Getting out in the Sun did me the world of good!

Well finally i managed to get out and do a bit of fishing despite having attacks from the beast wake me up every morning in the early hours. After suffering for months i decided to just get out and enjoy a bit of sport while i can and i am really happy i did. Getting lots of fresh air and sun seems to agree with me and i am feeling a lot better than i have been for quite some time. I decided on going for 48hrs non stop fishing with my friend John down at my local lake and we had a great time catching quite a few large Carp. I just wish it lasted longer as i really did enjoy myself despite getting sun burnt as we were caught out by the weather. It had forecast cloudy days and windy patches with a storm on Wednesday night but it suddenly changed and we ended up having a small heat wave for 2 days.

The sun was so bright and strong that despite me making sure i was covered up i still ended up catching the sun badly on the back of my hands, my ears and my neck. The constant heat also brought on attacks whilst i was fishing and i ended up having to take my injections twice. I just sat down in my bivvi (tent) and too the injection and waited for the pain to ease and then returned to fishing as soon as it had gone. I was quite surprised to actually get an attack when i am fishing as normally they tend to stay away but i think it was down to the heat that they started. I was making sure i drank plenty of fluids during the hot days so it wasn’t because of lack of water that's for sure as i even made a friend bring me extra water down on the second day.

The fishing trip did me the world of good and my body seems to have returned to normal for five minuets. My bowels are working normal again and the stomach pains and allergic reaction symptoms have stopped. I am still getting pains in the lower back and when i walk my legs are still burning and my muscles in the legs ache like nothing has ever before but its an amazing improvement compared to a couple of weeks ago. I still didn't work out what  was causing the allergy and can only think it was the thrush i caught in the mouth from smoking damp tobacco that could have caused it all. I am just happy that it has all calmed down and i am now praying that it stays like this for a while.

I am getting less attacks than i have had for years and i feel a lot happier in myself. The fishing therapy really did work for me this time so i can’t wait to go out again. Only 2 weeks away from my birthday so i am planning on a couple of days sessions before i go out for another long 48 – 72 hour session again. If my health continues to improve then i have to keep this up and get out as much as i can this year. I just hope that the walking , back and legs also start to improve as it is still painful to move around but no where near as bad as it was. Thank God!

You begin to feel well and something runs up and kicks you square in the plums….!

Just when you think you got things figured out something else comes along and kicks you square in the plums. After suffering from an allergic reaction for months and having major problems with my bowels not to mention the early morning wake up call from the beast i finally though things were on the mend and my heath was starting to improve. I started to feel a lot better and even the attacks are very few just lately so i began to think i am finally on the upward slope until i decided to get out for a bit of fresh air and exercise.

As i don’t get out much since the attacks began over 10 years ago my health has been going down hill rapidly and i have been in a constant fight to stay pain free and get over many different health problems. Now suffering from a hiatus hernia, IBS and cluster attacks i thought it was about time i made the effort and get out in the fresh air and hopefully that would help to improve my condition and help me to fight the remainder of my illness. I decided to take a walk down to the local lake that is about 20 minuets brisk walk from my flat down hill. They were holding the first stage of the Welsh Carp Championship fishing competition at the lake and as i love my fishing it was the perfect excuse.

I set off early in the morning making sure i had taken all the medication i needed for the day and also some injections just in case of an emergency. I also popped to the shop and bought some orange juice and a bottle of water to make sure i had plenty of fluids with me to drink and in case i needed to take a pain killer. As i walked down to the lake i had the usual back pains from the lump i have in the lower left of my back and the sharp pain running up the side of my back towards the neck. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it usually is so i was grateful and it wasn’t long before i was at the lake enjoying the brief break in the weather and the fresh air. I stayed for a couple of hours chatting to a couple of friends of mine that had entered the competitions and just after lunch i decided it was time to make my way home.

As i started to walk back to my flat along the country lane leading away from the lake i noticed i was starting to get pain in both of me feet at the bottom and this started to spread slowly up to my calves. I didn't think much of it until i was 10 minuets into the walk back and the pain became severe and spread right up to my waits in both legs. The pain was so strong that i was pouring with sweat even though it was a cold day. I continued on thinking to myself just get home and then you can rest so i pushed through the pain and it wasn’t long before both my feet and legs were on fire. They actually felt like they were burning and could hardly take a step. I ended up stopping and thinking how on earth am i going to get home i am in the middle of nowhere and i couldn’t walk another step.

I decided to sit and rest for a while to see if it would ease but it didn't and then the inevitable happened and an attack started so i had to take an injection. Now i was in agony trying to deal with a full on cluster attack and also staggering up the lane trying to walk with legs in just as much pain as my head and my entire body felt as if it was on fire. I actually thought that this was it, i was about to die and there was nothing i could do. At that moment as if by miracle i saw the son of one of my neighbours with his mate flying up the lane on a scrambler and when he saw me holding my face and staggering almost falling over he suddenly stopped and asked was i ok, i replied no and was about to collapse and have a major attack.

