JayCS’s Fibro Blog

2023-11-01 Wednesday - recovery?: possibly, CVD med side effects?: :white_check_mark: by pulverizing, LDN? (Nov 1st on 2x0.5mg): maybe slightly better.

What … worked / went wrong … today:
Playground with grandkid an hour was brilliant: balancing (good treatment!), swinging (small mat swing with little effort), talking with statue were all things, elating.

Habit encouragement: time management (✅), self-treatments ✅.

Time (= stress) management: Blog earlier :white_check_mark:, forums less :white_check_mark:, jump off hamster wheels :white_check_mark:, 3rd meal 18:00-19:00 (:x:)
Self-treatments: Horse stance :white_check_mark:, balancing :white_check_mark: - 20’ with grandkid, doing much better.

How was I today?: Feeling 75-85%-ish (:white_check_mark:), energy today (:white_check_mark:, relatively), sleep Tuesday night :white_check_mark:, sleep Wednesday night :white_check_mark:.
Mainly working on time management :white_check_mark:, energy with LDN :white_check_mark:, keeping spirits up (:white_check_mark:).

(V)LDN: Nov 1st 2x0.5mg (starting with Oct 1st ~0.07mg). It's improved mainly energy ✅ & heaviness ✅ incl. for walking ✅, fine motor skills (✅), stiffness ✅, recovery time ✅, Ache ✅, pains ✅, but not my paleness ❌. No more side effects ✅.

Dosage: Oct 1st ~0.07mg evenings, 8th 14:20 0.125mg, 9th-15th 10:00 0.125mg. 16th-19th 10:00 0.25mg. 20th- 0.5mg, Nov 1st on 2x0.5mg.
VLDN :+1: for:

  1. Energy up from 10% to 18%: for activities :white_check_mark: - definitely, walking: up from 5’ to 30’ :white_check_mark: - playground an hour is walking quite a bit, listening: up from 3’ to 15’ (:white_check_mark:) - may be getting slightly better, TT :ping_pong: fine motor skills and available short term energy but somehow not enough to compensate the wet table, stiffness :white_check_mark: - definitely, shorter recovery times :white_check_mark: - definitely, all constantly :white_check_mark:. But :neutral_face:: still yellow/white face, black eye rims and white lips.
  2. Pain: overall Ache :white_check_mark: - definitely, local: lower back :white_check_mark: - yes, less (:white_check_mark:) - rib and forearm pains improving from treatment and movement, hangover :white_check_mark: - no.
  3. Muscles: eyes = vision (:white_check_mark:) - better, bladder: pee frequency & urge (:white_check_mark:) - OK-ish.
  4. Sleep (taking it in the mornings): feel better in breaks, waking up better, more awake (:white_check_mark:) - better after less evening screen time.
  5. :-1: Nothing really since Oct 18th :white_check_mark:, except 20th: hangover 3h.
CVD med effects?: Spreading pulverized BP specks increasingly over the day since Oct 31st is working, whilst the small starting dose from 24th on was dreadful, and amounts of 1-2.5 mg once a day took all LDN energy tooi.

Oct 24th dreadful. 25th not taken. Re-start with BP speck 26th. 1-2mg early 27th seemed not particularly good, but might’ve been too little sleep. 28th Worse after less sleep. 29th Better after longer sleep. 30th Worse after 2.5mg (or >2 at least) despite sleeping almost 8h. 31st: Starting to spread the “candy” (candesartan) over the day in about 0.5mg specks worked, I think I felt it a little.

