Chronic fatigue

Getting away from the world 

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

24 hours, three flights, two sick bags and one emergency oxygen canister later, and we have finally arrived in a little corner of paradise called Krabi.  Time for some much needed rest and recuperation.

Set beneath towering cliffs in the middle of a tropical jungle, our resort is possibly the most idyllic setting in which to escape from the real world.  So far, so perfect.


Being one who struggles to stay awake and overly active at the best of times, the multiple flights, change in time zones and a big old helping of jet lag isn’t much helping the cause.

Day one: crawl out from under the mosquito net for breakfast; scuttle back to bed for a quick nap; wake up at 6pm; swim, eat dinner and then go back to bed.  All-in-all a thoroughly exhausting and non-productive day.

Plan of attack going forward: stay awake long enough to actually leave the bungalow and experience Thailand.

Day two: wake up from a deep, coma-like sleep; leave Arctic temperature of an air conditioned room and get hit in the face with a wall of 96-degree heat; stagger to the restaurant for breakfast and eat my own body weight in eggs and papaya.  I figure one will counteract the other…

Next for the tricky bit: protecting my sun-sensitive, lupusy skin in an environment that’s not dissimilar to a tandoori oven. First up, a very liberal helping of Factor 50 P20, followed by Factor 50 on the face and a bit more Factor 50 for good measure.  Plus, of course, the obligatory hat and big glasses.

So here I now lay, oiled up like a seagull in a shipping disaster, sweating like a beast and hiding under the shade of umbrella by the pool.

So far, so sun safe.

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Day 135: hey ho, back to Square One we go

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

The last few weeks have been quite an unpleasant adventure; a throwback to the beginning of the year.  From the moment I retrieved my first Azathioprine pill from the ‘useless medication’ basket on top of the fridge, I felt rank.  I’m talking room-spinning, head-pounding, limb-aching, swallow down the vomit sort of rank. A bit like morning sickness come to think of it, with a touch of flu thrown in.

I had been hoping that it wouldn’t be so bad the second time around. Clearly, I was wrong.  If anything, those lovely little chemicals seemed to get to work even quicker than before.  By the first night, I was woozy and spaced out, by the second day my head felt freakishly large and I couldn’t handle bright lights or noise.  By the third day I had ground to a screeching halt; I was as good as useless.  I spent the entire day on the sofa, gazing at the cracks on the ceiling and feeling bleak.

Like before, it felt as though I had ice water running through my veins and a pair of car battery chargers clamped to my fingers, releasing wave upon wave of electric shocks through my limbs. My bones felt crushed and my chest felt constricted.

When I did make it off the sofa, I didn’t so much walk as drag my carcass around the house. Going upstairs was a painful exercise, both painfully slow to watch and painfully sore to do.  Much like a centenarian climbing a very steep hill, I progressed one very tentative step at a time, pulling myself up by the handrail.  It was a pitiful and tragic experience.Laying down

By the end of the first week back on the tablets I was gradually starting to adjust. Still absolutely shattered of course (is there any other way to be?) but no longer knocking on death’s door.  By the end of the second week I was turning a corner.One more restful weekend and I reckon I’d have been feeling pretty sprightly by now, as I headed into the third week.

But then I went shopping.  Or should I say, then I went on an 8-hour shopping extravaganza. It was great to be back out of the house and acting ‘normal’, but what was I thinking. Fun it may well have been; sensible or overly restful it was certainly not.

Thus the third week dawned and lo and behold, I felt like I’d been hit with a sack load of wet cement.  Back to Square One, I shuffled, feeling sheepish, silly and incredibly sore.  Self-sabotaging mission: complete.

Rewind to Day 96.

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Current status (say no more)

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

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And just one more thing…

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

I promise this is not a doctor bashing blog (I know the majority do great things every day), but I’m feeling ever so slightly grumpy after recent events.

So here’s the thing.  As a patient, I just wish that sometimes doctors would be a little more… what’s the word I’m looking for… empathetic.

I can count on one hand the number of doctors I’ve seen who seem to care.   Genuinely care I mean, not just asking what they can do to help.  Surely ‘caring’ should be a prerequisite for getting accepted to med school, and attending an Empathy class should be compulsory.  There’s bound to be a half an hour slot right between Dissection 101 and the What’s the Longest You Can Keep Your Patient Waiting seminar.  It seems to me that a number of other important classes have already been cut from the training curriculum; The Importance of A Good Bed Side Manner and Explain, Don’t Patronise are two that immediately spring to mind.

