Takin' it easy. . .

Well my throat felt somewhat better last night, but my neck and shoulder did not. Even with constant icing and taking advil. The pain was almost unbearable, so I finally caved and spoke to Dr. L's assistant who said to go ahead and stress dose. I didn't take any extra last night because I was afraid it would keep me up. So I took Tylenol PM and then took 30 mg this morning and 5mg for my afternoon dose. I definitely feel better then I did last night, but the pain is still there. It's so weird. I have no idea what I did or why this happened. Is it a weaning issue? Because of the strep? I'll add it to the list of questions for my doc... I can't believe I had to go back up in dosage. But honestly I hope this really helps. I promise to take it easy again!!

I slept pretty good considering though. I got up around 10am and went to eat breakfast. I've rested in my chair pretty much the whole day. I think hubby is feeling guilty about working so much and has been waiting on me hand and foot. Such a sweetie. The kids have been very helpful as well. As I type, hubby took the kiddos to the store with him. Getting stuff for school lunches as well as for dinner tonight too. So now I rest here, browsing the internet while watching my soap opera. fun fun.

I'll have dinner and then be off to bed soon after. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel even better....

12 weeks post op and strep throat!!

I have STREP THROAT!! Can you believe it?? My kiddos aren't even in school yet!! I'm in for a long school year, I can tell ya that.

When I went in for my docs appt yesterday, my doc walked in the room and just knew I had strep. He said he could just tell. Sure enough, the quick test they do came back positive. I couldn't believe it. So of course he put me on an antibiotic. I managed - barely - to get my son to and from his karate lesson. I picked up my antibiotic from the pharmacy and then got home and crashed. I could not do anything. I called hubby and begged him to come home, cuz I didn't even have any energy to even make the kids dinner. :( Thankfully he did. He cooked dinner for us and the kiddos. Chicken noodle soup...just what the doctor ordered. I didn't eat much as I just wasn't feeling good. I ended up going to bed with the kids at 8:30pm. I think I actually fell asleep before them too. I woke up at around 2am in pain and ended up taking some Tylenol PM. That got me through the rest of the night.

I woke up this morning took my hydro, took my antibiotic and some advil. My neck and shoulder were still aching and stiff!! I finally called my chiro and told him I had to see him today. (I had made an appt for next Wed, but this was bad enough, he needed to help me now!) He tried to work out my neck and back and said my neck was really inflamed. :( He put me on the electric stim machine for 15 min and then told me to go home and ice it all day today. It hurts as bad as my throat does, as sad as that is. I can barely move my head left or right and I can barely drink/swallow. Poor me I know.

Funny thing is, yesterday I went to lay down before we all went to my docs and my son came to feel my head. He said "mom. You are hot, you definitely have a fever." LOL Then he calls his sister over and tells her to feel. She says, "Oh yeah, a big fever." hehehehe! My kids knew I was really sick before me! Doc said I did indeed have a fever of 100.3. Good thing I have my kids to take care of me. Sad, but funny and definitely true.

My fever is gone though and now I'm just resting in my chair. I'll be here and not moving much the rest of the day and waiting excitedly til my hubby comes home. So much for having a good labor day weekend. Happy 12 weeks to me...

Feeling like crap!!

Ugh. I do not feel good and it started late last night. My throat started hurting. Like when I swallow. I had a hard time waking up after my morning dose - as usual. My mouth was all dry and yet I feel like I have some post nasal drip. Not sure what is going on. Could I have caught a cold from going out yesterday??

Thankfully with the help of some Tylenol PM, I slept ok. I woke up at 9:45am and had a small bowl of cereal. The milk actually coated my throat and made it feel better. Even if just for a few minutes. I hate feeling like this. I am going to see my family doc here at 3:15pm. Then I have to get my son to karate again. Another day that I miss my mom.

The back of my neck into my shoulders hurts too. Maybe I slept wrong. But it's giving me a headache. I don't want to take any medicine until after I see the doc. So I drank a 20oz bottle of diet coke in hopes that will help. I'll probably have to let Dr. L know what's going on and see if I need to go up in hydro or just stay put. Again I have to wait til I talk to my local doc.

I'll try to post back later if I can/feel up to it...

Another busy day

Another good restful night. I did sleep in again til about 9:30 when I finally had to get up and feed my kiddos breakfast again. So I fed them, myself and then we went up to get showered and dressed. I was feeling ok.

Around 11:45am, we took off for the kids dentist office. My poor lil' boy has some teeth issues and I wanted to make sure they were ok. Thankfully they were. So after that, we went to McDonalds for lunch. Those dang star wars toys.... Then we went home to meet up with my MIL who wanted to come with us to get the kiddos hair cuts. This is their "school cut" and of course my daughter who has had long hair for a few years now has decided to "grow up" on me and wanted it short. And not just short, but SHORT. It was almost to her butt and now it's up at her chin. It was emotional on mama, but she looks cute as ever. And definitely a tad older. *sigh*

I think I got myself so emotional the headache was there. The same one as yesterday. I couldn't move my head, it hurt so much. So I took some excedrin and finished of my Diet Coke from McD's. Thankfully by dinner time, it had vanished. MIL took the kids and I out to dinner to the new pizza place down the street. It was ok. Nothing great. We got home, got the kiddos to bed and now I'm resting in my chair again. Tomorrow should be another homebound, restful day.

