I'm tired of cooking/preparing 3 meals a day. It's just the two of us but boy oh boy can that woman eat!! She stays slimish, I get fattish. It's bad enough I do everything here much less start making her one thing and me the other. At times I feel guilty when I buy her fast food cuz of the nutritional value....not to mention I eat it too.
Thanks for letting me vent, thanks for the support. I don't remember being sick quite like this before, with acute symptoms present for months, in varying severity. I have a mild temp still and bad cough with fluid. Can't stop my sinuses from leaking no matter how much Afrin spray I squirt in them. Ok... it is what it is.
I'm feeling very stressed because I was thinking "why am I not up and at 'em?" I've slept during the day past 2 days, after waking up at normal time. Once the worst symptoms subsided -- the worst was constant bed rest and coughing up goobers constantly for about 10 days -- I thought I'd bounce back.
I sent a text to my employer. I don't think my job is in jeopardy. I think they understand I'm really sick. I've personally trained enough other people for my position at this point that they can fill in the gaps until I can come back. I feel uneasy about all of it, though.
We did fly out West for a few days since my MIL is doing better for now, and the sinus pressure and other aches and pains began to diminish...but have now come back on my return to cold, damp weather. This has been a bad season for colds and flu....I hope you can get some relief soon!
I bought some Claritin D at the recommendation of the doc. I'm sure I'll be better in no time. And meanwhile, I notice now on social media that some friends have mentioned they, too, have had months-long ongoing cold/congestion symptoms. 😮 So it seems this WAS a bug... a superbug. 😠 But I think certain environmental issues have made my symptoms worse, too.
I'm going to try to go back to work tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Katie, in a word - YES - I think it's related. It's not a direct cause, perhaps, but it's an influencing factor imo. I had a previous mold illness that makes my auto immune response go overboard on things too often, and I have environmental allergies now. The new-to-me old apartment has some issues... places like under sink that smell moldy, and I can see that there is old rotted wood under vinyl flooring in kitchen. I think it's likely there is some amount of mold in new place. And the HVAC here probably needs cleaned out. I've noticed that I wake up with sore throat very often since I moved here. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it.
If it were my house and not a rental, I'd get an air test to see what the mold spore count was in my residence, go from there. I may still do this, but the air tests are a couple hundred dollars.
I'm glad my doc didn't Rx antibiotics today. To me, this is part of the problem, though I don't have any proof of my theory. If you have a fungal infection, or perhaps you're having a big auto immune response because your body had some infection that it's cleared but the body is still on high alert and producing things like mucous in overabundance, and then you take an antibiotic on top of that and kill all your good gut bacteria... that hasn't worked well for me in the past.
I got the impression that the medical treatment for "cold" symptoms is changing some. Antibiotics weren't even mentioned today by doc, not once I told him that I HAD had some chest infection but now my phlegm is clear again, just watery stuff. So I think he figured my body already beat the infection and he gave me steroids to help suppress the ongoing immune response...?
I'm not sure. But it says online I should be feeling good in 1-2 days. Can't wait!!
But in talking to FIL last night, FIL said maybe he should take BILs name off the river house and just have hubs.. then he knows it will stay in the family and not be sold. We had no idea he put the boys names on the place! And it seems both boys are also on the fancy house he lives in with BIL ! I have no problem with this idea, nor does hubs.. then just cut out the value when FIL dies and the 50/50 comes in. We don't want the big house, and BIL and SIL have no plans to move out! I play bad cop.. if they try to screw hubs and we own half the big house.. then Mom can move in with them in our "half".. she smokes and drinks and will light up their butts! But I doubt FIL will go through with this. He did mention to hubs again about us paying the utilities .. LOL BUt who knows if any of this is really true. HUbs has been to the attorney with them several times and this never came up. And I assure you if I have to buy the place,, it will be in my and Daughters names,, and hubs knows this!
I'm mildly concerned that I still cough up, and blow out, etc, so much mucous. The fluid has dried up a lot but there's still goo. They took blood at doc's to check for viral or bacterial infection, I'm going to call tomorrow and see what they found, if anything.
I'm not keen to take an immune system suppressant if I have an infection, obviously. I'll check on those blood reports tomorrow and go from there.
ETA: Thanks for letting me whine and whine and whine about this recently. I need this to hurry up and run its course. I'm not functional right now and it's been too long, and has gotten too severe, and I'm very antsy about all of it.
