If I'm going to title this entry honestly, I should really call it "Another day with no pain." I've been pain free for several days now, and yesterday was a real test. We had a special event at work, and I was on the clock for 12 hours. While I could handle these marathon days in the past, it normally would have left me lift and short of breath. Not this time. I woke up feeling slightly sluggish (I'm a morning person, but didn't get home until after midnight last night), but with zero pain.
To give you a basis of comparison, in the last several years, the only times I've ever been completely pain free were rare occasions when I'd timed my pain medication just right, only after two or three doses, and only lasting a couple of hours. Of course, using pain medication comes with many drawbacks. Narcotics make me vomit, so I'm limited to pseudonarcotics like Tramadol. And Tramadol makes me goofy. Ridiculous, actually. I'm giggly and distracted. I can't drive or really even cook. I try to get all of my kids to cuddle to me (and they don't really appreciate that at 13, 16 and 18). Plus, like all pain medications, it makes me irregular and gives me a tendency toward depression. There is also a family history of chemical dependency, so I try to avoid them unless I really can't function at all. (Of course, once I take a pill, I still can't function, but I might get two hours of painfree living.)
So it's understandable that I'm excited about this. But you guys - I'm like, really, really excited. Elated, really. I just want to yell, "Look at ME! I'm walking without limping! I'm not grunting every time I get up from a sitting position. I CAN SHOWER WITH NEEDING A NAP!"
Another wonderful side effect of this bounce? I've lost weight. I'm not a person whose is hyperfocused on weight and size. But every time I have a flare, I gain weight. Normally, it falls away when I'm in remission and I return to my "normal" weight (whatever that means). For last the two years, I haven't any substantial period of remission so the weight has stayed on, and gone up. But since this bounce started two weeks ago, I've lost seven pounds.
The down side? (How can there be a down side to feeling this good?) I'm still just in a bounce - that brief feeling of overall wellbeing that comes soon after inoculation. It doesn't last - I have to keep reminding myself that it doesn't last. I will go back to feeling like I did before I got my worms for several weeks until the hookworms are really up to their full potency. Even then, I may need a second (or even third) inoculation before I feel this good every day.
But for now, I'm living it up. This feels so good, and I'm taking advantage of it!
To give you a basis of comparison, in the last several years, the only times I've ever been completely pain free were rare occasions when I'd timed my pain medication just right, only after two or three doses, and only lasting a couple of hours. Of course, using pain medication comes with many drawbacks. Narcotics make me vomit, so I'm limited to pseudonarcotics like Tramadol. And Tramadol makes me goofy. Ridiculous, actually. I'm giggly and distracted. I can't drive or really even cook. I try to get all of my kids to cuddle to me (and they don't really appreciate that at 13, 16 and 18). Plus, like all pain medications, it makes me irregular and gives me a tendency toward depression. There is also a family history of chemical dependency, so I try to avoid them unless I really can't function at all. (Of course, once I take a pill, I still can't function, but I might get two hours of painfree living.)
So it's understandable that I'm excited about this. But you guys - I'm like, really, really excited. Elated, really. I just want to yell, "Look at ME! I'm walking without limping! I'm not grunting every time I get up from a sitting position. I CAN SHOWER WITH NEEDING A NAP!"
Another wonderful side effect of this bounce? I've lost weight. I'm not a person whose is hyperfocused on weight and size. But every time I have a flare, I gain weight. Normally, it falls away when I'm in remission and I return to my "normal" weight (whatever that means). For last the two years, I haven't any substantial period of remission so the weight has stayed on, and gone up. But since this bounce started two weeks ago, I've lost seven pounds.
The down side? (How can there be a down side to feeling this good?) I'm still just in a bounce - that brief feeling of overall wellbeing that comes soon after inoculation. It doesn't last - I have to keep reminding myself that it doesn't last. I will go back to feeling like I did before I got my worms for several weeks until the hookworms are really up to their full potency. Even then, I may need a second (or even third) inoculation before I feel this good every day.
But for now, I'm living it up. This feels so good, and I'm taking advantage of it!