Feb 25, 2023

Today was a much better day than yesterday. I got 8hr+ of sleep and it included dreams. Similar to Wellbutrin, Armodafinil is giving me dreams.

I also was more functional today with the mini-boost armodafinil gives me. I was able to start getting ready for my day before 1pm and was able to go out and visit more than one store. Toward the end I was getting worn out but I didn't have to take a nap in the evening. I wasn't able to do anything high-level, like work on financial stuff, but I didn't knock out. 

my legs are achy the longer the evening goes on. My ankles became achy from walking in Walmart and a large new farm store, Rural King. They were a little tender going up and down porch steps when I came home.

My low back/hip/but was irritating me enough that I used a tennis ball while out driving.

Feb 24, 2023

Day 5 of Armodafinil

Poor sleep. Could not stay awake and so slept from 8pm to 9:30pm. I took care of animals and went to sleep again at 1:15am. Was up again at 2:45 (dogs were being noisy). I had a night sweat over my head and shoulders at that time. I dozed but didn't really sleep from then until 5am. I was still having a sweat on my neck and shoulders. At that point I stayed up until 7:30. I then slept until 9. So that's 1.5+1.5+1.5=4.5hrs with some dozing.

Despite my trouble sleeping and all of the sweats, I didn't have the usual sinus troubles. I still had only one nostril fully open when lying on my side but I wasn't having to blow my nose and didn't feel clogged.

Overnight I could feel my legs, slightly achy.

Calves feeling tight swollen but less than last couple of days.

Elimination in the morning and in the afternoon.

This was a low day. It was hard to stay awake and I wasn't focused at all. I didn't even try to work. It was difficult for me to get out the door at 4pm to get my next week's armodafinil.

Nausea was mainly in the late afternoon and evening on a relatively empty stomach.

Later in the evening, about 6:30, I began to feel decent, but I was still pretty sleepy.

I'm reasonably confident that I'll be able to continue to take nuvigil. I'll take it for 3 mos and then will inquire about increasing the dose.

Feb 22, 2023

 3rd day on armodafinil.

Crazy sleep:

To bed at 1:15. Up at 5am due to allergies. (4hrs) Back to bed at 7am and up again at 9am (2hrs). While trying to wake up by watching videos, I fell back to sleep and slept until 11am (1.5). Broken total: 7.5.

I took a coricidin when I woke at 5pm, so the allergies got under control before I went back to sleep but when I woke up at 11 I felt awful and wasn't sure if I would be able to work today.

I managed not to go back to bed by doing some simple photo posts on blogger. I didn't really start moving until about 2pm and didn't start work until 3:30. I do feel that armodafinil was required to give me just enough energy and alertness to work rather than not. Work was divided into two sessions that amounted to 2 hrs.

I continue to have the sense of every day being extra long--not in a bad way but an interesting effect.

Between lunch and work I did some minor things around the house--minor but at least movement. After work, I cleaned the dog yard.

While working (sitting) I noticed that my calves felt tight (as in from fluid retention not muscle tension). I had a bit of that yesterday but not enough to note and I didn't have an expectation it would continue. But it was back more assertively today after both work sessions (the second one being only half an hour) and now as I work on this blog and the symptom excel. 

I'm noticing that taking armodafinil, though it doesn't seem to be giving me energy per se, has made it easier to stay out of bed in the evening. I prefer sitting in a chair to sitting/leaning in bed. I also seem more inclined to write or take photographs than just veg out on videos.

I have noticed a little appetite suppression. Less suppression than just less of a focus of attention. I don't have any trouble eating once I decide to but my body seems to cue me less.

Feb 21, 2023

2nd day on armodafinil.

Sleep: 2:30-6:30. Up 1 hr. Tried to sleep at 7:40 but probably wasn't asleep til at least 8am. Up again at 10:10am. So total of about 6hrs. Even though it wasn't making me feel wakeful, I felt that the armo was interfering with my ability to nod off despite being tired.

Last evening and night, I occasionally felt the urge to poo briefly but it quickly departed. This morning at 6:30 I finally pooed, though a rather small amount. I'm assuming this is an effect of armodafinil, but then in the early afternoon, I had a very normal poo (med volume). For no reason, when I wiped later in the day because of a feeling of irritation, there was a little blood. When eliminating, I didn't feel as though anything was being irritated.

My doctor (and all the info I see online) says that it's not appropriate to take psychiatric meds in a less than daily and long term fashion. I think they need to be more open-minded and flexible. 

Today I took a whole pill at about 10:30. My stomach was gurgley in the early afternoon before needing to crap. 

