The rash

I still have the rash.  It is incrementally better than yesterday when it was incrementally better than the day before when it was incrementally better than the day before that.  That day it was substantially better than the day before, but with all that improvement, it is still pretty bad. 

It flares up.

I think what happens is that I inadvertentaly eat something I'm allergic too and then the increased level of toxins in my systems causes the rash to flare up.  It gets hot, angry red, and swells.  And itches like mad.  It drives me crazy, sometimes.  But the Aveeno oatmeal baths my doctor prescribed don't help and the Benadryl makes me too tired and sleepy to do anything at all.

If it really was the Wellbutrin, how long will it take to subside?

We are reading The Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo.  Rob, the protagonist, has a rash.  Maybe mine will subside when we finish the book.  I'm really liking the book!

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Medusa

Medusa, by Mary Stebbins. Sometimes, when I am in bad pain, I am ttrasnformed like Medusa into a terrible monster. Click on image to see larger. 

Flare-up with complications

You're walking back to your car in the dark and three thugs leap out of the bushes with baseball bats and begin whaling on you.  You crumple to the ground in pain, thinking everything is broken and you're probably going to die there.  They roll you around, take your wallet, you watch, your ring, a gold chain around your neck, which they yank on as if to sever your neck.  When they are satisfied they have everything if value (they even take your change), they take turns kicking you until you pass out.

The next thing you know, several worried people are leaning over you, asking if you're all right.  The answer is no, you're not really all right.  But it's determined that you have no broken bones.  Everything hurts.  It hurts terribly.   You can hardly bear to move.

Well, that's how I feel.  Right now.  I am having a fibromyalgia flare-up that is really bad and everything hurts. 

Everything, inside and outside of my body.  My muscles, ligaments and innards hurt.   I cannot sit, stand or lie down in comfort.  I move around, trying to find some position that doesn't hurt.  In vain.  And yes, I was robbed yesterday, in more ways than one.  $24 was missing from my tolls container in the car, I got a ticket for an uninspected vehicle that will probably cost an arm and a leg before it's settled, and my camera got run over—perhaps by a snowplow or a car, and it is crushed and wet and probably ruined.  I am very depressed.

I felt terrible when I arrived here yesterday and I feel as bad or worse today.  Here are some possible factors:

Ø       Exercise helps my fibro and I didn't get any yesterday and the day before I didn't get enough

Ø       The CPAP helps my fibro, and I fell asleep without it last night and slept until 3 AM without it on.

Ø       The air filter was not running in the bedroom last night

Ø       I am excruciatingly affected by stress and was very stressed out by the long drive, being stopped twice by cops, the missing money and so on.

Ø       I ate out with Sara on Wednesday night.  I am very sensitive to eating out because there are unknown foods in the dishes I'm served and I almost always get sick after I eat out.  I ate:  Liver with onions, bacon, red pepper and brown gravy, home fries, salad with iceberg lettuce, croutons, carrots, tomatoes and Italian dressing.  Water with lemon.  Almost everything on that list is a food I am supposed to avoid, except the carrots.

Ø       I drove all day yesterday and always feel pretty terrible after driving all day.

Ameliorating factors:

Ø       Keith gave me a backrub and neck and head rub last night, which helped some.  It felt good, very good.  The problem is, I need to be rubbed constantly until the pain goes and no one has that much energy.  I'm sure it helped some, but I still feel terrible!

Ø       I had no coffee, chocolate or desserts, which tend to make things worse.

Food log:

Yesterday (1-19-06): 

B:  omelet with mushrooms, broccoli, turkey pepperoni and fake cheese, toast with bran and margarine, prunes.

L:  Two small turkey sandwiches on grain bread with margarine, a largish empire apple, prunes.

S:  hickory smoked beef jerky, a few crackers (Stoned wheat thins)

D:  porterhouse steak, stir-fry of squashes and mushrooms, 1 Ithaca Apricot wheat beer, a few potato chips.

The day before yesterday (1-18-06):

B:  Oatmeal with bran, rice milk, raisins, prunes

L:  Open faced tuna sandwiches on hemp bread with margarine, no mayo, prunes

D:  Liver with onions, bacon, red pepper and brown gravy, home fries, salad with iceberg lettuce, croutons, carrots, tomatoes and Italian dressing.  Water with lemon. 

1-17-06—the farther back I go, the hazier my memory.

B:  omelet with mushrooms, broccoli, turkey pepperoni and fake cheese, toast with bran and margarine, prunes.

L:  Chicken Stir-fry with broccoli and mushrooms

D:  Chicken soup, same ingredients (I think)

I'm supposed to keep a food journal, but when I'm feeling well and happily busy, I "forget".  I need to know what I eat when I feel well and what I eat when I feel bad.  What foods are safe and what not.  I'm also supposed to keep a sleep journal, but it is hard to stay motivated.

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Toby

Toby. This is Toby, my little Toshiba Libretto computer that I am working on and blogging on. It is tiny! Hard to see the screen! 

one more

I was beginning to despair, but I finally got one more box done and carried it out to the car.  Now there are four boxes in the car.  The back seat is nearly full, but there is still a lot more room in the car and a lot more stuff to deal with.

I also put the dark clothes in the dryer and started the lights.  I still have to eat and do laundry and wash dishes and all the regular stuff. 

I'm taking a little break because I'm so tired.  I've been standing and standing and bending and running around.  Phew.  This is hard work,  And no one can tell I've done anything at all!  Very discouraging.

I'm going to need to stop cleaning and packing to walk and get a perscription filled and maybe go see Sara and Mom. 

It's very windy out but has not yet started snowing except a few flakes now and then.

Hope you are having a nice day!

--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary

Winter Silo Sunset

Winter Silo Sunset, by Mary Stebbins. Click image to see larger. These two pictures were taken the day before yesterday. It is raining today. 

slow progress, phew

It's 11:15 AM and I am breaking for a shower. All I've done so far this morning, besides my sit-ups and breakfast, is finish a box I started last nght, pack one more box, and part of another. And some cleaning and sorting. It's unbearbly slow. I'm all sweatified from running around and all stuffy from digging out and dusting stuff.

cornfield in light snow

cornfield in light snow, by Mary Stebbins. It's sort dismal out, dark lighting, cold. Click on photo to see bigger. 

Ambien CR

It's addictive and disturbs your normal sleep paterns, and I've been afraid to take it, but I took it last night after drinking cofee and eating chcolate to make the long tiring drive to Baldwinville from Detroit, and I slept like a baby.

I plan on taking it tonight, and then not again for a while.
--
I am certain of nothing but the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination- John Keats
Mary