Pain? So Much Better!
Well, we didn't go to the beach house after all. But that's okay, we're still planning to go down for a long weekend for Halloween -- hope that happens (!!!). I feel bad my condition kept us home, but oh well. Shit happens. (For details on what's up, read THIS ENTRY from yesterday...)
I ended up taking one (ONLY) pain pill yesterday (Hydrocodon-Acetaminophn) -- plus my first dose of Prednisone (six tablets!!!). And even though I'd had some food with it, I had quite a reaction and felt very sick. So I ended up going to bed and just fell right to sleep.
By the way, SLEEP has seriously been my friend during this! First off, I'm fatigued from the anemia (SEVERE lack of iron). But all this pain and so on has worn me down, too. And now that I'm finally out of pain (or close to no pain, anyway), I can actually SLEEP. So many nights recently I've barely been able to sleep for the pain.
I hate to keep dwelling on the pain, because I don't usually do that. I discussed the fact that I had pain meds at home and didn't need a prescription with my Nurse Practitioner, based on the fact I rarely EVER finish off a prescription. (Back when I had surgery, they sent home a prescription and when I saw the doctor for my follow-up she was stunned that I had more than half a bottle left over. That's just how I've always been...) But I just finally took another pain pill today at around 9:00 p.m., because the pain was SO MUCH BETTER than it had been that I felt stupid bothering with it until then.
So currently I'm feeling almost no pain. Here's the PAIN run-down from yesterday and today: Mostly the knee where the gout (???) is, of course. Also my right ankle, probably from favoring the left leg so much. On and off both big toes have been throbbing a bit, too. (Gout is often focused in the big toes. I have a lot of big toe pain, as I'm constantly stubbing one toe or the other... Marilyn thinks that's a left-handed thing.) And my right hip -- which has been acting up for weeks -- was bad again this evening (I was probably sleeping on it earlier today, trying to avoid the left knee). When I decided to take the pain pill, it was very much based on my hip, as well as the knee...
Yes, for the record, I have many friends with gout. And Dad and my Uncle Albert both had it pretty bad. I wonder if Grandpa Ed had it, too (not sure). No idea about Mom's side of the family... Those of you (like my friend Frank) who have it know how bad the pain is. I can only say I'm shocked by how bad it is. I've had a lot of different kinds of pain (from surgery, menstrual issues, tooth issues and so on), but this is damn bad, I have to say. The thing, of course, with gout is that it hits feet/toes, ankles and knees -- and that means you have to walk on the pained area...
Well, enough about this! I'm supposed to seriously increase liquid intake (especially water) and have done so -- my urine is almost clear and has little or no odor at all. That's exactly what I need, to be peeing constantly and flushing out the uric acid. According to the book I'm reading, you can really control gout just by keeping your liquid levels up at all times. As this reduces any need for on-going medications, I like the idea of following this. Mom would be delighted -- she thought people should drink GIANT quantities of water at all times. (smile)
I have been doing a lot of reading (!!!) -- just loving the new Kindle paperwhite so much! And playing around at Instagram.
I actually put KIK on my iPad -- even though generally speaking I don't care for instant messengers (and have NONE on my computer -- nor have I ever used them). Don't know if I'll keep KIK -- or use it much, but I guess we'll see...
Marilyn and I are thinking about getting a movie (surprise), so I guess I'll end.
THANKS to everyone commenting to send your concerns. And for everyone send good thoughts (and prayers). I appreciate it all more than I can possibly say. Sorry I've been so focused on ME lately -- hopefully I'll be better about that going forward! (Love you guys...)