Tis the season of illness. I really hate this time of the year. If I "dress warm" I over heat so I pretty much fluctuate, dress warm, overheat, don't dress warm, freeze. Fun right? Then to top it off, I get bronchitis and/or a sinus infection at least twice a year. Granted it's not as bad since I quit smoking for the final time. I quit during pregnancy and for months after, I'm not picking that habit up again. It's easy to quit, I quit cold turkey. It's not picking it back up 1+ years later, which is stupid backwards.
I think J had it worse of the 3 kids. She can't take any OTC meds so she was miserable all weekend. I took her to the pedi today, I wanted to take her to the ER last night but R said he felt we should just watch her over night. He doesn't ever feel like going to the doctor or ER at night. I'm quite a bit ticked off (I'm not supposed to be driving but next time, I believe I'll be risking it). She has bronchitis and a left ear infection. Her pulse ox was 94% while she was up and not actively coughing much. I'd hate to think of it being lower at night. She had a breathing treatment in the pediatrician and we got one to bring home. She's not too happy with it. The machine is pretty cute, it's a penguin. The carrying case looks like an igloo. I feel so bad for her. But she also got antibiotics (which didn't do too much good last time obviously), ear drops, and steroids as well as the nebulizer. I just gave her another treatment and she fell asleep halfway through it. It's like a miracle. She's been asleep since just before 8 and she's barely coughed at all, if any.
S and D felt pretty bad too but not as bad as J or me. But as bigger kids and an adult, we can take OTC meds to help alleviate our symptoms. At one point I thought we'd all need treatment. I had severe body aches, fever, cough, I even lost my voice in one night and took 2 days to get it back. I'm just glad it doesn't last weeks on end like pre-quitting smoking. It was a bit weird, I'm usually symptomatic, sometimes fairly mild, sometimes it's like a train wreck, but when I'm sick and/or on meds it's kind of hard to tell how much is the NCS, how much is the cold, how much is the cold meds. I guess it's better to over document. Though that's kind of difficult. Some days I'm symptomatic but to the level I've grown used to (kind of have to since it's been going on for 13+ years) that it's easy to overlook if I'm not focusing so I'll forget to document. I wind up just documenting BAD BAD days and completely forgetting minor or less severe days. I really need to work on documenting better for my doctor appointments. I also need to get back into exercising, at least to the best of my ability. I can walk close to 2 miles around the track on a so/so day before I get dizzy, though when it hits, it really hits. I can do an hour of yoga without difficulty except I need to work on increasing flexibility to better myself in the poses. I can even do an hour of zumba though only on a good day. It tires me out for a few days, and the walking, my muscles ached for a week. I need help that I'm just not getting with my husband. I can't drive to the track, walk it and drive back, it's a syncope risk but he only went with me once then it became "Later" or "Tomorrow". Yoga is easier to accomplish but I'm so far from flexible it isn't even funny. And as I said before, zumba is strictly an "I feel great" activity. I've tried other work outs, I know I can do walking and yoga, even by myself. I just don't want to risk passing out alone, especially while driving. Passing out in public is embarrassing enough without adding danger to it. I'll figure it out. I really need to, for my health. I really like yoga. It's relaxing and calming, which is excellent for me. It won't raise my heart rate (I also have inappropriate sinus tachycardia, mitral valve prolapse, murmurs etc - that I know of, hopefully I'll find out more at my next appointment(s)) which happens if I stand up, walk up even the smallest incline, go from laying to sitting to standing fast, walk up a hill, bend down to pick stuff up repeatedly (cleaning stuff off floors is difficult and time consuming, I have to sit down to avoid getting very dizzy), you get the picture. So yoga and walking are pretty much perfect for me right?
Back to the need to document, Dr. M said the NCS didn't cover all my symptoms, I'm pretty sure I have other conditions just not diagnosed yet. Maybe POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). I have a lot of the same symptoms. MANY. I'll have to bring it up next month (and maybe again in August). One of the symptoms is postprandial hypotension. See in order to stay off meds for now I'm supposed to increase salt/sodium. An increase in salt (more than just a little shake or the salt shaker or a high sodium, fast food meal) can make me feel a bit better however, frequently, after a meal, I get dizzy and need to lay down. Which postprandial hypotension is a drop in blood pressure after eating. It sounds like what I'm experiencing. But I haven't been keeping track. I feel like I'd always be documenting. Good thing I have a smart phone I guess. But no excuses! I want help, I want to be better, I want to give as accurate a description of what I go through to help my doctor help me, so that's my goal. No slacking! Bye for now.
Sierra
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