Today is my third good day in a row! The first was actually really great. Sure, I’m still in pain, and I don’t have as much energy as most “healthy” people my age, but I’m still loving how much better I feel! The question is, what’s causing it? I want to know the cause so maybe I can make it last! Here are my current thoughts:
- It’s my new medication. I started the new med exactly 3 weeks before my first good day. The problem is, usually good effects are felt within the first few days on this med. The changes are right – it’s my energy that’s improved, and that’s what I’d expect from this med – but the timing is off.
- It’s the medication I stopped taking. At my doctor’s suggestion, I stopped taking a medication two and a half weeks ago. Since the new med hadn’t had an effect yet, I wasn’t to worried about doing both so close together. I wouldn’t expect it to have this effect, but maybe it’s an indirect cause.
- It’s the supplement I stopped taking. I stopped it about a week ago when I realized my most recent gastrointestinal problems started just after I added in this supplement. Two days later, my gastro problems were mostly gone, and the third day everything was as it should be. That alone wouldn’t make me feel this good (my gastro problems were fixed for months before I started that supplement, and I didn’t feel this good then) but maybe in combination with something else it’s helping.
- It’s daylight savings time. I have seasonal affective disorder, so I always get extra happy and more energetic when we have the extra hour of daylight. The thing is, DST started two weeks ago, and I usually feel the effect within the first couple of days.
- It’s a fluke. This is an odd coincidence. Usually when I have a random good day it’s just that: one good day. Not three. But maybe this is just a longer fluke.
- Maybe it’s something else I haven’t even thought of yet.
- Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above.
Some of you might wonder why I’m not considering my new CPAP machine, and that’s because I only started it last night, two days after I started feeling so much better.
Right now, #1 seems the most likely, but the timing of it just doesn’t fit. But maybe there was so much damage done to my cells, that it was just delayed in taking effect. And my doctor did say it could take up to a month. I didn’t believe him based on all of the research I’d done and what other patients said, but maybe he was right. It’s odd that I’d have felt absolutely nothing for the first 3 weeks, though, instead of a more gradual improvement. But nothing else fits as well. It’s probably that with the other things added in. I just really, really, really hope it’s not a fluke! I’m loving this feeling so much, and I don’t want it to go away! I haven’t felt this good in many months, maybe even a year or more. It’s not like I feel “healthy,” but I sure do feel a hell of a lot closer than I did four days ago. I feel like I can do more so I’m trying to do more without overdoing it. I also feel that I’m thinking more clearly, so I’m reading more and getting more out of it. I feel happier, but I guess anyone would if they saw a spark of hope after feeling so sick for so long. Still, I’m just nonstop happy.
I guess there’s only one thing I can do for now: enjoy it while I can! I’m taking walks each day. I spent more time out with friends today than I normally would. I’m still not going to the party tonight that I had already been planning to skip. Right now I feel up to it, but I don’t want to overdo it. I’m reading more. I’m trying to catch up on insurance paperwork. And mostly I’m just appreciating this feeling of being more alert. It’s not perfect, but boy, I’ll take it!
Chronic Rants 
WooHoo and HAPPY DANCE!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
… and HUGS and BLESSINGS … forgot to mention those!
I agree with Karen, although I’m afraid my dancing days are pretty much over. Here’s to feeling better!
You guys are awesome! Thanks!
It is the typical “rollercoaster” affect as i call it. My philosophy Ive developed with Lyme n Co is that “there is no such thing as ‘overdoing it’ because when you have these awesome days you can’t help yourself to want to make the most of it. It even goes so far as you feeling so high on feeling good that you don’t want to go to bed when you should bc you are too afraid the next day your euphoria will be ripped away. It’s the “cruelty” of the disease.
I’ve ridden this coaster for over 3 yrs now, racking my brain, my habits, trying to find patterns to help me explain, “why.” But my only mental resolution is that Lyme n Co are ‘sleeping’ at the same time. The bugs have cycles of activity.
It is so mentally challenging for me bc I still hold hope of recovery or remission. And i ask myself, with this cruel rollercoaster cycle, “will I ever really believe” if I have remission or recovery? Because I know, in the highs of feel-good, it will eventually come down.
Does that sound depressing? It should not, bc the opposite is also true. When I feel my worst, I do not let myself get too discouraged, bc the euphoria of “feel good” will come around again. Meanwhile, I wait patiently, calculating my activities for when Lyme gives me my body back.
All the while too, doing all I can to KILL the bugs.
Make the most of it and don’t let anybody tell you that you “overdid it” when you start to feel crummy. It’s the way we “roll.” lol
It’s great that you have those days where you can do so much! I guess we’re all different. I’ve “overdone it” enough times, and suffered enough horrible consequences, that I’m care to never do that again. Sometimes I do by mistake, but I try not to because it’s just not worth the pain and suffering that can last for days afterwards. Thankfully, that didn’t happen this time.
That’s fantastic! I hope you can work out what caused it, so that you can build on the healthier feeling… and that the CPAP helps too. 🙂
I’m so glad to hear you are feeling better. Do enjoy it!
I wish I could do Facebook-type “likes” on all of your comments 🙂 Unfortunately whatever it was seems to have subsided, but I’m still feeling just slightly better than I had before, so I’m hoping this is the “new normal” for a while!
Seems “how I feel” is much like “blog stats” — some days are better than others; some weeks are better than others; when your view pulls all the way back to Month-to Month, the trend is mostly up (or sometimes not), and then you can take a closer look at what you did or stopped doing that seems to change things. Being too “granular” will make ya crazy!
{{{CM + everybody!}}}
I like your analogy – very apt 🙂