20 Dec. 2010

It's been five days already? It only seems like two or three since my last entry.

Well, I've had a change. As I have been indicating, I've been feeling extreme exhaustion no matter how much sleep, or how many naps I get. The change is that I am now sleeping/napping even more...well, sort of.

Over the last week or so, I've been paying attention to how much total sleep I get per day. On average I am sleeping (laying down) about 6-7 hours per day. (The quality of the rest is another matter entirely.) However, the total time spent napping has increased from approx. 2-3 hours/day to between 3-5 hours per day. The naps don't happen with any regularity or pattern--they just happen. I suddenly feel sleepy, and usually withing 5 minutes or so I am asleep (most often in a sitting or reclining position). Then, after I've slept for whatever time period, I am having increasing difficulty waking from the naps; often waking for only a few minutes before sleeping once again.

In spite of all of the sleep, I am finding that my exhaustion not only continues, but seems to be increasing as well. So, I go about my days feeling as if I'll fall asleep at any time...which again, is happening with greater frequency.

My headache remains at its elevated level 24/7. There is no longer even a slight break from its relentless pain.

The ammonia I smell (and often taste) has been bad again. I'm often waving my hand in front of my face in a vain attempt to get it away from my nose. At least I can feel like I'm able to do something about it; even though it is, in actuality, completely useless.

Over the last couple of days the kidney area on my back has been increasingly painful. Today it is the worst. I cannot sit back against anything firm (let along hard) for more than a minute before I'm very uncomfortable and squirming around. In fact, as I write this entry, I am sitting forward on the chair, leaning on my left elbow--just trying to be a bit more comfortable...but it's not really working. Oh well--it's still better than resting against the chair back.

The edema in my legs and hands is quite visible today. My fingers are looking like sausage links today, and my ankles are almost gone. Both my hands and feet have been itching a lot lately, so I really shouldn't be surprised. Right now the edemic tests are:

-Lower Arms-- Color +2, Rebound +5
-Hands/Fingers-- Color +2, Rebound +5
-Knees-- Color +2, Rebound +5
-Shins-- Color +3, Rebound >> +15
Ankles-- Color +3.5, Rebound >> +20
Feet (at the metatarsals-- Color +3, Rebound >>+25

*>> = Greater than.

So...yeah. Lots of edema today.

Lastly, I wanted to pass on that my taking my daily meds has been causing me increased discomfort over what has been previously going on. I usually take the Zantac 10-15 minutes ahead of the rest of my meds to help my stomach settle down prior to assaulting it with all the meds I have to ingest. Doing this has led to a marked decrease in the incidents of nausea precipitated by ingestion of meds. Over the last three days, I have become intensely nauseated in spite of the Zantac.

Between the time I awaken and the time I take the meds my stomach is usually doing...alright (relatively speaking). After I take my meds, the nausea increases, but not intensely. These past few days, once I ingest the meds, nausea hits me like those overwhelming onsets that come out of the blue; and nothing alleviates its. I really don't want to take the Promethazine (anti-emetic) because of this; but if it keeps up, I'll have to do just that. Eeeww.

That's it for today, I think. But, like always, I can't remember for sure.

I may or may not get another entry done before Christmas. We'll see.

Good Health to All!

ScottW