Posts Tagged With: small intestine bacterial infection

STUPID INFECTIONS!

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Nahleen

TODAY I’M FRUSTRATED!

I have had enough of feeling sick!  I’m so done!  Too bad my body isn’t!

Yesterday evening my digestive issues started up AGAIN!  They had calmed down and things were ALMOST good for about 4 days…THEN BOOM!  I’m doubled over and having stomach cramps really bad AGAIN.  AGAIN!  To be honest, I didn’t think I was out of the woods yet with this small intestine bacterial infection.  My doctor had mentioned it would take awhile and that I’d probably continue to have some bad waves.  But he had told me to take the antibiotics for as long as needed so that I could go through the whole process of feeling really sick and nauseated and wait it out to the other side.  Then he said to wait a couple of days after I started feeling good and then I could stop taking it…

WELL I WAITED FOUR DAYS…just to be SURE.  That’s what I get for taking care of me right?  I mean, the 4th day started and I really thought I was doing well yesterday.  BUT THEN 6pm HIT me like a bomb and I haven’t been feeling well since.  I thought perhaps it had passed by this morning…BUT SLOWLY the stomach cramps started again and I started feeling bloated and nauseous…

UGH!!!!!!!!  GRRRRR!!!!!  I NEED TO FIND MY HULK HANDS AND PUNCH WALLS!

(Disclaimer: No hands will be punching walls on their own…must have lots of cushion…)

So I muttered and grumbled about it this morning and couldn’t help but be angry.  I’M TRYING TO LIVE MY LIFE HERE!  Trying to get back into the swing of things AGAIN!  The stomach discomfort can be so paralyzing and disabling I can hardly do ANYTHING when it happens and I’m usually a mess after the wave passes–IF it passes.

Soooooo, I called the doctor like a good proactive patient even though I resented it the entire time.  He called me back a few hours later and told me that what I’m going through what sounds like a classic small intestine bacterial infection reaction to the treatment itself.  That the good news is that it sounds like the MAIN infection has been killed BUT that there are pockets in the intestines where the bacteria can hide and that they’ve come out and are free since the first layer of crud is gone and the antibiotics are now KILLING these furious LITTLE CHOMPERS and are not letting them hide and sneak around anymore!  At first he was going to have me keep taking the antibiotics twice a day till this passed but I was honest and I told him this was day 18 and I was really irritated and my body was quite uncomfortable from the forced and prolonged detox.  He listened to that, seemed to change his mind and said that I should take the antibiotic twice a day for the next 2 days so that I will have taken it for 20 days in a row with this round.  The next step will be to start a MAINTENANCE regimen and only take it once a day twice a week on Monday and Thursday for a month or two to make sure there’s no more new growth for awhile…  I’m pretty sure I’ve done this before and it has worked out really well…HOWEVER it also means I’m going to continue to have these really bad waves while feeling “almost good” the other times…Sooooo, there will continue to be NO status quo JUST YET–if that’s EVEN possible for me.  Once the maintenance round is done then I start on Probiotics to help maintain even MORE digestive health.

Well OK then.  FINE.  So glad that the antibiotic is still killing and working as necessary BUT what about me?  It affects ME.  It makes me have to STOP everything.  It makes me feel AWFUL as it’s all happening.  I’m the one who has to PAY FOR IT.

SOOOOOOO FRUSTRATING….

I know this will also pass.  I know that being so committed and determined to do what I can to kill this infection is what will help the most in the long run.  IT DOESN’T MEAN IT WILL BE EASY!!!

STUPID INFECTIONS!

*******

I’m also trying to remember to keep in mind that I also saw my Rheumatologist today for a follow-up regarding my lupus.  The GREAT NEWS is that she thinks the lupus has really calmed down quite a bit and that more and more of the disease seems to have gone into a bit of remission.  Sure I’m having some symptoms that are flaring up but overall I’m doing a lot better…

YES THAT ROCKS!!!!

