Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Headaches and Hurdles

I started a new medicine a few days ago. The Doxy (Doxycycline) simply wasn't doing it. At. All.

So, along with the Alinia, I began Azithromycin, or "Azith" to those of us in the Lyme world. I was so happy to switch away from the Doxy, as it really gave me horrid nausea. I leapt from that frying pan a bit hastily...

Yep, FIRE!!! Right into it. The Azith kicked into gear in 24 hours, bringing me a world of hurt. Stabbing abdominal pains... Wasn't sure if I felt like throwing up or saving it for the dark side of the moon... you get my drift? Well, neither vomiting nor the other ailment came about. Just an awful stabbing/pressure-pain all over my abdomen for a few hours each evening. This pain has been completely debilitating. It's not the "Wow, this sucks, but I can manage" type of pain. It's the "Did you hear that? I'm coming to join you, Elizabeth!*" type of pain. I almost felt like I was having a gall bladder attack at some points, and then... oh wait. I don't have one of those anymore. Heh.

Accompanying this lovely sensation is someone I'm pretty well-acquainted with: Mr. Migraine. Things got so bad last night, I couldn't even stand up. I was slumped onto my massage chair (thank God we own one!) for about two hours. You see, my heart medication for POTS doesn't allow me to lay down, as it raises my blood pressure when I go horizontal, for 4 hours after taking it. I tried anyway, and let's just say raising blood pressure during a migraine is the stupidest thing you can do.
My massage chair, AKA the only place for peace in times of migraine herxing.
My most-amazing-hubby-in-the-world actually got in the car and drove to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy me a bathtub pillow so that I could take a detox bath and rest my head. This is how bad my migraine was. Oh how I love him so! (My hubby, not Mr. Migraine.)

So, not only does the new medicine obviously kick my backside from one end of the house and back, it also has given me loads to think about... when hubby and I go to a movie and my legs decide not to work anymore and I literally fall into the next seat over, trying to exit the theater... Yeah. I think, "Wow. I'm glad I didn't sit in the very end seat. I would have fallen into the aisle." And "Well, I wonder how ridiculous we look," as he literally is allowing me to drag myself on his arm on the way to the car. I mean, I look normal enough. When you have Lyme, you don't look sick. I think I must have looked something like Westley from "The Princess Bride" after he'd been "mostly dead" all day.

So, I'm walking a ton better today, two days later. And I'm taking the day off my Azith, and will start back tomorrow at half-dose and stay there for a few days. Then I will ramp up to the full dose. Here's to kicking some keet keester**!

*Please, oh PLEASE tell me you know what this quote is from! If not, look here.

**Keet = Spirochete (SPY-ro-keet); The shape of the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia Burgdorferi.
Keester = Butt.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, that was sweet! A bathtub pillow will really help you relax while you’re having a detox bath. No more migraine after that, I guess? :D After spending some time detoxifying your body, you will regain your energy for sure!

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  2. Pat, it sure does help! Of course Maxalt is great for my migraines too. A nice detox bath, head and neck massage, complete darkness and a Maxalt. :)

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