No wooziness today as there was yesterday afternoon. It may have helped a little in terms of focus and alertness but it didn't last beyond the afternoon. Filling out the excel sheet of symptoms was very onerous and took hours, which is ridiculous.

I'm having some weird time sensations. I think it was the first psych drug I took that made me feel like time was speeding up. This one seems to be slowing everything down. It seems like the days go on forever. I woke up today feeling like I'd worked a whole week already, Like yesterday was multiple days. Weird.

Feb 20, 2023

First day on armodafinil. I took half about 10am and half about 12:30. This was recommended by my psychiatrist to start. However, I didn't feel much of anything from the 10am dosage so tomorrow I'm going to try taking the whole pill in the morning. I feel like it made me a little happier and less inhibited (went on a photo spree). It made me a little woozy later in the afternoon. It doesn't seem to have helped or made worse my fatigue or sleepiness or to have improved my ability to concentrate or stay on a task. But this is just the first day so we'll see how it goes. I had a few twinges in my stomach and my poo volume was low today but I don't know if that's the armo or what I've eaten the last couple of days.

I had some urgent urination upon arising after a long time sitting. When peeing, my bladder felt a bit crampy.

I oddly had a dry cough while taking a shower. This is the second time in the last couple of weeks that has happened. Weird that the dry cough improved on the lowest humidity day in a long time and yet arises when I'm in the shower.

Beyond the photo spree, I worked 2.5 hrs, split into two sets and I picked up the dog yard.

Feb 19, 2023

 I feel like I've benefited from going back on plaquenil the past couple of days but today especially. I think I need to stay on it permanently. 

I also think I need to re-assess how I rate my fatigue. I no longer have a sense of normal and so I've been gauging it according to my average, which is already fatigued. I need to give it more thought.

I'm writing this on a Sunday. This week will potentially be a big and/or bad one. I'm trying armodafinil (psychiatric drug) starting on Monday. I then need to get a COVID booster (overdue since Dec) and I need to start on cefuroxime, which may or may not cause a herx. 

Somewhere in all of that it would be great if I could finish up the small tree limb trimming but I suspect I'm going to have to sacrifice the opportunity good weather is providing me in favor of making some progress on disease amendment/abatement. 

I'm crunching all of these physical challenges into one week because my co-worker will be gone starting the middle of next week (and out for two weeks) so I figured this is the best week to be out of commission (if that's what happens) even though the weather begs for trying to be well enough to do a bit of outdoor work. 

Feb 17, 2023

 Regarding the 16: right before going to bed, as I was reading a book of poetry, my hands and fingers holding the book were going numb. I had to keep shifting them and the weight of the book, which is a large one. Also, after napping in the evening, I had a little bit of chest sweat.

I went to sleep at 1:50am and was up again at 3:30, I think because of either dogs or weather. Mild sweat upon awakening. Restless left leg interfered with getting back to sleep but not for long. Up a little after 9am, so about 6hrs of sleep broken on the early end.

Allergies didn't really kick in until I'd been up about an hour, which is unusual. It was a sinusy day until the afternoon. I was very sluggish and wouldn't have gotten out of my nightgown and robe if it weren't for the need to go get the armodafinil subscription. I also wanted to spread seed I had on hand for the outdoor critters. It's supposed to be a very cold night, so I wanted them to have fuel in the morning before I was really up and moving. 

I don't plan to take the armodafinil until next week but I wanted to get it so I'd have it on hand on Monday. I only got one week's worth so as not to waste money if I can't tolerate it for some reason.

I worked a little over 2hrs but again it was very difficult to engage my brain. I did the simplest task on the list but even it was difficult to get started. Once I was in a rhythm with it, I became somewhat more wakeful, but I still wouldn't have gone out afterward (was still in robe) if it weren't for determination to get medication--and I think I only had that determination because it had been so difficult to find a pharmacy to get it from.

Since I was forcing myself to go out after work, I delayed supper and felt nausea. I suspect I need to be drinking more and that it indicates an oncoming bladder infection. That said, I haven't made an effort to drink this evening. Instead, I've been very tired. I dozed a bit while watching videos about armodafinil. I had about an hour of feeling less sleepy but can feel that I'm not up to much more tonight.

Feb 16, 2023

 Today I called various drug stores in the area to get their policies regarding discount cards, armodafinil's cost, whether they would allow me to buy only a week's worth, and whether they would require me to move all of my prescriptions to their store. I was organized enough to accomplish that and settle on Albertville Discount Pharmacy as reasonable and close to home. I called that in to Dr. Bogdanova's office but I don't know if they will still send the prescription there. I left a message. 