And it seems like my MS has also calmed down quite a bit so that’s also AWESOME!

NOW ABOUT THIS INFECTION–GO AWAY!  I’M BUSY TRYING TO LIVE MY LIFE!

 

 

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CHRONIC DISRUPTION

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Nahleen

CHRONIC DISRUPTIONS

That’s what I consider my chronic illnesses: multiple sclerosis and lupus.

I have decided I need to just call them that.

CHRONIC DISRUPTIONS.

Someone had used that “DISRUPT’ word to describe them to me just recently and it really stuck.  YES.  If anything, they DISRUPT my life and they don’t go away. hence the idea of CHRONIC.  I’d like to say I’m perfect at being able to ignore them or at least NOT EVER let them get to me.  But that would be a LIE.  IF ONLY…

I tend to try to go on with my life (you know: get up in the morning, eat 3 meals a day, brush my teeth, comb my hair, shower, socialize a bit more, do some errands, exercise…things like that) especially as I start to feel better or get some relief and then BOOM!; I’m HIT with the next BIG BANG BAD SYMPTOM or ROUND OF SYMPTOMS.  Not that I ever stop feeling symptoms like fatigue, pain, stiffness, nausea–you name it.  There’s always something going on.  Some are more tolerable than others and there are loads of levels of degrees of the intensity of the discomfort.  It’s different all the time.

And all of it is  COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNPREDICTABLE.

With this unpredictability comes the DISRUPTION.  The diseases don’t work out a deal with me about when they are going to start flaring up.  They don’t let me plan my day.  They don’t care if I’m out to dinner with a friend or grocery shopping.  They just HAPPEN.

And that to me is by far the BIGGEST FRUSTRATION.  They are so DISRUPTIVE.  The amount of patience and flexibility I have to have would make me a Super Hero for goodness sakes.  Sooo, I just do the best I can with what I have and what I can do at that moment.  And I also throw temper tantrums, have tons of feelings about it and try not to punch walls.

Most often I just have to stop EVERYTHING.

“YEAH BUT” goes through my head all the time.  “Yeah but I need to make breakfast” or “Yeah but I need to get dressed” or even “Yeah but I need to brush my teeth”.  It doesn’t feel like a PAUSE.  It feels like a STOP.

The DISRUPTION causes an INTERRUPTION in my flow.  What am I talking about?  I have no ability to really Flow.  I have wanted a ROUTINE for years and it FINALLY just occurred to me that I need to give up that idea altogether.  I really just need to know what my Priorities are for me that day, try my best to do those for the day and then IF I can add something else than I will.  Laundry and grocery shopping seem to be the most DISRUPTED.  They take a lot of energy out of me that I either don’t have or I’d like to hold onto for the day.  I don’t like running on EMPTY if I can help it but then again, I CAN’T CONTROL THAT.  There is usually NO WARNING.

I’M CURRENTLY DEALING WITH A DISRUPTION OF DIGESTIVE SORTS.  I believe about a month ago I had mentioned on this Blog that I was fighting a small intestine bacterial infection and was on strong antibiotics for it.  I took the 2 week round of treatment, felt crappy from it (as was expected since it’s a detox) and thought I was done.  I had done this before and towards the end a lot of me was starting to feel much better.  I did HOWEVER feel nauseous towards the end of the treatment and thought it was side effects from the antibiotics.

Come to find out, I SHOULDN’T have stopped taking the antibiotics at that point because feeling NAUSEOUS meant that the treatment was starting to ACTUALLY FIGHT the infection.  That’s what my doctor reminded me of this past Friday after I called him because I had SUFFERED horrible stomach cramps AGAIN.  He said the goal is to be NAUSEOUS.  (I don’t know about you but that’s usually not on my favorite list of GOALS…).  When I’m NAUSEOUS it means I’m starting to actually fight the infection and I need to try to deal with and wait it out.  Once I stop feeling NAUSEOUS, then I will be able to start feeling better.  Once I’m consistently feeling better with no NAUSEA pangs then I can stop taking the antibiotics…

WELL GREAT.  INSERT/SHOVE NEWEST DISRUPTION HERE.

