Charity drive - day 6

My body is struggling today. I ended up needing a nap again, despite a full night's sleep. I am also in more pain than usual. My left shoulder is sore and stiff, and both my hands throb constantly. Letting go of the frustration is the hardest part, but once I am able to do that, waiting becomes easier. Right now, I knit to stay sane for several reasons. First, it keeps me busy, and second, it is helping me reach my goal so I no longer have to feel this day in and day out. I hope that all made sense, I'm having trouble keeping a train of thought going. Anyway, thanks for reading....until tomorrow.

Charity drive - day 5

I woke feeling downright awful today after about 8 hours sleep. After breakfast I went back to bed and slept another 7 hours, which I must have needed. My nephew came over in the afternoon and we ate dinner and played board games. I had to excuse myself pretty early on as the activity just wiped me out. I did manage to finish up another hat while lying in bed and am only up to post a pic of it before crawling right back under the covers.

Tired and thirsty

I've been having bad headaches the last few days and trouble falling and staying asleep. Even with the aid of acupressure and sleeping pills I am unable to stay asleep for more than a few hours at a time. My dreams have also been very strange. Last week I woke up screaming - something I don't recall ever doing before - even though the dream I'd just had wasn't particularly scary. My psychologist said it was probably a night terror. I really hope this phase of not sleeping well passes soon, as I'm getting weaker and more fatigued from lack of sleep.
Another strange symptom I've had for about a week now is feeling constantly thirsty but no matter how much I drink, my throat feels dry and my thirst does not go away. And my urine goes from clear, to dark and cloudy, to clear and back again. (shaking head)

ow, ow, ow!

I started having muscle pain two days ago, mostly in my legs. It feels like I've run a marathon without stretching, and any movement at all is painful. Also, last night I was only able to sleep for about 3 hours due to sharp, stabbing pains running down my arms and legs, all the way to my fingers and toes. I don't know what could be causing this other than the lyme disease affecting my nervous system. Needless to say I'm a bit of a wreck today and still in a lot of pain. I had to cancel my weekly modified yoga class because of it. :(

Missing Grandma

I've been sleeping 12-16 hours a night for about the last week. I'm very glad to be getting plenty of rest without that annoying insomnia.
2 days ago I had a very strange sensation - a tingling in my left arm that that began in my hand near my thumb and moved up to about my elbow. I paid close attention to it in case it traveled farther up my arm or started to hurt, just in case it was heart related. It lasted for a few hours then faded...I still have an occasional tingle near my thumb. Both hands are pretty stiff still and achy when I use them.
Another disturbing bit or news. The last 2 nights I've had 3 very vivid dreams of my grandmother dying of a heart attack on Oct 8th (this coming Thursday). Each time it happens in her kitchen and she passes in my arms. I have had the occasional premonition, and this doesn't feel like one, but I will call her anyway just to tell her how much I love her.

It worked!

Backing off on that project really helped me relax, and allowed me to sleep for another 7 hours last night - yay! I'm still a bit weak but feeling a lot better than before. I was even able to go shopping down the street for few necessities today. My dad drove me to and from so I didn't melt in the heat. :-)

A good day

I felt pretty decent yesterday and was able to take a full shower, play with my nephew and make dinner for everyone - something I had not done in a long time. Afterward I slept hard for about 11 hours. I am feeling a lot weaker today as a result of my activity, but it was worth it.
Above is a pic of the sunset yesterday. There was some sort of haze in the air the made the sun look bright orange...very cool.

On a side note.....I've had a persistent tic in my lower right eyelid for the last several days. I don't think it's anything serious, just mildly annoying.

Zombie

Three nights in a row of short, restless sleep....only 7-8 hours each night. I'm beginning to feel like a cranky, weepy zombie. I'm not sure why I'm not sleeping well. I think tonight I will take something and see if that doesn't help me sleep better. If my brain holds up today I will start on the packets that social security sent me. Apparently the hour interview plus a small tree in paperwork was not enough. Ugh.

