I used to think that severe physical pain was the epitome of horrid physical ailments. I've been proven wrong. Severe dizziness is worse. Yesterday morning, I suffered from such dizziness that it woke me up from sleep. Every time I tried to move, the bed would rotate under me. I ended up holding on to my pillow, as it was the only part of the bed ( Read more... )

It's remarkable how much happier I am today than I was just a few days ago. Amazing what reducing prednisone from 10 to 7.5 mg can do for my emotional well-being. Suddenly, instead of everything seeming completely OVERWHELMING AND I DON'T HAVE ENERGY FOR ANY OF THIS, I'm a lot more calm and able to work with what's going on instead of panicking. It ( Read more... )

My prednisone's been upped to 10 mg for 6 days, because the patches are helping but not enough. I'm still in a bit of pain and eating is definitely not comfortable. My rheumatologist is optimistic that I'll be able to drop it back down to 5 by the surgery. I think he's overly optimistic. Frankly, I'm expecting things to get worse after Friday, when ( Read more... )

The patch seems to be working on my neck. So, going to shave my sideburns and put the patch on my jaw.

Right. Breakfast. Food is good ( Read more... )

My rheumatologist managed to see me this morning at 10:30. (I am so lucky to have such a good, responsive rheumy.) The verdict is that I do have swelling in my neck and jaw. Bad bad bad. So, he's put me on an anti-inflammatory patch and told me to start 10 mg on Prednisone when I need to, if the patch doesn't help immediately. Also, the patch has ( Read more... )

Long story very short, I had a toe infection last week. Because of this, I had to take antibiotics for a week (not a big deal) four times a day (but annoying)... and had to skip my weekly shot of Enbrel (not cool). I was thinking that I was doing rather well on it... until dinner tonight, which was Friendly 8s with some people from my Meeting. ( Read more... )

It's been a week now since I started doing trigger point therapy on myself, as taught by this book. I've been working on 4 muscles groups only: sternocleidomastoid, trapezius, masseter, and pterygoid. I'm doing an average of 4 treatments a day, I think, with the minimum being 3 and the maximum 5. For the trapezius muscles in my back, I've been ( Read more... )