21 Oct. 2010

Well, my mind is in a better place.

It didn't actually take long to get back there. So, on with today's entry.

The few days preceding my last appointment were almost exactly the same as the previous few weeks. Not much variation, really.

Tuesday was a very bad day. I awoke with both headache and nausea; both of which intensified as the day wore on. I ate next to nothing all day. (That's not and exaggeration!) My headache grew to a steady 9.5 all afternoon. For the first time I took two T3's at once. These only made my headache tolerable. After the headache was taken care of I had to address the nausea.

All of my non-prescription attempts to control the nausea were to no avail. I had to take a half dose of the anti-emetic (Promethazine). It alleviated the symptoms only slightly, so I ended up taking another half dose, which finally worked. I then proceeded to literally lay around all day because of the side effects of both meds.Before bed, I had to take another half dose of the anti-emetic. The headache, though not gone, was at least controllable with a single T3.

Wednesday morning was better. The nausea was decreased and controllable, my headache was tolerable, and even though I felt terrible, it was an improvement over the previous day. However, as is becoming the pattern, as the day wore on, my symptomology increased. Aside from several bouts of diarrhea, I was able to keep everything in check, which was nice, but I could not get comfortable all day. I didn't eat until 930p [because I just didn't feel like it], and actually felt OK after I finished.

The only other thing that happened was the continued insomnia. I didn't even feel tired until 1030a today (!), then slept just five hours; and now, am feeling exhausted.

I can't remember if I ever mentioned that a number of advanced PCKD patients report insomnia. I have no clue as to the pathophysiology involved; I just know that a regularly reported symptom (amongst the advanced PCKD patients) is insomnia. It might be the meds, the disease itself, or a combination of the two. Again, I just don't know the why of it. So, if you have late stage PCKD and find you can't sleep, don't be surprised by this. Also, I don't know that all patients experience insomnia, but enough do that it is mentioned in all the literature I have read.

Other than that, I believe the only things I failed to mention about the last few days was that I am cold, and bundled up literally all day; my smelling extremely strong ammonia is still ever-present; my vision is blurry--even with my reading glasses*; and the vertigo and general dizziness are constantly getting in the way. It's nothing but one gigantic party day after another! :o)

That's all I've got for now.

Good Health to All!

ScottW


*My reading glasses are not for vision. My eye sight is normally just fine. However, I was diagnosed about ten years ago with Ocular Divergence. This is, very simply, that the muscles surrounding the eyes cannot keep the eyeballs in line when I read. In other words, instead of staying straight as I look on a page (while reading), the eyes diverge slightly causing the muscles to ache. My reading glasses just help keep my eyes looking straight, thereby relaxing and strengthening the eye muscles.