So that’s what I’ve been going through.  The past few days I’ve actually felt nauseous so at least now I know the treatment is working.  And with nausea, comes less energy and the inability to focus, loss of appetite and things like that.  We all know the drill I bet.

AND I just want to point out that it’s not like the body is PROGRAMMED to only accept one DISRUPTION at a time.  Ha!  If only.  I can dream I guess…The reality is that I still have all the other symptoms from both diseases that pop up whenever they seem to want to…

TALK ABOUT OVERWHELMING!!!

I suppose I better stop writing now because I’m starting to feel extra yucky again.  One positive I want to point out is that my lupus and MS seem to be calming down a bit and to be a bit less of an issue these days so there is recovery.  Thank goodness.

ALL OF THEM SCREAMING AT ONCE WOULD DRIVE ME ABSOLUTELY OUT OF MY MIND!  Let’s hope that doesn’t happen…

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Picking Up the Pieces

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Nahleen

Oh my goodness. What a weekend it was! I am so relieved to get through it.

On Saturday, it was 104 degrees here in West Los Angeles, CA! Crazy ridiculousness! Thank goodness the AC was working. However, it was still hot in the apartment if you ask my MS and lupus. OH yes it was. Yet, at the same time, somehow I got out with Corey to run some errands. I needed to get away from the building. Like in a car get away. I hadn’t been in a car to go anywhere in over a week and my little visits to the sun deck and my walks around the block just weren’t cutting it. Nope. So for sanity’s sake I got out and it was good to do so even though my body was yelling at me.

On Sunday, it was a bit cooler but still too darn hot. And it was an awful day because our Cleo Kitty (who’s been doing quite well since her cancer diagnosis in December 2011) was very very sick and we really weren’t sure what was going on. We think it was a bad reaction to medication but we’re really not sure. It was one of the hardest days I’ve had in a really long time. And the GREAT news today (Monday) is that she’s doing much better and almost seems like herself again. She didn’t eat for 24 hours. Very scary…when she did finally eat a little bit it was so exciting!

Meanwhile, I’ve still been fighting this small intestine bacterial infection. So while it was so hot and then Cleo was sick, my stomach was churning at times. The good news is that the infection seems to be getting better and I’m functioning more in my life. Today I stopped taking 1 of the 2 antibiotics I was on to treat it so hopefully that helps a bit to clear my head. I tend to feel a bit woozy on them.

So needless to say, we’re trying to settle back into a norm here. Thankfully it isn’t AS HOT here and Cleo’s recovering. I feel so blessed and grateful that we are given the gift of more time with our little girl. She is truly very special and definitely a fighter.

And as much as I feel like I SHOULD BE hitting the ground running, there will be no such thing today. I have a few more things that need to be done, one errand to do which will help me get out and otherwise it’s resting with Cleo.

Gotta give myself room to pick up the pieces and recover in all areas. Most of it can wait.

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Hope

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Nahleen

I have hope.

And it’s in the forefront of my mind, not somewhere in the back being pushed aside by yuckiness.

It’s been a really hard week for me. I’ve been dealing with this small intestine bacterial infection and the antibiotics that are sent there to go to war with it. It’s so not fun when there is a war in my digestive system. Talk about feeling messed up!

And then for it to be hot, humid, have lupus and multiple sclerosis on top of it!

UGH!!!!!!–And that doesn’t even come close to explaining it.

So this morning I woke up with hope. I could feel that it had somehow made its way closer to the front of my mind again. I am feeling a bit better. I feel like I’ve turned that corner and can glimpse the “feeling better” part of it all.

The yuckiness has been coming in waves…so for the moment I’ll do my best to be content with where I am.