The antihistamine is 24 hour Claritin D. The doc mentioned, and I've heard from others, that reactions to it can vary widely. It has pseudoephidrine in it, so it can make some feel jumpy. I feel sedated, but not in a calm way lol, more in the DRUGGED way. It's difficult to type sentences right now.
I can discontinue the Claritin and take something else to manage symptoms. That's easy enough.
I suppose I'm doing all I can at this point. I wish I had gone to doc long ago but why would I think a cold would keep going and get so bad? I thought the whole time that "surely I'll be better in a couple of days." It's just not happening and I'm freaking out some. :-(
I can't even conceive to call off work again today... and I also don't see how I can drag through a Friday, a busy day in our busiest location, on such little sleep when I've been run down for weeks.
I'll make it one way or another. I'm just so weary from this experience.
Thanks for the great advice about yeast sinusitis and HVAC issues. Both things ring true for my situation and I'll dig into it further.
Frustrated. I can make changes to try to prevent this from happening again on this level but I can't make them NOW. It doesn't help NOW.
This feels reminiscent of the problems I was having a few years back when I was caregiving in the old house. I would get "sick" all the time and go looking for an acute Dx, sometimes finding one and most the time not, and I just stayed in this eternally tired and run down sick state, trying to get the important things done and get back in bed. The underlying problem turned out to be a very bad Toxic Mold/Stachybotrys level in the house but I kept getting different symptoms. I remember one morning, I coughed up a small amount of bright red blood. The advice from this forum (Veronica, I believe) was to go get checked out so I did. They found nothing, no fungal infection in my lungs, nothing. It makes one feel nuts after awhile. If the docs aren't going to find anything, or they can't fix anything, or they're going to give me steroids where I can't sleep for the next 5 days while I'm taking them and I keep missing work...
What good is any of this "healthcare?" For me in my situation, what good is it? I can read online very easily that chronic sinusitis infections can be caused by yeast, and have some connection to CFS/FM. Autoimmune. Chronic fatigue. Sensitivities, allergies. I've been going around to my doctors with these complaints for 5 years at this point. I guess I needed to mention that I have ALL of them, and I was only mindful of the one that was acting up the most on that particular week. Why has no doctor ever treated me for yeast before they sent me to a neurologist for the headaches, or rheumatologist for the immune issues...? I'm going to talk to my PCP.
A lot of the other symptoms I used to have, have improved. I don't get the tension headaches lately, or the nausea that went with them, and that's fairly new for me. I'm grateful. :-)
There's a lot to be grateful for.
Welp, I'm not going back to being that sick, and I'm not trying to throw a grand pity party for myself, either. Just posting about it online at 5am because... I don't have anything else more pressing to do at the moment. grr
Please consider carefully the health of your (newer) room mate, or any other recent changes in your household. Are you sharing one bathroom?
Think about this from the perspective: has your health been affected somehow?
And from the perspective of how will room mate's health be affected if there is a communicable disease possibility?
However, do not panic. Once a patient came in to the doctor's office panicked, yes, bleeding. Turns out is was an irregular menses, unexpected.
Hoping none of this applies to you, and you will be feeling great in no time.
It's a hot day (southern hemisphere, so closing summer here), and I could feel my mother's arm sliping from mine due to sweat.
And, taking her to the - very narrow - closet, she triped into my feet. Thanks God there were two walls into her reach
And we still can't mention walkers or cane to her. She is experiencing the dangers, but it is still a personal offense to mention those.
Sheesh!
I took the opportunity to ask my primary doc about the yeast-sinusitis possibility. I would think it makes some sense for me, as I had blood in my snot for YEARS at the old house. She dismissed it. She said I'd be "very sick" if I had candida problem, and since I'm up and walking around and talking fine, it's not a possibility.
She's a "tough love" doc. I like that about her. When I mentioned about the connection between chronic fatigue -- which she knows is my primary symptom -- and chronic yeast flare ups, she said it's not a thing.
In a way, she's good for me. She doesn't allow me to stew about anything. I just hope she's right. I cried during my appointment, tears of frustration and tiredness. I haven't cried in some time. I'm just overloaded with this b.s. right now and I'm not getting any clear answers, and that triggers some familiar feelings.
I will get after the HVAC clean out here, and check for mold. I can do that, it's FIRMLY on my radar now and I'll address it when I'm feeing a bit better.
