Lowkey Signal Boost · 4:50am Dec 30th, 2021
Hay check this guy's blog out, it's neat.
equestrian.sen is one of my favorite category theorist bronies. Top fifteen, easy.
Granted, being literally bimbofied by a weird disease at least has some fetish appeal.
That aside, things could be better.
Ribs keep breaking and maybe it's not ribs even though it sure feels like it. Going to get a CT because the x-rays turn up zip every time. My concentration and memory have worsened a bit, and this has been the general trend since 2009. I had a hard time driving last night in the rain so I'm going to avoid driving when it's both dark and rainy now because I can't pay attention to what I'm doing even when the only psychoactive in me is Adderall. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to teach. Even getting anything done at all is challenging most days, and eating is kinda difficult too. Usually I wait two or three days and have a huge meal then repeat.
It's frustrating to watch your body and mind fall apart and have no idea why. The only test they've been able to do for any of this was for the peripheral neuropathy, which is positive so I know I have that now. This is useful because the treatment is oh wait there is no treatment and they don't know what causes it, just like my myofascial pain and the ME/CFS. I think all of this is part of the same disease, which I suspect is autoimmune, but with the current state of medicine there's nothing for it. All I can do is hope my disability levels off at some point, but even at the current level it's very challenging.
Sorry, had to vent. I'm afraid to talk to people, even friends. I don't really know what to do. I can take a small comfort in the fact that there are several really good authors here who are probably thrilled this is happening to me, because at least something positive should come of it, y'know? It's hard to look for silver linings here.
I'll teach in Spring. I always take Summer off, and I might try to skip a year, or I might decide I'm done with everything. I am regrettably bound to the coil until my husband and parents have expired so I'll probably be around a long time. My health is fantastic except for the parts that cause suffering.
The story I have for the G5 Bingo contest is pretty neat, though. I'll try to finish it this week maybe. I have the next two weeks off from work and at least some of those days have to be better than today. :V
I'm sorry you're suffering, Trick. :(
Do whatever you gotta to feel better and stay as much of your glorious self as you can. As you said, here's hoping it levels off, ideally somewhere pretty okay-ish but at the very least somewhere at least tolerable.
You definitely need a CT for chest pain. Not sure why they didn't do it sooner.
I talk about this everywhere, so not sure if I've already mentioned it to you, but have you tested yourself for food intolerances? They can make any inflammatory condition worse. Two weeks off one food at a time. Caffeine, eggs, almonds, dairy, wheat. Then potatoes, tomatoes, and anything else you eat every few days or more. So in your case, that would mean anything you eat every time you have your big meal.
And get your electrolytes in the meantime. Don't only drink water between meals, eat some salt or drink an electrolyte solution. Dehydration can affect your eyesight when driving--at least, it's happened to me--and it is possible to be low on salt.
Whatever it is, I hope you get it sorted out.
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The first time I was coughing violently for an extended period and it hurt like Tartarus. Broken ribs is the obvious diagnosis there. The second time was after some coughing as well. The third time, not so much, and two x-rays taken two weeks apart showed nothing. So I think it's been sensible to hold off on the tomography but at this point it's a necessity.
I don't think diet is a relevant issue, I'm afraid. Dietary allergies don't cause myofascial pain, ME/CFS, and peripheral neuropathy, nor do they affect memory and concentration in a progressive decline over many years. What I eat (or don't eat) does not appear to affect my symptoms. Caffeine is the only constant I could try to remove, but it's helpful with ME/CFS and unlikely to be a primary issue because caffeine alone does not do this to people either. I do have environmental allergies, but these are inescapable as I'm allergic to many things everypony inhales constantly such as dust mite feces and mold spores. My overactive immune response lends a little additional weight to the theory that this is an autoimmune disease.
Well, from out here I'm not sure if it's dire enough to meddle and risk consequences (kinda seems so) and if more researched reasons, like weird-ass infections or nutrition stuff mentioned below are excluded (from that much time with no results from x-rays, honestly, kinda doesn't seem so), but autoimmune diseases are treated more or less in a same way with anti-inflammatory drugs (plus corticosteroids) and immunosuppressants. There's probably something that isn't super dangerous in small doses and it's possible to just see what will happen. Although, that requires doctor who's both isn't wuss and isn't lazy.
Also, if I understand correctly, there are companies that can test for bunch genetic diseases simultaneously.
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Sounds like you're in one of those rotten catch-22s where if the CT shows something, it's bad, but if it doesn't show anything, you still need answers. I hope you get some soon.
Damn, I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you'll get better
I don't want this to sound the wrong way, but... have you ever considered trying a healthy version of keto? I know it's a long shot, but going keto forces the body to switch to an alternate fuel source (fat and ketones), which can help reduce certain kinds of pain (especially inflammation-based) and improve the body AND mind.
I'm not suggesting keto is some magical 'fix it all - it's not. But if your problems come from - for example - insulin resistance, too many inflammatory foods, or something similar, a healthy keto (or even 'just' low-carb diet) can potentially reduce the symptoms a lot in the long run.
Again, I know it's a long shot, but more and more people report weird symptoms they fought for years that went away or decreased significantly after they radically changed their diet. May be worth a shot
?
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Thanks. I appreciate the kind words and the advice.
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Heh, my diet requires a constant huge intake of sugar. I'm thin, can't gain weight, and need constant sugar. Just my metabolism. Not diabetic or prediabetic. That was one of the first things we thought of.
Sometimes I appear to enter ketosis despite the sugar (yeah, had ketones in my blood even on a solid sugar diet) just because I don't eat enough calories some days, but it doesn't help or hurt.
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I see... Well, I'm not a nutritionist, but if you want to gain weight, wouldn't it work better to eat more healthy fats (avocados, omega-3's, lots of nuts, and dairy) instead of sugar? Or eat some sugar (to activate insulin) plus lots of fat? Unless your insulin response is messed up (as in, it doesn't rise high enough after eating protein and fats), it should work... at least in theory.
Anyway, if the doctors don't figure it out soon, you may want to experiment with your diet, even trying some extremes - like going full carnivore, keto, or vegetarian - for a while and see the results. Sometimes you may be getting severe adverse reactions from seemingly healthy stuff you would never suspect. Worse, unhealthy responses from food are almost always cumulative in nature, so we can consume some things for years before our body starts showing symptoms.
In any case, I wish you luck. I hope you'll get through this
I'm so sorry you're having such health problems; good luck, whatever form that may take here...
I don't really have any good advice; I know little about medicine to begin with, and I assume you've already done a lot of research and experimentation trying to figure things out here.
(Also, sorry about the delay getting to this; I'm quite behind in getting through FIMFiction blog posts.)