(no subject)
Heat wave this week. Thankfully, I have no obligations and can just relax indoors and avoid the sun entirely. I'm supposed to see the dermatologist on Thursday, but my regular doc is out for the summer (teaching hospital) and I'm not in a skin flare and they've already said they won't manage my plaquenil, so I'm rescheduling for after my surgery stitches are out. Sometimes stitches make me flare, so that will be a good time for a checkup with them.
With that out of the way, I don't have anything until July 9th, when I see the headshrinkers. I was able to set an appointment for both my therapist and doctor back-to-back, which is awesome. I wish I could ask for 2 months of refills, but instead I'm going to ask for an alternative to Geodon. It's just not working out. I mean, I have almost 3 more weeks to give it a go, and maybe I'm still in the adjustment phase.
Also on the medication front - I don't think the prednisone weandown is working out. I've been really really puffy and my eyes always feel tired. It's only been a week on the lowered dose, so I'll give that another week-ish, too, unless it gets worse. For right now, ibuprofen and cold compresses are helping. I'd rather take ibuprofen than prednisone, but both have long-term-use side effects.
I can't risk not having the surgery in August. It'll crack me if I have to wait again. So even though it means going to the eye doc during what I was hoping was my break from docs will be needed because he'll want to see me before re-upping the prednisone dosage, and I might even need another scan. I kinda want a scan, to be honest, because it's the best way to tell the specifics. If it's just eyelid fat that is swelling, there's no big deal beyond discomfort and even more limited vision and it won't affect my eye position. If there's interior swelling, not only are my optic nerves in danger but my eye position could shift yet again, and that's what will rule out muscle surgery.
I have a stash of prednisone and I'm somewhat tempted to just up my dose myself and call my doc and tell him that's what I did and see if it makes a difference. I probably shouldn't only because it's better to have everything documented by them. Needing to up the prednisone means, technically, I'm still flaring... we just have it under control.
I figured as much because I'm losing weight again. I'm really working on eating so it doesn't get even worse. I can barely manage 1200 calories/day. Granted, my activity level is really low so that isn't as awful as it sounds. I'm trying to boost it with more whole milk. And the least offensive convenience food I can find - whole meat chicken tenders. All the breading makes them high calorie, but I can only eat one, maybe two, at a time. I wish I even liked high calorie snack food at this point, but the only thing I can think of is pudding and even that has probably gotten too sweet for me. I like pita chips, but it's not like I can eat a bag of them in a day. A couple handfuls at most.
French toast seems to be a good thing. Although again, I can't eat much at once. But if I use thick enough bread, I can get a whole egg on one piece and actually have something of a meal. Still not a lot of calories, but at least they are good ones (compared to the high calorie crap I seem to be faced with).
I'm contemplating energy type bars to add to the mix. I'm not a big fan but I weigh 100lbs.
With that out of the way, I don't have anything until July 9th, when I see the headshrinkers. I was able to set an appointment for both my therapist and doctor back-to-back, which is awesome. I wish I could ask for 2 months of refills, but instead I'm going to ask for an alternative to Geodon. It's just not working out. I mean, I have almost 3 more weeks to give it a go, and maybe I'm still in the adjustment phase.
Also on the medication front - I don't think the prednisone weandown is working out. I've been really really puffy and my eyes always feel tired. It's only been a week on the lowered dose, so I'll give that another week-ish, too, unless it gets worse. For right now, ibuprofen and cold compresses are helping. I'd rather take ibuprofen than prednisone, but both have long-term-use side effects.
I can't risk not having the surgery in August. It'll crack me if I have to wait again. So even though it means going to the eye doc during what I was hoping was my break from docs will be needed because he'll want to see me before re-upping the prednisone dosage, and I might even need another scan. I kinda want a scan, to be honest, because it's the best way to tell the specifics. If it's just eyelid fat that is swelling, there's no big deal beyond discomfort and even more limited vision and it won't affect my eye position. If there's interior swelling, not only are my optic nerves in danger but my eye position could shift yet again, and that's what will rule out muscle surgery.
I have a stash of prednisone and I'm somewhat tempted to just up my dose myself and call my doc and tell him that's what I did and see if it makes a difference. I probably shouldn't only because it's better to have everything documented by them. Needing to up the prednisone means, technically, I'm still flaring... we just have it under control.
I figured as much because I'm losing weight again. I'm really working on eating so it doesn't get even worse. I can barely manage 1200 calories/day. Granted, my activity level is really low so that isn't as awful as it sounds. I'm trying to boost it with more whole milk. And the least offensive convenience food I can find - whole meat chicken tenders. All the breading makes them high calorie, but I can only eat one, maybe two, at a time. I wish I even liked high calorie snack food at this point, but the only thing I can think of is pudding and even that has probably gotten too sweet for me. I like pita chips, but it's not like I can eat a bag of them in a day. A couple handfuls at most.
French toast seems to be a good thing. Although again, I can't eat much at once. But if I use thick enough bread, I can get a whole egg on one piece and actually have something of a meal. Still not a lot of calories, but at least they are good ones (compared to the high calorie crap I seem to be faced with).
I'm contemplating energy type bars to add to the mix. I'm not a big fan but I weigh 100lbs.