Cushings in the news

Lesson learned

Well I slept just fine last night, thankfully. I think I might have gotten up only once to pee, but I was in such a haze, I don't know for sure! hehe! But boy, waking up was HARD. First to take my meds at 8am, then to actually GET up at 9:30am! Both my kiddos slept in late as well and of course when they do that, then I actually have to get up to get them breakfast. So I HAD to get up. That started the headache. I ate a small breakfast and then laid down on the couch. I did not feel well.

By noon, I fixed the kiddos lunch and then fixed myself something and soon after that took some regular Tylenol and drank a large Diet Coke. I was just hoping that would help the headache. It was above my ears, and wrapped around the back of my head to my other ear. Just moving my head HURT. I finally called on one of my friends who had a daughter in my son's class. She was going to take the kids to the park for just over an hour so I could rest and they could expel their energy.

I thought for sure I could fall asleep while they were gone, but I was afraid I would feel worse when I woke up. So I just rested and tried to watch some TV. That hour went fast and I went to go pick up my son, so I could take him to karate. I dropped him off, then went to get a few groceries. I came back, picked him up, then went home where I crashed on my chair.

I knew I had to cook dinner yet too. I did that, ate, did the dishes, and here I am now. I'm so tired I'm going to bed with the kiddos. It's taking a few days to get over my weekend. Lesson learned.

Woah Monday. . .

Well we did end up making it to the aquarium yesterday! I managed to get up and ready by 11am. Amazing. I ate a small breakfast and then a small lunch. I had a slight headache, so assuming it would get worse, I went ahead and took an excedrin before we left for the aquarium.

It was about an hr drive there and then we had to wait for my BIL and his wife to show up. Kids were so excited tho! I wasn't sure how I'd do with all the walking, but I actually did pretty good! My knee was more than swollen, but we got in at 12:30 and left at 4pm!! It was busy there too, surprisingly enough! Guess everyone was getting in the last minute fun before school starts!

After that we went to dinner at Buco de Beppo's. A great family style Italian restaurant. Talk about overeating! Blech! (It found it's way out later. *wink*) By the end of the day though, I was pretty stressed from dealing with the kids. My son didn't get to see any dolphins and he was pretty upset about that. I can't believe an aquarium like that didn't have a dolphin exhibit! But what can you do but listen to the kid complain... So by the time I got home, I was tired.

I tried to go to bed around 11pm, but I think I was overtired. And then I started getting an upset stomach. Around 2am, I got real shaky - similar to when I had my spider panic attack. I managed to talk myself out of it w/o any extra drugs, but ewwwww I did NOT feel good. I ended up tossing and turning all night - just from not feeling well. Oh and I drank 3 full 12 oz cups of water overnight too - so I peed about the same...

Of course I finally starting dozing around 6am and of course that 8am dose always wakes me up. I knew I shouldn't go back to sleep this morning because we're all supposed to be working on our "school schedule." But again, I felt like CRAP. I sat on the potty this morning for like a half hour, not sure if I was gonna hurl or not. It was another one of those episodes where I feel like I'm gonna puke, but thankfully comes out the other end. (Sorry. TMI I know. ) You know I hate that pukey feeling tho.

I've been tired and achy all day. My head has been killing me and I just feel weak and woozy. For the first time in awhile, I actually drank some Gatorade. Thinking maybe my electrolytes were going all wonky and hoping that will help. I ate a small breakfast and a small lunch. I ended up taking the kids to Target to finish getting school supplies. This is when I miss my mom. She could've done that and probably gotten cheaper prices! In any case, after that we came home as that's all I could take. I rested the remainder of the afternoon and then cooked dinner. I'm hoping to get to bed as soon as I'm done with this, cuz I am beat and I don't want to be overtired again.

I think I just overdid my day yesterday and I forget when I feel well, it doesn't mean I can still push myself. I did just that and it came back to haunt me today. So more rest for me tomorrow.

Yet another weekend...

Yesterday I ended up taking the kiddos to my MIL's to swim. Since it is one of the last couple weekends before school, we're trying to make the most of it. It was the first time I drove that long of a distance my myself too. (It was a 45 min drive.) It was a little nerve wracking. I felt like I was zoning out a lot. I would go 70 mph, then down to 55, then up again... I'd stay on the left lane too long after passing someone and people would start honking... Yeah nerve wracking is a good word.

And this is after getting up at 10:30am and not even getting out of the house til after noon! I slept like a baby the night before last, but last night I felt like I was tossing and turning. I could not get comfortable. Not sure what that was about. I really need to get to my chiropractor and get my back adjusted. I'm hoping that will help. It always did before.