I’ll sit with my hope and see what happens.

Thank you all for being there. It helps a lot.

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I HAVE A CRUSH ON ACUPUNCTURE!

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Nahleen

I have to come clean.  I have a crush on acupuncture.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!  I can’t get enough of it!  I had an appointment today and my body is thanking me for taking the time to help.

It all started a little over 5 years ago when I finally took that long awaited leap into the well of Eastern Medicine.  I had heard rumors since I’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the time that acupuncture really helped.  To be honest with you I was scared.  I also had been taking an injectable  medication for my MS every other day for those 5 years and the last thing I wanted to do was add more needles to the mix.

Then a co-worker of mine just wouldn’t STOP talking about this acupuncture treatment she was getting from this really nice lady in Beverly Hills, CA and how I should try it sometime.  Well my goodness, I think I kinda went just to shush her up about it and it was absolutely THE BEST decision I have ever made about anything having to do with my overall health and well-being and it changed my life!!!

Not only is the acupuncture amazing but the acupuncturist is one of the nicest, most compassionate people I have ever met.  She sat there with me for two hours that first night and helped me learn all about me.  I was blown away.  She knew more about me than I did about myself.  She was able to pull diagnoses out of my mouth that I hadn’t even brought up to her yet.  I was thoroughly baffled.  And you know, to this day, she is able to pick up on things about my body that my other doctors haven’t even come close to considering.  She was the one who wondered if I had lupus, or what else could be going on besides MS.  She was the one who wanted to know what was going on with my digestion and thought it should get examined and the answer was a small intestine bacterial infection.  The list of her conclusions about me are endless.

That night I had my first treatment and there is no turning back.  She said my prominent issue was that I carried heat and have too much dampness in me.  I knew about the heat.  I didn’t tell her that I was always hot.  She could tell.  She said my skin felt like it was burning.  I didn’t know about the dampness but it explained why I have a hard time with the rain and with humidity.  So after she put the needles in my body she asked me how I was, put on some relaxing music, gave me an eye pillow and left the room.

I had the most profound experience.  I thought I was always going to have to be stiflingly boiling hot.  Within minutes it was like the dam broke and my walls started breaking down within me and the flood gates of cold started rushing through my body and I specifically remember the cold feeling started on my lower right leg and worked its way toward my head and over to the other side.  I thought someone had turned on the air conditioner or put a fan on me.  Nope.  That was acupuncture and that was only the beginning.  The feeling of RELIEF was an absolute miracle.  I didn’t know I could feel “better” like that.  I’m getting emotional just thinking about it still.

The other symptoms she has been able to help are fatigue, stress, hormonal, allergies, asthmatic issues, pain, stiffness, weakness, digestion, sore throat, sinus issues, upper respiratory infections and she has helped me find relief with my overall feeling of malaise.  The only time we hit a wall with my treatment was almost 2 years ago when I had my major lupus flare and we didn’t know I had lupus at the time and she really needed my doctors to help find the diagnosis in order to give me the best benefits.  She told me she thought she was flying blind.  Once she found out the diagnosis (lupus is one of the hardest diseases to diagnose) the treatments greatly improved again and I have been feeling even better ever since.

I have had a crush on acupuncture from then on.  After she and I agreed that I would benefit from acupuncture, she asked me if I wanted try acupressure and I took the next leap of faith.  Sure why not?  WOW.  That was amazing too.  My main flame of love starts with acupuncture and then follows to acupressure because for me I don’t get as much benefit with just the acupressure.  My treatment really needs to start with acupuncture and then go right to acupressure.

It is AMAZING!  I really feel like I have a crush.  I get all giddy thinking about having the appointments/treatments and I can’t wait to feel some relief.  My body is always active with some sort of autoimmune disease running rampant and it needs a “Pause and Calm Down” outlet.

Acupuncture has been the answer for me and I plan on continuing for as long as possible.

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