Hey, if ’empathy’ is too big an ask, I’d be happy to scale back all my expectations and just settle with some good old-fashioned listening.  This very basic skill only requires the ownership of two working ears, so no additional NHS funding will be necessary.

Yes, yes, I do of course understand that they’re a very busy bunch up at my local rheumatology department, and that it’s no doubt overrun with 1000’s of other people in exactly the same boat as me – all gnashing their teeth in exasperation and wanting a little more support.  I am also well aware that there’s bugger all that can be done to cure Lupus, and most of the treatments are always going to be hit and miss.  It’s all about the ‘management’.

But here’s the thing: (I might as well speak on behalf of all the 1000’s of fed up, teeth gnashers out there) we would like to point out that we’re more than just an NHS hospital number.  We’re also more than a set of blood results or a bi-annual appointment that needs to be checked off the consultants to-do list.  Some of us are getting mighty fed up with being fobbed off, patronised, pacified and then packed off till the next time, with absolutely no sign of any improvements or progress whatsoever.

Ok, grumpy rant over for the day.  I’ll now hobble off my soap box and go take my meds like the good little patient that I am.

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What is Sjögren’s Syndrome?

~ Rachel ~ 3 Comments

Bus stop signAutoimmune diseases are a bit like buses.  You wait bleeding years to be diagnosed with one, and then several roll up at once.  Sjögren’s Syndrome (pronounced Show-grin’s) is one such bus.  It’s often to be found hanging around with bigger, nastier members of the autoimmune disorder family, such as Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Anything ‘autoimmune’ basically means that instead of protecting the body from infection or illness, the immune system reacts abnormally and starts attacking healthy cells and tissue.  In the case Sjögren’s, the body’s immune system attacks glands that secrete fluid, such as the tear and saliva glands.

This shortage of crucial moisture leads to the two main symptoms: dry eyes and dry mouth. For women (who account for about 90% of all Sjögren’s cases) dryness can also be something of an issue ‘down below’.  Yup, when it rains it really pours.  OK, probably not the best analogy to use in a case like this.

In more serious cases of Sjögren’s Syndrome, the immune system goes one better and attacks other parts of the body as well. Symptoms include muscle pain, joint pain, stiffness and swelling, vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) and brain fog (difficulty concentrating, remembering and reasoning).  The two worst symptoms (personally speaking) are the crippling chronic fatigue and joint pain.  Though to be honest it’s hard to know these days which of my symptoms are coming from the Sjögren’s and which from the Lupus.

While it’s not a killer, having bone dry eyeballs can have a major impact on day-to-day life.  If nothing else, it can make you look even more bloodshot and bleary-eyed than normal.  Sometimes my eyes get so dry it feels like my vision in completely blurred, even though I can still see perfectly.  It’s a horrible feeling, and I find myself constantly pulling my eyelids down to try and ‘shift’ the haze.

The symptoms of dry eyes can be made worse by sitting around in air-conditioning, sharing airspace with a smoker or walking outside in the wind.  Travelling on an aeroplane can be sheer hell.   Watching TV or staring at a bright computer screen for any length of time (like I’m doing right now) can also become painful.  I think this has something to do with not blinking as much and the eyeballs drying out quicker – but don’t quote me on that.

Having a dry mouth is every bit as annoying.  It can make your tongue feel like an abandoned flip-flop in the Sahara Desert.  No matter how much you swallow or how much water (or whisky or wine) you drink, you’re still parched.  This makes your mouth and tongue feel horrible and your lips dry and cracked.  It also makes it difficult to swallow.  I constantly feel the need to clear my throat or cough up a mucousy fur ball.  At times I sound like a retching dog who’s been eating too much grass. Yes, pleasant I know.

Another frustrating knock-on effect from needing to drink all this extra water is the constant need to wee.  It’s a standing joke in our family that I will need to go at least twice before I leave the house and then within seconds of the engine being switched off.  Lazy muscles after popping out two children don’t help.  I’m probably just one violent coughing fit off using Tena Lady.

You can read more here about the symptom of Sjögren’s Syndrome, who gets it, how it’s diagnosed and how it can be treated.

