Tag: weather

when morning pain is too much

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, disability

When morning pain is too much

Early this morning I got a wicked bad cramp in my CRPS foot. I couldn’t do nothing but bear it. I couldn’t move it or anything. I knew it wasn’t because I was dehydrated because I was drinking fluids when I was up at 1 am. I drank half a bottle of Gatorade. My foot is still severely sore so I had to take a couple of BT meds. I wanted to go grocery shopping today but that isn’t happening.

I ended up going to PT last night. She worked on my calf muscle which she said had a A+ knot in it. I am to roll a tennis ball underneath it to try and work it out. She said I might need dry needling to get it out but I would be limping out of the office as it is painful. She was just working on it with her hands and it was fucking hurting so bad so I know the needling would be worse. She told me that I could use a book on the bed and roll it. That is an awesome idea because I have a foam topper and the ball would just sink in and not move. My calf is still sore from the massaging she did. I walked up the hill to my house and it hurt so bad last night coming home. My breathing is going to take time to get better, she said. It is the last thing to get better. But I should continue to walk up the hill. I won’t be walking today because of my foot.

I made an appointment with my therapist for the end of the month. I figured if I have an appointment, I wouldn’t stray too much away from therapy. I see my pcp next week, in person. I am going to see if he can order fasting labs for me as it has been a while since I have had them done. I just sent them a message to find out if I should contact uro because I am still experiencing pain in my urethra despite not cathing. I don’t want to take the pyridium tabs because they cause me to retain more as I don’t get the urge to go. Today is the last day I am on antibiotics for this UTI. I haven’t cathed the whole time I was on because the urge was there for me to go. I also haven’t been on a schedule because I seem to be able to go every 3-4 hours on my own.

I am listening to Taylor Swift’s Speak Now album. I love this album so much. I wanted to listen to Fearless and I might later. Or maybe I will mix the albums and create a playlist. I don’t know. I just need to hear good music that puts me in a good mood without causing me to think about things.

I am getting tired. I was up in the middle of the night again and didn’t go back to sleep until around 4am. I woke up around 0730 to pee and I have been up since. I might need a second cup of coffee soon. I want to work on my 2nd memoir today. If I can write at least 300 words that would be good. I don’t really know where this book is going. I have written only around 500 words so far. It has been a slow start because it is so personal.

My legs are killing me so I really think despite taking BT meds, it isn’t enough for me to go grocery shopping by bus. It will be too much for me and I don’t want to hurt more than I already do. Today would be a perfect day for it because the weather is perfect. It has cooled off considerably and is a nice sunny day. The wind makes it cool but other than that it is a really beautiful day.

another hot pre-summer day

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression

Another hot pre-summer day

Another hot day in Boston. I cannot stand it. I am in a grumpy mood. I don’t know if I am going to go to PT tonight. I should go because I haven’t left the house all week and I need to get my prescription. I was able to shower but now am exhausted. My leg is killing me from where I injected the T. I seem to have flared up my whole leg. Doesn’t bode well for walking to my appointment and doing physical therapy. I will see how I am around 2pm and if I am in still in pain, I will cancel.

I woke up in the middle of the night because of pain. My shoulder flared up on me and it took a while to settle down. I sent my therapist a message asking if she was going to leave any time soon. The way she was saying she didn’t have time for me made me wonder if she was going somewhere. She sent me this long message back about how her time is split between two clinics and also reiterated that I would benefit from a group in addition to therapy. I wrote back that I don’t think groups fit for me and right now with my upcoming surgery I don’t think entering a group would be ideal.

Just had my second coffee of the day. I found that if I have a second cup I can usually ward off a daytime nap. It usually wears off around 1730 though and I get super tired. My sister is going to give me a ride to my appointment so I don’t have to take the T first leg of the trip. I really don’t like late appointments but it was the only time she could fit me in. Next week I am not seeing her and if I skip today that will be three weeks I haven’t seen her.

I just changed my shirt and put deodorant on, something I always forget to do when I go out. I am so used to not going out that I forget when I do go out to wear it. I know I will be needing another shower when I come home from PT. I should cancel because I am in so much pain but I really need to go. I messaged the PT to tell her to go easy on me. She agreed. She is a good therapist. I call her the poking therapist because she always seems to poke to get to the spot that is knotted. She did a good job on my calf. It doesn’t seem so tight anymore. It was twitching after I took a shower. I love taking showers but also hate them because they make me exhausted. I usually take just one a week but in this heat I need to take more. It is supposed to cool off tomorrow. I want to go grocery shopping. I want to make lemon chicken. My sister made it a few weeks ago and I loved it. Been craving it since then with some white rice. I also plan on making zucchini like my niece made. It was really good.

It’s hailing

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

It’s Hailing

For the first time in my adult life, I have seen what hail looks like. It’s cool! It’s coming down in pebbles but it is turning to rain. I just beat the storm by about 10 minutes! I am glad the bus was early today. My foot is hurting but I think it’s because it is swollen. Once it has time to acclimate to being without my shoe, I think it will be fine. If not, I will take a pain med. Both feet are burning but I think that is because I had to go up and down the stairs multiple times to close windows in both my house and my sister’s. Just call me the Window Closer!

