Friday, July 29, 2011

Fatigued & Confused

For the second time this month, I have had a recurrence of symptoms that I am beginning to see as correlated with, but not directly related to, my chronic sinusitis. 

A few days ago, at the tail end of a fun-filled visit with my husband's parents, I began to experience once again the achiness and fatigue that I have always associated with a flare-up of acute sinusitis.  This time, however, there were no other symptoms to suggest that my daily experience of low-level illness ("feeling sick") had worsened into another acute sinusitis episode.  In other words, sinus-wise, everything was the same, but my body hit a wall. 

The same thing had happened a week earlier, a few days after my mom had visited.  According to her, I was feeling worse because of "overdoing it" (she had seen me in action, she reminded me).  It is true that while she was here, I was in constant motion unpacking and getting the house in order, shopping and cooking for everyone, and generally just being my go-getter self, wanting to take advantage of the extra set of hands in the house.  I even managed to fit in a long run while she was here, the first in several weeks, and a fairly intense core workout. Apparently, I overdid it.  A few days of rest and I was back to baseline by the time the next set of grandparents arrived.  I felt fine throughout their visit, but somehow I must have overdone it again, even though I had made an effort to relax whenever possible, and only at the end did I do some racing around as I tried to maximize my time to get school shopping done. 

When I woke up on Wednesday morning I knew I hadn't slept well.  It had taken me a while to fall asleep, which I attributed to taking Afrin later in the day to help with congestion, and so I woke with a headache and without a feeling of well being.  By the afternoon, all of my energy was gone.  When I get like that, it is to the point that I can hardly smile or respond to a question.  I am just wiped out, blank-faced and exhausted.  After we said our goodbyes, I took a catnap on the couch while the kids watched TV.  It wasn't enough.  A little while later, I asked Jon if I could lay down while he finished up his workday.  An hour and half later, I felt a little improved, but I was still so tired that I needed to go to sleep at 9:30, even though I had just slept from 4 to 5:30. 

This fatigue has stayed with me through today.  I have had to nap and rest throughout each day, and when I do move around the house, I feel like I am running a 5K.  I slump into a chair afterward, exhausted.  I have had to take multiple doses of extra-strength Tylenol for the dull headache that started last night and continued upon waking and throughout the day today.  It is finally gone, so I can think a little more clearly and tolerate the commotion of busy kids a little better.

Next week is our last official week of summer.  I hope to live it up with the kids as much as I can.  I don't want to rush them off to school, but I am grateful that it will begin soon, since it is now obvious that the next order of business is to figure out the mystery that is my health.  I am glad that we are here, in this beautiful place where I believe healing is possible.  There are almost no distractions to keep me from my task, other than those I create for myself.  Soon, I hope to have a treatment plan that I will follow with the help of my doting husband and a doctor whose philosophies line up with my own.  I am ready.  I am good to go!

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