Herxheimer

I just woke after sleeping for 9 hours ..which makes it a total of 26 out of the last 36. I am weak, wobbly and in pain. I got a ride to a free activity center today and sat there under a blanket for a few hours while my dad was at work. It was wonderful to get out of the house. I ended up dozing off the last hour I was there before my dad picked me up. As soon as I got home I shuffled to bed and slept hard. Just now waking from that to get something to eat and update my blog. Below is link to a video I shot yesterday describing a bit of the Herx reactions I'm experiencing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga07DbVx_sg

A tough day

I've been exhausted and restless the last few days. My sleep pattern has been erratic and I'm having trouble falling asleep despite being completely worn out. I tossed and turned for hours last night, finally falling asleep as the sun came up. The nightmares came back with a vengeance. I woke gasping and irritated. I'm trying not to let it ruin my day. I keep a notebook and pen by my bed and have been writing them down as soon as I wake which helps me to let them go.
In other news, my melon vines have been flowering and one has produced several tiny watermelon which are about the size of a bean. I will post pictures as soon as I can. My dad will be setting up the trellis this weekend for the vines to climb. I plan to grow them vertically to save space and keep the dog from trampling them.
I am very weak and tired today, my muscles aching. So I plan to do as little as possible and maybe I'll feel a bit better tomorrow.

It's 4:37 pm and I just received my 2nd harassing phone call from a new debt collection agency. This guy pulled out all the stops, intimidation, swearing etc. I should have asked him who peed in his cheerios this morning....hehe. I have decided to stop answering my phone unless I recognize the number and communicate with these agencies strictly via mail.

More nightmares

I had more nightmares last night. The first was pretty horrible and woke me just like the others, drenched in sweat. I let the pups out and went back to sleep. The second started out pretty awful but kind of mellowed after a while. It ended strangely but not very scary, so it didn't wake me like the others. I'm still very tired and sleeping day and night despite the rotten dreams. I scooped the doggy poop out of the yard today, which left me dizzy and feeling faint. I had to chug water and rest a bit to recover from it. As I sat resting and writing out my dreams, the dogs started to get rowdy and play with each other. I turned on my camera and got a few minutes of it recorded...they are so cute! I'll post the link later.

Blaaah

I have spent much of the last several days in and out of bed as I seem to need frequent rest breaks. My friends picked me up to spend the night with them last night...they left this morning on vacation so I'm staying here to care for their plants and four small dogs. I did not sleep well last night. I think because the sounds are different here so I woke up often. I ended up snoozing most of the day today to make up for it, but had horrible nightmares and still woke often as a result. So, I'm still very tired and will likely go to bed at a decent hour again tonight. Right now I'm trying to wake up to get the dogs their dinner and cook some of my own.

Tough night

I tossed and turned in pain all night, unable to find a position to ease my discomfort, and too exhausted to get up. My left leg still aches from my hip to the back of my knee, and I am utterly wiped out. I had a bit of trouble breathing last night also, I felt as though I could not take in enough air....I think the term for it is "air hungry". I am still feeling that way so am sitting down and trying not to exert myself.

I ended up lying back down and sleeping for another 4 hours ( for a total of 16) after I wrote the beginning of this post. I do feel a bit better having had some more rest, and the pain is not as intense. However, I am still somewhat out of breath.

I have a phone appointment with Social Security in the morning so I may go back to bed in a bit and see if I can get some more sleep. I want to be focused and at least somewhat coherent when they call ;-)

Whacky sleep schedule

OK, my sleep schedule is all whacky. After sleeping 14 hours yesterday then being up til 4am, I slept for only 4 hours and cannot get back to sleep despite being very tired and shaky. It's very strange, and feels almost as though I've had some sort of stimulant like caffeine.

I decided that as long as I'm awake, I might as well be productive. So I had breakfast, watered my garden and made a few phone calls. My peppers, cucumber and zucchini have not sprouted yet, but my watermelon and cantaloupe are growing like weeds. One week ago I posted a picture of the first watermelon sprout. Above is that same sprout today.

Sleeeeeep

I woke at 6pm today after sleeping for a solid 14 hours straight..whew!

My nephew came to visit last night, and wore me plum out. He discovered my digital camera and asked if he could take a picture. I told him to shoot away, as my memory card will hold about

1000 pics. He went nuts photographing everything in sight, including me with some not-so-photogenic expressions..hehehe. I managed to get one goofy one of him too ( above) so I guess we're even. He ended up taking over 100 pictures and we laughed our butts off looking through them. Later on we went bug hunting as the sun was going down. We found a small caterpillar in one of our mesquite trees that I have yet to identify. We made him a home out of an old box and some screen. I plan to keep him until he cocoons and release him after he hatches. I hope my nephew is here to see him hatch, I think he would love that! :-)