I'm going on strike from all this muck, and I'm going to sit in bed and watch a movie and eat my Whopper I picked up on the way home. I'll take some vitamins and Vit C to make up for the rare junk food indulgence, haha.
Naturopathic doctor. I was thinking about that today, to maybe go see a mold specialist, or some other doc who does believe that yeast infections can cause reoccurring sinus issues and chronic fatigue. lol It comes down to "how much does it hurt," I think. I'd like to keep getting by and just get back to work asap. It's spring here, I can start opening windows, I can clean the filters and check for mold etc.
This may have been just a really bad cough/congestion that lasted forever, and perhaps lasted longer because of rebound congestion from the things I was using daily to control symptoms. At this point, I'm going to take wellness supplements and try to get back to my routine.
But this round of never ending sick rattled me, for sure. New place could have some mold, that's definitely a possibility, and it's exacerbating things.
7 years of caregiving, and I am so happy to be able to visit, yet have free time! Whining over.
For everyone this may be TMI so don't feel you have to read all of it.
1) check out any place you intend to live in for previous water damage/molds!!!! Considering the trouble you had at your dad's that has to be a priority. It is something I have to do too.
During evac, I tried to use some of mother's furniture that had been stored in a facility which, as it turned, had water leaks. Several pieces has no obvious water damage or mold but that didn't matter. I reacted severely to all of them. Other people used them with no problem, As soon as we removed them my symptoms went away.
2) It would be good to get tested to a wide range of stuff for allergies if you haven't been, Even then the dietary allergies did not show up for me. I figured those out by trial and error. I used an antihistamine daily for airborne allergens.
3) In my experience your primary doc doesn't know what she is talking about when she said you would be very sick and not up and walking around if you had a candida infection, I really disagree. I have had chronic sinus yeast infections for a number of years now. I get either bacteria infections with yellow discharge, and blood sometimes, or fungal infections - white ad clear discharge and blood sometimes. I went to see an infectious disease specialist and convinced her that the white discharge was fungal. (It got better when I swabbed my nasal passages with a little monistat on a q-tip. You might want try that and see if it helps.). She believed me and I asked for Nystatin nasal spray (had to be compounded) which keeps it under control. I have seen research that a significant percent of sinus infections are fungal. From the Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic "researchers say they have found the cause of most chronic sinus infections -- an immune system "response to fungus. They say this discovery opens the door to the first effective treatment for this problem, the most common chronic disease in the United States." In your dc's defense not many drs know much about fungal issues.
4) Antibiotics and steroids make fungal infections worse.
5) Are you having any gut symptoms?
6) My infections are gone or under control, but I still have CFS/FM fatigue/pain, but it is not as bad as when the infections flare up.. There is a lot more to that condition than infections,
You need to be a detective for your health. (((((((hugs))))))
I asked for help to print a list for me, off the computer.
He starts "re-formatting" the list, as he usually does, says it is ugly. He can never get to the click "PRINT" part.
I asked him to make the font bigger if he is going to all that trouble to re-format the list.
His response: "It doesn't need to be any smaller".
WHAT?
Thanks for asking. After all this time I just assumed people who knew me would understand, that mentioning aspergers identifies the person too closely and also invites the curious as to the oddities of the diagnosis, so I mention "cognitive decline", not dementia, not Alzheimer's, and not my mother, but my husband. DH also has arthritis, lateral sclerosis, stenosis of neck and lower back, neuropathy, thyroid module, and strange behaviors and communication patterns. Many times I am overwhelmed by what he says. To my knowledge, there is not a lot of information on aging with aspergers, and I feel alone in this mystery. So that is why I watch out for him, drive him, feed him, schedule things for him, a little more is required of me than a wife, including keeping his stress levels low so as to avoid a meltdown (on his part). It is a balancing act, and I am often surprised just when he seems more normal.....Then.....What the heck is wrong?? Yes, I am still a caregiver. And yes, it is confusing for me also.
He did not have a diagnosis prior to our marriage 19 years ago.
He is working part-time, and if that is not confusing for benefits, well then.....
The other day, a Medicare agent offered advice to have him quit working. It would be "easier".
Like I said, WE both are strong, and WE are brave!
I regret answering, (out of respect for Glad), and forgetting that my husband deserves confidentiality more than anyone needs reassurance about my caregiver status.
So sorry.
I am logging out.