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Life with Lupus? It’s all a bit sh*t

~ Rachel ~ 2 Comments

So what is it like to live with Lupus? Good question and thanks for caring enough to ask; most people never do.

Lupus is an unpleasant little disease that drains the life out of your body and time out of your life.  It can result in frequent hospital visits, constant tests and enough medication to make you rattle.  It can cause teeth-grinding levels of pain, uncontrollable exhaustion, terrible brain fog, facial disfigurement, dark thoughts, loneliness and an immense feeling of loss.  And that’s just the start.

In short, Lupus is a disease that can rob you of the life you planned to lead.  Future plans have to be reassessed, expectations lowered and energy levels micro-managed down to the very last ‘spoon’.

This may sound like a rather dramatic synopsis, but it isn’t.  It’s actually the harsh reality many Lupus sufferers have to deal with every single day.

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A dog walk too far

~ Rachel ~ 2 Comments

At the start of the week, I looked in the mirror and realised my total lack of exercise is starting to play havoc with my waistline.  Too many comfort calories and that muffin top is threatening to develop into a brioche.  And that, if left unchecked, could very well morph into a farmer’s loaf.

Time to get up and moving, I told myself.  On Monday I wheeled out my bike, brushed off the cobwebs and went out for a very gentle cycle.  All good so far;  I was still standing, all limbs working and one whole biscuit’s worth of calories burned off.

So the next day I woke up brimming with good intentions.  And then made the fatal mistake of thinking I could do more than I can.  Silly me, why do I keep letting my wishful thinking hijack my common sense.

I did the school run by foot and decided to live dangerously: I took the long way home. I’m only talking about a few extra roads and a quick detour via the park, but oh boy, what a difference an extra half an hour can make.

By the time I’d carried a happy, wet pooch through the house, I was fit for absolutely nothing. Yawning, exhausted and zonked out on the sofa.  I never learn, as my husband was quick to remind me.  ‘I only suggested you walk to school and then come straight home’, he pointed out, ‘not traipse around the entire village’.

Clearly, it was a moment of pure madness and one I’ve paid the price for all week. Argh. It makes me want to jump up and down and scream that I can’t do something as basic as walk the dog without knocking my body out.  All that effort to work off one sodding biscuit on Monday and I’ve probably eaten an entire packet since.

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I’m not lazy, I have Lupus

~ Rachel ~ 3 Comments

One of the more annoying things that people can say to me is ‘wouldn’t you feel much better if you exercised more?’  To me, that sounds an awful lot like ‘heave your untoned arse off the sofa and stop lazing around every day’.  But maybe I’m just being paranoid?!

Hmmmmm, exercise they say?  Now that you mention it, it does seem like the most obvious of cures.

Silly, silly me, how could I – or my doctors, come to think of it – not have thought of this sooner.  Let me flush all these unnecessary prescription pills down the loo, skip to the gym and body pump this chronic disease right out of my system.  Perhaps I could jump up and down, take a run, climb a rock, go for a swim or crunch my body into submission.  Who knows, once I’ve zumba-ed my way back to perfect health, maybe I’ll be able to walk on water, or, better still, turn H20 into wine!

I nod and smile through gritted teeth. Yes, I agree, it would definitely be good to do more regular exercise, but sadly that’s not always an option for me.  Most well-meaning and tactful people stop dishing out advice at this point.  But there’s always one. The one that never knows when to reel it in and zip it up. These people I could happily slap.

But why not, they want to know.  Exercise is ever so important they say.
Hold the press, groundbreaking theories being formed here:  Had I considered, perhaps, that it is my very lack of exercise that’s making me ill?

Had you considered, perhaps, that you’re getting on my very last nerve?

Have I tried a particular type of yoga? they enquire.  It’s called the Born Again Dying Swan and it’s all the rage.  Originates from the monasteries of ancient Tibet, apparently;  best-practised butt naked and balanced on a 2-foot pole in temperatures of exactly 89.9 degrees. Cures cancer and better than botox, so their best friend’s mother’s nutritionist said.

OK, enough now. I know in your head you’re trying to mean well, but out here in my world, you’re not.  Please just SHUT UP.   Why? Because in this instance you have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about.