I then went out to 1. Pick up cat food at Piggly Wiggly (special urinary diet), pick up prescriptions from Walgreens that I'd called in earlier in the week, and pick up information from Dove Family Practice (the alternative medical office the uses a monthly subscription).

And that was pretty much the end of my productivity. I felt that I was doing pretty good through all of that but when I sat down to do my USCF work, my energy tanked. I only had enough mental power to sort through and clear some very old unanswered emails. I didn't trust myself to do anything else that required acuity and accuracy.

I've been sleepy the rest of the evening and had to nap after supper. It was hard to stay up until supper and I ate a very simple and not very nutritional meal.

In the later evening I had a bothersome dry cough.

Feb 10, 2023

 I think that I was hitting a herx last week and the beginning of this week and that it is now letting up. 

Sleep: Midnight to 6 and then slept again for another hour or so.

The morning was better than most over the last month. I had no desire to return to bed. I worked a series of 1+ hours in order to finish what was started but the result was doing too much and my evening was a mental wash. I couldn't focus on anything. Even after dozing in the evening between 8 & 10, I'm having difficulty concentrating on anything, which is why I'm doing this so late and have had no idea what to even put down here. It's like the day became a blur--for no good reason because it's not like anything happened that made it a blur.

In the morninng I was able to record a chapter for Mom. In the late afternoon, I picked up the dog area. Otherwise the afternoon was on and off work from 1pm until after 5. I'm not sure what the total work hours ended up being since I had to take frequent breaks.

Allergies were not bad in the morning but did pick up in the evening.

Feb 8, 2023

 Slept from 2-6:30, then up for a bit and then re-awoke at 8:30.

Had breakfast and then started sneezing and blowing my nose with some soreness in the back of my throat so I took a coricidin. Whether it was allergies or an oncoming cold, I took some coricidin because it had to stop for me to function.

I'm having one of those "I could sleep all day" type of days.

Some ankle tenderness up and down porch stairs.

Peeing is normalizing some, more appropriate volume and stream. Wish I knew why.

Managed to work 2hrs. Picked up dog yard. Didn't do much else. After supper, I had to take another coricidin because I could feel the tingly nose returning. I fell asleep watching videos early in the evening. Up again at 10pm. Watched more videos and didn't start bedtime routine until about midnight. I have yet to take another coricidin.

I've been wearing masks while cleaning up the cat boxes and it has helped with allergies as I go to bed. I've been looking into alternative cat litters. Of course, everything is more expensive and/or difficult to get ahold of.

Feb 7, 2023

 6hrs of sleep. I need to make sure to make notes here in the beginning of the day or I'll forget what happened. Getting going was easier than it has been for about a week. I managed not to go back to sleep. I started work about 1pm. When putting out garbage (going down steps) I noticed that my ankles have become a little sensitive again but it didn't seem to last the whole day. The elbow rash was a little more itchy and rough. Again, by the end of the day it wasn't bothering me very much. 

I had another heavy elimination that made my back end burn and kept me on the pot so long my legs were going numb (which also happened yesterday)

Though I was still moving slow, I managed to get out of the house because I needed to buy a new hot plate. Unfortunately it required going to Walmart. I then went to Piggly Wiggly to pick up some additional food items for the week. I'm glad I had a nice day in which to do that. The next couple of days are supposed to be more problematic weatherwise. 

I worked a little in the early evening as well. I think between the two sessions it amounted to 2 or 2.5hrs.

Mom called and she noticed how tired I sounded--and I was. Though I didn't think I'd have difficulty staying awake, The activity of going to two stores and then doing some more work when I returned took something out of me. In the evening I tried to follow an ADF ritual, which is just standing up and reading from a book, but since it was my first time, it seemed to take forever and I skipped parts toward the end because I could feel myself fading. I was tired and losing my focus and patience.

Feb 6, 2023

6hrs of sleep. Might have slept more if allergies hadn't kicked in. A bit of chest sweat. Achy low abdomen/bladder after peeing (low volume). I started going off of sulfa, last night only taking half a pill. Feeling as though I'm coming down with a bladder infection is common when coming off of sulfa, which is why I taper off of it.

Left palm and fingertips becoming numb as I hold my phone.

Another massive elimination, this time with burning toward the end.

Lips dry but not chapped.

Achy low back but not bad. Tension in mid-back when doing dishes and when sitting in work chair.

Fatigued and dragging but managed to get in 2 hrs of work (broken into two sessions) and to drag tree limbs/trunks out to road that I'd cut down about a week ago. The only reason I did the branches was because the weather was good for it.

