A nice lay in but still in pain…. what can i do?

Yet another day of pain in the back in the region of my kidney. After i had my attack first thing in the morning i decided to try and go back to sleep and unlike many times before where i have struggled to get back to sleep i managed to fall straight to sleep as soon as my head laid down on the pillow again. I then woke up at 8 am thinking i should be ok for the day only to start getting the pains in my back again. I thought i had got over the infection or whatever it was causing it but i was wrong and by yesterday evening i was in agony once again. This time around i am having trouble going to the toilet normally and have had to resort to laxatives so that i can get rid of some of the wind that is building up in my stomach and making me feel like a balloon. I can’t believe i am still suffering from the same infection. Surely after 2 lots of antibiotics and loads of pain killers it should be easing by now but it seems like its getting worst than ever.

I managed to stay in bed all morning this time and wasn’t woken by the beast this morning. It’s nice to actually have a lay in till 8 am and not feel exhausted all the time. I am still getting aches in my back and again in the region of my right kidney. I have tried going to the toilet this morning and am still having problems. So again i have resorted to taking a laxative this morning and hopefully that will help me to pass some of the wind that is making my belly swell up. It is possible all this pain i am getting is due to trapped wind but i can’t see it being that as the pain is slightly different to that when i have wind. Every now and again i will get a stabbing pain where the kidney is located on the right side followed by a feeling of slight pressure and ache. I am also getting pain in the shoulder blade area on the left today but this could be that i have laid awkward in my sleep or have got a chill in the shoulder. I can’t work out what on earth is going on.

I have never been this ill before and all these pains and aches have started appearing from nowhere. i have pain killers and tablets that i can take to ease the pains but its like nothing seems to help no matter what i do. Could it be something in my back that is causing all these pains like a trapped nerve or something wrong with the spine? If that's the case how on earth does that effect your bowls and bowl movement? Its all nothing but guess work at the moment as i am completely lost. I have been over the doctors 3 times now complaining of the same pain and explaining what is going on but its like the doctors are just not listening. I have explained it is in the kidney area but they insist on listening to the lungs every time. I have explained the pain and the constant ache and they have tested my urine for any infection but there is nothing there. they have also listened to my chest and confirmed whatever infection was there is now gone so it can’t be that.

The doctor seemed to think that the pain is due to the muscles hurting and aching after having such a nasty infection and said i could have strained it from having a chest infection from coughing etc. I have tried to explain i didn’t have a chest infection, i didn’t have any problems with my breathing and i certainly didn’t have any cough, mucus or blockage. Why they insist on thinking this way i don’t know but there is definitely something going on. With regards to my attacks, the best is back and i am again getting a couple of attacks per day, every day and now that i have stopped the Verapamil i am just hoping they don’t come back as bad as they were during the winter. The warmer weather should be arriving in the next couple of weeks as we had a nasty cold spell decided to remind us how cold winter can be and it will take a little while before the weather improves enough to have a significant effect on my attacks.

All i know is i am getting some strong pains in the back and kidney area on the right, no matter what pain killers i take it doesn’t help. I have a problem going to the toilet and passing wind but apart from that i don't have any other signs to say there is something wrong with my health. I am starting to believe i am turning into a hypochondriac or similar and imagining these thing. That's one painful imagination i have suddenly acquired and just wish it would go away. Its hard enough trying to deal having attacks all the time with out having to worry about something else going on. I am at the hospital on Tuesday for my x-ray on the lung so hopefully that will shed some light on the matter but if this is not gone within the next week i will have to go and see a different doctor as the ones that i am seeing are useless and don’t seem to listen to what i am telling them. Its not the first time the doctor has ignored what she was being told as she did it with my mother who then went on to find out she had cancer in the kidney and is now waiting an operation to have the kidney removed. lets just hope mine is something to do with the muscles and the back and nothing else.

Attacks are back but strength now returning, slowly..

I was again woken in the early hours by a call from the beast but luckily i managed to get back to sleep after the attacks as it wasn’t as strong as they normally are and was over in around 10 – 15 minuets. I did manage to have an early night yesterday despite feeling like my stomach was about to explode. I must be coming to the end of the infection as i had terrific wind and a case of constipation. It was so bad all day i could feel my stomach getting harder and harder as it filled up with food and wind. It wasn’t until after my mother had dropped off some Dulcolax tablets, laxatives, that i started to feel better. I can only remember a few time when i was younger that i had such a bad illness that  scared me half to death. I remember a time when i was so bad with the flu i was running a very high temperature and because of this i was also hallucinating. I was being chased around the house by flying axes and killer playing cards. I know it sounds crazy but when you are young you would be surprised how your imagination works and the things you see.

I also remember on one occasion seeing giant wasps flying through the wall trying to get to me. I think this one was due to a fact that i had been stung by a swarm of moths a few years earlier after throwing an apple core into a bush with a wasp nest inside it. The apple core must have gone directly into  the nest as a few seconds after throwing the apple into the bush you could see a cloud of wasps rise up above the bush and then suddenly turn and go for me. All i remember is running all the way home and dashing through the front door and hearing my father shout “don’t stop, keep moving, don’t let them land!”,as he was filling the bath with water and trying to swat some of the wasps at the same time. As soon as the bath was full he instructed me to strip all my clothes off and jump in and duck under the water while he sprayed what was left of the wasps with wasp killer. I remember it took ages to get all the wasps out of my clothes and hair and almost an hour just to sit and pull the stings from out of my neck, head and back.

I also think that was the reason for me seeing the giant wasps this time around. As soon as my temperature hit a very high level i started to hallucinate again and was ducking from wasps all day long. At least the fever didn’t last long this time and it was over before i really started to feel ill. Its really strange how the body reacts to different illnesses but i have to admit that the infection in the lungs is one of the scariest i have ever experienced and don’t know how people cope with things like Pneumonia in the old days. I am still getting pain in the region of my right lung and back so am a little concerned that i have may have done damage to the muscle or even the lung itself but will be able to have that checked on Tuesday when i have my X-Ray. Thank god the worst is now over and i am slowly getting my strength back.

Not long now till our holiday down Cornwall and a week of fishing and relaxation. I am so looking forwards to the holiday as it will be my first “proper” holiday in nearly 10 years so its about time don’t you think! I have got all my new fishing equipment all ready to go and made sure we have a good selection of fish baits and attractors to ensure our fishing trip is a successful one. Not only will i be coarse fishing but also some specimen fishing and hopefully trying to catch myself a huge fish and see if i can beat my all time personal best. no doubt we will take a couple of days break and go on a sight seeing tour around the area and local attractions to see what its like. My mother and step-father has been before but this is my first time so its going to be all new to me. Let’s hope and keep the fingers crossed that the “Beast” will decide to take it’s own holiday at that time and keep me from having too many attacks while i am away.

The 3 am Beast attacks again!

Another early wake up call from the beast this morning at 3 am. Again i could not get back to sleep no matter how hard i tried so have been up all morning just sat watching TV and wondering why i am still getting aching on the back. I should be satisfied with the check up from the doctor but for some reason i have lost all faith in my surgery and can’t seem to accept that it could only be some muscle pain. It just seems too deep to be the muscles and the way the pain disappears for a while and then comes back and you could be sat perfectly still and it will appear yet other times it comes when you move. I am not convinced but only time will tell.

To put my mind at ease the doctor has arranged for me to go up to heath hospital on Tuesday 2nd April at 4 pm to have an X-Ray done of the chest and the lung to make sure everything is fine and if there is any sign of residual infection. I am glad the doctor has done this as it will ease my my mind and i will have to accept the diagnosis. I am also thinking it could all be something to do with the back and spine. I am sure something is going on that is causing the pain or muscles to tense up and contract witch in turn makes them painful.

When i sit up straight with no support i can feel my side muscles pull tight holding me up straight whilst the back muscles ache. if i lay back or sit back to give that support to the back then the ache stops and the muscles relax. It could be the same nerve and muscle in the back that is setting off my head attacks all the time and making my CH condition a lot worst than it should be. Its all strange and guess work as i just don’t know what is going on. I have stopped the Verapamil until a time i feel better to try again or when i speak to the specialist what ever comes first. Its a shame really as the tablets really did keep the attacks at bay and i was getting way less attacks than i normally get.

