Gonna Be OK
It makes itself known each day at 3 AM. It has for maybe a year now, and it shall continue for quite a long time, I reckon. Until it's not needed anymore.
It lasts all day. Unless I am finished with it earlier. Which, I am proud to say, I often am. I also often am not. It was born of necessity, and it has done its job well. Its predecessor is effective, too, and is also still in service. I owe both a fair amount of credit if such things are actually able to take credit for anything. Really, they are simple things, used by many to equally great effect.
Reminders.
Time to stop being obtuse. Each day, I get a reminder on my phone at 3 in the morning that simply says:
At 6 AM, as I think I mentioned once before in this blog, I get "You wake up badly. Give it time. Don't freak out." I used to do my best freaking out in the wee hours of the morning. The day could be shot before the sun had a chance to rise. That's counter-productive to a good life if you are scoring at home.
So, reminders help. A wonderful lady that you've met here, Suzi, believes in affirmations. I have one of those too, and I should create more. These are all mechanisms to keep myself going. I'd love to hear in the comments any techniques others use to get through the days. Even better if no one needed these things, but I suspect most of us need a little reassurance at times.
I actually started this post about a week ago when I was in the hospital. I was actually there twice in a week, two nights apiece. It was a bit of an ordeal, and I am dealing with the aftermath now. As a result, it really helps to see "everything's going to be ok". The trick is believing it. I always do, but as I mentioned, some days I am not quite ready to dismiss the reminder until I feel settled.
For anyone interested, my health issues stem from a few of the medications I take. I am diabetic, and recently had a new med added to help my blood sugar down. The trouble seems to be, it interacted not-so-well with a blood pressure med and gave me a kidney/potassium issue. So, we stopped those. Potassium is quite important as it turns out.
That issue seems to have not been the main one that caused my symptoms (nausea, stomach discomfort), however. It appears that after many years of taking another diabetes med (Metformin), I was diagnosed with something called gastroparesis. Basically, my stomach isn't moving my food along very quickly. I'm not sure how long it's been this way. I have followups on that for sure.
In the process of all this, my wife looked further into my HRT meds and has gotten very afraid of Spiro. She has known I take them, but we never really talk about it. Ir's a sore subject to say the least. The combination of Spiro with Lisinopril, the BP med, can be quite bad and contribute to the kidney/potassium thing. It can even stop your heart. That's really BAD. I have stopped Lisinopril and quizzed the hospital docs about Spiro as well. They say there are no issues with it on its own and assured me that my other HRT meds are not causing my issues. However, in deference to my wife's fears, and some of my own, I have stopped taking Spiro, at least for now.
I see my primary doc tomorrow, who treats LGBT patients. I'm not sure what will come out of that, but I plan to ask for a referral to an endocrinologist I know of that I think can help me be better and safer with all this stuff. It's all a learning process and as usual, I am learning the hard way. It is SO important to have your health. I had a couple scary times in the hospital. They took great care of me, but I was alone, and worried first if I was dying, and alternately concerned my HRT journey might have to end. It's a lot, but I am managing. I tend to trust doctors, but I am learning I need to take more control of what goes into my body.
After the primary doc, I am scheduled to see a gastroenterologist as well. In a way, I am actually excited about it, because I feel like I am finally going to know what is best for me in my digestion, etc. I've had trouble in this area for a long time, but nothing ever major like this. It is what it is, and I have to deal with it properly. And the experts are going to help me do that.
I can report that I feel pretty decent right now, physically and mentally. There is never a dull moment in Shannyn-land. Life continues to be funny, always ebbing and flowing. You never know what each day will bring. We all just keep riding the waves. Everything will be ok. Believe it.
It lasts all day. Unless I am finished with it earlier. Which, I am proud to say, I often am. I also often am not. It was born of necessity, and it has done its job well. Its predecessor is effective, too, and is also still in service. I owe both a fair amount of credit if such things are actually able to take credit for anything. Really, they are simple things, used by many to equally great effect.
Reminders.
Time to stop being obtuse. Each day, I get a reminder on my phone at 3 in the morning that simply says:
 |
| "Everything is going to be ok." |
At 6 AM, as I think I mentioned once before in this blog, I get "You wake up badly. Give it time. Don't freak out." I used to do my best freaking out in the wee hours of the morning. The day could be shot before the sun had a chance to rise. That's counter-productive to a good life if you are scoring at home.
So, reminders help. A wonderful lady that you've met here, Suzi, believes in affirmations. I have one of those too, and I should create more. These are all mechanisms to keep myself going. I'd love to hear in the comments any techniques others use to get through the days. Even better if no one needed these things, but I suspect most of us need a little reassurance at times.
I actually started this post about a week ago when I was in the hospital. I was actually there twice in a week, two nights apiece. It was a bit of an ordeal, and I am dealing with the aftermath now. As a result, it really helps to see "everything's going to be ok". The trick is believing it. I always do, but as I mentioned, some days I am not quite ready to dismiss the reminder until I feel settled.
For anyone interested, my health issues stem from a few of the medications I take. I am diabetic, and recently had a new med added to help my blood sugar down. The trouble seems to be, it interacted not-so-well with a blood pressure med and gave me a kidney/potassium issue. So, we stopped those. Potassium is quite important as it turns out.
That issue seems to have not been the main one that caused my symptoms (nausea, stomach discomfort), however. It appears that after many years of taking another diabetes med (Metformin), I was diagnosed with something called gastroparesis. Basically, my stomach isn't moving my food along very quickly. I'm not sure how long it's been this way. I have followups on that for sure.
In the process of all this, my wife looked further into my HRT meds and has gotten very afraid of Spiro. She has known I take them, but we never really talk about it. Ir's a sore subject to say the least. The combination of Spiro with Lisinopril, the BP med, can be quite bad and contribute to the kidney/potassium thing. It can even stop your heart. That's really BAD. I have stopped Lisinopril and quizzed the hospital docs about Spiro as well. They say there are no issues with it on its own and assured me that my other HRT meds are not causing my issues. However, in deference to my wife's fears, and some of my own, I have stopped taking Spiro, at least for now.
I see my primary doc tomorrow, who treats LGBT patients. I'm not sure what will come out of that, but I plan to ask for a referral to an endocrinologist I know of that I think can help me be better and safer with all this stuff. It's all a learning process and as usual, I am learning the hard way. It is SO important to have your health. I had a couple scary times in the hospital. They took great care of me, but I was alone, and worried first if I was dying, and alternately concerned my HRT journey might have to end. It's a lot, but I am managing. I tend to trust doctors, but I am learning I need to take more control of what goes into my body.
After the primary doc, I am scheduled to see a gastroenterologist as well. In a way, I am actually excited about it, because I feel like I am finally going to know what is best for me in my digestion, etc. I've had trouble in this area for a long time, but nothing ever major like this. It is what it is, and I have to deal with it properly. And the experts are going to help me do that.
I can report that I feel pretty decent right now, physically and mentally. There is never a dull moment in Shannyn-land. Life continues to be funny, always ebbing and flowing. You never know what each day will bring. We all just keep riding the waves. Everything will be ok. Believe it.
That seems a good mantra to focus on.
ReplyDeleteMy phone has 'cheer up, you old bugger' :-)
love it!!!
Delete