So Chris wasn't feeling well, so we didn't get out yesterday. I ordered $30 worth of groceries through Woolworths online. We have to pick them up at 1pm. It's so handy to shop like that. After that I need to get some prescriptions made up and go to the Post Office.
Searching for some spoons
I'm my own worst enemy!
It has a comforting ring to it.
It makes my spoons quiver!
It's all I can do this year!
Failing fast
My body is failing me and the fatigue is not only sapping my strength but my mental faculties. It is hard to formulate a sentence these days.
I have been to the doctor. My blood pressure meds have been increased (200/86) and that in itself makes me tired.
These days it takes me all my time to look after Chris and my home. Forget socialising.
I am on the strongest oral antibiotics, taking 9 a day. They have brought the boil on my spine to a head. I am waiting for it to pop itself, rather than try to squeeze it. Though I think I would die from the pain if we tried to do that. The boil is quite large.
I pace myself to try to eke out my meagre spoons but I find I just have to have a nana nap in the day to have enough spoons to cook dinner.
I am praying that I feel better for Christmas as we are having family here for lunch Christmas Day. Most certainly I will have to be stronger than what I am now. My body is failing fast.
Invisible illnesses hurt as much as a broken arm.
It gets tiresome!
It still is what it is!
Silly season's begun already!
Worth every cent!
I have enjoyed using my Roomba robotic vacuum so much that I have bought another robotic vacuum that also mops the floors.
Our home has lots of tiles on the floor and it takes a good deal of spoons to keep them clean. These two robotic vacuums saves me on energy and pain.
There's been little energy and a lot of pain these last few weeks. My blood pressure is still high even with me resting more. It's a bit of a puzzle really as emotionally I am good-or as good as someone with constant fibromyalgia pain can be. So I am not stressed.
I am enjoying our new home and it is finally decorated and things unpacked. I have also been decluttering and have given away quite a few things that I found were only taking up space without bringing me joy.
Anyway, I highly recommend all Sacrificial Home Keepers get a robotic vacuum- preferably one that mops as well as vacuums. They are coming down in price but I assure you, they are worth every cent!
Epstein Barr And Fibromyalgia: The Link
Epstein Barr, the virus responsible for glandular fever or mononucleosis, has been linked to the development of fibromyalgia – a chronic, painful condition of the muscles and connective tissue.
Fibromyalgia sufferers are mainly female and report chronic widespread pain and a heightened and painful response to gentle touch. One of the most important criteria to determine whether or not you may have this disease is significant pain in very specific areas of your body, including:
* Inside of your elbows
* Your collar bones
* Inside of your knees
* Your hips
Usually these locations are symmetrical, so you’ll have pain equally present on both sides of your body. Experiencing significant pain when someone presses on those areas, on both sides, is indicative of this condition.
Other symptoms can include fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, bowel and bladder problems, difficulty swallowing and joint stiffness.
Conventional medicine offers no cure for fibromyalgia, although there are treatments like medication, exercise and behavioral interventions that can reduce symptoms.
The natural approach to treating fibromyalgia is to re-balance the immune system which may have been damaged by the effects of the Epstein Barr virus. It is also vital to relieve symptoms through nutritional intervention, graded exercise, stress management and re-establishing good sleep patterns. Let’s have a look at some of these natural treatments for fibromyalgia:
The mineral magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant that is showing promising effects on the pain of this condition. It should be taken as a powder or capsule along with magnesium-rich foods like fish, avocado, raw nuts and seeds, soybeans, green leafy vegetables, brown rice, apples, apricots and grapefruit.
Malic acid is also often low in sufferers and should be supplemented. Malic acid is found naturally in fruits like apple. It often gives unripe fruit a tart or sour taste.
To help relieve the fatigue seen in fibro and Epstein Barr, vitamin C and the B complex are recommended. Anti-inflammatory foods like fish oil, zinc, ginger, turmeric, pineapple and paw paw can also help.
Restoration of normal sleep patterns is an essential part of the recovery process. Herbs like valerian, skull cap, hops and chamomile are excellent. Epsom salt baths which are naturally high in magnesium should also be taken nightly before bedtime. These baths reduce muscle pain and tension and help ensure a good night’s sleep. Gentle exercise during the day – either a walk, swim or stretching exercises can also help you sleep better at night.
