Friday, August 17, 2007

I haven't posted in awhile...

I've been just waiting to go to Colorado.

Now that I know what causes my symptoms, I've been experimenting to see what makes them worse or better. The longest I can sit/stand is about 4 hours and then I need to do the exact opposite. If I walk too much, bend over too much, lift too much, or pretty much do anything but constantly change my position and activities, I'm uncomfortable. It's like my body has ADD. Trust me, I don't do a whole lot. I go to work and sit on my butt all day, come home and walk my little dog, then rotate between my computer and lounging on the couch or in bed. On weekends, I do laundry and pick stuff up and put it away. It's a slow process because too much of any one thing and I'd be miserable. When I've done too much I take some ibuprofen.

I haven't been to the chiropractor in almost a month. Because I've been taking it easy, my mid and lower back haven't really hurt and when they start to, I can usually crack it a little myself since I'm now fairly loose.

Sneezing and coughing give me the piercing headache/head rush. I want to go to the gym or the lake or finish my new house, but I know that if I do I will surely get a miserable headache and end up in bed. As it is, I've had 2 "8" headaches (on a scale of 1-10) in the last few weeks. I've been lucky in that they both started coming on at the end of the day and I was able to take ibuprofen and lay down right when they started.

I've also been drinking more caffeine which is supposed decrease the number of headaches. In retrospect I did have many more severe headaches when I gave up soda/caffeine in the past. It's not the best thing for me, but it's better than getting the headache and taking more ibuprofen.

In a nutshell, I'm in survival/make as comfortable as possible mode right now. I'm anxious to see what all three doctors have to say.

1 comment:

lace1070 said...

Hang in there ~ I am a total cafeinne junkie ~ it't truely the only thing that manages my pain on a daily basis and it keeps me sane:) Looking forward to what the experts have to say. ~Lace
http://livelovelaugh-lace1013.blogspot.com/

This is just my story of my experience with Chiari. Until I was diagnosed, I'd never heard of it, and I just want more people to be aware of it. I'm not a doctor, so don't quote me on any of this stuff - k? If you are looking for information about Chiari Malformation, a lot of the more informative posts are the older ones.