I also need to see either my regular doc or an orthapedic doc, cuz my knee is still swollen and achy. Oddly enough, within an hour after I take my hydro - it feels better. But then it swells and gets achy again throughout the day. So I better go have it looked at too. I'm hoping this is all part of the wean and nothing else is wrong. Though after being on steroids for so long, I wouldn't have known since they are an anti-inflammatory. They would've been helping my knee all along and now here I am feeling it again. Ick.

I woke up at 8am this morning, took my dose and then didn't fall back to sleep again til about 8:50am. That's the last time I looked at the clock. I should've just gotten up. But I slept again for another hour, but again it was restless. I got up and got in the shower, then came down and ate breakfast and I feel better now aside from a slight headache. I did the dishes, laundry, cleaned up some...

We're not really doing much today. Hanging around the house mostly. I'll prolly take the kids to the park later. Tomorrow we're planning on going to the Aquarium. The last hurrah for the kids before they start school. They are so excited!! It makes me feel better to see my kiddos so happy! Especially after I was so worried they'd have a boring summer! So glad it didn't turn out that way!! :)

Spider induced panic attack

I hate spiders. I really do. I try to be brave, but something about them really freaks me out. So having them show up in my room in the middle of the night...not a good sign. And it was a big one too. Like the size of a dime. Ick ick ick. Hubby killed it, but I could not sleep afterwards. I tossed and turned, slept a little while then woke up panicked. By 4am I tried to get to sleep, but I just couldn't. I was sick to my stomach and was sure I was gonna puke. I went to the bathroom, but thankfully it came out the other end. I finally ended up taking .5 mg of Ativan to calm me down. I was literally a mess and I could NOT calm myself down. I was breathing hard and yet couldn't catch my breath. It was very weird. I almost took my hydro early to help too. I really didn't want to go there though and thankfully the Ativan helped and I was able to sleep.

Hubby let me sleep in this morning and I didn't wake til 11am. The kids were so quiet and playing nice. Another day of feeling guilty that I was avoiding my kiddos. I'm just glad they are old enough to play alone together. Hubby made sure they had breakfast and drinks, so I didn't have to worry about it. When I came downstairs, I was weak and had a slight headache. But I drank a big cup of water and ate some breakfast. Then I fed the kiddos lunch. After I ate, I rested in my chair. Around 1:30pm, I finally got myself up and dressed and took my daughter over to her playdate. My son went out with me to run some errands, then I took him to karate. I was not feeling so hot tho.

I picked up my daughter around 5:30pm and we came home by 6pm. I had a bad headache. Of course having more issues with my son did NOT help. But that's a whole other story... I ate some dinner (since I didn't eat lunch), did the dishes and then plopped in my chair. I hope to go to bed early tonight. I did end up having a diet coke and some tylenol to help with my headache tonight.

Yesterday I felt fine and ate fine. Was up and about. Didn't have a headache and it was just overall a good day. I still don't feel like I have all my energy completely. I get tired easily. By the end of the day, I'm ready for bed. It's probably normal, but I'm just not used to it. In any case, I'm doing ok. For lack of sleep from last night, I'm ready for bed now. So I'll bid you adieu.

Caffeine free day 2!

I actually made it through the day again w/o any caffeine! No major fights either! Yay for me!! hehe!

I did end up taking some Tylenol PM last night and of course that didn't help with me getting up this morning. I swear when I take that stuff it makes me that much more tired. In any case, I got up at 9:30am and went down to eat breakfast. Then went and took a shower and took the kids out to run a few errands with me - much to their dismay. You'd think they'd want to get out of the house. Well they do, just not to run "boring" errands with me. hehe!

Came back home, had lunch and we played outside a bit. Well they played and I watched. I do think those 3D Crayola Chalks are cool and really work! I'll have to take some pics of our creations. Tho you won't get the 3D view. Wonder if I can take a picture through the glasses they give...

Anyway, rested the remainder of the afternoon, did a load of laundry, the dishes and made dinner. Phew! Hubby is giving the kiddos a bath and then putting them to bed for me. He's such a good guy. Overall, I had a good day and didn't even *knock on wood* have a headache today! I hope I didn't jinx it, cuz I would like to sleep w/o the tylenol pm. Maybe if I need it, I'll just take the tylenol. But hopefully I won't need it. Just nice restful sleep. :)

Oh and I wanted to mention since I haven't said anything in awhile...I'm drinking normally during the day, but am still extra thirsty at night. I found this and am wondering if it's because everything is still "sleeping" :

Other symptoms can occur when the adrenals are not functioning properly. Because the level of aldosterone can also drop in adrenal fatigue, some patients suffer from increasing thirst and a sense of constant dehydration. They complain that they have weak or hyperactive bladders that need to be emptied more and more often. They may also develop a tendency to get lightheaded or weak at times. This is because with less aldosterone, the kidneys will excrete water from the body faster and this leads to increased urination, lowered blood pressure, and increased thirst.

Not sure tho...

Caffeine free day!