He then threw his mate off the back of his bike and told me to get on and hold on tight. He then ripped up the remainder of the lane to the main road and despite risking being arrested as you shouldn’t ride a scrambler on the main road he drove straight up the street to the front door of my flat. I couldn’t thank the boy enough as i ran inside the flat and collapsed on the sofa in immense pain. I really don’t know what i would have done if he hadn’t have come along that day and i still believe i don't think i would have made it and could have died as the body was in such a state for quite some time afterwards. Why this suddenly happened i don't know but believe it is due to blood pooling in the feet as i now have to sleep on a slope with my feet downwards all the time meaning that my circulation isn’t getting the chance to relax at night when i sleep. When i described the symptoms of what happened to my mate who has a similar problem with circulation problems he said yes that is what had happened.

He now recommends that i now sleep with my feet up in the air for a while until i get back to normal which means due to the hernia i now have to sleep in a V position. It does sound awkward and uncomfortable but i did this last night and managed to get more sleep that i usually do so there must be something in what he says. I will now make another appointment with the doctor and explain what happened and confirm my findings jus6 in case it is the nerve that caused it and not the circulation. It took me 3 days to recover from my ordeal and still i have weak legs but they are now getting better since i started to lay with the feet up in the air and the swelling is now going down. Talk about a scary experience. I have been through a lot of things ever since my diagnosis and the attacks started and several time i thought i was going to die.

People think that i am being over dramatic when i say i thought i was going to die but i would love to see them live one day in my life with what i have to go through. To be honest i would rather be diagnosed with a terminal illness and know i was going to die at some point rather than knowing i am going to have to suffer like this for years and years until one day the body just wont be able to take it any more. Not knowing what will happen from one day to the next is so depressing and stressful i think its worst than knowing you are going to die. I wouldn’t see an animal suffer as much as i have over the last few years and as i joke with my friends and say if i was a horse they would a shot me, a dog they would have put me down or a car i would have been scrapped by now. I just pray to god that things start to look up soon and i can start to feel well again but my future is in his hands and his alone.

Just when you feel better something comes along to mess up your day…

Just when you think you are starting to get well something else comes along and causes you to become ill or at least feel like you are ill. I am still getting early morning attacks and daily visits from the beast making me have to deal with pain on a daily basis but after having dealt with these for a few years now it has started to become the norm. I can’t remember the last time i had a day where i had no pain what so ever. I thought i had finally beaten the allergic reaction i was getting as the symptoms seemed to ease off gradually and i started to get the thrush in the mouth under control. I think i could have been the actual thrush that was giving me these allergic reaction type symptoms but its really hard to say that it is definitely the cause.

As things have started to improve and i have been starting to feel a lot better the last few days now the mouth is starting to play up again and starting to feel sore inside just as it did when the thrush first started. I am still using mouth wash and an anti fungal oral medication to keep treating it but for some reason it seems to be getting sore again. Not only a,m i having problems with my mouth getting sore but also pains in my back have started to become severe. Sometimes i think it could be the kidneys but there is no sign of infection at all and then sometimes it feels as though its a little to high up for it to be kidneys so i assume its something to do with the muscles. It could also just be down to wind again travelling around the body as i seem to get a lot of that just lately.

I have done a lot of research with regards to the hiatus hernia that i now have and found out that for some reason, due to an imbalance in the acid levels the body produces, i am now going to suffer from different types of fungal infections. This explains where the thrush has come from and why it has been so problematic. It also tells me that i will also suffer from allergies that i never had before so i can now understand where the allergy symptoms have come from. I also read that for some reason the hiatus hernia also causes a lot of back pain especially in the lower back region and can cause a lot of wind build up.  It seems that every symptom listed that the hernia can cause i have been suffering with.

I am grateful that the amount of attacks i normally get from my condition has reduced to a level that i can now manage on a daily basis and that due to the warmer weather i am finding that i can remain pain free during the day time and only have to deal with the attacks late at night or in the early hours. I know it can become annoying being woken up early every day but it a lot better than having to deal with up to 8 big attacks every day. I have started planning my first fishing trip of the season as the local lake by me has now re-opened and i have decided i will be gong for 3 days fishing with one of my mates and a couple of others will join us when we are down there. I am hoping that the weather holds and that we have 3 days of half decent weather so i don't have to deal with the beast too much whilst i am camped on the lake bank. I am really looking forwards to it as its been a while since i last when i am dying to get back out in the fresh air and the sun so fingers crossed all will go to plan.