Well its been a tough week followed by an even tougher weekend as far as my head is concerned. I have had a lot of attacks over the years but these latest ones seem to be really wiping me out. I never thought i would ever say that the pain actually feels as though its is getting stronger, i never thought it could get any stronger than they are and that a cluster attack was the strongest pain a human can get. I don’t know why the attacks feel so strong and why they seem to be draining the life out of me, i can only assume it has something to do with my neck as that seems to be the main suspect. I seem to be getting a lot of pain in the neck witch seems to trigger pain in the back and also my attacks.
If something is trapped in the neck again or something is damaged or injured i don’t have a clue but there is definitely something not right with the neck and a lot of pain coming from it when i move it about. I have also noticed that it is constantly grinding as if something is stuck in the joints, maybe this is what is causing the pain. Its all guess work at the moment and i can’t wait until Tuesday as i am at the hospital in the afternoon with my appointment with the specialist. I will have to tell him what has been going on and how bad it has been making me. I have also been getting a lot of food and liquids trapped when i am trying to swallow and this has also been getting worst over the last few days. I don;t know if the neck and head attacks would effect what is going on in my throat or stomach but its weird how everything is playing up so badly all at the same time.
The pain i am getting in the back is starting to really get me down the last couple of days as i just can’t seem to get comfortable when i try and sit or laydown to relax it just constantly aches and i have to keep shifting around as if i stay in one position for more than a few minuets it starts to hurt more than ache. It especially annoying at night when i am trying to get to sleep. No matter what position i lay in i just can’t get it to stop and end up tossing and turning until the early hours where an attack will either wake me up or if a am lucky i will end up falling to sleep due to exhaustion and tiredness. Then i manage to get a few hours before waking back into the same routine.
Summer is finally here and the warmer weather came early this year and this has given me a small break as i have managed to half the amount of attacks i normally get with the help of the medication so far and also the amount of pain free days i get has increased, only by a couple but it makes a huge difference. I have to be grateful for the changes so far as i could be in a lot more pain than i already am in. Imagine if i was to continue to get 8 attacks EVERY day, i just don’t know how i would cope. At least my attacks have dropped and the most i get in 24 hours is now 4 or 5 but i average about 2 or 3 a day and the injections take care of them. This means most of the day i should be attack free and pain free but unfortunately my neck and back keep me in pain for a lot longer.
I have tried all types of pain killers and nothing works so i guess it must be nerve pain again and a nerve is damaged or trapped as, when the hospital investigated last time, something would have shown up. Even the specialists were confused as to where the exact pain is coming from. I had all types of scans and x-rays but nothing showed up so they put it down to either muscular damage or nerve damage and i would have to go for intensive physiotherapy, but i am still awaiting my appointments for the physio. I hope it will come soon and also the one for the endoscopy so we can find out what is going on with my swallowing.
It’s weird how, ever since i started the medication for my condition, i have gone down hill fast with regards to my health and now things are improving it seems like we deal with one problems and another comes along. One thing is for sure by the time i get this beast under control i will be fit from head to toe as the specialist seems to be making sure i am tested from head to toe and what ever shows up is dealt with straight away. The NHS at the heath has been amazing so far and although it can sometimes take ages to get appointments when you do get there they pull out all the stops to get you well as quickly as is possible. Let’s hope they are just as quick with the next set of treatments.
