Holidays, Cats & Cat's Claw

Well. Finally finished off the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers today! Just in time to start taking advantage of all my birthday club coupons that began arriving in my e-mail over the weekend! Uh-oh. And I was doing so well with eating healthy and sparingly! Oh well, birthdays only come once a year, and it's not like I'll be getting out much to get stuffed with holiday goodies.

My stomach, thankfully, listened to me and behaved, at least for a couple of days. I think what's helped is that I've started taking a Cat's Claw supplement. Not one of the ones I had recommended to me, way too expensive, at least at the doses recommended on the bottles, just a generic one my Mom got me at the health store for under ten bucks. Their store brand is usually pretty good, so we figured, why not? I think I started out at too high a dose, but hard to say, because that's the dose I was taking at first, then I backed off/forgot to take it for a day and got worse, so I chose to knock it down a capsule, and so far so good, and thank goodness, because the acid reflux and nausea especially, were getting awful. (Ginger wasn't helping, nothing was; and stomach pain to boot.) So the tapering off the anti-viral is going way, way better than I'd expected. I'm down to half a tab daily.

Tomorrow, it's off to the cardiologist. Fingers crossed that she can do something to help me. I had the luxury of choosing from an entire group of cardiologists at this medical group, and her bio mentioned orthostatic hypotension and tachycardia. Hopefully, with her support, I can get them to allow the autonomic testing.

I am SO glad I've had a little bit of a break from all the crazy doctor appointments this past week. This week doesn't seem so bad, especially since two of my 3 appointments are close by. The follow-up with my PCP is the only far one, but that's okay.

Physical therapy has been interesting, though I've only gone once so far besides the evaluation. The Therapist continues to impress me. Although I still think she may be a bit gung-ho in wanting me to start with 20 minutes of cardio, pending the cardiologist's approval. The exercises she gave me were super-easy...except they're not for me, and every time I do them it seems to set off the pain. It really sucks not going more than once a week, especially at the start, because it's hard to get the hang of doing them right. (I'm terribly uncoordinated, couldn't memorize a dance routine to save my life.) But I think she said that after the cardiologist's input, I can ramp it up to two. She also said that my muscle weakness was equivalent to an 80 year old's (so there, relative who practically called me a liar for saying that I feel like an 80 year old sometimes) but that she has seen someone my age that weak maybe weaker, before, once.

So, all is basically well for now. I've volunteered to foster a couple of cats, I just couldn't take the solitude anymore, and I made the mistake of watching one too many cute cat videos, haha. I wasn't keen on having to clean litter again, but I'll manage. They are young & playful and will be fun to have around I think. I figure, my allergies haven't completely gone away since mine's been gone, so hopefully it won't be that much worse. So I'm excited! I'm not having company over on my birthday after all, I hadn't realized it was my brother's 30th birthday, so I had to forgive him for scheduling his birthday celebrations on my actual birthday, but I'm still getting the place cleaned, a great birthday present to myself! I can't afford it, but I don't care! Like my sometimes illogical mother is fond of saying when she's going to spend money on something she can't afford, "I deserve it!". Well I do, right? Okay, well I'd better go to sleep before I start thinking that I idea through. It's not like I'll have enough money for everything I need anyhow, no matter what I spend it on I'll be short. Oy. Story of my life! Okay, well now I'm going to go meditate on abundance!

Energy after Epivir Discontinuation...

A couple of weeks ago I ran out of Epivir. I made sure to taper off, as I knew I was running out and more wouldn't be available quickly. As I did, my energy, which has been wanting all year long, seemed to bounce back. Around the same time, I re-started a once daily 1/2 dose of Tramadol, which I'd previously used with success to get me going past the aches, stiffness, and sluggishness of an FM/CFS morning. I also began a supplement called Tre-en-en, as well as Methylcobalamin (an readily absorbable version of Vitamin B-12). I wasn't sure which of these was having the effect, or if it was simply the absence of the Epivir, but I now suspect the energy and stamina may be due in large part to the B-12. (I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian of 10 years, and I've had a borderline anemic Iron level for quite awhile.)
Whatever it is, am I am infinitely grateful for the energy. The list of things that need to be done is endless and it gives me so much joy to accomplish so much, even if they are mainly little things, like phone calls, errands, and tidying up around the house. Accomplishment is a heady reward.

I am happy to report that my sleep is improving as well. I regularly fall asleep no later than 2:30am, and sometimes as early as 1:30am, a huge difference from my former 4-6am bedtime. Which means I'm waking up earlier too. I'm not exactly leaping out of bed, but I find myself going as soon as I get up much of the time, and able to keep it up for a bit...

Not sure if I had previously reported it, but I got scared off from the Tagamet experiment when I began to wake up groggy and spend the day extremely sleepy. (It knocked me out at night, also.) I've tried it again since I went off of Epivir, and found that it doesn't seem to have the same effect on my energy level and sleepiness. (Maybe makes me a little sleepy at night, and if today is any indication, tones down the energy, but nothing like before.)

Things are going better overall than they have in a long time, and I can almost say that I am ok, closer to actually brushing against happiness than I have been in a very long time. I have truly been blessed this year, with progress in my emotional and physical well-being and I'm starting to feel like a worthwhile person again; part of "the world" as I tend to think of it, rather than an outsider looking in...

To thank, I have my family, their love and generosity, and I like to think, maybe Reiki or the fates smiling upon me and mine, because all around me the wheels that were frozen for such a long time seem to be turning things in the right direction once again. It so lifts my spirits to see those around me moving onward and upwards...even the darn (i.e. beloved) cat is doing well...and I got a notice from the Disability people that they are requesting any further info, so I'm guessing they may be looking to finally move forward. Yup, there is much hope to be had these days and maybe soon, life can finally, truly, be continued...Wish me luck!