My mother said that we are having asparagus and eggs for dinner. I am surprised because we are running low on eggs. She is one to stock up on them but they haven’t been on sale in a long time. It kind of stinks because I do like having eggs in the morning. Or a boiled egg for supper.

I am still getting used to my new eyeglasses. They are stronger than my previous prescription so I think it’s going to take some time to get used to. I thought I would adjust quickly but that isn’t the case. I went to Starbucks today and wore them while I was writing in my journal. My eyes felt really tired after I wore them. So I have been wearing them in spurts until I get used to them.

Had therapy today. She read the “Hate” blog. She said it was the “perfect” transference paper that she ever read. I didn’t think that highly of it because it took so long to write. I must have worked on it for at least two hours, if not more, just to get it to 500 words. I had thrown in how my day was and the anxiety about my pain meds. You take that out and it’s less than 300 words. It is crap. But she never criticizes me. I wish she would sometimes. I re-read it and it was a well written article. I didn’t like the middle parts like I described but the whole of the article was good. What bothers me is that a friend had read it and just gave it a sad face. I have no idea what that means. I don’t know if she found the article sad, that she didn’t like it, or whatever else she thought of it. I hate when people do that. You are always left wondering what the hell is wrong with the article. We talked about the “going with the flow” part. She doesn’t want me to do this but I already am going with it so I don’t know how to stop it. I can’t get angry or feel hate on command. I just keep what I am feeling inside or express it on this blog. Otherwise I have no where else to put them. And if I don’t have a place to put my feelings, the more suicidal I become.

Weather, Baseball, and Mood

by Midnight Demon, posted in depression, suicide

10-Sept-12

People often wonder if the weather affects one’s mood. From my experience since having an arthritic spine and suffering from mental illness, weather can certainly affect both. On sunny days, my pain from arthritis is less when the temp is between 40-60 degrees. I tend to like colder weather than hot/warm. I am a New Englander, born and raised in Boston so adapting to temperature fluctuations is a necessity. It might be 50 degrees one day and 70 degrees the next. Although I try to keep track of baramotric pressure, pain is usually my gauge.  The day before thunderstorms I am stuff and will have right hip pain, sometime with pain down the legs.

My mood on the other hand is quite the opposite of what the weather will be. On sunny days I am gloomy and downhearted. Mostly because I do not like bright sunshine. It can cause me to get a migraine just on the brightness alone. On these days I tend to stay in bed or my room because artificial light doesn’t affect me as much as real light does. Being outside on bright days always makes me feel down for some reason. Soon as it’s cloudy my mood will brighten even if my pain is increased. Sometimes when it’s cold and damp I can be in a bad mood but only because my pain levels have spiked and usually because I am incapacitated by it. It’s no fun having to stay in bed when you want to go out because you can’t move.

But I have found that despite this, sometimes moving about is a good thing. I used to and still love walking in the rain. I;, more apt to go out on a dreary rainy day because it compliments my mood. Gray skies and overcast always makes me feel less gloomy. Granted I am not a happy person. Happiness, like sadness, is a feeling that is likely to dissipate with time. Contentment on the other hand is what I strive for because it’s more realistic than the despair and anguish that depression and suicidality brings. Relatively few things make me happy. A nice mocha latte from Starbucks with toffee nut and caramel, my Red Sox boys in a winning year (this year is gone baby gone), and baseball season. I have noticed a correlation between the end of baseball season (end of world series or Sox season) with sadness more than any other time of the year, that is until Feb when baseball season starts to begin to get underway. Some people will call this SAD but SAD ( Seasonal Affective Disorder) is usually between Nov-April. My depression increases the beginning of Oct (when the sox play their last game) through mid February, which is outside the SAD parameters. So I have what is called BAD-> Baseball Affective Disorder or BDD-Baseball Depressive Disorder. Neither of these diagnoses will unfortunately make its way to the DSM-V (diagnostical statistical manual). Baseball just is not worthy enough to be classified as a major or minor mental disorder. That truly is sad. My psychiatrist agrees with me as what do you do when baseball season is over? How do you survive until spring training? Five months is a long time to go without this wonderful past time.

What I find exciting is you never know what the pitcher is going to throw. He may hit the player, catcher, or umpire. The ball might be foul, a hit, or a pop out. This is what keeps me sane, Baseball is my livelihood because it is America’s past time. No baseball and my already sucky mood becomes gloomier than a rained out game. On the days my Sox are not playing I will watch whatever game is on. Even if it is the stupid Yankees or as Red Sox Nation calls then, the Skankees, well maybe not all of Red Sox Nation, just me.

But I digress from my original line of mood and weather. I know most people love sunshine and hear but I don’t. Give me a cold gloomy day and I will be happier than a pig in mud. Take today. It was bright when I left the house at 9 am this morning. Then by noon it started getting cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. When the first rays of light came through my window I was very grumpy. I didn’t want to get out of bed. When I did, I grumbled, didn’t even take a shower, wanted to end my life and despite all that still got dressed and left my house. When noon rolled around and saw that it was getting cloudy my mood shifted and I felt relief. My contentment come back. I was as grumpy and could face the rest of the day. The temperature was neither cold nor hot, probably in the mid 60s and it was windy. Sunlight and me do not get along. It really makes me depressed where as a cloudy sky will make me happy. And when you have major depression, you will take any happiness you can get, even if it is on a cloudy cold day.