It's that time of year again...
My annual review of stuff is coming up. MRI this week, with visit to Neuro after Easter.
I've had a good year, overall. No new and exciting developments. Increase in general health and well-being. A long holiday in the middle seems to be part of that!
Strangely, I've been sneezing for a few days now, in spite of anti-histamines, and last night I had a resurgence of the parasthesia.
Parasthesia is the technical name for changed sensation. It's often described as "pins and needles" but it is more than that. I tend to get it in my R leg, especially the front of the thigh, and in my R arm. The limb feels slightly numb, and often heavy as well. I describe it as a "lumpen" sensation: it takes more effort to drag that part of my body around, but without much visible evidence of same. No dramatic limp. Technically, I don't have foot drop, although I notice the pattern of wear on my R shoe is changing slightly. More a slight foot "slap" rather than drop. Again, strictly subclinical.
When the parasthesia gets really bad, its accompanied by pain. The pain you get when you have a cramp, but without the muscle actually getting tight. Also an uncomfortable "I don't know what to do with myself" feeling. That's the one that can really drive me (and Hubbius) nuts. Even the pain responds to either walking around or a heat pack, but the discomfort makes me fretful and there doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do.
If I am in bed, I lie on the affected side. If your arm goes numb because you slept heavily on it, you roll away and it improves. Parasthesia goes the other way for me, which is seriously counter-intuitive! It was only when I read about weight in an article that I tried it. So I roll ONTO the side that feels all uncomfortable, and sometimes that eases the feeling enough that I can go to sleep.
This all came up because I am having my worst bout of this since August '09.
I was quite looking forward to going back to neuro to say, "I'm not symptomatic" and trusting that the MRI will come back unchanged. It's quite possible - even likely - the MRI will remain unchanged, but "weird-neuro-shit" symptoms tend to make one nervous (with or without MRI changes).
At least the migraines have been much better overall. In fact, I don't even have a headache, just a body ache. The improvement in headache seems to be the result of changed management practices, rather than a spontaneous remission thing.
I gorged on soft cheese yesterday, which I don't usually do. I'm wondering if it contains the same mystery ingredient as the Milky Bar chocolate... The changing barometric pressure was making everyone feel a bit odd, so maybe I headed off the headache with that.
My shrink and I are working on "how do I want to be & behave when weird neuro shit happens?" Depending on how unusual the symptom is, and how well the rest of my life is going, my response varies from semi-indifferent amusement (ah, there I go again with the weirdness... never mind it will go away soon or even whoa, how cool is that?! did the earth just move for you too?) to a wobbly lip and "oh gods, my legs feel so weak I may fall down, what if this is it, the end of walking forever?!" (at which point I talk to myself sternly for being such a Drama Queen, but it is a slight possibility which is what gives the fear so much potency). I hope to further improve my managing uncertainty with grace and aplomb. Sufficient unto the day and all that.
If there is any news, I will post here. There probably won't be, except continue to wait and see. You know you're in denial when you don't really want to know. Just now I feel mostly ok, so part of me fears the MRi will light up like a Christmas Tree. After all, when I was as sick as a horse, my MRI showed only the fruit loop and a couple of possible other lesions. That's not my overall response, just the little corner of paranoia, my own personal Murphy.
I've had a good year, overall. No new and exciting developments. Increase in general health and well-being. A long holiday in the middle seems to be part of that!
Strangely, I've been sneezing for a few days now, in spite of anti-histamines, and last night I had a resurgence of the parasthesia.
Parasthesia is the technical name for changed sensation. It's often described as "pins and needles" but it is more than that. I tend to get it in my R leg, especially the front of the thigh, and in my R arm. The limb feels slightly numb, and often heavy as well. I describe it as a "lumpen" sensation: it takes more effort to drag that part of my body around, but without much visible evidence of same. No dramatic limp. Technically, I don't have foot drop, although I notice the pattern of wear on my R shoe is changing slightly. More a slight foot "slap" rather than drop. Again, strictly subclinical.
When the parasthesia gets really bad, its accompanied by pain. The pain you get when you have a cramp, but without the muscle actually getting tight. Also an uncomfortable "I don't know what to do with myself" feeling. That's the one that can really drive me (and Hubbius) nuts. Even the pain responds to either walking around or a heat pack, but the discomfort makes me fretful and there doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do.
If I am in bed, I lie on the affected side. If your arm goes numb because you slept heavily on it, you roll away and it improves. Parasthesia goes the other way for me, which is seriously counter-intuitive! It was only when I read about weight in an article that I tried it. So I roll ONTO the side that feels all uncomfortable, and sometimes that eases the feeling enough that I can go to sleep.
This all came up because I am having my worst bout of this since August '09.
I was quite looking forward to going back to neuro to say, "I'm not symptomatic" and trusting that the MRI will come back unchanged. It's quite possible - even likely - the MRI will remain unchanged, but "weird-neuro-shit" symptoms tend to make one nervous (with or without MRI changes).
At least the migraines have been much better overall. In fact, I don't even have a headache, just a body ache. The improvement in headache seems to be the result of changed management practices, rather than a spontaneous remission thing.
I gorged on soft cheese yesterday, which I don't usually do. I'm wondering if it contains the same mystery ingredient as the Milky Bar chocolate... The changing barometric pressure was making everyone feel a bit odd, so maybe I headed off the headache with that.
My shrink and I are working on "how do I want to be & behave when weird neuro shit happens?" Depending on how unusual the symptom is, and how well the rest of my life is going, my response varies from semi-indifferent amusement (ah, there I go again with the weirdness... never mind it will go away soon or even whoa, how cool is that?! did the earth just move for you too?) to a wobbly lip and "oh gods, my legs feel so weak I may fall down, what if this is it, the end of walking forever?!" (at which point I talk to myself sternly for being such a Drama Queen, but it is a slight possibility which is what gives the fear so much potency). I hope to further improve my managing uncertainty with grace and aplomb. Sufficient unto the day and all that.
If there is any news, I will post here. There probably won't be, except continue to wait and see. You know you're in denial when you don't really want to know. Just now I feel mostly ok, so part of me fears the MRi will light up like a Christmas Tree. After all, when I was as sick as a horse, my MRI showed only the fruit loop and a couple of possible other lesions. That's not my overall response, just the little corner of paranoia, my own personal Murphy.