I haven’t blogged about my personal life in a bit – and need to do a health update as Friday was my KU Med day.
Friday was a mixed day. I got up too late because my sleeping patterns are once again completely out of whack. I tried to stop by UPS to send the most recent stack of social security forms to my attorney, but their fax machine wasn’t working. Oh goodie – a waste of a mile walk. Well, I guess I needed the exercise.
I went to the doctor with my little journal of symptoms and blood pressures. We had changed my blood pressure medication when I was at NIH, and until everyone is happy with the results, I have to go back once a month to review it.
There for a bit in January I got to be quite the hypocontriac about my blood pressure. I had a few instances when it dropped too low and I got very dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. Living alone, that’s especially scary.
I had a nice talk with Donna about it. Donna worked in a cardiac ICU unit for years, so I knew she knew about such things. She told me to quit chasing the blood pressures – take my meds and journal as I was told, and try not to fixate on it so much. Wise advice – since I hadn’t been fainting. So, that’s what I did.
I’m really struggling with sleep issues and constantly feeling sluggish. The doc at KU said that he was a bit concerned because the pressures were varying so much during the day. He said that he thought some of my fatigue issues might be partly because of these constant changes in blood pressure. So, we’re trying something new. It will take a while to know if it’s really working, but I was somewhat relieved to hear I’m not just a total lazy butt.
I’ve been trying to keep a reasonably normal schedule. I try to make myself go to bed at a reasonable time and get up at a reasonable time to do business with the rest of the world. The trouble is some nights that’s just not possible. And some mornings the alarm goes off and I don’t even remember it. I wake up at noon and am so frustrated that half day is already gone. Other times I feel horrible all day, until about 1:00 am and then everything seems to gel together and I feel great. Do I take advantage of feeling great to work into the wee hours of the morning, or try to force myself to sleep? It seems like any disruption to the pattern, and they’re many, throws me completely off.
It makes me feel very guilty for some twisted reason. I’ve always been very good at being self motivated and self directed. Everyone attributes this to being at home and not working, but I don’t think that’s entirely it. Believe me – it isn’t as though I don’t have enough to do.
I thought perhaps it was depression, or anxiety, or both. I’m not exactly boohoo weepy depressed – but sometimes I don’t think I’m always the best judge of my mental well being. Sometimes I think things get to me more than I care to admit, or realize, before they all back up on me.
Lastly, my tooth worry. Sometime this weekend I think I chipped a tooth, or maybe just lost part of a filling – I don’t know. I was eating pudding off all things (diet sugar free and almost no weight watcher points). Suddenly I bit down and there was this crunch, like something hard crumbling, and then this pain in the lower left of my mouth.
I took out the crunchy bits and they looked like part of a tooth. But when I “inspected” the painful area with my tongue, I didn’t feel any part of a tooth missing.
I don’t know what it is, but it hurts. Now I can’t chew on the left side and I’m worried that I really should go see a dentist. Trouble is I no longer have dental insurance. Groan! So, I’m going to give it a few days and see if it gets better. Probably a pipe dream – I know.
Friday was a mixed day. I got up too late because my sleeping patterns are once again completely out of whack. I tried to stop by UPS to send the most recent stack of social security forms to my attorney, but their fax machine wasn’t working. Oh goodie – a waste of a mile walk. Well, I guess I needed the exercise.
I went to the doctor with my little journal of symptoms and blood pressures. We had changed my blood pressure medication when I was at NIH, and until everyone is happy with the results, I have to go back once a month to review it.
There for a bit in January I got to be quite the hypocontriac about my blood pressure. I had a few instances when it dropped too low and I got very dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. Living alone, that’s especially scary.
I had a nice talk with Donna about it. Donna worked in a cardiac ICU unit for years, so I knew she knew about such things. She told me to quit chasing the blood pressures – take my meds and journal as I was told, and try not to fixate on it so much. Wise advice – since I hadn’t been fainting. So, that’s what I did.
I’m really struggling with sleep issues and constantly feeling sluggish. The doc at KU said that he was a bit concerned because the pressures were varying so much during the day. He said that he thought some of my fatigue issues might be partly because of these constant changes in blood pressure. So, we’re trying something new. It will take a while to know if it’s really working, but I was somewhat relieved to hear I’m not just a total lazy butt.
I’ve been trying to keep a reasonably normal schedule. I try to make myself go to bed at a reasonable time and get up at a reasonable time to do business with the rest of the world. The trouble is some nights that’s just not possible. And some mornings the alarm goes off and I don’t even remember it. I wake up at noon and am so frustrated that half day is already gone. Other times I feel horrible all day, until about 1:00 am and then everything seems to gel together and I feel great. Do I take advantage of feeling great to work into the wee hours of the morning, or try to force myself to sleep? It seems like any disruption to the pattern, and they’re many, throws me completely off.
It makes me feel very guilty for some twisted reason. I’ve always been very good at being self motivated and self directed. Everyone attributes this to being at home and not working, but I don’t think that’s entirely it. Believe me – it isn’t as though I don’t have enough to do.
I thought perhaps it was depression, or anxiety, or both. I’m not exactly boohoo weepy depressed – but sometimes I don’t think I’m always the best judge of my mental well being. Sometimes I think things get to me more than I care to admit, or realize, before they all back up on me.
Lastly, my tooth worry. Sometime this weekend I think I chipped a tooth, or maybe just lost part of a filling – I don’t know. I was eating pudding off all things (diet sugar free and almost no weight watcher points). Suddenly I bit down and there was this crunch, like something hard crumbling, and then this pain in the lower left of my mouth.
I took out the crunchy bits and they looked like part of a tooth. But when I “inspected” the painful area with my tongue, I didn’t feel any part of a tooth missing.
I don’t know what it is, but it hurts. Now I can’t chew on the left side and I’m worried that I really should go see a dentist. Trouble is I no longer have dental insurance. Groan! So, I’m going to give it a few days and see if it gets better. Probably a pipe dream – I know.
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