Ok, I realized my days were consumed by quite a large amount of caffeine. If it wasn't the Pepsi or Coca Cola, it was the Excedrin or some form of chocolate. So today I decided I needed to lay off. So here's how the day went. . .

I woke up around 9am. Came downstairs, fed myself and the kiddos (as they had slept in a little later than usual too!). I was tired so I sat in my chair and the kids and I watched a movie and then I watched them playing Wii. Fun fun. After that we got up to do our "chores" which consisted of making our bed, getting dressed and brushing our teeth. More fun fun. They have this thing about having a hard time deciding what to wear. So I get something out. They both say that's NOT what they want to wear! Fight #1 ensues. We argue and in the end, they pick out what they want anyway. I needed a shower to calm myself down. How do I let them work me up so??

After that, I decided the kids rooms needed "tidying." So we started with my son's. He was NOT happy. Fight #2 ensues. "Why do I have to do it now? It will take forever! Can't you or sissy help???" OMG. Literally falling down yelling and screaming. I finally have to call my hubby. He talks to our "angel" and sets him straight. Back to the room he goes where he starts to clean up. (How my hubby can do that and over the phone no less!! Grrr....) And somehow in the midst of it all, my son manages to talk his sister into helping. God bless her.

Now I have a headache tho. I've over exceeded my emotional limit. I crave a nice can of Pepsi. But I don't do it. I grab two tylenol instead. Then I make lunch for us all. Thankfully that went smoothly.

I go back to my chair and watch my soap opera. The kids are playing in the other room nicely it seems. But not for long. They start teasing each other, picking on each other, throwing things at each other. . . I swear I'm not going to get involved. Til.... my daughter gets hurt. He got her whipping one of his dolls around and the plastic eye hit her pretty good in the forehead. I tell my son he needs a breathing break. He starts his tantrum telling me what a horrible mother I am. Fight #3 ensues. He knows how to hit each and every one of my buttons and for some reason I feel the need to fight back. HE'S SIX!! Ugh. I know this, yet I can't stop myself. Then in the end it makes me feel like a horrible parent. *sigh*

After we all eat dinner, we sat down to watch Return of the Jedi. And who does my son want to sit next to? Me or hubby...? ME!? Can you believe it? After making me feel so awful all day, he did end it right. Though hubby put them to bed and I heard our sweet lil' angel getting into trouble again. But I stayed out of it and let hubby deal with it. Not my fight this time.

My headache did go away, but it's back - albeit mildly. It's been an emotional day and probably not the best day to go caffeine free. But I made it through day one...

End of a crazy weekend!

TGIF has turned into TGISunday. LOL I'm ready to get back to our routine of the week. This weekend has been nutso.

I slept good last night and of course this morning too. hehe! Got up about 9:45am. Came downstairs and had breakfast. The kids and hubby had already eaten of course. The kids were watching the olympics and hubby was working downstairs. The kids have been very excited about the Olympics. But of course, like most of America, are big Phelps fans! So I had taped Phelp's last swimming competition last night and showed them. We were all jumping up and down and were so excited for him! I kept telling them he was making history!! But later when they were telling hubby all about it, they were saying "He was history!" LOL Had to explain how being history and MAKING history were two different things. But it was a start to a good morning.

We did end up going to the Stars Wars movie, this time w/o any issues thankfully. I think I made my lil' boy nervous cuz he didn't even start eating the popcorn til the movie started. *blush* But he was fine and the movie was ok. The kids and hubby liked it. I liked the real movies better. But for some reason on the way home, I got a really upset stomach! Not sure if it was from the popcorn or soda, but it didn't matter. We've been home an hr and I'm still having a case of the runs. (Sorry I know it's TMI.) I ate a banana and am hoping that helps. Very weird for it to come out of no where.

Thankfully no headache today tho. I'll eat a light dinner and hopefully get to bed earlier than the last few nights. Dang Michael Phelps for being so exciting to watch!!! hehe!!

I don't like Saturdays anymore . . .

I don't like (whatever day it is). That's what my daughter says when she has a bad day. So far she doesn't like Monday's, Tuesday's, and Saturday's. All because there was something that happened during the day to make her not like it. She forgets the next week which days she hated, so she just starts all over. hehe!

So today is a day I don't like. I did something today that I'm a little ashamed of. I had a panic attack. Hear the story before you say it's no big deal. . .

I had given my son pretzels and cheese after lunch. I know he still has a slight allergy to cheese, but wasn't thinking. He ate them all and then a half hr later we went to the movies. We were going to see that new Star Wars movie. We got our popcorn & drinks and sat down. After eating some of the popcorn, my son started to feel ill. I automatically assumed it was the cheese and that he may puke. I remember going to a movie last year where a child puked all over and it just stunk up the whole theatre. I didn't want that to happen. So I freaked out and decided we had to leave. He didn't put up a fight, so I KNOW he didn't feel well. But both him and his sister were not happy.