I just can’t understand how an infection in the lung or Pneumonia can be so bad and not effect your breathing in any way like a cough or flemy chest or husky breathing. I could breath normal and deeply. The only effect it had was my chest become very tight like someone was tightening a band around it and it stopped my breathing at one point where it was so tight. It was when i stopped the verapamil i started to get better immediately so haven’t touched them since. As soon as i feel well again i will give them another go and that way i can see if it was the medication that made me ill or just the infection and bad timing. I could have had and allergic reaction to something that is in the tablet so its always best to be safe than sorry.

Again a wake up call from the beast! he’s back….

Thank god my back is slowly getting better the pain is not as strong as it was over the last couple of days but is still there so i know i still have to take it easy and be careful what i do. No long walks in cold weather and plenty of rest was the doctors orders so i will take her advice and become lazy this Easter bank holiday. I was again woken at 3 am by  a wake up call from the beast that lasted just over an hour. I don’t know what is worst having the attacks or having Pneumonia. I would rather the attacks as at least i know it won’t kill me and i have the injections to help abort the worst ones.

It’s not until you have had a nasty illness you start to appreciate life a little bit more and the mobility a person has in getting around and doing little tasks that seem impossible when you are struck down with a virus from hell. I couldn't even walk as far as the bus stop that is only on the corner of the next street up from mine. As soon as i tried i would become out of breath so quickly and then in terrible pain for hours afterwards. At least its over now, or at least i hope it is.

I have loads to do but just can’t get round to doing it yet as it will just take too much out of me and could end up making me bad again. I have left the house work, the shopping and the washing until i was feeling better now that i am i can still only do small jobs as i am still getting out of breath and a little pain. At least its not as bad as it was. The weather is still forecast to be freezing cold no matter how much sun we get so i know i have t wrap up warm if i go out anywhere and try and keep walking to a minimum for now until the pain has completely disappeared along with the ache that i get in the back in the location of my right lung.

I have now finished the antibiotics and when i saw the doctor yesterday, after having to make another emergency appointment due to the pain being so strong, she has advised me that i don’t need any more tablets as i have completed two courses of the antibiotics and the infection has definitely gone. She seemed to think the pain i am now getting could be muscular or there is still a little residual infection left in the lung that they can’t hear when they check you up. She said if the pain is still strong and i don’t feel any better then i have a letter where i can ring the hospital and make an appointment for them to x-ray my right lung to make sure nothing has happened and i don’t have any damage.

I don’t think i have any damage but believe there is still a little infection there as every now and again i keep getting hot flushes and a sudden increase in temperature. This could just be the last of the infection shifting, i just wish it would hurry up and clear totally so i can get on with things. Its bad enough not doing anything because i suffer from CH and now even the little things i enjoy such as fishing is all put on hold because of this stupid infection. There’s not a lot else i can do except wait for it to clear. Fingers crossed it won’t take much longer.

Is this the end of the nightmare?

I haven't been updating my blog as much as i would like lately due to me feeling so ill all the time. It looks like the infection has finally lifted but seems to have left me with some pain in the right lung. I have been back to the doctors to make sure it wasn’t getting bad again and she seems to think i may have a little of the residual infection left in the one lung and should be ok but may be sore and painful for a little while. i have completed 2 courses of antibiotics so there shouldn’t be any more problems for a while and i have also stopped the Verapamil until a later date just to make sure i get rid of this infection completely. She has also recommended that i go for an x-ray of the right chest just to be on the safe side and also to put my mind at rest.

I have decided to wait until the morning and if its getting better then i will leave it but if its still bad then i will ring and go straight to the hospital for the x-ray. Since i stopped the verapamil the attacks have returned on a regular basis and i am getting 2 or 3 attacks per day at the moment. i know it is due to the extreme cold weather we are having at the moment. people are saying this is the coldest and worst weather we have had in the UK in over 50 years. I have to admit it is VERY cold outside and the wind is freezing so i will be staying indoors in the warm.

Well there's not much else i can do for now except cross my fingers and hope this ache and pain goes away soon. Apart from that there are no other signs of illness or problems so i am hoping this is the end of a nightmare that i really want to forget. I have never experienced any infection like that before and i think i never want to go through it ever again. All i wish now is that the beast will go back to sleep so come on weather hurry up and warm up so i can enjoy some pain free days and maybe even go fishing again.

How on earth did i end up with Pneumonia?

This last week has been a frightening and painful experience. With everything else going on you don’t expect to get yourself a serious illness just through taking your tablets. After speaking with the doctor (extremely briefly) yesterday it was concluded that i have been suffering from Pneumonia. The pain i have been getting in my sides and back is from the infection and was caused from taking my Verapamil. Although this sounds crazy and there is no record of it EVER causing such a problem i will try and explain how it all happened. I started taking the Verapamil and after a week started to get pains in the right side of my body. When i started getting the pains there was one night where i ended up getting what i can only describe as a fever from hell. The whole night i was sweating like a tap had been turned on and this didn’t alarm me as i normally get it before i have a major head attack but this time there was no attacks. During the night i had to change my clothes several times including the bed clothes as well as the bed ended up soaked as if someone had poured a bucket of water over the bed. Because of this fever i ended up catching what i thought was a cold in the back ad this has turned out to be Pneumonia.

I stopped taking the Verapamil and the pain in the side immediately stopped and the fever when away. i then started to get better as the day continued witch showed me that there was possible an allergic reaction going on as the drug is for blood pressure and heart attack patients and has no records of ever causing a problem with any other organs in the body. I reported this to the doctor yesterday and she has advised me to stay off the Verapamil until we can see what is going on or until my next appointment with the specialist. I am still getting pains in the back and in the lung area and no matter what medication i take and how much i try and rest that pains are still there. yesterday i actually started to feel better when i went over the doctors so i ended up walking to my mothers in Llanrumney and then home again. Now considering i couldn’t even walk down the stairs the day before it was a massive improvement. Unfortunately today i am getting even more pain and its strong again like it was in day one so again its starting to worry and scare me but at least the chest isn't as tight as before and i can still breathe. i think the combination of the long walk and the constant cold wind has made it bad again.

I am praying it will go away soon as tomorrow is the last day on my antibiotics and if it hasn't shifted i will end up having to go back to the doctors and maybe even to the hospital if it continues like it is. i am hoping it doesn't have to go that far and i will end up feeling better in the next 48hrs. Now considering i don’t go anywhere and the only person i visit is my mother it has shocked me it has hit me so hard. If i was one of these people always on the go or walking miles visiting people i could understand. When i saw the doctor yesterday there was nothing further she could do. All she said was continue to take the medication and rest. If it gets very bad again call the hospital and go in as an emergency appointment. Now that all sounds easy but you have to be able to call the hospital in the first place. Sunday when it got so bad in the night i even stopped breathing as i just couldn’t force the air inside me. Luckily due to my condition and the fact i suffer with CH i have an oxygen tank at home and i managed to jump on that for a couple of hours. imagine if i didn’t have the tank? It would have been game over for me! Lets hope things start to improve soon. I just don't know what is worst the head attacks or not being able to breathe whilst getting stabbing pains constantly in the side.

One scary experience…

Well there are some things that are beyond explanation and reason and i think i have just witnessed one of those things. It all started when i was given my new medication to take, Verapamil, a medication that is normally used for blood pressure issues or heart attack victims. I started taking the medication and after a week i saw a huge improvement from the amount of attacks i get in a day and saw them reduced to almost no attacks at all. I was only getting from 2 to 8 attacks in a week and considering i used to get that many in a day it was like a miracle drug to me.

I was due to increase the medication as soon as i want and had an ECG at the hospital but i didn’t go because i came down with an infection that started off as an abscess on one of the last 3 teeth i have in my mouth. I went to get help from a dentist but no dentist would help me as i wasn’t registered so i had to register as i would not go back to the hospital after the hell they put me through taking all the others out. They wouldn’t see me for almost a month as that was the earliest free appointment any of them had so i made the appointment and went away and burst the abscess myself. I then cleaned out all the poison and kept it clean in order to get rid of the infection. I felt slightly ill and was starting to experience pain in my side on the right.

