Shortly after Christmas I was advised by my doctor to discontinue one of the antibiotics I had been taking for over a year after calling him to describe the headaches, jaw pain, toothaches and accelerated heartbeat that I had been experiencing for over a week. In my last post I mentioned that I was making poor food choices leading up to the holidays and was having issues with head, neck and shoulder aches. It turns out while the sugar consumption played a part in my discomfort, something else was brewing. While I cannot explain exactly what that "something else" was, I promise to give a full update after my next appointment with my doctor. In the meantime we can’t even give a cheer for me being on fewer antibiotics because I was given another one to replace the one I was taken off of.
That was not the good news I teased at the beginning of this post.
Ever since I stopped taking the antibiotic I have had acne issues. In the whole scheme of things acne is not nearly as big of a deal as an accelerated heart rate but I am going to take a second to bitch about it anyway because I don’t need horrible acne on my face, neck, back and stomach to remind me how crappy this whole Lyme disease situation is. Yes, I said my stomach. Ugh. However, I am glad to report that during the past two weeks it has started to get better so there is hope for my skin!
Once again, not the good news.
A handful of positive things have occurred since I stopped taking the antibiotic.
For months I was frequently waking up in the middle of the night with horrible cramping in my legs and feet and I didn’t think anything of it until a couple of weeks ago when I realized it stopped happening around the start of 2014. Similarly on many occasions over the past five months I would get extremely light-headed if I stood up to fast from a seated position. The other day at work I stood and realized I was bracing myself on my desk for no reason because I hadn’t been lightheaded in about a month and a half. You're probably wondering why I wasn't more curious about these things as they were happening and why it took me so long to realize they had stopped happening. Truth be told there are so many random things that happen to me on a daily basis it is hard to keep track of them and it is also hard to differentiate between what may be Lyme/antibiotic related or every day wear and tear. I am also on seven antibiotics so ... there's that.
In early January 2014 we experienced the much hyped polar vortex. I woke up the morning of the highly anticipated negative degree weather and layered up with what I thought would be a good amount of clothing to ensure I wouldn't get frostbite during my seven minute walk to the metro. The meteorologists were talking like it was the end of the world. It was colder in Washington DC then it was in Alaska. In my head I thought I was going to step out into the tundra and freeze my bits off. In real life though, I was already sweating profusely before I even made it outside.
Remember those hot flashes I mentioned in my last post? I walked to the metro in negative digit weather while I slowly removed layers of my clothing. My hair and hat were damp because my head was sweating. I had an icy sheen on my forehead because my sweat was freezing. I also had frozen sweat on my back and under my armpits. By the time I got to my office I was holding my coat in my hand and was completely overheated in damp clothes. Polar what? Most of my colleagues remained in their coats and scarfs until the afternoon while I continued to sweat profusely at my desk. A week or so later I came down with a nasty cold. I suspect my icy, wet clothing that I commuted to work in had something to with it. I am excited to report that I haven't had a hot flash since mid-January. I am still having temperature control issues but I am now varying degrees of cold throughout the day with an occasional instance of feeling warm, but I wouldn't call it a hot flash.
I can't quite put my finger on the exact moment but at some point between the last time I posted (12/13/13) and a few weeks ago the brain fog that I have experienced throughout my treatment lifted. I feel mentally charged. My mind is clearer than it has been since before my diagnosis, and my energy level is through the roof. In fact, my mind is telling my body that we're better. I know this is going to sound weird because I just said my mind is clearer than it has been in awhile, but I'm having trouble focusing. It is not like what I experienced when I wrote about my short term memory loss leading up to my diagnosis, it is more like there is so much going on in my mind I can't keep up with it.
On the flip side my body is physicially exhausted. I have been dragging it from place to place trying to keep up with my mind which keeps encouraging me to attend a lot of social events. The cold damp weather is not doing me any favors. I am physically wiped out, extremely achy and am trying to find a happy medium between sleep and socializing. So far I can't say that I've been successful in doing that.
My mind is clear, yet I am having trouble focusing. My energy level is through the roof yet physicially my body is exhausted and feels like it is falling apart.
Good news... right?
