It's Memorial Day and I woke up pretty early this morning without an alarm. And so far, I actually feel okay. I woke up with only mild pain and moderate fatigue. For holidays, my family usually gets together and we have a very relaxed, informal dinner. Even before cupcakes became my thing I was usually in charge of the dessert. Now, whenever I am feeling well enough, I make a few batches of cupcakes for holidays, birthdays, and parties. I haven't been able to bake for a while because this latest round of treatment has really knocked me out. Today, though, I think I'm going to try to make vegan chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.

For the last few days, I haven't experienced any tachycardia. It's possible that I am actually adjusting to Flagyl and that some of the worst of it might be over. Fevers and fatigue have been the focus of the last few days. Lately, even after sleeping 10-12 hours at night, I need at least one nap a day. Even with all of that sleep, I still spend the rest of the day in bed. 

 

I slept in until 1:30pm this afternoon. Now that I am more fully awake, I have taken inventory. So far, I am congested and have another mild fever (99.3). Again, low-grade fevers are just a part of Lyme and usually aren't cause for concern. If they coincide with cold or flu symptoms, however, that is another story. Everyone around me seems to have a cold right now; I am afraid it is only a matter of time before it comes for me. So I'm doing everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen. Here's the plan:

1.) Avoid sick people at all costs.

2.) Start Mucinex to manage congestion. Mucus essentially lays out a welcome mat for bacteria and can increase the risk of infection. I called my pharmacist today to make sure that there aren't any interactions with Mucinex and my many medications. There aren't any interactions. The only thing I need to do is take it 2 hours away from all other medications. That means that I have to space out 5 doses of different medications today. That will take 10 hours. I hope I'll be awake for that long.

3.) Continue all immune system support and preventive measures. This includes frequent hand washing for 15-20 seconds, sanitizing hands often and before taking any medications, temporarily taking high dose vitamins (ex. Airborne), wearing surgical masks at home since my mother is sick.

4.) Fever reducers, as needed. 

5.) Rest.

All of this combined with the continuation of Doxycycline and Flagyl should help prevent infection. If it works, then I will still be able to say that I haven't gotten sick or been to urgent care once in 2009. 

Today I don't feel quite as bad as I had anticipated. I woke up early on my own. I feel pretty tired but not unreasonably so. It was a long, busy week at work and I intend to use this weekend to rest and recover. The pain, so far, is only mild/moderate. It can be hard to gauge the pain when I'm laying in bed where I feel the most comfortable. We'll see how it goes when I venture out to the pharmacy or try to do launry. I'm still taking the full dose of Flagyl, 250mg every day. The last few days, I have felt very weak. It is making things like folding laundry pretty frustrating. The weakness is one of the Lyme symptoms that started suddenly a few years ago. It hasn't improved at all with treatment or time. It only drifts back and forth between moderate and severe. Anyway, the last few days it has been especially bad.

Later in the day...I have a low-grade fever and my heart rate has been about 115 for a while now. It doesn't seem like it's going to stop on its own so I will take my next dose of Atenolol (beta-blockers) a little early tonight. The fever isn't really a problem, it just makes me feel achy and clammy.