I went to the doctors and she checked my urine for infection of the kidney and listened to my chest and found there was some bubbling sounds on the right lung so it looked like i had an infection coming. She took the precaution and put me on a second lot of antibiotics to try and shift it before it became a problem. I went away still feeling ill and in pain but more sure that it would be taken care of. Whilst this was going on i noticed something about my medication. Each morning i would take my medication roughly a couple of our after i have woken up. this gives me time to wake up properly and get ready for the day. After taking my medication i noticed after around 30 minuets or so i would then start to feel ill again and slowly get worst as the day goes on. I would take my nights medication and then by the end of the evening i would be feeling so bad i thought i was dying on more than one occasion.

It got so bad the other night that i stopped breathing on a few occasions and had to resort to going into my living room and staying on my oxygen until i felt i could breathe normally again. If i hadn’t of had the oxygen tank there i would have ended up in hospital for sure. When this happened something clicked in my mind and said its the Verapamil tablets that is causing it. So the next morning i was very bad  still could hardly breathe and i decided i wouldn’t bother taking the medication. This had the desired effect as i slowly got better and better as the day continued and was well enough by lunch time to go over my mothers. I discussed what had happened with my mother and we just couldn’t work out why it would have done what it had done all of a sudden and taking the medication had such a bad effect on me. Well as time as gone on and i have stopped taking the Verapamil i am now feeling a lot better and starting to get my strength back. I still feel a little bloated and a bit of pressure on my back but i feel way better than i did.

It could be that i was having an allergic reaction to the tablet or the tablet just made the infection a lot worst than it should have been normally so by removing the medication i am now left with a normal chest infection of infection of the lungs. Well i am hoping so as this was all an experience i want to forget in a hurry. I may end up having a few more attacks again but i would rather put up with the attacks than end up ;like i was the other evening. That was one scary experience.

Feeling so ill, it’s just not fun…

Well that was one scary night last night! As the evening drew in my chest started to feel as if it had a band around it and was slowly getting tighter by the hour. By the time i managed to settle to go to sleep it felt as if i had someone stood on my chest and each time i dew a breath it took ages for me to be able to feel as if i could breathe properly. I ended up waking up in the early hours and rushing into the living room to get oxygen as i felt as if i was passing out due to lack of breathing.

I must have fallen asleep again in amongst all the worry and panic and woke again at 5am this morning, able to breathe but feeling as if i had a stomach full of acid. My chest is ok this morning and i can breathe again. The pain is still there on both sides and a feeling of pressure on the back either side of my shoulders and on the side like a feeling you have eaten too much. There is also still a small feeling of pressure on the front of my chest but i think that is the after match of last nights adventure. It has taken me over an hour to settle and to start to feel like i have strength again. Every now and again i break out into cold sweats but then it suddenly disappears. This is the strangest infection i have ever had.

It was also strange how it started to same time i started taking my Verapamil so i have decided not to take them over the weekend even if it does mean my head attacks will return and i have to put up with the pain as i just want to make sure its not them causing me a huge problem. If i see an improvement over the weekend then i will be happy but if i am still this bad by Monday its back to the doctor or even the hospital this time. I don’t think i can go through another night last last night. Its bad enough being in pain and not feeling well but not being able to breathe at the same time is the scariest thing i have ever come across. It feels like i am slowly drowning with out water.

I am hoping that the antibiotics will start to work soon as the pain is bad and its like i am being stabbed all the time. I am also feeling bloated all the time and passing a lot of wind so there is definitely something else going on other than the lung! All i know is i am really not well and feel so weak, scared and alone its just not funny anymore. Fingers crossed things will start to improve soon!

Woke up finding it hard to breathe…..

After scaring myself half to death due to pains in the back and side being so bad no matter how much medication i take take and then feeling really ill as the infection started to spread across my chest to my other lung i finally thought i was getting better the other day as i was feeling a lot more energetic and less pain. Now to top it all off i have woken this morning, with both sides of my lungs hurting and back aching worst than tooth ache, to find it hard to breath. I can feel i have an infection now and the chest has become tighter as the lungs have swollen up over night.

There is no way it could have been made worst as i have kept the flat warm so i don’t catch a chill or cold as i was starting to get a blocked nose yesterday and thought it was the last thin i needed right now. I don’t think being a smoker is helping one bit with my infection so if it continues at this rate i will have to give up for a short while. This infection seems to knock you in stages but seems to be getting worst. Mind you i am only half way through the antibiotics course of medication so it is a bit soon to be hoping for miracles. I suppose as soon as the antibiotics have built up enough resistance i will start to feel better and they do say you do feel worst before you feel better as the virus will try and fight back before it is killed off so i just have to stay strong.

I am happy to report i have only had a few head attacks over the last couple of weeks so i know the medication is definitely helping my condition. Even though we have had some bad weather, cold, wet and windy i have still only had a few attacks and believe it is only because of the infection that they have actually appeared at all as i don’t think i would have had the ones i did if i were not ill. I am praying that after the infection has disappeared i will be able to do one increase on the medication and that should take care of the attacks until it winter time again and then i will need extra help. 

So it looks like its another weekend taking it easy while we have this horrible weather and as soon as i am better i can plan my next fishing trip witch i am hoping is going to be next Sunday down at my local lake.  I promised myself i would pay it another visit as soon as the weather started to improve and see if i can get a nice Carp out of there. So fingers crossed with the weather set to start warming up next weekend and hopefully this infection will be under control by then we should be able to get out on the waters edge and catch some nice fish to start off the new season.

Another early start due to the lung infection…

Another early wakeup call at 4am this morning not from the beast but from the infection instead. Every time i roll over and lay on my side pressure seems to build up in my lungs and it becomes painful and very hard to breathe. Soon as i lay back on my back or sit up the pressure eases and i can breathe easier and the pain is more manageable. I hope these antibiotics have started working as this infection is definitely the worst i have every had. I am glad i don’t have a fever and seating all the time like i did the first day i found out i had this infection. It was so bad and the fever was so strong i was hallucinating and seeing wasps flying around the flat when its not even the time of year for wasps. I think this goes back to my childhood when i was stung by a swarm of wasps after they chased me for miles from throwing an apple in their nest by accident. It was my father who had to battle the wasps and throw me into a bath of cold water in order to stop them from attacking me. They was in my hair and clothes and i ended up stung all over.

I have my dentist appointment later today so will finally start to get the last of my teeth removed and then get a set of dentures made. I can’t wait! i am sure this is what has given me the bad infection that i have now. Due to me getting a nasty abscess and having to burst it myself as the dentist wouldn't see me for 4 weeks. When i did burst it i ended up making myself ill and had to go and get antibiotics from the doctor in order to get rid of the infection. After the infection had gone from my tooth my chest started to play up, well my back actually as it is the lung not the chest that is infected. As soon as i started getting problems with the back i reported it directly to my doctor and she told me she could hear bubbling in my right lung but nothing in my left. I then when through the week in pain and returned to the doctor to report that it had got much worst so i ended up starting a second load of antibiotics. I have been taking them religiously and waiting for them to start to take effect but it seems like it is taking a while to have any effect as the problem has now spread into my left lung also and i am now getting aches and pains on both sides of the back.

I have to admit it is a little better today than it was yesterday but its still bad and makes me feel ill. There are no other side effects to say it could be something else and to be honest it is very scary as you can’t feel exactly where the pain is coming from. My chest still gets tight every now and again and i keep feeling sick also only now and again. It is very strange. All i can do is continue to take the medication and hope it improves soon. I have had to put everything on hold and have been stuck indoors unable to walk over my mums as it is just too far to walk with my lungs like this. I am so hoping it eases away soon so i can go fishing as soon as we get some clear weather as i have been missing it so much. Its not long till we go on our fishing holiday to Cornwall so i have been making sure i have all the equipment i will need to take on all types of fishing and species of fish.

Stabbing pains getting worst, stomach swollen, why?

After experiencing a lot of pain in my back over the last couple of days i decided to take an early nap yesterday afternoon around 2pm. It wasn’t until i woke up at 3 am i realised i had slept right through despite having pain in both sides of the back. When i lay flat on the bed the pain eases enough for me to drop of to sleep but only if i am laying slightly on my right side. If i try and move to lay completely flat or lay on the left side then i wake and it starts to hurt to much to get back to sleep. This infection is the strangest and scariest thing i have ever got. I thought being diagnosed with CH was a big problems and having to deal with 2 to 8 attacks in a day is a night mare but at least i now know what is going on and there is medication to help me. With the pain in my back that is now spreading to the other side i don’t have a clue what is causing it and is really worrying me all the time. I have tried resting and taking it easy so that the new antibiotics can do their job and hopefully take care of what ever virus it is that is causing me to be so ill.

