I’ve had my neck muscles cramp up before, and it’ll trigger a headache, but I’ll be fine after a little while.
Not this time.
Tag Archives: chronic pain
My Neck Has Checked Out
Last night, as I was laying in bed doing my normal things that relax me (playing my silly games on my phone, Instagram, Pinterest, etc), I shifted and realized that all of my necks muscles were extremely sore. It was really odd. So I stretched gently, and ow!!! Yup, something is wrong.
I take a muscle relaxant every night to help me sleep. I figured that sleeping and the muscle relaxant would get them to relax. Finding a comfortable sleeping position was a little difficult, but it wasn’t too bad.
Had I slept like this, I’d at least know why my neck hurts!
New-ish Diagnoses
These diagnoses aren’t new, actually, but I just found out about them. These two new-ish diagnoses are joint hypermobility syndrome (I will often shorten it to JHS) and inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST).
Joint hypermobility syndrome, which I wrote a little about in the Writing 101 assignment Why Do I Write?. I have always been very flexible, but for some reason having a name makes things make more sense. Dr Spencer thinks it is possible I might have Ehler-Danlos, but the genetic testing is expensive and it wouldn’t change any of my treatments anyway. JHS is a congenital condition that just makes all of my joints extra loose.
It’s Giving Tuesday
I hadn’t even heard of Giving Tuesday until today… apparently, I’ve been living under a rock? I think I just have difficulty keeping track of which “named” days get added onto this specific part of the season…
Anyway, Giving Tuesday makes me feel much better about the world than the others. One invisible illness blogger I read regularly, Let’s Feel Better by Ilana, also works for the Global Genes Project. She wrote about the work they do and some of the non-profits they work with!
Check out Ilana’s Giving Tuesday post!
Featured in Ilana’s post: Dysautonomia International, Jeffery Modell Foundation, EB Research Partner (EB is the “butterfly” condition)
Defining Disabled from Indisposed and Undiagnosed
Defining Disabled – Indisposed and Undiagnosed
I’m just going to leave this here. I’ve been thinking along the same lines, and she articulated these thoughts perfectly!
First Road Trip With POTS – Short Thoughts
This has been my first road trip since my POTS diagnosis, and it has been a learning experience. I’ll write more about it later, but here are some quick points.
- You will be too hot and too cold… Sometimes at the same time.
- You are going to get crazy dizzy because road trips are dehydrating
- Clothing is obnoxious
- Fast food and soda are simultaneously awesome and evil
- Bladders are tiny
- There is no such thing as being over prepared
Your Brain on Pain
I get Real Simple magazine. It felt weird switching from Cosmo to Real Simple, but I suddenly felt like the magazine was being written more towards me, so it was obviously the right time to switch. It’s odd what things make us realize we’re growing up. Anyway, I don’t tend to write about what I read because the things I utilize from the magazine tend to be the organizing and cleaning tips (and there are SO MANY of those online). I do occasionally read stories that tug at my heart, but since I’ve started this blog I hadn’t read a story that felt like it was written specifically for me.
Well, that all changed in the August 2015 issue (I just read it recently because I fell behind, haha). In the August issue, there is an article simply titled “Pain.” I figured it would probably focus on “normal” pain, for “normal” people… which is kind of true. However, it did actually discuss chronic pain. And there were some disturbing pieces of research mentioned in the article.
Mystery Miracle Magnesia
I mentioned my stomach hurting in the last post. Out of desperation, I sent Dan to the store for some milk of magnesia… as a kid, I was always constipated, so I know this stuff does actually help get things moving. Quite honestly, I just want it to clear me out so that my abdomen can stop cramping (I’m hoping it’s because my intestines aren’t moving things around properly, instead of something worse). I took a half dose (you can spread them out). Suddenly… MY NAUSEA AND STOMACH CRAMPS ARE (almost completely) GONE!!! This is so bizarre. Dan said that the bottle says “soothes the stomach.” I had no idea it could why I would suddenly feel so much better, but I’ll take it. Anyone have any ideas as to why this might have worked? Any similar experiences?
Back to Bland
My stomach had been really bad for two days, and still hurt this morning. It’s been upset for even longer. So, I’m going back on a bland diet for a few days… Hopefully, it can reset my stomach before we head to Cali for Thanksgiving (leaving Friday).
Abdominal Ultrasound Results
I heard from my doctor regarding my ultrasound, finally. It’s, interesting, to say the least.
So, we didn’t really find anything. Not anything that my doctor thinks is causing an issue, at least. Apparently, I have a hemangioma though. Near my liver. But he doesn’t think it’s causing any issues.
Finding Life's Silver Sun 