1) SYMPTOMS: Since VLDN Oct 1st: PEM VS. PPA: post exertional malaise when I use all of the extra energy (✅), hardly post postural ache ✅. Stiffness ✅. TT 2:2 (moving 30%, talking 30%, counting 0%) ➔ 80%/3 (✅), gardening/moving ➔ 80%/3 (✅), playing with grandkid for 60' ➔ 90%/5 (✅)/❌, talking 60' with son together with my wife, moving helped ➔ 80%/4 ❌, music 5' ➔ 70%/4 ❌. White lips 80% (❌). Exhaustibility "82%" ✅ and sleep ✅ - 7h40, up 3x (48'), all deep, sore throat 60%, 4 possible reasons see details of details of details. Only 3 short sleep breaks. Bit tired, but up at 7 trying to pull sleep forward, bed at 22:00, click for details:
EXHAUSTIBILITY today: “82%". Changed on Aug 23rd: Energy was up to 18-20(-24)% (TT 5:1, workout possible) since June 21st 2023 (and new symptoms better) from new circadian rhythm, but kept going down to 10% (TT 0-2 games) from monthly triggers, see #3 Triggers. Today's ENERGY profile moderately slow, with "6h rest", 2h very slow, 2h slow, 5h30 medium, 30' quick
SLEEP (click for details): 7h40, up 3x (48'), all deep. Bit tired, but up at 7 trying to pull sleep forward, bed at 22:00. ✅/❌, everything else OK ✅/❌, 80%/2 ✅, ➔ getting up: 80%/2 ✅.

Sleep 22:30-
23:43 13’ fl8’
2:25 30’ 6
5:10 5’ strange: no idea what sore throat 60% is from. Forgetting 2nd pair of trousers until 2? Forgetting to put the heating on? Uncovered myself without realizing? Forgetting my 2 loop scarves some time yesterday and it only seeming warm enough? (But 18°C as ever all the same.) Umckaloabo and calendula essence.
-6:58 woken by our bird song clock now resounding in the bathroom… sore throat down to 30%.
Sum: 6h58+1h30-(13+30+5=)48’ = 8h28-48’ =

2) Watching "monthly" TRIGGERS, esp. of exhaustibility. Excitement (= strain rather than stress) ✅: Annoyance of unexpectedly having to pay pay 1-2 big hospital bills is something I'm only going to clarify in the mornings, so next step early tomorrow, phoning the hospital. Click for list, incl. Sept summary added Oct 2nd...."

(1) JAB#3 (on Nov 7th 2022) caused MCAS / histamine problems like the first 2 till around July. Esp. ENERGY DOWN further to (10-)15-20% (max.), but more slow energy. Each jab -5%.
Made me stop cryotherapy/acupressure and acupuncture from Dec on!
(2) Jan: TCM recommendations for a few weeks
(3) Feb: ~3% of levothyroxine (T4) pill Feb 24th till Mar 23rd: more energy, but lost appetite and weight and sleep, antihistamine back up to 10mg to curb T4-insomnia & histaminey symptoms (stopped cos causing nauseous sinus headaches & painfully dry mouth).
(4) Mar: inkling of Covid, negative, but cough, appetite, night sweats…
(5) Apr: cancer checking ending with weird onco,
(6) May 20th… 17 stress triggers, till end of May: 8-12%, seizures May-June every 10d.
June 21st: circadian rhythm Better to 18(-24)% a few days, but mostly back down to ~10%:
(7) July 19th-24th: 3 garden bird deaths
(8) July 31st-Aug 6th uro exam and methylene blue trial.
(9) Aug 9th… severe vertigo, checking, back to minimal blood meds.
Summary (Sep 12th): These have been stable for quite a time: Histamine/MCAS symptoms: Nauseous sinus burning headache: 0% :white_check_mark:, tongue burning: 10% day, 20% night :white_check_mark:. Watching “monthly” TRIGGERS (updated Aug 23rd 2023) that have brought up additional symptoms at least once a month and are continually bringing energy down from 20% to 10%.
(10) Sept 4th bladder exam 3 days of ‘screaming’ while peeing (again 18th: seldom stabs few days), then a UTI and recurred for 3 days each, 22nd bladder pain and “2nd” UTI. 12th: CoV-type symptoms: fluey Ache, cough (recurred 18th a few days), belly discomfort, feverish, temperature till 16th, up 11x that first night, moving difficult. From before 20th: binge work stress. 21st: feverish, histaminey, 22nd: severe pain in right upper abdomen for a few days. 24th: felt ‘ill’ and realized I couldn’t hear music any more. (27th: New GP OK.). 18th: stopped CVD meds again for the time being.
Oct: 1st VLDN 0.07mg, 9th 0.125mg, 16th 0.25mg. 17th: Complex filling - only 1-2 days recovery. Listening 15’ to very selected music improving. 20th LDN 0.5mg, 23rd: back to candesartan 4mg, atorvatastin 20mg, ezetimibe 10mg.