As it turns out, he had a gas bubble from drinking the soda too fast. He let some burps out and then was fine. So we missed the movie for nothing. :( I felt so bad. My son actually told me to go to my room - which is what I did. (I was so stressed out from thinking he was going to puke, I needed to calm down myself! hehe!) I just felt so bad. So we may try to go again tomorrow...

I hate what this disease has done to me. I never really worried about the kids getting sick or allergy attacks. It just happened and I dealt with it. Now I seem to worry about this stuff. I was hoping surgery would just make it go away, but it didn't. Not fully anyway. I hate seeing my kiddos sick and always think the worst. :( Hopefully these lil' attacks are few and far between tho... *sigh*

Other than that, I had an ok day. I didn't get up til about 10am. Didn't feel up for a big breakfast, which I felt bad about, cuz hubby made pancakes for everyone. I just wanted a small bowl of cereal tho. I wasn't hungry for lunch, but did eat some cheesesticks. After we came home from the movies, I took some Tylenol for a slight headache I had. Then we went outside to kick the ball around with the kids. I strayed off to pick some weeds out of our garden. But every time I bent over and then stood up, I got dizzy and light headed. It wasn't just one or two times, but quite a few. I finally decided I'd had enough and went inside to rest.

I had dinner and rested the remainder of the evening. I've felt fine too. Tired as usual. I'll be off to bed here soon and hopefully a good night's rest will reset my body. . .

TGIF!!

Yesterday was fairly uneventful. I still had (and have) the lingering headache. But I felt good overall. I took my son to karate and then while he was doing that, I took my daughter grocery shopping. I felt ok doing that. I was tired as usual later in the evening, but that seems to be fairly normal lately. My knee is still swollen and hubby has now told me to see a doctor about it. It feels fine for the most part tho. I am afraid it will give out on me when I walk up and down steps however.

Today I got up with the kids at 8am. My head feels like it's sort of swimming though. When I move left or right, when I stand up. . . It's very strange. And that feeling hurts my headache on top of it. I ate some breakfast and I'll have lunch here shortly. I was thirsty more than usual last night and kept waking up to drink (and then go to the bathroom). I ended up going through two 12 oz cups and getting up to pee 3 or 4 times - I lost count. I still don't know why this hits me sometimes more than others.

I have to shower yet, so hopefully that will "perk" me up and make me feel better. Then I'm going to take the kiddos out to dinner tonight. Hubby is going to dinner with his father, so I figured I'd take the kiddos out. I'll probably need an excedrin to get me through the rest of the day though. So when the kids ask, should I tell them I feel 90 or 95%? I'm just not so sure...

Catching up. . .

It's been over a week since my wean and I'm still feeling some minor symptoms. I shouldn't be shocked at this, but I am. It's a good sign, but nonetheless...

Monday, I had a headache that took awhile to go away. Then it ended up coming back in the evening. My knee is still swollen too. I thought part of that was due to the weather (cuz it would get like that when it was rainy out) but it's nice out!! I did sleep in til about 9:15am, but other than that I ate, drank and slept ok tho.

Tuesday, I was TIRED. It took a lot for me to get myself up after my 8am dose. I finally got myself up at around 10:30am. My kids were awesome playing nice and quiet that I actually felt bad. I hate this making me feel this way. During the night tho, I awoke feeling shakey. Like I needed my hydrocortisone badly. It was a weird sensation. I drank some water and talked myself back to sleep. That happened TWO times tho. Not sure if I did too much during the day on Monday that it was just a reaction to it? I'm not sure. In any case, once I got my 8am dose, I conked right back out. Even once I woke up, I still felt just loopy and tired.

I ate breakfast and then went to take a shower and that helped wake me up. I took some tylenol and drank one can of Coca Cola to help with the headache. I rested the rest of the morning and then took my kiddos out to a playdate after lunch. After that I took my son to his karate lesson and left my daughter with her friend. We picked her up after his lesson. I made dinner and finished cleaning up the house. I rested the remainder of the evening and then went to bed.

I slept ok last night, but had an upset stomach when I woke this morning. Not sure what that was about. I did get up, cuz I had to take my daughter to gymnastics. My friend still offered to take her, but knowing school is coming up quickly, I am going to HAVE to adjust and get up. So I decided to take her. Then I came home, ate some breakfast and have been sitting in my chair since. I have to go pick her up at noon, then we're going to the church so I can sign the kids up for CCD (catholic school). After that, if it doesn't take too long, we'll be going to another playdate (with some of their twin friends!). A swimming one at that. If it takes too long, we'll be moving the playdate to Friday. But we'll see. I'll try to update later if I can. My evenings are seemingly busy and then I get so tired. . .

***Update! We just got home from the pool about an hr ago (around 5pm). Kids had fun and I got to chill out with my best friends. It was so nice to see them. We just don't get to see each other often enough. So it was nice to catch up. Now we're home and tired. Sun and swimming took a lot out of the kids and the sun and heat took a lot out of me. So we're resting. We're gonna get pizza for dinner and all get to bed early tonight. : )

The changes

I slept, drank and ate well today. Slight headache this morning, but no major issues and am feeling good. :) Since I'm not going to have as much to report since I'm not weaning for awhile, I thought I'd change up my topics a bit. Bear with me...

