How much more abuse my body can take?

Its been quite a while since i last updated my blog as i have been concentrating getting back into my fishing full time and also sorting out my medication with doctors due to all the side effects i was having when trying new medication. Every time I was put on a new medication to try and get rid of the cluster attacks once and for all I would end up having a reaction or the medication would conflict with something else i was taking. Now instead of the doctor stopping that medication they just throw even more medication at you to take care of the side effects of the first medication. This to me is just plain crazy.

The trouble is this new system that all doctors are working under. Where you used to have a family doctor or a regular doctor you would see  they would be able to get a look at what was going on with you and would know your medical history to a certain level and know what other medication and why you was on it. being reliant on computers and not know what exactly they were given a certain medication for or even not having the time to look up what other medications you are on because the surgery is busy means the doctors can make mistakes and also treat it like a separate problem when in fact is caused by a medication you are already taking. You can end up with taking 4 or 5 different medications all for the same problem because you have seen 4 or 5 different doctors over a monthly period. For example just for constipation and stomach cramps i ended up on 4 different tablets & 2 different drinks that ended up messing up my bowels so badly i had serious problems but it wasn't until all the medication was stopped that my bowels returned to normal. This was again all down to the doctors just throwing medication at you.

After having a meeting with the doctors and finally having one doctor address the issue I have been slowly coming off all the different medications that they have been throwing at me and only keeping the ones that i need to live a normal comfortable life. The clusters are at the best they have been for years and that is nothing to do with medication but more down to me learning to deal with the pain in the nerves on the left side of my body, neck and back. By using gentle stretching exercise and stretching along with heat treatment I am now able to keep the worst of the attacks at bay and only have to deal with the ones that are first thing in the morning , the early wake up call from the beast at 3 am, and the ones cause by aggravation from the nerve in the neck when the pain level is high. I am hoping by coming off all the medication that has been causing me issues I will be able to try some of the ones given to me for the cluster attacks again as i wasn't convinced it was them that were causing the problems and i knew deep down it was different medications conflicting with each other that was the issue.

Fingers crossed we are right when it comes to the conflicts and side effects of the medication and once i am off all the trouble makers i can finally get the treatment i need to be on for the clusters and hopefully these attacks will be a thing of the past. I am grateful that i am getting a lot less attacks at the moment and i am grateful that i have the injections and oxygen that help to abort the attacks when they appear but it would be nice to get to a stage where i can start to see some quality of life returning. It has been a difficult struggle getting to where i am today and its not until i look back and read through some of my blog entries that i realise just how much i have had to endure and put up with since i was diagnosed. I also wonder just how I am here today with everything that has gone on and how much more abuse my body can take as it is starting to show signs.