Thursday 10 March 2011

Heartbeats, Adrenaline, & Dentists - or more accurately, a general ramble about my week.

For the last 4 days or so, I've had one of those strong, heart-thumping-out-of-your-chest tachycardias pretty much constantly, along with a heightened stress reaction to things like sudden noises (bad enough normally but a bit insane right now), my muscles being constantly and painfully tensed, meaning I can't get comfortable. I'm definitely in 'fright' mode, my body ready to respond to some threat that isn't going to come. (Well, unless we count the possibility of a psychiatrist knocking on my door and sectioning me for 'believing' I have M.E. LOL)

I'm on antibiotics right now for a bad(ish) urinary tract infection (I seem to get them all the time) and I guess maybe either the physical stress of the infection, or the antibiotics themselves (or both) could be what's caused this. Whatever ... I just wish it would go away!

It's really exhausting me even beyond normal standards right now. My brain's scattered all over the place even more than my normal state of pretty constant brainfog, - I'm too tired to think, never mind write, or speak - thankfully with these very occasional moments of absolute clarity (which is normally rather hard for me to come by, lol) which I am using to my benefit, allowing me to stay at least a little connected online. So I thought I'd check in with you guys and let you know where I'm at. :)


For those of you who read my post a couple of weeks ago about dental treatments ... the domiciliary dentists who came to see me have arranged an appointment at the surgery to have my broken wisdom tooth removed, in a couple of weeks. They had to find a slot free for the first appointment of the day, so that I can be taken into the dentist pretty much as soon as I arrive. Being a day sleeper, this will be at the very end of my day - but it's a much better alternative than having to wait for an hour, sitting up, in a probably germ infested waiting room.

The only way I can think of to plan for this visit - my first trip out of this house in over 6 months, and only the second in more than a year - is to take painkillers, caffeine & glucose, and possibly half of one of my sleeping tablets (zolpidem) because oddly enough they make me more mobile than usual. (Weird, I know. I have no proof but believe this to be because zolpidem has a very specific affect on the brain - there's research going on using it to bring coma patients back to consciousness!) I honestly don't think this will even be possible without medicating myself first, sigh. Then I'll have to lie down in the back in of the car on the way there & back (which will inevitably cause car sickness and a lot of pain - not to mention a risk of death if we crash lol), with my pillows and body pillow to help support me, and a blanket so I don't get cold - and then get in and out of the surgery as quickly as humanly possible. I have no option but to do it, because if I don't get it sorted now, it will become infected and make a bad situation much, much worse. Any other ideas would be most welcome!!

I'm terrified of collapsing while I'm out. I'm terrified of the actual treatment too, because I have TMJ (jaw joint) issues, making it very painful to have my mouth open for long, and with it being a wisdom tooth it'll be difficult to get to as well. I'm scared because I plain old hate dentists - though I've been working on that fear and it's not so bad as it was. I'm even more scared that I'll crash badly afterwards and go into a worse relapse state, losing the already only tiny bit of independence I have, and the ability to be online. I know there are much worse things than being bedbound in the state I am in right now, because I've been there. And I know that I'm teetering on the edge here already and I don't want to fall over it again and end up back where I was a few years ago when I was regularly having paralysis symptoms, for example.

I'm going to have to rest well over the next couple of weeks, to give myself the best chance of that NOT happening! Rest - funny really, since I'm already bedbound, to talk of rest - to most people my life would seem a constant rest!! How little they know.


'Resting' in bed. (if only I had her hair!)


So now ... if my heart would please stop being silly and calm down, and if my adrenal glands would get that there's no danger and stop pumping that darned adrenaline out, so that I CAN rest and relax, I would really appreciate it! :p



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I'd love to hear your reply and I know it'll be valued by other readers too! I always try to respond, please just be aware that it can take me some time to find the energy to do so as I've been particularly ill recently and struggling to get online. Thanks for reading! :)


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