People keep asking me if I can feel a difference from before surgery and after. That's kind of a detailed answer so I'll try to answer as simply as possible.

My first symptom before surgery that I remember thinking "I shouldn't be feeling this way...this just isn't right" was the severe fatigue. I remember telling my hubby that I should not be so tired. My kiddos were 3 1/2-4 yrs old at the time. They were in preschool 1/2 days. But it felt like when they were newborns and I just couldn't get enough sleep. I was wide awake in the middle of the night some nights and others I went to bed at a decent hour and still slept many hours later in the morning. I would sleep 8 hrs a night and still feel like I only got 1 or 2 hrs!! So that was my first hint.

Has that changed? Somewhat. Obviously weaning is doing a number on my body, so it's not really recovered yet. But finally getting to this lowered dose, I am finally sleeping like a rock at night - and through the WHOLE night. My mornings are hit or miss still, but once I'm up, I usually don't feel too bad. But I can tell by 7pm, I get tired. Like that is how my body is supposed to be! To start it's decline to a decent bedtime. So there are some differences.

My next symptom was acne. I never got acne, even as a teen. I got pimples here and there, but I was one of the lucky ones who never really had a problem with it. So when I was breaking out all over the place (not JUST on my face), I thought that was odd. And my face, along with the rest of my body was sooo oily! I barely made it through the end of the day and my hair was getting stringy oily! It was so gross.

That has DEFINITELY changed. My skin is finally clearing up slowly but surely and it's SOFT and not oily at all!! I can go two days w/o showering and my hair still looks like day 1. That was one thing my husband noticed first, postop! And one day, I thought I had hair coming out on my forehead and cheeks. I swear I started freaking out! I swore I wouldn't pluck it, cuz I knew how it would come back in. But by the end of the day, I caved and plucked. I'm glad I did though, since as it turns out, it was my pores cleaning themselves out! I used one of those pads you stick to your nose/forehead/cheeks and sure enough when I pulled it off, all this "hairy" oil stuck to it! My pores were cleaning themselves!! I had to laugh at myself for thinking I had a hairy forehead!

What else. . . My menstrual cycle has been "on the day" normal since my miscarriage back in 2005. Even before then it was normal from when I gave birth to my twins til about 6 months before my miscarriage. I never got a normal cycle prior to getting pregnant with my twins. I was diagnosed with PCOS & Endometriosis at age 16. I needed the BCP to keep my cycles regular, so having a normal cycle was new to me - NICE - but new.

I'm still waiting at this point to see if my cycle will return. I'm going on 10 weeks postop and still nothing. Dr. L seems to think it will take some time, but I may be reverting back to my pre-pregnancy cycle. Time will tell there though. I hope to get some bloodwork soon to know what those female hormones look like tho. Maybe that will give me some answers. . .

I also lost 20 lbs after surgery. I never really gained much weight and actually lost 30lbs at one point. After that I just plateaued and never gained. Dr. L was shocked when I came back in June and I weighed the same as I did when he saw me in Feb. Yet I had all these screaming highs. I have no idea how that works. In any case, I think the weight I lost was mostly water weight. I had slight edema going on pre-op, but don't post op. The rest I guess was any weight I did gain.

Ok, well this is turning into a book and I'm tired, so maybe I'll continue with this topic tomorrow. I'll leave you with a before and after face shot tho. I never thought I had the "puffy cheeks" but I guess I did to a small extent. Disregard the white as a ghost look tho.

Feeling 95%

I slept so good last night, only getting up once to pee. I woke up with a slight headache, but I took some excedrin after breakfast and before we left for my MIL's house. We had decided to go to my MIL's for the day. The kids were supposed to go fishing and then go swimming, but they decided NOT to go fishing - just to swim. So hubby went fishing with his father and the kids stayed with me at MIL's. I didn't swim, just sat and read my Harry Potter book and listened to my ipod while my MIL played around with the kiddos. We did go to a park nearby before dinner, but other than that it was a fairly restful afternoon.

I didn't eat lunch, but we did get pizza for dinner and I did eat that. Still not drinking more than normal *knock on wood* thankfully. I am craving a smoothie - the Fruitista from Taco Bell... Hubby loves me a lot and just went to go get me one. The kids and I are just watching a bit of the Olympics and then they'll be off to bed. I'll be close to follow in the next hour. : )

Finally feeling better

Wow. It was a rough couple days. Thanks to those that have given me advice on this whole weaning thing. I never did go back up in dose - even the small increments, as I felt I was still able to function fairly normally. I know it could've gotten worse, but thankfully it didn't. I feel like I need to feel the symptoms to know my body is still needing these meds. Wednesday was the worst, yesterday wasn't as bad and today is better. This wean definitely hit me worse than all the others so far. Definitely makes me feel good to know that tho. I don't get any blood tests until I go back out to Seattle in Sept. So at least I will know this dose is good for me til then. Small dose weaning will definitely follow if needed/recommended from here on out tho.