The doctor seemed to think it was my lung that had the infection in and that was why i was getting pain in my back but i am still not convinced. My breathing is fine and my chest seems clear. Ok i do have a bit of “mucus” on my chest but that is due to me being a smoker. The mucus is only noticeable if i cough really hard to clear my chest and throat and then it is only a little bit so i cant see that causing me any problems of infection. Another thing i have noticed is i don’t get the big pains until after i have taken my morning tablet's. I am starting to wonder if one of the tablets that i am taking is causing something to happen inside me as there is just way too much pain all the time just to be a normal infection. I have had some bad infections in my life but none on the chest or lungs so i don’t know what to expect and everything i am experiencing could just be normal but it doesn’t feel right!

Problem with getting this pain all the time is it keeps setting of my head all the time and after finally finding medication that reduces the attacks all i need now is problems. Especially if it is all the medication i am taking that is causing the problem in the first place, i suppose that is always been a risk from the start. The pain seems to travel from the back through my middle to my stomach. It is the same on both sides of the body except the right hand side is stronger as that is where it started. It has been like this now for 2 weeks and i am on the second lot of antibiotics but it doesn’t seem to be easing it or doing anything to help. I am lost and just don’t know what to do. If i call the doctor again she will tell me i am being silly and worrying for northing it is just an infection. I don't’ want to waste the hospitals time by calling them as they will just tell me to go to my doctor. There isn’t much more i can do.

I have reached a point where something inside my head is telling me this is worst than just an infection and my body is telling me there is something wrong but i keep ignoring the signs and hoping the doctor is right. It could all just be because i am not used to having such a bad infection and that is why it is scaring me so much. But when you are sat there watching TV and you start to spin out and feel dizzy whilst getting stabbing pains in your side and then suddenly you are sick for no reason it scares the living daylights out of you. My tummy feels swollen and everything is hurting and my side is getting stabbing pains once again so i am going to have to stop typing and take a break.

One heck of an Infection!..

This is the strangest infection i have ever had. I am getting pain just below the rib on my back on the right hand side in an area the size of a small potato. If i touch it gently it hurts like hell and when i leave it alone feels like a dull ache constantly. I also keep getting shooting pain in the same sort of area but feels slightly deeper and every now and again it takes my breath away as if i have been kicked in the family jewels (sorry but that’s how the pain and ache feels). But when i lay to sleep it eases off and i can sleep no problem and i can sit in certain ways and it will ease off and i don't have a problem but if i get up and move about or sit and do something the pain returns.

I went to the doctors and she did a test on my urine for the second time and checked me over and listened to my breathing etc. but there are no other signs of infection or a problem. She again said she could hear slight bubbling in my right lung which would suggest the presence of an infection and put me on another course of antibiotics and also some Paracetamol pain killers and sent me on my way. Now when i breathe in really deep, and i mean REALLY deep forcing myself to breathe a lot more than a normal person would, i can hear bubbling in my breath as if i had mucus on the chest but there's nothing there. Every now and again it becomes so shockingly painful it scares me and i think it is something a lot more serious as i am in so much pain and for me to say its as bad as my head attacks then you can imagine the level of pain it reaches but its only now and again like that.

I have had infections before  but never on the chest or the lung so i don’t know what to expect or how it feels. All i do know is this is really painful and i have to try and keep as still as possible. I just wish the antibiotics start working soon as i don't know how much more i can take. I don’t have any fever any more like i did at the start of my infection. I can’t see the doctor being wrong as they know what to look for if it was something else and i have been worrying too much which is not good as it tends to set off my head attacks and brings on the beast. I was again woken at 3 am this morning by the beast due to the worry of the pain all night.

I had been lucky as i chose to have an early night yesterday as i had a feeling i might end up waking the beast with all the worry and stressing i was doing and now i am glad i did. There was no way i was going to get back to sleep with my back aching all the time but didn't have pain until around 5.30 am and that's when the sharp stabbing pain returned. Well it looks like a day of staying as still as possible and not move about as much as i did yesterday. If i have to go to shop over the next few days i will have to use the bus and not walk like i usually do despite busses setting of my head attacks i will just have to take my injections with me and hope for the best as i need to rest what ever it is causing the pain. I really hope this sorts itself out soon as i am taking enough medication as it is already i don’t need all these different tablets being added to the list all the time as i am starting to rattle.

Woken by the beast at 5am…..

Another night of high temperature and sweating whilst having nightmares. Then to be woken at 5 am by the beast wasn’t the best of starts to the day. I feel as if i have been run over by a truck and then reversed back over again just to finish the job. My head is pounding and my neck feels like it has a grinder inside it. My back feels as if it has been used as a training bag for a boxer. I keep getting the shooting pains up the spine as well as the other pains i normally get when i have an attack. The attack lasted just under an hour this time and even with the injection it didn't;t completely stop it so i am assuming it must have been a massive one to over power the injection again. Every time i turn my head to the right my neck cracks and feels like it was out of joint and then suddenly snapped back into place. Its a horrible feeling and one that i don’t want to repeat. i am hoping it is the infection that is also aggravating my CH condition and making it play up this morning as it has been behaving itself for a while now.

With the start of the Verapamil i have seen a huge drop in the amount of attacks i normally get. The specialist did say i would know straight away if a medication is going to work or not and he was right. I have gone from having anything from 2 to 8 attacks per day to now getting 2 to 8 attacks per week on average. That is a massive difference and has helped me slowly get my life back together. I don’t mind even if the condition stays like this as i can now control it using medication and don’t have to seek out pain relief all the time. I just wish the pain in my back would ease off just as fast as the head does. I know as soon as i get over the infection i will be able to move around easily again and won’t have the pain in the lower back but will still be getting the shooting pains up the spine so i will have to get the specialist to look into it when i get my referral. The doctor has referred me to the back pain specialist to make sure i am not suffering with arthritis of the back.

It is weird how now days you have to have specialists in each particular area of the body instead of one that dealt with basically all injuries or problems. A specialist for the head area, a specialist for the back and a specialist for the mental side of things. Even specialists for when i got addicted to all the different pain killers and opiates i used to take. I am so glad that chapter of my life is over and is something i never want to experience again. Being addicted to drugs is not pleasant and i don’t understand why people would want to become addicted to them just for pleasure. The only thing that worries me at the moment is the medication that i am taking is also addictive and i can’t just suddenly stop taking them. If i have to stop a certain medication or change it i have to reduce myself down slowly before changing as it will send me into withdrawals if i don’t do it correctly and that is something i never want to experience again as long as i live.

At least the weather is starting to warm up so i am hoping it is the last we see of the winter for the next 8 months. Spring is now hear, flowers are sprouting and trees are starting to bud so it won’t be long now until summer is here once again. It is also fishing time for me and i am going to try and get as much fishing into one year as i possibly can. I have our holiday then end of April where we are off to Cornwall for a weeks fishing holiday. My mother and step father, Brian, will probably spend a few days looking around the area and visiting some of the local attractions and i will probably join them for a couple of days just to have a break from the fishing but most of my time is planned to be spent by the lake side. I can’t wait!

Hallucinations and Burning up!

I wasn't woken by the beast but by nightmares instead. The sweat was pouring off me when i woke up from my nightmare. My temperature had shot through the roof and i was very weak at the same time. The pain in my back had spread across both sides and not just on the right side like it was when it first started so that means the infection is spreading and getting worst.  I keep on hallucinating and hearing things witch tells me my temperature must be at a dangerous level. The last time i was this bad i ended up in hospital for 3 weeks whilst i was living in Cyprus.

I don’t know why i have ended up like this or what has caused such a nasty infection to appear. All i do know is i need lots of rest and need to keep warm as i am having hot and cold flushes all the time and the last thing i want to happen is to make my condition worst than it already is. Why i get so many nightmares when i am ill i don’t know but i have always suffered with them for as long as i can remember. When ever i end up running a fever i always end up having bad dreams. Its crazy as i have the heating up full, the electric fire on full blast, i also have the quilt wrapped around me and i am fully dressed all this just to stay warm as even though the sweat is pouring off me i feel as if i am freezing cold.