3) DOCS: (Nov 2nd: Hospital bills 1200€ and 500€ unexpected. I shouldn't have asked for treatment by chief physicians, didn't make enough difference.) Oct 30th: Onco appt scheduled for Jan 8th - so time far away, but place near enough. Last update Oct 24th: Complaint about the lax onco doc after exactly 6 months. Oct 23rd: Cardio: bloods, and convinced me to re-start the CVD-meds. Oct 11th: GP#2's office checked back about onco, GI & bloods. Sep27th: Wife's GP will get me a cancer appt., ask about GI. Click for details.

Oct 21st (see 20th) pee frequency / urine retention med: I used to drink only 1.5L/d before fibro, plus lots of yogurt and raw veggies. Whist I’m not sure when that changed, 80/d supp capsules and my increased thirst and dryness are the reasons for drinking 3L/d and so for peeing more, so no sense in taking meds to artificially reduce my peeing. (Pulling my 3rd meal supps and the 1L almond milk forwards to 19:00 didn’t help for sleep breaks, and thirst and headache at night).
Still no other explanation for the “B symptoms” Feb/March (Mar 29th: night sweats, cough plus appetite & weight loss) so back to T4 + CoV being the reasons I guess. Feedback from onco appt. Apr 24th is STILL pending.

4) UNDER CONTROL ✅ (attention necessary (✅)):
1) GI, pee, local pains, weather, dry mouth well under control: Details...

except GI: stools loose0% :white_check_mark:, appetite :white_check_mark:, pee pain: 0p1-2 :white_check_mark:, lower back unrest :white_check_mark:. Jaw: 2 new fillings June 23rd were enough, solved for the time being, but keep spaces free. Weather: SUN / WIND :white_check_mark:, dry mouth (day and) at night at least not hurting/sticky (:x:).

2) Seizures and esophagus blocks fairly under control - click for details. Last SEIZURES: 1x/m - focal seizures Oct (26th-)27th (1). Oct 18th/19th (3). Sep 19th? (1). Aug 9th, vertigo day: (2). July 17th (2), Increase to 2-weekly in May-June was stress, histamine, and less GABA, before that monthly. Last ESOPHAGUS BLOCKS: 1-3x/m - Oct 21st. Sep 30th, (25th,) 16th, 11th. Aug 31st, 26th & 8th, July 23rd & 16th, May 31st, Apr 4th.

Last focal seizures: Oct (26th-)27th 10:00 (seemingly seeing an ex-flat mate), seizure-ish 2x 26th. Oct 18th 17:50 (going on to busy street) & 20:15 (emotional music that could reach me). 19th: 11:00 table tennis. Sep 19th?? Aug 9th: 13:42 & 15:40 (after vertigo). Aug 1st: 4-5x seizure-ish. July 25th: seizure-ish 3-4x. July 17th: 18:30 19:55 after thunderstorm. July 7th seizure-ish 4x. Increase in May-June was stress, histamine, and less GABA: Jun 23rd: 11:30 12:15 14:00 15:06, 2 before, 2 after antihistamine, maybe from the confused night, taking sleep meds too late and more?? Jun 16th 20:05, June 6th 13:45 & 14:35. May 25th 17:40 & 21:00, maybe from higher histamine and not enough GABA lately, May 14th 9:00 and May 13th 20:00 from stress I think, but I have also reduced the night time GABA praps too much. Apr 16th 13:25, Apr 15th 22:00 (GABA too late plus cold type symptoms = histamine), Mar 31st 19:00 (too little GABA, too strenuous meeting), Jan 15th 10:40 (from a pee urge, only 2nd “wave”). Jan 14th 23:58 (no trigger, praps missing out on .6g GABA Friday). Jan 5th (after being scolded for being hyper). Dec 11th: 1x. Nov 21st: 2x.
Last esophagus blocks: 1-3x/m. Generally, mindfulness to be extremely careful and stop eating, spread supps & meal (length up to 2h), whenever there’s the slightest pressure. Oct 21st: sweet potato. Sep 30th: sweet potato. (Sep 25th: Sweet potato went down after 20-25’.) Sep 16th seemed scary. Sep 11th: peach. Aug 31st supp. Aug 26th: supps with buttermilk, Aug 8th: carrot, then chocolate. July 23rd distracted. 16th distracted. (June 6th narrowly avoided.) May 31st carrot, distracted. Apr 4th: Carrot. Mar 26th supps. Mar 23rd: Parsnip. Mar 13th & Feb 26th: muesli after supps. Feb 20th: massager helped. Feb 5th: supps. Jan 19th: massager sometimes. Jan 17th: B supps and back to bed is OK atm. Jan 8th: supps. Jan 5th-7th small. About 5x small blocks from pills around end of the year. Dec (20th, 15th) 11th (9th,) 1st, Nov 30th 2x, 29th 2x, (28th,) 24th, 22nd, 20th.

