out at TYASA meet up group.
Nice to see some oldies again
Now to sleep.

Pain: All over sore. R knee more sore. R wrist/bottom thumb joint flaring up.

Thursday 12 January 2012

First Naturopath Visit

I had my first visit to the Naturopath today :). And...he was lovely. Really lovely. The type of health care professional I aspire to be.

He offered me tea, we sat, had a chat, I cried a little (talking about where my anxiety stems from >.>). Chatted some more. He explained a bunch of things and showed me the room with all of the herbal extracts (because i'm a soon-to-be student) and chatted some more. I ended up staying for about two and a half hours as opposed to the hour-hour and a half that would be the typically first appointment. I feel like he is someone I can put my trust into, he seems genuinely interested in helping to get me healthy.

So I have come home with a mixture of bitter herbs for before meals, a new vitamin, and a probiotic. All this to help heal my gut. He'll call me in two weeks to check up. He said to keep GF and avoid dairy.

Beyond that I talked to vodafone people, called Endeavour, and made some tasty soup. A nice vegetable coconut soup which is vegan anf GF :D.

Pain: Mild again today. Hands, arms, R ankle, big toes. R wrist got a bit sore after chopping. My mood seems to have leveled out a bit more as well.

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Sleepy Time Soon?

Today has been a better mood wise. Though i'm still quite tired.

I also had pizza >.> it was GF though....I already know my reactions to dairy, so i'm not too worried. We'll see how I feel tomorrow though.

I wasn't mood cycling nearly as much as the last two days, maybe because I took the meds in the morning?

Pain: arms (mostly mild), R ankle was angry, back/hips sore, slight headache earlier.

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Antidepressants Day 2

Quiet day at home today.
I'm tired and sore.
Mood cycling is not fun.


Pain: all over.

Monday 9 January 2012

Update

So here is an update. My water aerobics class went really well! It was more challenging that I thought it would be, but in a good way. It is a bit of a walk to the bus stops that go near where I live but I think it would be fine during the day.

As far as the anti-depressant...i'm mood cycling quite a bit. Not too drastically, but enough that I notice it. I'm not sure if it is from that or from that and the exercise or just from having such a busy day. We'll see what tomorrow brings :).

Pain: Arms, R knee, back, sternum, ankles (not constantly though), big toes. Woke up with my right arm quite bad but it dulled down after the prednisone and a voltarin.

I also had a weird stomach reaction this morning. Maybe from the soy milk? Odd. I'll see how tomorrow goes. Eggs seem to be fine though.
A new medicine has been added to my ongoing regime. Sertraline. Aka Zoloft. This honestly isn't very surprising, since i've been depressed and anxious off and on as long as I can remember, but the funny thing is my (wonderful, wonderful) gp put me on it to help partly with pain management. That and I told her flat out that i'm not coping very well. She took a look at the nice letter I wrote up about all my ailments and said "You've had more happen to you in the past year than I have in my life!". I <3 my gp :). She was actually very compassionate. She told me to book a double appointment and come back and we'll go over a mental health plan and get me to a therapist (mostly on the govnt's dime ;) ). What a change from the last gp who looked at my crying face while I broke down in his office and handed me a letter to go see someone else about it.

Anyway, she said sometimes when one had gone through a lot of (physical) pain problems the nerves kind of get fried and sometimes anti-depressants can help calm things down (insert brain nerve pathway science talk). She was going to put me on an older one but decided on the newer ones after talking a bit about my lack of coping and the drug interactions were slightly less on this one I think.

So, not only did she talk me through every one of my problems I had written down (it was a bit of a laundry list >.>), prescribed me some medicine we actually TALKED about, and talked about a follow up appointment, but she actually wrote me off as a short visit as opposed to a long one which saved me quite a bit of money :D. Best gp ever.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Meetups

So technically this post is nine minutes late. Today was interesting. I went to a new meetup group geared toward people with bipolar or depression. I don't think I have bipolar, but I certainly know depression quite well. Everyone was quite nice there, though i'm pretty shy as is, so sometimes it was a bit difficult to hold a conversation. I had more energy today than yesterday, but getting out of bed was very hard. I feel like even though i'm eating quite healthy, i'm gaining weight :/. Not liking prednisone.

Pain: arms, knee was bad today, big toes, R ankle, R thumb/wrist joint hurt a lot this morning. Really bad brain fog today too. I almost missed my bus stop and nearly forgot about my wallet.