I was going to go back and fix my post from Wednesday and decided I better not. But did want to add a few other odd symptoms I've been feeling - which I meant to add, but was too fogged out to list it. . . I have to explain one thing first. I had a fender bender in 1998 and the back of my right knee cap shattered. I had it fixed surgically. It swelled up every now and then, but for the last few years I haven't felt anything. I just figured it was fine. Well lately, it's swelled back up again and aches! I guess all the steroids in my body has been hiding it. Similar thing - my TMJ in my jaw is also acting up again. I was doing good chewing gum for the last few years and now I can't have it or my jaw just aches. Weird eh? Good sign too I hope...

Back to my daily updates tho. Yesterday, I ate, drank and slept ok. I still had the headache, but took some excedrin to help. My muscles still ached, but I think it was still leftovers from my beach adventure. The wean may have just accentuated the aching fact. I still had somewhat of a tummy ache last night, but thankfully it didn't last long.

I slept like a ROCK last night. I did sleep in a bit this morning, but so did the kids, so hubby wasn't able to get them breakfast before leaving for work. So I let them watch tv for a little while so I could rest a little longer. But by 9:15, they were gettin' hungry, so I had to get up. We all ate a nice cereal breakfast. We rested the rest of the morning. I did the dishes, some laundry and picking up. Then I decided to take the kiddos out to eat for lunch and to B&N to get some books. Did ok while I was out and about thankfully!

Came home and rested again. We ended up going out to eat for dinner too since neither hubby or I wanted to cook. My tummy still wasn't feeling so good, so I had a small dinner. I actually only drank 1 1/2 cups of soda too. That was a first since I've been so thirsty for so long. Thank goodness tho!! DI is just not fun. Home and resting now and off to bed soon. It's amazing how quickly I get tired in the evening now. I remember being up for hrs and now around 7pm I can feel the exhaustion coming on. So many changes. . . I just hope they are all good signs!

Weird symptoms and scattered mind

I slept ok last night. Aside from being thirsty and having to get up to pee 2 or 3 times, it was fine. This morning was tough getting up. But I had to, to get my daughter ready for gymnastics camp and make sure her ride came. Which it did, but the headache arrived first. That's fairly normal, but what about me having a case of the itchies? My chest, arms and legs are scratched senseless. Then out of nowhere (this is a little TMI sorry) I got a case of the runs and was nauseaus. The headache isn't completely gone now, but I could literally fall asleep at the keyboard at this very minute. This day has just been a weird one.

I've been lethargic and loopy all day today, but have eaten ok up til dinner. I only had soup then. Drinking ok, not too much - yet. :P MIL was here today and she took care of the kiddos as this day sort of took me over. I laid down for about an hour later this afternoon. So this may sound all scattered as my brain just doesn't feel like it's on track, so I'll end this now before I babble more. Hopefully, I'll make more sense tomorrow...

Just a Blah day

The headache from yesterday lasted all night. Wasn't sure I was going to make it til 8am to take my meds. Thankfully once I took them, things calmed down and I of course passed back out. Never heard hubby leave for work, never heard the kids... I was down for the count til a little after 10am.

The headache was very mild when I woke up. Like it was just a constant reminder that it would get worse. But other than that I felt ok. My muscles are screaming at me now - two days after the crazy beach trip - so I'm not moving very fast or doing much at all for that matter. It's been a lazy day. And oddly enough, I drank a ton last night (like I said I would) and quite a bit all day today. But I drank water, coca cola and gatorade again to keep all my electrolytes and whatnot in check. I think drinking the extra caffeine helped my headache, cuz it did eventually go away! Now I'm just tired.

But I ate pretty good all day today. I just need to get moving again. Once I'm normalized from this wean, it's back to the walking/exercising I go. I hate feeling like a lump.

Wean day #7

I should've waited til Wednesday and it could've been Weansday. hehe! Ok, I've lost my mind. But you already knew that.

I decided after not having any "after affects" from yesterdays beach adventure, I figured I was more than ok to wean. So I did not take my afternoon dose. So I'm officially only taking one dose of 20 mg first thing in the morning. I was trying not to worry myself like I did when I cut off the evening dose because I figured it be a day or more before I felt any symptoms. But in the last 2 hrs I've gotten the chills sitting in my 70 degree house, I have that "weaning" headache, and I'm feeling overly tired and loopy. The headache is at the top of my head, but covers my whole head. It's not "bad" yet, but I will be taking Tylenol PM to help me sleep, even tho I'm sure I could fall asleep right now. I'm getting a tad worried if I'm feeling symptoms now, what are the next few days going to be like? But you know if I don't have many symptoms, I'll just freak out and think I'm not cured. Ugh. It's like a horrible roller coaster!!