At least my head is behaving itself today witch is one thing i can be grateful off. I don’t think i would be able to cope with having a bad head day at the same time as i am feeling so ill, run down and weak. Its crazy as i have been complaining about this feeling i had in my back for several weeks and the doctors as well as family all snubbed me when i said i think i had a problem starting and they all seemed to think i had pulled a muscle in my back. Now that the infection has shown its face i will be able to deal with it and hopefully get it under control with the help of antibiotics.

The one thing i can say about being ill is i hate feeling sick all the time. I am grateful i haven’t been as sick as i have in the past but every time i try and stand up or walk to the bathroom everything starts to spin and i begin to feel extremely sick and queasy. Everything sounds like it is muffled and even the TV sounds like the volume has been turned down but i think that is just my ears are  blocked. I don’t have a blocked or runny nose and any other signs of a cold so as to what is actually causing it i haven’t a clue. All i know is i want to go straight back to bed.

Having a good day so far!

Well at least i managed a nice lay in till 7.30am this morning. It just goes to prove what i thought ages ago with regards to the cold weather setting of the attacks and making my condition worst than it should be. Due to the warmer weather and it not dropping to almost freezing i don’t have any signs of the beast coming. Normally, in winter time, i would be woken at around 3am in the morning in absolute agony and shootings pains up and down the spine. Now the warmer weather is here i am not getting the nasty wake up calls so it is making a huge difference when it comes to my strength and energy. I don’t feel so drained all the time.

I am still suffering due to this infection that seems to be in my lung on the right side of the body. The doctor seems to think its quite a bad one as it was immune to the first lot of antibiotics we threw at it so i am now on a second course and that should hopefully shift what ever it is causing the infection. This is the first chest infection i have ever had that involved my lungs and i have to admit it is scary and worrying. It is also the first infection that has caused me so much pain and agony. The only infection i have had that i can compare the pain to is a kidney infection when it is painful to go to the toilet. That's the level of pain you get but in your side and no matter what you do you can’t sit lay or stand comfortably.

Its such a shame i am suffering from an infection as i could have gone fishing today. The local fishing club has been holding competitions for the members and today is the last match of the winter league. I could have fished it but this year was impossible due to the attacks i was getting in the cold weather. I have missed all of the winter matches so will now have to make an effort to attend the summer ones. I am hoping with the new tablets and as soon as i get rid of this infection i will be able to go back out on the lakes and fisheries and start catching fish again.

Fingers crossed this weather will continue to improve again now and that's the last we will see of the winter for another year. It’s mad, just when you think the seasons are about to change and things start to warm up, nature throws a spanner in the works and returns to winter all over again. These weird weather patterns never used to exist when i was a nipper. I don’t think i have ever seen such bad weather as we do now days. It used to be such a rare occasion that if we had gale force winds it would be in every news paper and on TV. Now that its such a regular occurrence it is taken as part of every day weather and no one bats an eye lid. Strange how our attitudes change to different things over time.

Lets hope winter is finally over!

I just cant believe my luck just lately when it comes to my health. I wasn’t woken by the beast this morning which is one good thing i suppose. My side is still killing me and after having to go to the doctor for an emergency appointment i am now on a second course of antibiotics as it is still the infection that is causing this problem.

Even though i have had plenty of sleep i still feel exhausted and as if i have been running around the block. I just got up to make a cup of coffee and i couldn’t believe it was making me out of breath just walking to the kettle and back. This is a bad infection and the worst i have ever had. The antibiotics the doctor has put me on are called Co-Amoxiciav, these were selected as the normal ones seem to conflict with the Verapamil that i take so she had to select something that was strong enough to do the job and wouldn’t react with any other medication that i am taking.

I suppose this is one of the problems you face when being medicated for the condition of CH as you will surely have to take other medications during your life and whilst on strong medication for the attacks, even if it is just keep them in remission, you will still have to be careful what medications you can take on top of what you already consume.  All it takes is two types of medication to conflict and you  will end up with all kinds of complications.

Well one thing i am grateful for is the beast is asleep today. I haven't had any signs of shadow building and i haven’t got any swelling on the top of my head where i normally get it. The neck feels a little sore after yesterdays attacks but still it is behaving itself and not causing me any problems. I am hoping that the weather will now slowly get warmer again and the winter is finally over and we wont have the cold freezing winds until next year. As long as it starts to get warmer i will get less attacks anyway and now with the help of the medication i should start to lead a normal life and be able to get out a lot more. Lets pray this cold spell is over soon!

More aches and pains! I give in!

Another wake up call from the beast this morning. Not as painful as the previous mornings but still enough to keep me awake from 4 am and is still causing my neck and back to hurt even though the attack finished hours ago. I have a strong feeling of pressure on the left hand side of the head as i used to have when the attacks were really bad all the time. I am assuming this is the shadow that people with my condition talks about.  A feeling of pressure that can sometimes turn painful and always ends up in me having a big attack at the end of the day if i am lucky as normally it is usually half way through my day and suddenly i get struck down.

I still have the feeling of pressure and aches on my side/back that i thought was an infection but after a week of antibiotics i still have the same feeling. The day before yesterday it started to ease off and looked as if it was going away but then yesterday was a day of pain and agony as it just wouldn’t stop playing up and causing me sharp pains shooting into my side like i had ben stabbed. Now this morning they have eased away again. I do have a feeling of pressure still there and every now and again it lets me know there is something there but apart from that its not bothering me as much as it did yesterday.

I promised i would go to the end of the week and see if it was still troubling me and then i will have to re arrange another appointment with my doctor. As it isn’t giving me as much pain as i was expecting i am sure i can go the weekend with out having to many problems and can then ring first thing Monday morning to get an emergency appointment. I don’t want to be wasting doctors time if it is only a muscle or nerve that has been irritated because of my condition and there is not a lot they can do but at the same time i don’t want to risk something else being the cause and because i didn’t see to it soon enough i end up with problems.

You know reading back over what i have typed is shocking! Its times like this i feel what’s the point anymore it feels like i am falling apart at the seems. If its not one problem another comes along to take its place. Sometime i just feel like i have had enough. Always worrying about my health and having attacks all the time is turning me into a wreck. All i want is one or two weeks with no problems at all. No pain, No aches and certainly no attacks. I am so hoping that it will soon be the case and with the correct medication i will be able to keep them away permanently. Come on weather warm back up again!

Pain splitting my sides

I managed to stay pain free for most of yesterday. It was only when i went out into the cold weather and the icy cold wind i would get an attack. If i stayed indoors in the warmth my head behaved itself and i didn’t get any sign of the attacks building. I was sup[prised as the day before was agony and it didn't matter no matter how warm i was i still ended up aggravating my head one way or another. Mind you i did get away with having an early night last night so i am hoping i managed to catch up on some of the sleep i keep missing out on by waking up early hours in the mornings.

I am still getting pain in my side or back. I am getting confused as well as worried at the same time. I tried to rest as much as i could the day before yesterday and it was as if the pain had disappeared all together and i thought what ever it was causing me the pain and sharp shooting pains in the side was gone. But after resting yesterday and sleeping slightly awkward i have even more pain in the side than before and with this i am also getting pains in my arms if i hold them up for doing something or like whilst i am typing on the keyboard the under arms feel like lead and heavy and want to just drop done towards my side. Its as if i no longer have the strength just to hold my own arms up. This is really strange.

I have a general feeling of being ill and weak but other than that and the fact i keep on bringing up acid in my mouth where i keep thinking i am going to be sick but nothing comes up. I have tried going to the toilet today and yet again there are no other signs of something being wrong apart from the pain i am getting in my side so i just don’t know what to do anymore. I will just have to see if it gets any worst during the day and if not just put it down to a possible muscle damaged in the back or side that is causing all this pain.

The Cold is here, The Beast is Back!

Yesterday was one of the worst days i have had for a while. The cold weather was playing havoc with my head and neck. Every time a cold chill would blow against my cheek and eye it would set of an attack. Not small ones either, these were strong and caused my eye to swell immediately.  The pain was like someone shoving a hot poker through your eye. They would then suddenly disappear just as fast as they started. It looks like with the return of the winter weather also brings the beast with it. I ended up having around 6 attacks yesterday, a reminder of just how painful this condition is.

