Everything Hurts More...Again

Dammit. The inflammation was starting to go down but today it is back with a vengeance. It has been exactly one week of this particular pain, this feeling bruised everywhere. Another way to think about it is the skin over most of my body feels as sore as women's breasts feel when they have PMS. Except for me, it's everywhere. I feel like I am right back where I was a week ago, the first day this started.

To give you an idea of how this particular pain is impacting me on this particular day, I just took a shower that caused all kinds of pain. For example, my neck and shoulders hurt so badly to touch that the little loofah puff thing I use in the shower caused significant pain as it lightly brushed over that area. Now, instead of the inflammation in my abdomen steadily going down and only affecting my left side and rib cage, it's everywhere just like last Sunday. I had to choose loose fitting clothes today because anything else would hurt too much. So I chose a very light, soft cotton skirt and a tank top. Only, the tank top couldn't have a built in bra or be too tight because it would hurt too much to put on. And the list goes on and on.

I'm trying to think of some more possible causes of this pain or at least figure out why it is worse now after it seemed to be getting better. One possible reason is that I might have overdone it yesterday. I spent the entire second half of the day yesterday out shopping, going out to dinner and seeing a late movie. Even though I had lots of help shopping and brought along all the usual little supportive pieces of the puzzle like ice packs, my disabled parking placard, water and some extra medicine, I was still on my feet for a long time. It was fun but very tiring. After the movie, I got into the passenger side of my own car, put the seat all the way down and fell asleep as someone else drove me home. I did far more in one day than I did all week long. I woke up rested enough to do something other than lie in bed all day. But, did I do too much too soon?

Another possible cause of this increased inflammation could be sugar. I am very conscious of my sugar and simple carbohydrate intake for many reasons. I am hypoglycemic, have Lyme disease and am on long term courses of antibiotics. Each of those conditions prohibits excessive amounts of sugar. In fact, some protocols prohibit sugar altogether. Whichever way you look at it, sugar is a bad idea. If I'm not careful, excessive amounts of sugar while on antibiotics could cause yeast overgrowth. And, just like too much alcohol, too much sugar can either cause a Lyme flare or make one worse. But, I love it intensely and still feel like cutting back is the most challenging part of treatment for me. I have been eating excessive amounts of sugar for about 2 weeks or so. I won't even define excessive in this case because it is too embarrassing. I'm not kidding, it was way too much, for anyone. As a result, I've put on a couple of pounds that will go away just as fast as they came once I stop. Anyway, sugar could be an important part of this puzzle. It might be wise to go on an anti-inflammatory diet again. Dr. kalidas ordered an anti-inflammatory diet once when my joint pain was out of control. The diet dictates that you eat nothing but turkey, rice and pears for 3 days. I think I'll try that again. It certainly can't hurt.

Surprisingly, aside from the ridiculous pain, I don't feel too terrible today. I don't feel quite as wiped out as I expected to after all that activity yesterday. I mean, it's still early and who knows when another 6 hour nap might strike. We'll see.