Anyway, I slept good last night. I ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast, only a cheddar cheese stick for lunch and a turkey burger with veggies for dinner. I'm gonna say this only to have it come back to haunt me in an hour or so, but I haven't been overly thirsty today. I drank some water, a Coca Cola and some gatorade so far today. Part of me thinks it's the medicine Protonix that I take (to help my tummy with all these nasty drugs). I think that's part of what's making me thirsty. But I don't know for sure. But I didn't take it today, so who knows.

Other than that I felt fine earlier today. I cleaned up the house and had a friend come over with her daughter to have a playdate with my kiddos. It was nice and relaxing. For me, not so much the kids as they were running around like little crazy people. hehe! But overall a good day.

Now once I'm through this wean, I can stay on it until after I see Dr. L in Sept. Hopefully I'll adjust my mornings so I can manage getting up and getting the kiddos to school. Their first day is Sept 3rd!! ONE MONTH AWAY! I still can't believe it. But we won't go there yet. Let's just get me through this wean. . .

Busy busy weekend!!

Saturday, I slept in til about 10am (after taking my 8am dose of course). I don't always think I'll fall back asleep, but there are days I just do. It's weird.

But I had to take the kiddos to a birthday party for one of their friends from preschool. Thankfully, I was feeling pretty good once I got up and showered, so I decided I would stick around the party (instead of leaving and coming home). I haven't seen the mom and the few other moms that were there from the kids preschool, so it was nice to catch up. But it was an outside party and it was HOT and humid out. I ended up drinking 2 bottles of water and one can of diet coke. I could tell the headache was coming on anyway. I wasn't doing much but sitting and watching the kids, but that heat just takes it out of me.

By the time we got home my head was hurting, so I sat with an ice pack and took some excedrin. I was drained tho. So I rested the rest of the afternoon. We ended up going out to dinner, so I didn't have to worry about cooking or feeling guilty cuz hubby cooked. And I ended up going to bed soon after the kids did and was OUT. I was tired!! Slept good the whole night too! Only got up once to pee. hehe!

Woke up this morning around 9:30am. Not sure why the last few mornings have hit me more than usual, but again maybe it's still a weaning symptom, even 7 days later? Who knows. In any case, I got up and showered and got ready to go to the beach with my family. The kids were sooo excited! We live 30 min from the Jersey shore, but still don't get there often. We drive by quite a bit, but never go to spend time there. So this was a big day.

I was really nervous about going. I was NOT sure I could handle it. Again being in the heat. But I wanted to go spend time with my kids and take pictures. I love my husband, but he doesn't always take the best pictures. BIL and his wife were going too and they had an umbrella I could sit under. So that's what I did. My legs will probably hurt like heck tomorrow from walking in the sand. I just know it. But overall I had fun. I got to see my kiddos having fun and yet still rest on the beach under the shade. I had taken an excedrin prior to leaving for the beach, so that seemed to help keep my headache at bay. And I drank a coca cola once we got there to keep up my energy. We had a picnic lunch there and it was nice! The weather was good and not too hot. There was quite a breeze and the kids even got to fly a kite!

After being at the beach for almost 4 hrs, we ended up going back to my MIL's to clean up and de-sand the kiddos and get them ready for dinner. Then we, along with my MIL, BIL and his wife went to dinner at MIL's restaurant. We had a good dinner, then came home. Gave the kiddos a shower, put them to bed and then I crashed in my chair. I'm wiped and yet wired. Think I drank too much diet coke at dinner. hehe! But I'll be off to bed here soon and I have a feeling I'll sleep pretty well tonight.

The headache & being 8 weeks postop!

It's AUGUST. I can't believe it. My surgery came and went the first week of June, I feel like I was just posting about the 4th of July and now it's AUGUST. I am EIGHT weeks postop. I can't believe it. My kids will be back in school in ONE more month!! This summer is flying! Happy August 1st tho!!

I had a restless sleep last night. After I posted that the DI was almost gone, I drank 3 cups of water before bed and thru the night. So I was up peeing a lot. *sigh* And for some reason that gave me a headache that would in turn stick with me ALL DAY. I slept good other than that tho.

I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and have been drinking...well more than I have in the last day or two. I'm starting to wonder if it's a weaning thing. Not sure. In any case, I've felt fine other than this headache, sitting up at the top and back of my head that just won't go away. I've tried caffeine, gatorade, a banana, potato chips - all things with different nutrients that may help if it was related. But it wasn't. It's just a headache. Not horribly painful, but horribly annoying and not letting me get much done. I'm thinking of making an appt to see my chiropractor again this next week. Maybe my back needs to be adjusted again. That always helped.

I also think I'm going to postpone weaning this weekend. I probably could wean, but since I'm in no rush, I'm going to put it off for now. Since I'm still having some symptoms, there's no need to push it. Plus my BIL is taking the kids to the beach on Sunday and I may have to go with. That'll be a doozy for me, but I just don't feel comfortable letting them go w/o me or hubby. Hubby wants to work on the yard and weekends are his only time to do it. I can't take that away from him. We'll see what happens tho. Here's to another crazy weekend!