I am still getting pains in the side or the back. i am now a little more convinced it is a bruised muscle and not anything to really worry about. Several times the pain has changed from the lower back up to the top and then i can feel the muscle ache in the area of the pain. I am just hoping it heals itself soon as it is so uncomfortable. If its not gone by the end of the week i will just have to return to the doctor and ask her advice as to what could be causing it.

Again woken by the beast at 4am this morning with an attack.I almost forgot how my head wakes me up all the time. I am so grateful of the last pain free period i had as it lasted a while this time round. Lets hope with the new medication it will start to be a regular occurrence and these attacks will soon be under control once again. All i can do for the moment is stay warm and stay out of the freezing weather. If i do have to go out i will just have to make sure i wrap up and try and avoid setting off another head attack.

It’s gone c–c–c- c-Cold!

Well they did say that winter was returning and they weren't wrong. It’s freezing cold outside! I just walked over to the cashpoint to get my money out  ready to go shopping later this morning and it felt like my lips were freezing solid.  The cold instantly started to get to my head no matter how much i covered up. I literally ran  home knowing that i could have an attack at any moment.  I ran up the stairs of the flats to my front door  and by the time i  got the key in the door the attack had started.  I don’t think it matters how much medication i take if i  go out in to the extreme  cold  i will end up getting an attack.

At least i am now back indoors and in  the warm and the attack  has  started to ease off. It didn’t last as long as they normally do so i am  grateful for that at least. I still think it is the medication that is helping to sort out the attacks even when i had the attack this morning it was as if some thing was trying to stop it other than my light massaging of the neck  and head.  I will just have to wait until my next increase to see if it stops the attacks completely.

I am still suffering  with pain in my back and side. I have been  to the doctors  and she did dip test with my  urine to see if there was any infection in the kidney but nothing came up. She also listened to my chest and lungs and said she could hear bubbling  on the right lung so she thinks there could be a slight infection other than what i had in my tooth and the abscess. She put me on a course of antibiotics and sent me on my way. Now a week later and i don’t have any  infection  in the tooth anymore and  the pain in  my side is still there. There are no  other signs of a problem and my breathing is fine and also when i go to the toilet so i can’t for the life of me think what could be causing it.

I started to think it was where i was laying on my mattress so decided to have a couple of  nights on the sofa just for a change and see if the pain eased in case i have bruised something or caused myself to catch a chill in the muscle in that area. Nothing seems to ease it.It’s not as painful as the first  day i had it but it’s still noticeable and worrying. All i can do is watch what i am doing and take it easy.If it starts to  become a real problem i will just have to ring the hospital. I am so hoping its just a muscle and the worry is for nothing but you never know and when it comes to your health you should always seek advice and not try and diagnose a condition on your own. Fingers crossed the aches and pains will ease off over the next week and it will be a lot of worry for nothing.

New CH Advertisment (Comic)

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Return of Winter, Please let the beast sleep!

Well i have managed to stay pain free as far as my head is concerned. My back is a totally different issue. I have been getting sever pain at the side of my back on the right hand side. At first i was thinking it was a kidney but there are no other signs of infection and even when i reported it to the doctor she made me do a urine sample and did a colour dip on it to make sure there was no infection building up.I can’t for the life of me think what it could be apart from a muscle.

The doctor did say i had a slight infection of the chest as she could hear bubbling on the right lung and nothing on the left side. So there is a slight possibility it could be that but if that was the case i don’t understand why i am getting bad pain lower down the back where my kidney is placed. I thought it could be the fact that there is a spring gone on my mattress and could have been pushing into my side and that could have caused me to bruise that area of my back so i decided to change it yesterday.

I have woken still with extreme pain in the same area and constant stabbing pains every time i move. It’s weird how there are no other signs of anything going on so i am convincing myself it is a muscle that is causing it. There is a slight possibility it could be my lung i suppose but if that's the case why don’t i have trouble or pain when i breathe and only when i move. I will just have to keep an eye on it for the next few days and hope that it goes away.

The weather today is absolutely freezing. When i woke up my flat had turned into the artic circle and is so cold. I turned the heating on and it took ages to warm the flat up enough for me to take my jumper off. Its like winter all over again. I have some shadowing on the side of my head which is normally a sign that i will have attacks later on in the day. I am praying this is not the case now i am on the Verapamil medication and hopefully they will stay away. Its freezing cold out side so there is no way i am going anywhere today. I am going to stay indoors in the warm and wait for my parcel to arrive as i am waiting for something that i ordered and also my mums present, a nice new fishing rod that she had been fancying.

So for now all i can do is stay warm and try and take it easy not to cause me too much pain in the side. Lets hope the head behaves itself today and i wont have that to deal with at the same time as my back as i don’t think i could cope with it all kicking off at the same time. You would think after all the attacks i have had that i would be used to a little bit of pain but this is way to uncomfortable to ignore. Lets hope its gone in the next few days.

A right pain in the ….. side!

  Luckily i didn’t get anymore attacks appear yesterday and the pain in my neck and back eased off during the day and didn’t give me any more problems. However i have still woken up this morning with a pain in my lower back or side. Its strange as it is in the exact place where i thought it was my kidneys but was told that it was actually my lung. The lower part of your lung actually reached down to the lower back and slightly to the side. This is the area i am getting some weird pains and feelings of pressure. Even as i am sat at my desk typing up this blog if i lean to far forwards i suddenly get a sharp pain appear in my side or back and if i just sit and relax that sharpness turns to a dull ache.

I am not sure what is causing this and can only think it is the infection that i had that is causing me so much discomfort. Its really annoying and worrying at the same time. I am not sure why? and if it is my lung that is causing it? I don’t have any secondary symptoms that's for sure. My breathing is fine and i don’t have any cough. I don’t have any mucus or anything that is causing my breathing to be funny so why it is playing up so much i just don’t know. It doesn’t matter what position i sit in or lay in, come to think about it, it always seems to cause me to feel very uncomfortable and constantly aches.

Apart from this i have been good this morning. I haven’t any signs of my head returning and no sign of an attack building. This has happened a few times before, where my mind has been constantly focused on something other than the attacks i get all the time and in a way helped to avoid any stress built or related attacks from appearing.  As long as the beast stays asleep i don’t mind. I am just happy to continue my pain free period and enjoy it as much as i can. I have managed to catch up with my house works and cleaning and have even managed to clean all my fishing tackle so it all looks brand new again. Its not long now till our holiday down in Cornwall and we get to spend 7 nights away from home on a fishing holiday with my mother and step father.

I am so looking forwards to this holiday as it will be my first holiday in over 10 years. Having lived abroad for so many years in Cyprus, a tropical paradise, i have been spoilt when it comes to sun and beaches so it really doesn’t interest me in going somewhere hot and spending all day on the beach topping up my sun tan (not that i couldn’t do with a bit of colour) but i prefer holidays or breaks where you can just relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. (I think i am starting to show my age!)

Just over 4 weeks away from a nice treat away fishing at one of Cornwall's premier fishing locations at White Acres Fishing & Holiday Park. I am really looking forwards to this trip as not only will i get a chance to have a nice holiday with my mother and step rather but will also be getting away doing something that i love so much. Every since my return to the UK over 12 years ago i have wanted to get back into my fishing but never really bothered until i became ill with my head. Then all of a sudden i was bitten by the fishing bug for the second time and this time it was even worst than when i was a youngster. At least when i was young the fishing tackle was a lot cheaper than it is today and now i have caught the bug the second time round i am finding that my interest is costing me a fortune. Not that i am one to complain, the way i look at it is if i didn’t spend it on “Fishing Tackle” then it would be wasted else where and at least i have something to show for the money i have spent.

I have now reached the point where i have everything that i need to go fishing and take on some big specimen fish but as each week passes there is always something new that’s been released and you want to add to your tackle collection. I have been spending the last couple of weeks making sure i have everything i want when we go away on holiday as i will be trying my hand at a few NEW fishing techniques whilst away at White Acres. Let’s hope i come back with some nice photographs of the fish we have caught.

Well for now my pain is staying to a minimum and it is only the aches in the side and back that is causing me any discomfort. I am just praying that this infection shifts soon as i only have one day left of my antibiotics and when they are gone i have no other way of fighting the infection. I am praying i am well enough to go on my holiday in the first place. The last thing i need now is something to happen to me to cancel my holiday as i have been looking forwards to it so much lately. The weather has been slowly improving as we come into Spring but this week is forecast to go a step backwards and the winter weather is going to return for a few days just to remind us of how cold it can get so i am praying that although the cold weather may return that my head attacks remain away and this frost doesn’t wake the sleeping beast.