Diet wise, I recommend my Epstein Barr, CFS and fibromyalgia patients follow a low carb, high protein diet based around good quality protein foods and plenty of fresh leafy greens and other vegetables. Sugar, grains and the nightshade family of foods like tomatoes, eggplant, chilli, potatoes and capsicum, should be eliminated as they can trigger pain and soreness in the fibromyalgia patient. Remember too to drink plenty of pure water – at least 2-3 litres a day.
I have to add here that I could never drink 2-3 litres of water a day and current medical advice is that we only need about 6 glasses. Too much water intake can cause more problems and we have enough to deal with already.
Here a little.
On this new quest
Having patience with yourself
Lately, I have realised that one of the reasons for my high blood pressure is probably in the way I stress about not being able to do what I want due to fibromyalgia.
Although I know that I am not to blame for being ill, I sometimes find myself berating myself and feeling cross that I am a lame duck. It really gets to me at times.
Often I succumb to false guilt, the guilt that comes from matters that are not in my control, and it is easy to go to the Pit of Despair. You do not want to go there.
On rare occasions, I burst into tears and it is then that Chris usually comes to my rescue, pointing out that it's not my fault, that whatever needs to be done can wait or he promises that he will do it...
It made me think that sometimes I am my own worst enemy. By self-condemnation, I am making a sad situation worse for myself.
When I realised that it was my thinking that makes me get so down sometimes, I smiled at the irony: usually I am trying to validate my tiredness and pain to "normals"- those who do not live with chronic pain and no spoons. Now the "normals" are validating me.
So today, after cleaning my kitchen and making lunch, I am going to "the beach" again. I am going to relax and only get up again when it is time to cook tea.
I am going to start to speak to myself as I would speak to someone else who was ill and blaming themselves: lovingly and kindly. Which just doesn't come naturally to me. I have patience with everyone except myself.
It's a pain!
So the day has started off without any appreciable spoons. However, I have purposed to do some chores in the house regardless. Simply because they have to be done.
With the last two days slack on housework, there are dishes and washing and some other chores that are shouting to be done.
My sugars are still 10.4 this morning in spite of taking the new diabetes medications for a week. So I accept that I am never going to feel really well. Fibromyalgia and angina coupled with back pain also seem to do that.
So today's list of to do's are:
- Soak and wash dishes and put away after air drying
- Catch up on the washing and put it away after the dryer has finished
- Cook some lamb stew in the slow cooker for dinner
Cats have never been very considerate
This morning I hit the floor running. Xena woke me with imminent chucks and I shooed her off my bed, but not before she soiled both my minkie blankets.
She also soiled the carpet in my bedroom. I have the blankets in the wash as we speak. The carpets have been cleaned and sprayed with Glen 20.
I love her dearly, but often tell myself there will be no more cats when she passes. She's 12 now. We will have to wait and see on that one!
So far since that, I have folded and put away 3 loads of clean washing, made lunch and cleaned my kitchen.
Tonight I am doing frozen dinners as we had a big lunch. Apart from that, I will be resting as my fibromyalgia is still flaring.
Now Xena is peacefully sleeping in her igloo. It would have been so much more Mummy friendly to have sicked up in that. A simple matter of washing out a little mattress. Still, cats have never been very considerate have they?
When the fog clears, tea's on the list.
Of apples and rosy cheeks
Between my nana naps!
Today is Saturday morning here. I have had a busy week with doctors appointments and physio for my daughter who is doing really well.
My son had a possible cancer in his bowels, but the first test was a false alarm and to be honest, it made me anxious. I didn't realise how anxious until he was cleared.
This son was born with a forceps injury to his eye- it looks normal but he has very little sight in it. He has developed a pterygium or sun damage in his good eye and has surgery next Friday to remove the growth because it is growing across his eye and may interfere with his vision. I will be glad when it's done and his eye has recovered.
All this has given me the Mother of all Flares. My fibromyalgia is killing me at the moment and I am taking frequent naps to cope with it. I have a few housework chores to do and some folding up of clean washing. I will do it- in between my nana naps!