SELF-TREATMENT & SUPPS optimal, stable, but necessary - NEW Oct 16th: Silymarin 2x.5g now, LDN! - starting 0.07mg 20:00, 9th on 10:00: 1.25mg, 16th on 10:00: LDN 0.25mg, 20th 10:00: 0.5mg. Aug 6th: 40 supps, 435€/m +20€/m cps. Last changes see before Aug 22nd.
SELF-PHYSIO: Always OK, see before Aug 22nd what I now always do when needed. Jaw-joint end of Sept.
Supps Aug 6th: 40 supps (was 42), costs 435€/m (was 470) +20€/m cps. 16th: Silymarin 2x.5g now, LDN 0.25mg. Sep 27th: Starting around the 20th I brought ginkgo back up to 3, seems good, so I reckon the eleuthero was a problem. Sep 11th (started around 8th): Stopping eleuthero and reducing ginkgo to 2 is reducing BP. Sep 1st: NADH, passiflora, magnolia and more GABA to daytime. Last changes see before Aug 22nd next: theanine divided up into 2x0.1g, probably not creatine, colostrum or ATP again. For details on the lists, with dosing batches by times and tubs see before Aug 22nd:

Quality of life: 90%

Lessons in self-care:
a) Playtime was well worth the pain, and recovery was pretty quick, afterwards I could still get a meal for my wife 5’, feed up Harley and go to a shop 10’ - it was a lot, but not too much.
b) Brought down plant identifying time, incl. in the evening and at night.
Reasons to be cheerful:
a) Plant/fungi life: More identifying.
c) Animal life: Squirrel munching on pavillon near me so I could take many pics.
e) Human life: Great with grandkid, one of the funnies was when we went into the café to go toilet and she very nicely asked if we could do so, and thanked on the way out, grins all over. Another was a totally different toddler who wanted to talk to me called me granddad, laughter again, his mum tried to explain that that’s not my name. When I manage to actively play, however slowly it’s fun how many kids are excited and either want to play with us too, or like today at least want to interact with me, tell me things, look at me. The parents often thank me. Made my wife and me think about parents nowadays hardly playing with kids on the playgrounds, even if they’re not on their phones. I’ve often defended them, thinking it’s only sometimes, but more and more I get the feeling it’s an exception for parents to play properly with their kids. I’m not sure of all the reasons, I just know I don’t care what people think. My son is similar actually, altho he’s bigger than me.
f) Environment: I quite like this stormy rainy autumn weather, altho others are complaining. Just got to make sure I get my sore throat down again.
g) Body: I was able to hold/carry my grandkid in my arms and hug for a few minutes, and we kept my speed down while playing, but I was able to do everything we felt like doing, which was wonderful.
Simplified: Summarizing more things in these blog entries now, deleting bits that aren’t relevant that day, altho I spose it’s always good to be conscious of the framework, like all of the many areas we can be cheerful about, lest we forget, which most of us do.

Development: Look before Aug 22nd for more details. Click for links to "biggest successes" (after June 18th 2023), "summary" (on June 14th 2023), jab side effects, foods, blog references, e.g. abbreviations, & guideline for symptom tracking & trigger hunting

Entry changes (after June 19th 2023)
Biggest successes (after June 18th 2023)
Summary of fibro 2020-2021, jabs 2022 and first half of 2023