The New Cluster Headache Information Flyer 2013

The NEW Cluster Headache Information Flyer 2013

The beast called this morning, How long will he stay?

  Oh well that’s the longest break i have had between attacks for a long time. I was again woken at 2am this morning with a call from the beast. this time it was a big one. Screaming agony for roughly an hour. Swollen eye and sweating as if a tap had been turned on in the body and my clothes suddenly became soaked with sweat. I took my injection and sat on my oxygen but nothing seemed to help.

  When the attack had finished it has left me with a pain in the neck and a feeling like i have a ball stuck in there once again. Its a weird feeling and extremely painful. My eye feels like it has been poked out with a hot poker and i am getting sharp pains and a feeling of pressure again on the top of my head all on the left side. This is the shadow feeling and i will now get this for the next few days if it doesn’t ease away later this morning. I am hoping it does and this is a one off attack but i am so used to having bouts of attacks and then a break and then the attacks return that i will not be surprised if i don’t get attacks for a couple of days.

   Fingers crossed it is just a change in weather or my infection that has triggered the attack and i don’t have any repeats later in the day. All i can do for now is try and stay warm and relax so i don’t irritate my head. i won’t be able to return to sleep now i have the shadow feeling but at least i can just sit and relax listen to some music or TV for a bit. I am not planning on going anywhere for a couple of days as i am waiting for a parcel to arrive so i won’t have to worry about the wet weather. I think it is down to the rain and a low pressure area again that i have had the attack this morning.

It’s not only the feeling of pressure that is annoying me but also the constant little sharp stabbing pains in the area of my lung on the back. I am told this is down the having my chest infection so i am praying it starts to heal itself soon as i just can’t seem to get comfortable no matter what i do. I don’t have any problems with my breathing or even a cough so it’s strange to think i have a chest infection when i don’t have any other signs. I am just over half way through my antibiotic course of medication so hopefully it won’t be long and it will soon be gone.

Let’s hope the infection goes soon!

We are approaching the end of the second week on the Verapamil and i am happy to report that again i have only had 4 attacks during the week. This is 1 more than last week but still a huge improvement from getting 3 to 6 per day. It has to be the medication working and not the just the change in weather and season as i can feel the attacks build and then suddenly stop as fast as they start. This is great news as i am only on the first dosage of this medication as i haven’t done any increases due to the infection i currently have.

Before we can increase the medication i have to have an ECG scan but when i discussed this with my doctor the other day we both agreed i should hold off from any increase whilst i have my medication as long as the attacks are bearable. If i was still getting loads during a day then we would have increased the medication regardless of the infection and i would have had to go for scans on a weekly basis. The infection is still playing up and i still have pain in my right side where the kidney is located and also slightly above. This is probably where i have an infection in the lung according to the doctor as when she was listening she could hear bubbling in the right lung and nothing in the left. I could also hear it in my voice when i was breathing and talking but just lately it seemed to have cleared up but still hasn’t from the kidney area or the gum where i had my abscess.

I am still on the anti biotic medication so i know it will clear eventually i just have to be patient. I am just so happy to be pain free at the moment and i am still taking every precaution i can as not to aggravate my head in any way. I still avoid long bus journeys because of the vibration can set them off and i still avoid very windy days as the cold wind in the eye can also set them off. even carrying heavy shopping in my right hand can also aggravate my shoulder, neck and head and cause me to have a big attack. It’s crazy how may different triggers there is for my condition and trying to avoid every single one of the is impossible. I am still wearing my woollen hat when i go out side to keep the head warm as if i take it off and the cold gets to the top of the head i am sure to get an attack. I don’t want to tempt fate and try and do with out the hat until the weather is warm enough even though i am taking the medication and the attacks seem to have decreased.

As soon as the infection is gone or i complete my anti biotic course of medication i will then ring and arrange my scans to be done. I am hoping that with only one or two increases in medication will stop the attacks from coming all together but won't know for sure until we get to next winter and the really cold weather draws in again. If i can get away with only a couple of increase in my medication not only will i avoid having to take loads of tablets all the time but i will also have some options if and when the attacks do return. I have learnt with this condition that there are no guarantees and the attacks will eventually return no matter what precautions you take.

Still getting pains in the back although the beast is asleep!

Another nice lay in this morning! I am starting to wonder if it is the infection that is making me feel so tired all the time and lay in till 9am this morning as normally i am up at the crack of dawn. It just seems a little strange that when my body clock is used to getting up at 4 or 5 am and no matter how hard i tried to lay in i just couldn’t and now that i am suffering an infection down my right side in my lung and kidney all of a sudden i am sleeping till late morning. I should really take this opportunity to get my body clock back to normal and start waking up at 7am like i used to but even with the alarm set i just slept on through it this morning and nothing was going to wake me.

It is so nice not to be getting the attacks all the time and especially being woken by one at 3 or 4 am is something i am definitely not missing at the moment. I am still getting some mild shadows and pressure on the left side of the head as well as some shadowing going on this morning. I have looked out side to see it is raining and the weather is awful so that would explain the pressure on the head this morning. Lets just hope the head remains calm and the beast stays asleep.I will make sure i am very careful today not to aggravate my head or do anything to cause an attack to come on or start to build. I know when ever we have bad weather, even during the summer months, i risk a big attack and can sometimes bring them on just by worrying and stressing about them. If my neck starts to stiffen or my shoulder becomes painful on the left side then i am sure to get an attack.

Also when i start to get shooting pains up and down the spine it is a tell tale sign of attacks coming. The only trouble with pains in the back at the moment is i am still getting them at the bottom of the back as this is something other than my head condition and the doctor has referred me to see the back pain specialist to look into the possibility of arthritis of the back and spine. I don’t have to do anything to strain myself of strain my back and i still get pains. Even when i am just sat watching television the pains just suddenly start and make you very uncomfortable and no matter what you do to ease the back pain you just can’t get comfortable. Fingers crossed it doesn’t take as long to sort out my back as it did to get a diagnosis with my head condition. I don’t think i could go through all the years of non stop appointments and check-up's, plus the wrong medication and making me ill but i won’t go into that.

Let’s hope the “beast” will sleep for years!

I managed to have a nice lay in this morning and didn’t get up until 8 am. Now this is lazy for me considering i am up usually in the early hours of the morning and even with out getting attacks i still tend to wake up at around 5am so managing 8 am is amazing. I feel great after having such a good sleep and a bit more confident about the things going on at the moment. I managed to sleep so well as we went fishing yesterday down at the local puddle as we call it (Lamby Pond in Cardiff, Next to Lamby Lake) and had a great time. That is the reason i slept so well because i was tired after a full days fishing and holding a fishing pole for hours.

I am still suffering from the infection although i have been pain free mostly. I haven’t had any head attacks since yesterday morning so i am over the moon about my medication as it seems to be working. There is always the risk that the attacks are just going through another cycle and will return after a couple of weeks or even a couple of moths. I have gone 2 months through last summer, although the weather wasn’t great, the seasonal changes seemed to have a big influence on my attack pattern. The attacks then returned as soon as the weather changed and the days became colder. This is also what could be happening now as i tend to get 2 or 3 weekly intervals between bouts of attacks when the summer approaches.

I am therefore not counting my chickens before they are hatched so to speak. I don’t want to get too excited about the medication but it seems to be having a good effect. I have had a lot less attacks than i normally get and find i am now getting out of the flat a bit more and visiting my mother a lot more now. I wasn’t able to when i was bad as i just couldn’t bare walking to her house as i would get a big attack every time and end up turning back and staying in my flat for the security and safety whilst i suffered with the pain.

I have agreed with the doctor to stay on the level of medication i am on and not increase until my infection is gone and/or i complete the antibiotic course of medication. I will then have to arrange to have weekly ECG scans before each medication increase to make sure there are no problems with my heart. I remember having an ECG when i lived abroad in Cyprus and was told that i had a strong heart so hopefully that will play in my favour. When i reach a level of medication i feel is keeping the attacks from appearing then we stop at that level and that will be the level of medication i will have to take each day in order to keep the attacks from appearing.

