I have energy! I don't know where it is coming from, but I sure am enjoying it! After work and a dentist's appointment yesterday, I mowed the grass and made pizza (not frozen). Typically, mowing the grass OR making pizza would do me in, but not yesterday. I have more energy than I've had in years!
Mowing grass wasn't nice to my recently broken elbow and it hurt quite a bit last night, but I should expect that. Tylenol #3 helped me get a good night's sleep and I feel full of energy again this morning.
Fatigue has always been a big problem for me since my RA first started. I've put so many things off because I didn't feel like doing them, that my house is a disaster. I hope that my renewed energy will help me to get control of things once again. I'm going to have a busy, productive weekend and pray that my fatigue doesn't ever come back.
Is this the way 49-year-old women, who don't have RA feel? Lucky snots, and lucky me, for however long it lasts! Gotta bounce!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Is my RA on vacation?
I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm having very little problems with my RA. I'm hoping this is a lasting thing. I'm thinking it is the result of the new NSAID, Etodolac. It seems I am stiff and painful until about an hour after I take it in the morning, and it wears off about 3 in the afternoon. Then I have minor pain until about an hour after the evening dose. I can live with that!
I am hopeful that it is the Etodolac giving me this RA reprieve and that a change in dosage or in the time I take it will eliminate even more of my pain and stiffness. I know my 7.5 mg of prednisone helps a lot too. I'll be seeing my rheumatologist early in June, so we'll see if there is some tweaking that can be done.
I've been trying to wean myself off narcotics and tramadol and am having lots of trouble with that. I have IBS-D, and the constipating effect of the narcotics has really helped me. When I don't take them I have those troubles tripled it seems. I guess I'll just have to give it a shot over the weekend and hope it isn't too bad.
I've learned to enjoy these periods when my disease is relatively quiet, but I've also learned that I can't count on them lasting. It can be so depressing when you are hit with a horrible flare when you've been feeling really well. I would like to think that I could gain control of my RA, but I'm going to try real hard to be realistic.
I'm feeling pretty good! Prissy, almost! I'm going to go enjoy it now. Take care!
I am hopeful that it is the Etodolac giving me this RA reprieve and that a change in dosage or in the time I take it will eliminate even more of my pain and stiffness. I know my 7.5 mg of prednisone helps a lot too. I'll be seeing my rheumatologist early in June, so we'll see if there is some tweaking that can be done.
I've been trying to wean myself off narcotics and tramadol and am having lots of trouble with that. I have IBS-D, and the constipating effect of the narcotics has really helped me. When I don't take them I have those troubles tripled it seems. I guess I'll just have to give it a shot over the weekend and hope it isn't too bad.
I've learned to enjoy these periods when my disease is relatively quiet, but I've also learned that I can't count on them lasting. It can be so depressing when you are hit with a horrible flare when you've been feeling really well. I would like to think that I could gain control of my RA, but I'm going to try real hard to be realistic.
I'm feeling pretty good! Prissy, almost! I'm going to go enjoy it now. Take care!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Another year older and deeper in . . .
There aren't really a lot of reasons I can think of to celebrate the passage of time. Considering that we are here on this earth for a finite number of years, it hardly makes sense to celebrate when one passes. But, that is the way we do things.
This week my family will celebrate 3 birthdays. Mine is today. I am one year from the big 5-0 today. It is so hard to believe that so much of my life is past now. My youth has definitely abandoned me.
I finally got my permanent punctal plugs on Saturday! Ahhhh! So much money, but also sooo much relief for the teeny things they are.
I'm on my third week back to work after my elbow adventure. I'm doing okay. My elbow bothers me quite a bit, but it is getting better. After sitting at a desk everyday for the past couple of weeks, it seems very odd that my feet have been bothering me the most. I guess the old RA is just telling me it didn't go anywhere. It is still here with me and I should just get used to it.
I am celebrating my blessings, and not my birthday this year. I have a wonderfully imperfect, quirky family that I adore; the sweetest man on the face of the earth calls me his princess; the cutest and smartest little boy on earth calls me Nana; I have a job that I actually enjoy much of the time; I have good friends that understand I need my space; I have hobbies that I can get lost in; I have pets that entertain me and enrich my life far more than I could ask . . . I could go on and on.
When I count the many blessings the years have bestowed (not a word I ordinarily use), I can be happy with my 49 years. I do have some celebrating to do after all.
Happy Birthday to Me!!! And, THANK YOU to everybody and everything that brings joy to my life, everyday.
This week my family will celebrate 3 birthdays. Mine is today. I am one year from the big 5-0 today. It is so hard to believe that so much of my life is past now. My youth has definitely abandoned me.
I finally got my permanent punctal plugs on Saturday! Ahhhh! So much money, but also sooo much relief for the teeny things they are.
I'm on my third week back to work after my elbow adventure. I'm doing okay. My elbow bothers me quite a bit, but it is getting better. After sitting at a desk everyday for the past couple of weeks, it seems very odd that my feet have been bothering me the most. I guess the old RA is just telling me it didn't go anywhere. It is still here with me and I should just get used to it.
I am celebrating my blessings, and not my birthday this year. I have a wonderfully imperfect, quirky family that I adore; the sweetest man on the face of the earth calls me his princess; the cutest and smartest little boy on earth calls me Nana; I have a job that I actually enjoy much of the time; I have good friends that understand I need my space; I have hobbies that I can get lost in; I have pets that entertain me and enrich my life far more than I could ask . . . I could go on and on.
When I count the many blessings the years have bestowed (not a word I ordinarily use), I can be happy with my 49 years. I do have some celebrating to do after all.
Happy Birthday to Me!!! And, THANK YOU to everybody and everything that brings joy to my life, everyday.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Mixed feelings
Tomorrow is the last day of my sick leave for my broken elbow. I'm going to really miss reading books, watching TV and really relaxing. But, I do miss work, and the people I work with. I know my first week back will be hard, but fun. I love what I do and I'm pretty good at it. I'll probably be exhausted and whiney, but glad to be back to my routine. I'm going to make good use of tomorrow and try to leave the mental preparation for my return to work for Sunday evening.
The elbow is still healing. I still sleep with it on a pillow. It is very sensitive and very stiff. I'm still doing most everything with my left hand. My cellulitis is clearing up, but I still have 17 more days of antibiotics. I'm still waiting for my punctal plugs to come in and I'm going through a lot of eye drops.
The RA has taken a backseat to all the other problems lately. I've had so much rest and so many painkillers, I've hardly noticed it at all really. Next week might be a different story.
The elbow is still healing. I still sleep with it on a pillow. It is very sensitive and very stiff. I'm still doing most everything with my left hand. My cellulitis is clearing up, but I still have 17 more days of antibiotics. I'm still waiting for my punctal plugs to come in and I'm going through a lot of eye drops.
The RA has taken a backseat to all the other problems lately. I've had so much rest and so many painkillers, I've hardly noticed it at all really. Next week might be a different story.
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