Everything Hurts

I went out last night for the first time in a very long time. I also wore very high heels for the first time in 2009. It was all for my friend's bachelorette party and it was all worth the pain I'm in today. I fully expected to be paying for wearing heels all night. By the end of the night, I was in excruciating pain. I couldn't bear to take one more step in those shoes, beautiful as they were. My SI joints and lower back muscles were aching but the worst of the pain was in my feet. Again, this was all expected. 

A quick side note here. I just want to say how wonderful it felt to get all dressed up and go out. It's been a long time since I've been willing or able to do that. I put on these beautiful purple satin, 1940s style heels and my Marilyn Monroe red lipstick. I felt like myself again. I used to get dressed up almost every day. But a lot of that had to go when I started getting more and more sick. Anyway, it was nice to know I can still feel like that.

When I woke up this morning (and by morning, I mean 1:15 pm), I was about 10 minutes away from my pills. I needed to eat a quick breakfast before I could take my morphine and Lyrica. I knew those first few steps after I got out of bed were going to be rough. I was right, they were. However, that was not the worst of the pain. I was very surprised to find that my whole entire body hurts to touch. There are parts that are more sensitive than others like my thighs, rib cage, left side of my lower back and the skin over my SI joints. The pain is so intense that I cannot touch any part of my body even lightly. I cannot put my hands on my hips or gesture with my hands and let them fall to my lap. I cannot tie the belt on my robe because the slightest pressure is too painful. I cannot fold my arms and let them rest again my body. I have to carefully get into bed because the pressure of the pillows against my skin is too much. I have had days like this before, but not quite to this degree. I didn't do anything to provoke it that I know of. I didn't drink last night or eat anything unusual. I did push myself physically but not in a way that would cause this. I am assuming this is a Herx reaction from my new antibiotic Cedax. I just started it less than a week ago but have not had a typical Herx reaction. I have actually felt ok, with the exception of increased joint pain and a relentless headache. I can only assume that this is the result of inflammation from a Herx reaction. It is quite intense. The inflammation and sensitivity to touch started a day or so ago. I noticed last night at dinner that I couldn't gesture with my hands and let them fall to my lap without pain. During the worst months of this illness and leading up to my gallbladder surgery, I remember this kind of inflammation. It always affects my legs this way. My thighs are sensitive to touch, not the back of my legs but my lap. It's weird. Today, however, the pain is everywhere and far more intense. I'm going to take some Aleve and see if it helps. But, wow, this is bad!