If you don’t get the attacks in the first place you don’t have to try and use pain killers or medication to ease the pain if there is no pain to ease. I am really hoping that it works and the attacks never return but listening to most stories of people who suffer with my condition then the attacks will return with the bad weather as it has done for so many years. There are other cases where the attacks don’t return for years so i could be lucky and end up pain free for many years to come. Fingers crossed!

Sunny today? Lets hope the beast will stay away!

Unfortunately i didn’t manage to go pain free all day yesterday as i ended up getting 3 attacks in the morning whilst waiting for my doctors appointment and one attacks towards the evening. The doctors appointment confirmed that i have a nasty infection and not only do i have an infection in the tooth but also in the chest and kidney at the same time. It seems like my right side of the body is infected where as the left side of the body remains free. The pain i keep on getting in my side, where the kidney is located on the left is very sharp every now and again and combined with a constant ache. Its like having tooth ache but in your side.

I am now on strong antibiotics to hopefully shift this infection once and for all. I discussed my tablets with the doctor and we both agreed i should stay on the same dosage of the verapamil until the infection has shifted and as soon as i am feeling better i can arrange ,my appointment to go and have my ECG scans before i increase the dosage each week. Its going to be a real pain in the backside to go and get this scan done once a week for the next for weeks as i have to travel miles. If i go by bus then it will take 2 buses and approximately 1 hour and 20 minuets to get there. Not to mention i don’t even know where it is in the first place all i know it is somewhere in Barry.

I was feeling very run down yesterday so i decided on having an early night and hopefully start feeling a bit better. I woke up at 5 am this morning with no pains in the head, neck or back but a sharp pain in the side. As soon as i got up and started to walk about to pain eased away so i think i should be ok today. I am hoping that the beast stays away also as we have been forecast some very nice sunny weather today and myself and my step father have decided to go fishing down at our local pond.

Lamby Pond is a small little pond on the side of a busy industrial estate that produces some very nice fish. We have fished this venue a few times and have never failed to catch when we go. Lets hope out luck stays with us and we manage to catch some nice fish today. I am really looking forward to it as it will take my mind of all this blooming medication i have to take. Anyway its time i got myself dressed and ready for the day ahead.

The beast is asleep but i got pains in my side?

After a great days fishing on Saturday i have ended up with a back from hell. The pain i keep getting shooting up the spine is enough to make you scream. I think maybe i pulled a muscle or something as no matte r what position i sit or lay in i still get the pain and no matter what pain killer i take i can constantly feel it. All i can do is try and rest and wait until what ever muscle is playing up starts to ease. I am even getting pins and needles across the top of my back from shoulder to shoulder. Its a strange feeling but something that tells me i have hit a nerve or trapped something and that is why i am getting the pain.

From first thing on Sunday morning when i woke up i was getting the agonising pain and even when i walked over to my mothers for Sunday lunch my back was playing up. Each step i took seemed to send shocks up and down my spine. At least by the time i got home from my mothers the pain had eased off and i was starting to feel normal again. I will have to watch what i do in future as the back pain was quite strong and i honestly thought i had damaged a muscle or something and am so happy that it finally eased away.

It was then late evening, whilst sat at the computer browsing the internet, when suddenly i started to get sharp pains in my side. I first thought it was an after effect of the back pain i was getting and maybe i had bruised something. Then the pain started to get sharp each time i touched it and it feels inside the body and not towards the surface so i can’t just rub it better. I am now starting to think i have an infection and this is the early signs from the kidney to say it is working hard trying to fight what ever infection i have.

The reason i think i have infection is due to the abscess i had and thought that it had cleared away. I wasn’t getting any pain in the tooth and the swelling had completely gone. It was whilst at my mothers i started to feel like i had something stuck under my lip. As if i had forgotten to swallow a piece of meat and it was stuck behind the lip but when i used my tongue and finger to check there was nothing there. It was when i returned home and went to the bathroom mirror, pulled down my lip and saw what looked like a white head spot but it was on my gum under the tooth. When i squeezed it a load of poison came flooding out and washed down the drain in the sink. This tells me the infection is still there and that maybe i have now given myself a worst infection and the kidney is warning me about it.

It looks like i will have to make an emergency appointment at the doctors as i was woken up early this morning, not by the beast but by my side and back. No matter how i lay i could not get back to sleep so have had to sit up since 3.30 am and feel totally drained. My side is still slightly tender and i still keep getting sharp pains every now and again. There is no way i will get more rest until i get it sorted. Oh the joys! Even more tablets to start taking now. If i keep getting more medications i will rattle when i walk. At least i can say i have had a head pain free day yesterday but started getting shadows and small attacks early this morning so i am not sure if today will be pain free as well, i will just have to wait and see.

Fine weather means its fishing time !

Well i managed a total of six and a half days with no big attacks. I did have two small ones that came early hours of the morning that i can only assume that it was the cold weather that set them off. This has been the longest break i have had in between attacks i have had for a long while. Yesterday lunch time was when the pain decided to come back and again it was set off by the cold wind blowing in my eye as i was walking over to my mothers house.

I have ended up having attacks due to the cold when walking to my mothers house a couple of times now and it is always the icy cold wind that has set them off and not just the temperature. I have been out when it is freezing but with very little wind and have had no problems at all so i know for sure it is the wind that triggers the beast every now and again. Yesterday was slightly different as the attack built to a point where i thought i may have to take my injection and then suddenly, just as fast as it appeared, it disappeared and there was nothing. Normally after i get an attacks or a scare i get aches and pains in the neck and back but this time there wasn’t a thing.

I am wondering if the medication is now putting a block up and each time the attacks builds the medication steps in and stops the attack.Well i sure hope so as that would be amazing. If i can get this beast tamed i will be one happy person. Even though i was again woken at 5 am this morning with a bit of a shadow and again i thought i was about to have an attack and something stopped it dead in its tracks, and again i don’t have any side effects such as the sore neck or back. This is really good news. I still think and agree with my mother when she said i may have to go up one more dose on my medication and maybe that will stop them appearing completely.

The only trouble with this condition is it is so un predictable as i could become pain free for a couple of months and then suddenly the pain will come back and the attacks worst than ever. This has happened to me a few times over the years so i know not to count my chickens before the eggs have hatched. The amount of times i have thought the attacks have finally stopped is too numerous to mention. I have gone months with no attacks and then suddenly i have had attacks every day for the next 4 months after. Oh how i pray it’s different this time!

Well the weather has started to warm up and Spring is right on the doorstep. This means it’s “Fishing” time once again. We are of to our local fishery Cefn Mably today and we are going to fish the Carp pond and see what carp they have in there. According to their web site they have quite a few different species of carp in the lake but i have learnt never to trust what you read, so its time to get out there and see for ourselves.

Fingers crossed for warmer weather….

Well I have managed another day pain free. This is now the longest i have been with out a big attack for over a year. Maybe it’s the time of year and due to the fact that the weather is now starting to warm up or maybe it’s the medication that is now controlling the attacks and actually stopping them from building, What ever it is i don’t mind as it means i can start re-building my life style. For some strange reason today I am feeling awful, rough, under the weather, what ever way you use to describe it i just don’t feel normal. I have cold sweats even though the flat is warm. I am not over heating nor do I have the temperature of the heating turned up too high? It’s just not making sense.

I know my body is run down due to an abscess i had on one of the teeth that is left in my mouth and had to take drastic action and burst it in order for the pain to go and the pressure to ease. I have kept the wound clean and been rinsing my mouth out with warm salt water at least 3 times a day to make sure i keep it clear and stop anything else getting in and causing me even more problems.Also i have been taking antibiotics for the last 3 days to ensure the infection goes before my appointment on the 22nd to have the rest of the teeth removed. It could be this that is making me feel so unwell or it could just be that i may have a bad cold on its way but i don’t feel blocked up or aching so god only knows what it could be.

All i can do for now is make sure i keep warm and don’t do anything stupid that could cause me an attack. Also make sure i do wrap up if i go out as the cold can easily bring the attacks back if i am not careful. As far as feeling ill is concerned there is nothing i can do about it except let it run its course and hope its not a nasty cold that is making me feel this way. With the weather warming up it is now fishing time so i hope to be going out on the weekend and see if i can catch myself some of these nice big carp that have been evading me through the winter. However, if the weather isn’t quite warm enough i will postpone it until during the week as i know we have some sunny weather due to arrive by Tuesday at the latest.