Friday 6 January 2012

Short Stack

I made another big pot of chili today. I also cut up a cantaloupe and roasted some veggies and tofu. Hopefully this all will help next time I don't feel like cooking XD. Beyond that is was a pretty quiet day here.

Pain: Hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, R ankle, some assorted toes. Back was a bit better today. Had a little bit of an upset stomach, maybe from too much bread? 

Thursday 5 January 2012

Out and About

I was out and about most of the day today. Kind of >.>.

My morning started off with a lovely trip to the hospital physio to work on my knee. This was a different physio than my normal one, who was away having a baby, and I didn't like him as much :(. He was nice enough, but made a slightly insensitive remark about pushing through the pain of arthritis. Now, it's true that you need to keep your body moving and make sure that you don't lose your muscle strength....but right now i'm not on any long term meds, and the prednisone is not working. It is painful. And it is not the sort of pain that you can push through, it is the kind of pain that if you push, it will push back and you will be feeling it the rest of the day and the next. So i'm not sure if maybe he just didn't know or maybe thought I was just complaining? Oh well..

He also reminded me not to get a job where I have to stand. Like, ever. Thanks :/. Totally didn't know that between my foot, knee, leg, back and arthritis problems...

Anyway, after that I traveled away to Wray Organics where I got in the way of the ever-stocking shop keepers and delivery people for a while. Then off to the pharmacy to get some hypo-allergenic under taping for my knee (since my skin is now reacting to the tape). Then back home where I laid down and wallowed in pain for the rest of the day.

My back was acting up. Badly. My hands are also not very happy, especially my thumb-to-wrist joints (someday i'll look this up). Really wishing my rheumy would come back, but I have an appointment with my GP on monday to talk about some things (more back and cramp related than arthritis).

This makes me wonder how I would hold down a job :/.

On a lighter note, I got some gluten free bread. The textur is about half way between a muffin and normal bread. The taste is light, maybe a bit sweet but overall pleasant. It also have flax and chia seeds in it, yummy :). I had a slice with peanut butter for lunch and a slice with my soup for dinner.

Pain: back (coccyx), big toes, hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, little bit of sternum. Neck muscles are tight as well, though that is likely from stress. Some cramping, but that is likely period related. A bit of stomach discomfort (also likely period related)

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Elimination Diet Day 3

Day 3. This is almost as long as I lasted with my smoothie elimination diet last time >.>. I went 4 days with that.

How am I feeling? Not bad. I haven't had any real stomach issues except for today when I don't think I cooked my oatmeal long enough. Or maybe i'm sensitive to oats too...or maybe it's the prednisone I re-started yesterday...maybe I should eat my GF cereal I got....hm.

I was able to withstand pizza last night! It was dominos, so it wasn't very hard to resist temptation, but I still had to ignore the cheesy goodness of it all. They even had cheesy garlic bread, but I persevered!

I haven't noticed any lessening in the arthritis pain. My wrist is still especially sore and inflamed. Even with the prednisone and voltarin yesterday it was still sore. My back had also been a bit out of whack, most likely because I haven't been doing all of my stretches. I have made sure to be going for a walk though, I find that if I walk for at least half an hour a day it makes a huge difference. If I can do an hour than that is even better, but it also depends on my knee and how fatigued I am on any given day.

Speaking of my knee, it had been doing a bit better. It doesn't seem to be "going off track" quite as much, but is still in general achey. I need to find some hypo-allergenic tape so it wont irritate the skin around my knee.

Pain: Both arm, especially R wrist and elbow. Stomach, neck?

Re-starting salazopyrin

Edit: No i'm not. Took it earlier, now it feels like i've been punched in the stomach and my brain has fogged over. No more. Tt didn't help enough to warent this.

Monday 2 January 2012

Elimination Diet Day 1

I'm in quite a bit of pain today :(. It's painful everywhere. Except my stomach. That's been fine. I miss dairy already.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I'm very tired, but I wanted to record some things. Both arms hurt quite a bit today, especially the right hand. Both Ankes are sore. R big toe was a bit swollen. And it feels like I have a light sunburn all over my skin. I'm not sure if this is caused by drinking so much (like...4 standard drinks..maybe) or because I slept in the hotel bed? Maybe the detergent they use made my skin angry? Anyway, tomorrow i'm going to start the elimination diet. We'll see how it goes, eh?