Clearly, I know that exercise is good for you; it stops you getting fat and keeps you healthy.  Yes, I also know it can make you feel energetic, pumped up and happy to be alive.  But here’s the bit you don’t get.  For some people (that would be me) it can also wipe you out and leave you in a whole heap of pain.  A gentle walk or an overly ambitious bout on a yoga mat can cause joints to swell, nerve ending to burn and limbs to feel like they’ve been shrouded in concrete.  It can make my arms hurt and my bones ache.  And as for those incredible little endorphins that exercise releases? Believe me, when I tell you they’re simply no match for out-and-out, dog-tired exhaustion.

So yes, exercise is good and healthy and fun.  And yes, moving faster than a sloth on a regular basis would no doubt do wonders for my pathetic muscle mass and wobbly bits. But here’s the issue I have: there is simply no way of telling how much is too little or too much.  An extra 10 minutes in the wrong direction with the dog can be my undoing; there are no warning signs and there’s no going back.

So please people, quit with your well-meaning advice and consider this. Living an often sedentary life is most certainly not a life choice.  It is frustrating, boring and incredibly depressing.  Every single day I miss what my body used to be able to do and it often makes me cry.  In the good old days, I used to spin, swim, gym and downward dog with the best of them. Hell, I even kickboxed my way around the mat once upon a time.

So believe me (and every other medically induced couch potato) when I say nothing gets our backs up more than being told exercise will ‘make us better’.  No one is more clued up on possible treatments and ‘miracle cures’ than us, and if it were as simple as that, don’t you think we’d be out there pumping, squatting and peddling along with the best of them.

A little bit of sympathy and understanding, on the other hand, would go along way to making us feel better.  Ditto for flowers, chocolates, and dropping by for a cup of tea when we’re feeling low!

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Day 60: it was all going so well

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

The last five weeks have all been a bit up and down;  some days I’ve felt great and other weeks have been a total disaster.  The last couple of weeks have been particularly bad, however, but until today I just couldn’t work out why.  I knew I hadn’t been ‘pushing’ myself (no base jumping or tiger wrestling) yet the brain fog well and truly descended upon me and I’ve had the energy levels of a snail.

The reason for this became clear, following my third blood test on Monday.  I had a call this morning to say my GP needed to speak to me about my results. I admit I freaked out, just a little.  In my experience, doctors rarely call you at home to tell you anything you’d actually want to hear.  The last such home call I received was from a different doctor, telling me I had to see a neurologist immediately as my life was in danger.  But that’s a whole other story.

A flurry of phone calls ensued between my GP, the rheumatology nurses, the rheumatologist and myself.  Apparently, my white cell count and my neutrophils were crazy low, and this put me at a much greater risk of infection.  I swear I could feel my chest tightening and a tickle in my throat as soon as she told me.

If you so much as cough or sneeze or feel slightly hot or unwell you must come into the surgery straight away, my GP warned me.  But I’ll never get an appointment, I pointed out. Consider this a fast past to get in whenever you need, she assured me, just say you have to be seen as a matter of urgency.

Hmmm, look forward to trying that one out on the bull dogs receptionists who man the surgery phones.  They seem to regard every enquiry for a same-day appointment as a completely unreasonable and unnecessary request.  I once had to throw myself, weeping and wailing across the counter top before they reluctantly ‘allowed’ me to see a doctor.

To cut a long story short, my azathioprine dosage has now been cut by 50mg to see if this will bring my bloods in line.  I’m also back to vetting all my visiting friends in case they or their offspring are infectious or sick.  My melodramatic self is now picturing having to live in a vacuum packed bubble for the rest of my life.  Yes I know, I’ve already told myself to get a grip on reality and calm down.

Rewind to Day 20.

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Day 20: light at the end of the tunnel

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

Twenty days in and things are definitely looking up.  Not only am I feeling almost human again, I no longer look like an extra from Thriller.  

I’ve gone up to my final daily dose of 150 mg and I had my first blood test on Monday. Thank heavens my local nurse is better with the needles than the last one, as I’m going to be seeing an awful lot more of her going forward.

The best news so far is that (fingers crossed, wood touched) some of the excruciating pain from my hands and arms seems to have calmed down a little. This in itself is a monumental moment as I’m now able to push doors open, pick up a cup of tea and hold my husband’s hand without wincing and grimacing. Understandably that last one was starting to give him something of a complex!

My energy levels are still on par with a hibernating bear, but baby steps and all.  I’m reminding myself that first and foremost I was put onto the Azathioprine to help with the pain, so anything else that improves is a bonus.

Rewind to Day 10. Fast forward to Day 60.

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