The Joy of the NHS

Hi again,

I was feeling really rubbish today, standing and walking is becoming even harder, I feel so weak and dizzy. I knew I had a doctors appointment this afternoon so I wasn't too concerned.

I wrote a list in advance with everything I needed to mention and as always, I feel like I got no where. I mentioned the dizziness and struggle to stand/walk and all he did was take my blood pressure when sitting and standing, told me the results were the same so there wasn't an issue. He then went over my blood results from a year ago and asked me if I was made aware that my Vitamin D levels were very low. I was not. So am now on Vitamin D tablets everyday for the foreseeable future.

He was very reluctant to accept the amount of pain I am in and openly admitted that he knows nothing about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. This obviously did not fill me with much hope, although he did prescribe much stronger painkillers so fingers crossed these will help.

Lastly, I have agreed to try Fluoxetine again (an anti-depressent but I'm NOT depressed) since they help give you more restorative sleep and keep the pain at a more constant level. I'm not getting my hopes up since I was on these for 9 months and did not see any difference. I am worse since then though so maybe I will see a difference this time.

The doctor did say that when I move to Norwich, I will be quickly referred to the Norfolk Chronic Fatigue clinic, which is meant to be pretty good! So hopefully will get more help then.

All in all, a very expensive trip to the doctors.

Summer Holidays

I finished my first two weeks as a teacher and have now been on summer holidays for a week!
It was an intense week with Adam's graduation, lots of rubbish food and even a night out! My first night out in 6 months and I'm still recovering.

Since going out, I am unable to stand for more than about 10 minutes without feeling faint and dizzy and I only feel slightly normal when I'm laying down. This has worked to my advantage as I finally have time to start watching Pretty Little Liars, which I'm hooked on after one day!

I've been trying my best not to take as many painkillers as they interfere with my stomach and I can't be dealing with stomach pain as well as pain everywhere else. Going to the doctor tomorrow to see if there is anything else I can take so fingers crossed.

As much as its horrible not being able to sit up properly for long periods of time, its nice just having time to chill. Spending time with my lovely mum tonight going for a nice chilled out meal which will be nice.

I've been reading about the 'spoon theory' and it sums up my life so well. I'll post about that another time though, I'm too tired now.

Nap time xxxx

Diagnosis

I saw one of these blogs by Daisy Cook and it has inspired me to make my own!

I am quite open to my friends about how I am feeling (and also quite secretive) but I think this would be a good way to get things off my chest and its something else to do when I'm feeling my worst and spending the day in bed.
Firstly, for those of you who don't know, in September 2014, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or M.E). This causes an extremely long list of symptoms which some of them I am still discovering on a day to day basis but the main are the indescribable fatigue and tiredness and the chronic pain. It is brought on by large amounts of stress, trauma or a bad virus/illness that the body didn't quite recover from.

Unfortunately, I lost my Grandad, Dad, moved house about 4 times, got ill on holiday and ended up on a drip, all within a very short space of time. It seems my body just wasn't able to cope and therefore we don't actually know the reason of why and when it started.

While in terms of this illness, my symptoms are actually classed as mild, it doesn't mean my life hasn't completely changed and I have had to adapt in ways I didn't think I would as a 23 year old.

Since my holiday in 2013 when I got a severe case of gastroenteritis, I continued to have problems with my stomach and started to feel very tired. I kept going backwards and forwards to the doctor who kept diagnosing IBS. I took various tablets and kept this up which made no difference and was then put on a gluten free and dairy free diet. This helped the stomach problems but not the fatigue, however, I blamed this on my active uni lifestyle and carried on.

The tiredness kept getting worse but doctors did not understand and kept blaming it on stress and just being a bit run down. However, I then started to get very achy most days, despite not having done anything different. Again, I was told it was stress. Which was odd because it was the one time I wasn't stressed...

It wasn't til I came home from uni after graduating (by now the pain was not just achy, but full-blown pain) that I went to see my GP here, and as soon as I began to describe my symptoms, she brought up a checklist of Fibromyalgia and began to tick off the criteria. It was the first time I felt someone was taking me seriously. I was sent for blood tests to rule out anything else (which I knew would be clear since I'd had these almost every month whilst at uni) and finally referred to a specialist. I had to go to Benfleet where I saw a consultant who diagnosed Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

It was sad to be told this but also a relief. I finally knew I wasn't going crazy. I have tried numerous painkillers and antidepressants (which can control pain), which so far have not worked. I have tried GET (graded exercise therapy), which also did not work since I do not have the energy. However, I am still trying to get more help to make day-to-day life that little bit easier.

I am one of the lucky sufferers who can still work. My passion for teaching and working with children is what has kept me working, as hard as each day is, their little faces make the pain more bearable.

Unfortunately, I have had to give up everything else I loved, going out with my friends, dancing, cheerleading, running, going to the gym and many more. I have recently started swimming which is progress, but at this moment in time, I'm not well enough to go.

My daily life revolves a lot around routine, I need to know what I'm doing for the day and at what time so I can plan my rests in between, I do not have the energy to be spontaneous.

I am very happy though, I love my life and the people in it. The support from my mum, boyfriend and certain friends has been incredible and I couldn't have made it through my teacher training without them.

Unfortunately my hands are now spasming and I'm in a lot of pain from typing, so I'm going to take some painkillers and have a rest. Until next time!

Heres a link of you want to read more about it....

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Fibromyalgia/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-fatigue-syndrome/pages/introduction.aspx

Thanks for reading xxxxxxx