What a Great Week

I don't know where it came from and I'm not sure I care, but my mood is good and my energy level is outstanding.

This week I walked four mornings and did something every evening and made it to Friday without being "Friday tired."

Monday - went shopping at the Mall
Tuesday - Master Composter dinner and wreath making
Wednesday - more shopping at the mall
Thursday - worked late and ran errands
Friday - ran more errands and came home and cleaned (a little)

This morning I wasn't sure what to expect, but my energy level was still fine. I cleaned early, went shopping and ran errands from noon to 4 and now I'm baking cookies and I feel great.

I guess the methotrexate is working or maybe it's the vitamin D. I don't know, but I LOVE it.

The Weather Kicked My Butt

We had almost an entire month of rainy or overcast weather. It wreaked havoc on my PA. I didn't get the burning in my knuckles. This time it was my knees, ankles and foot bones that took a hit.

The pain in the lower half of my body is different from the burning in my knuckles. It's more of an ache. Sometimes I don't think of it as a PA thing. I thought it had more to do with the shoes I wore walking. But I finally had enough so I took several doses of P and I was 95% better in the first 24 hours. I took two pills for two days, and 1 pill yesterday. I'll take another today and then cut to half a pill, then half a pill ever other day. I really want this pain to go away this time.

I'm not sure what the M is doing. I would say not as much as I would like since I have to take the P, but maybe I just need to give it time.

To be honest, this sucks.

Upgraded to the M

Saw the Dr on Tuesday, 9/29. She wasn't as pleased with the last 4 months as I was.

I left her office last time empowered to help myself if a flare came along. I knew that when it happened I should take 20mg of P for two days. I did it three times in the last 4 months and I was proud. I'd managed my PA.

When she asked how things were going I told her my story. Turns out I wasn't managing my PA, I was managing my flares. In truth, we don't want any flares.

She decided to upgrade me to M - chemo for arthritis.

Then she asked how often I'm taking Celebrex. Twice a day. If I don't, my bones pay for it. I get very sore. She wasn't too happy about that either. When she heard I had to take Celebrex twice a day, she said she didn't feel bad about putting me on M.

Although I picked up the prescription on Wednesday, I just took it today. It's a weekly drug so I wanted to take it on a day that felt logical to me. The weekend seemed right. I'm also a little afraid of a reaction. DH was away this weekend, I waited until Sunday when I know he will be back. This way if I have a reaction, he will be around to help. I'm headed to church so hopefully it will happen before church or long after so I'm not in the middle of the service if it hits.

I was sad Tuesday. I feel like I just took a step up the ladder. At the top are the biologic drugs. I don't want that, but I just went a rung closer.

Vacation and a Weather Flare

I was on vacation the week of Labor Day. I guess it went so well, I didn't think to blog.

Since my husband worked that week, it was mine to do with as I please. Tuesday I did yucky things like get my teeth cleaned and my hair colored and cut. Wednesday I had an enjoyable day of "retail therapy" with my friend Joy. I didn't buy a darn thing, but I still had a good time.

Thursday it started to rain and it rained for a solid week off and on. On the upside, I was forced to slow down and just enjoy the rain and take it easy on my time off. On the downside, I think the weather brought on a flare.

I didn't notice the burning knuckles as much as very painful ankles, feet and hips. This flare definitely hit the lower part of my body.

I finally broke down and took 20mg of P for two days and it seems to have helped.

Vacation did wonders for my mood. I'm back to my happy self.

This weekend DH and I bought a camper. I'm hoping there are many restful weekends in my future.

Wahoo! It's Saturday and I'm On Vacation

Even though I slept until 7:30 this morning, I feel great. My hands don't hurt. My mood is good. I'm ready to do something. Clean house, go shopping, things I normally don't want to do on Saturday morning. Now I just need to capitalize on that.

I was in a decent mood most of the week. Any bad moods this week were attributable to my husband. While not fun, at least I know why. Not like the Monday Funks I've had recently.

This is going to be a good week.

No Monday Blues

No Monday blues today. I actually feel great. My hands are little sore, but I'm busy at work and I feel like I'm accomplishing things.

I was an emotional basket case this weekend. This sounds familar. I need to check my blog a couple of weeks ago to see if I can find a correlation.

I cried in the middle of Petsmart because of the adoptable puppies. I cried when I got home because I was tired. I woke up from my nap CRANKY and wanted to cry for no reason.

I didn't want to go to church on Sunday, but went anyway, then cried because I didn't want to be there.

I wasn't mad at God or DH. I was just mad. Thanks to both for being patient with me.

4.5 days to vacation.

Experiment - Day 12

I didn't even wait until today to take the P. I started it yesterday. I was really hoping 20mg would fix the issue, but looks like I'll need another 20 today.

Getting back on the Celebrex apparently doesn't fix a flare once it's started. On one hand I really want to give my body time to work on the flare, but I understand (I think) that joints could be in the process of being deformed every minute I allow the flare to go on. So I broke down and took the meds.

I have figured out I have to take Celebrex twice a day. Even my feet and ankles started hurting on the one a day. That seemed to get better by just increasing the dosage back to two pills a day.

I also have psoriasis on my elbows. Both of them. It's worse on the left than the right. The left is the one that usually gets it. I think that came about Monday or Tuesday.

I'm having less stomach trouble by taking the Celebrex with food.

If I do another test, it will be to see about a 2-1 schedule for the Celebrex. 2 one day and 2 the next. But that's a while away. I got get my body back in order.