Feb 5, 2023

Decent sleep: 6hrs. Would have been more if Jasmine hadn't awoken me. Unfortunately I have no idea why I was able to sleep uninterrupted (except for peeing but went right back to sleep).

Allergies/sinus a bother upon awakening. Less runny than blocked.

Mild headache the longer I'm up.

Once again not enlivened by morning routine. Did minor restful stuff online the rest of the morning and then napped briefly before getting myself properly up and dressed about 12:45, a long slow process.

Some low back ache but not major. Hard time focusing on a goal behind the very simple one of getting dog food and restocking cupboards.

Beautiful day and yet I could sleep all day.

I did manage to do grocery shopping and 1.5hrs of work but was definitely dragging today. Again, I feel like this is herxheimer territory, though I wasn't expecting it with the use of sulfa.

After work in evening, I watched videos and set up a druidry blog--all while in bed.

Feb 4, 2023

Directly prior to sleep, as I got in bed, I had an allergic response even though I hadn't had any allergic response to being in bed throughout the evening, which I'd spent in bed. To sleep at 2am. Up at 6:30am. Slept again at 9am. Up again at 10am.

Left thumb and finger tips going numb as I hold my phone. Also both thumbs were slightly swollen when I first got up but the fingers weren't. As I'm typing this, my thumbs look okay but the knuckles of my right hand are somewhat puffy.

Then my left hand went partially numb as I was holding my tablet later in the morning.

Felt quite a bit better the second time I awoke but after brunch, I didn't have enough vigor to get on with my day and returned to bed. 

I had major elimination (more than one day's worth of crap) later in the morning and I wonder how much that retained crud would have affected my energy level the past few days. I also wonder how much credit to give the dark chocolate consumed since Wed had to do with that clearing out. I did feel better once I was shed of it. I should add that I haven't been strictly constipated but haven't been eliminating as much as I suspected was in there.

Bladder vacillated from giving me a fair amount of pee to a small amount. Stream remained medium to weak.

Eyedrops in the morning and at night.

Mid to upper back discomfort as I washed the dishes.

I never made it to a truly active state today and in the evening didn't feel like I could concentrate enough to do any work. I was able to post about poetry on goodreads, to record a couple of chapters in Mom's book, and record a couple of poetry videos. I also washed the dishes and did a load of laundry (not yet folded). That's it. Overall I was better than the last couple of days but still not vigorous enough to embrace the day or get a head of steam up for anything, even the things I did do.

Trying new things when fatigued

 This day:

Strange sleep. I no longer recall how I slept last night. I think I had difficulty getting to sleep even though I was tired. I was up at 7:30 and back asleep at 8:30 or 9 and didn't awaken until 10 or 11. 

So any sort of morning was shot. After breakfast, I went back to bed but didn't sleep. I was trying to figure out if logging my health here, in a blog with labels and a search function, would work better than in a notebook. I was also trying to figure out a way to log symptoms problems into an excel sheet.

With the help of some videos, which showed methods far too complicated for me to apply, I decided I could use an excel for an overview and a blog for details. A blog provides a more fluid space in which to log issues.

Why am I even logging issues? I guess I should make that a page here. In short, I realized that not doctors were keeping track of all of my symptoms--and would write on their reports that I didn't have them even though I wasn't complaining about them during a visit. When one always feels tired and achy, one doesn't mention them when going to the doctor for a bladder infection, for example, but the doctor may mark you as not having those symptoms because you didn't mention them.

I also have seen a rheumatologist who made me confused about what I was supposed to talk to him about. Yes, I have dry eyes--for a long time. How is that related to autoimmune disease? I looked it up afterward. Why on earth they don't give you a checklist of all of the symptoms of interest to them a month ahead of time (so you can jog your memory about how a given symptom you've come to accept has developed over time) is beyond me. So that made me realize that I needed to keep a more specific and elaborate record of my daily ups and downs and comings and goings of symptoms. It's not how I want to live my life, but until someone can put a name to what's developing, I need to spend part of my life doing just this.

On to my day...

I was dragging but needed to get meds for two of my pets before the weekend. I was able to do that but didn't have enough gumption afterward to put in my expected 2 hrs of work. I'll have to make them up over the weekend. After supper, I again applied my thinking to the task of setting up an excel. I then needed a nap. After the nap, I set up this blog. I've made this post and now I'll start my bedtime routine, which includes a snack and meds for me, medicating my dogs, and cleaning cat boxes. Once in bed, I'll read poetry until I can no longer stay awake.