So I'm not usually the kind to blog about my personal life, even in this blog that I consider immensely personal. I try to be what I consider positive, posting things that I consider encouraging. Instead, I think I come across as preachy, constantly posting sounding like I'm trying to know it all.
Well, here's something I don't know boo about.
I've been sick. For weeks. Since almost the start of November.
It didn't start like an illness. It started, if anything, like a stroke.
Well, I guess it started as headaches. Bad headaches. By about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I would feel like my eyes were going to pop out of my head.
But then one morning as I was driving home from the early morning class I teach for my church, I started feeling a numbness in my foot. Like my foot was starting to wake up, but it hadn't been asleep.
Then it started working its way up my leg. By the time I got home, it had worked its way up to my abdomen, and had become painful. From there it worked its way to the front and back of my chest. By the time it was done, my lips were numb, like they'd been shot with novocane, and my fingertips were painfully tingly.
The tingling went away, but an excruciating headache stayed behind.
I went into the doctor that afternoon, the first appointment I could get.
He said it looked like the flu. He gave me some flue medicine and a flue shot and gave me a return appointment for the middle of December. He said I was the picture of health, except for a bit of a temperature and these "bizzaro symptoms" I was having. He said it should go away.
It hasn't gone away. Even the slow-moving tingling thing has repeated itself.
It's been kind of cyclical, though. Up until this week, it's peaked on Saturdays. On Saturdays, it's almost become migrainesque, culminating in me conducting worship services between my shower and my sink. This week, Saturday was still worse than Friday, but not nearly as bad as last Saturday.
My friends and family have been collecting similar stories from friends, and it really does seem to be some kind of really persistent flu that's going around. It could be migraines, though--I've also heard descriptions of similar symptoms associated with migraines, so Excedrin Migraine has become my painkiller of choice.
So now I'm debating whether to go in early or keep the December appointment. I'll probably end up going in Tuesday, though. We'll see.
2 comments:
One thing I will say to you as a person who has migraines often:
Excedrine for Migraines is a waste of money because it is just Excedrine with a "for Migraines" printed on the box. Excedrine containes caffiene, which can end up making you feel kind of buzzy, so I generally tend to keep away from it all together.
The best thing I've found that helps my Migraines is Advil as soon as I feel that I may possibly be getting a headache. I wear sunglasses religiously whenever I'm outside (too much sunlight can be a trigger) and I make sure to tank up on water as often as possible (another trigger for me is dehydration). The trick with migraines is to stop them before they have a real chance to start. I have had numbness associated with my migraines before but those are usually the ones that last over 3 days at a time and triggered by a dip in my iron levels (may want to check for anemia just in case).
Sounds stupid, but keeping a headache journal may be something worthwhile - logging the time, place, intensity and what you were doing when you get a headache/numb feeling can may help you narrow down if it is migraines, some other kind of headache, or a nasty strain of flu. And it if does indicate migraines, it could help you figure out what triggers yours.
Good luck and hope you feel better!
Hmm. Sounds like it might be blood pressure related. Did they take your blood pressure? You should definitely look into that. Or, also get your blood sugar checked.
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