*Note: This article was originally written for my monthly linkups, which I've archived as it was taking too much out of me. However, I've kept most of the posts written as I realise it's much like a diary with memories that make me nostalgic or smile. I hope you enjoy reading them, too! š
Figuring Out These New Nerve-Tingling Symptoms
To be chronically ill is to be an enigma. The need to deal with a constant stream of puzzles arises, mysteries that you either solve or live with. July presented some strange new symptoms for me. It started as tingles in my legs and feet when I got out of bed each morning, before the buzzing became a steadfast companion 24 hours a day.
*Disclaimer: This article is meant for educational purposes, and is based on my personal experiences as a patient. I am not a doctor, and nothing in this article should be substituted for medical advice. Please consult your own doctor before changing or adding any new treatment protocols. This post may also contain affiliate links. It will cost you nothing to click on them. I will get a small referral fee from purchases you make, which helps with the maintenance of this blog. Read our Privacy Policy page for more information. Thank you!
A Step-by-Step Process
I am blessed that I have such responsive doctors, who communicated with each other, and slotted me in for an earlier appointment. Itās most likely to be peripheral neuropathy issues from Sjƶgrenās disease, which has left my nerves alone until now.
Theyāre also testing for other possible causes just to be sure ā diabetes, syphilis, HIV (I did say they wanted to be sure!). Iām waiting to do the nerve test but if nothing shows up, then the next step will be to stop my blood thinners, so that I can do a biopsy to check on the small fibre nerves. Do any of you suffer from nerve-related issues? If so, do you have tips or knowledge to share?
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Undoing My Healthy Dietary Changes
Iām not even sure what triggered it, but that shouldnāt be a surprise with chronic illnesses. Whilst I did change my diet somewhat as suggested by my nutritional therapist, it wasnāt anything āhardcoreā. Anyway, Iāve cut everything out again so Iām back to square one, with additional symptoms to deal with.
Donāt you hate this cycle, especially when all you tried to do was help your body out? In Chinese we have this saying, āč¶åø®č¶åæā, which means āthe more you try to be helpful, the more problems you createā. Sometimes I donāt even feel like trying new remedies out for such reasons.
Completing My Life by Expanding My Variety of Activities
I know I sound like a broken record every month, as I repeat my 'new' goals but end up procrastinating mostly. I spend a huge chunk of my life doing blogging related activities. Whilst I still do enjoy them and have no plans of stopping, Iād also like to re-introduce other activities back into my life again.
For one, I need to take the initiative to visit my friends and family a little more. Iād also like to spend more time with nature even though I live in an urban jungle, and to start doing some light swimming again. Iād like to read more, and on a wider variety of topics. Iād like to spend more time making home cooked meals, even though I donāt like to cook. Iād like to watch more movies with my partner, and discover new TV series.
Anything and everything, as you can see! I guess what I mean is that Iād like to put on my curiosity cap again, in order to exercise and stimulate my brain in more ways than one. I believe that by doing so, it will contribute to a life thatās more wholesome, fulfilling and complete.
Boring Can be Stimulating in the Long Run
In addition to the prompt above, this also means that Iād like to start differentiating my weekends from my weekdays. Because Iām home most of the time, the lines can get blurry. I have decided that Iād like to set work, blogging, and other computer-related activities aside during the weekends (apart from my newsletter).
Iād like to be bored. To allow my mind to wander, in order to explore new trails and creative pathways. I realise that when Iām unable to access my laptop, phone, or some other stimulus, my brain starts to get restless.
Then something magical happens after it goes beyond that stage. It begins to provide me with interesting new ideas for blog topics, or throws up thought-provoking questions. It reminds me of forgotten tasks, suggests healthy activities, and proposes some useful changes I can make in my life. I try to ātake notesā so that I donāt forget!
I am fortunate enough to remember a time where the internet and mobile data were rarities, so I do know clearly what the benefits to being bored are. Thus Iād like to set aside my weekends and just get bored, so that when Monday comes around again, Iāll be recharged, refreshed, a little smarter from a new venture hopefully, and also more productive!
Cuddling with My Lovely Pet Birds
I read two interesting articles on the sense of touch recently. One explores the other-than-physical aspects of touch, which goes beyond just sex (also known as skin hunger). It examines the consequences of being isolated in prison, and the increase of loneliness in modern society. The other is not an accurate portrayal of all the different love languages, but since it said something nice about my primary love language, Iām inclined to like it a bit more š
This is actually true, though. It can be quite ridiculous to the point where my mind knows clearly that affection or sex doesnāt always equate to love, yet I still feel loved with skin contact. I like to hug my partner and feel his body pressing against my heart (although he finds this āclaustrophobicā at times š). And the easiest way to calm me down and reassure me, especially when Iām in pain, is simply to stroke my hair.
But anyway, I will continue to get my cuddles from wherever I can, which includes my cockatiel, Scorcher! Heās the cuddliest of them all, and the one thatās most bonded to me. I love to nuzzle his down feathers, and stroke his tiny little yellow head. He loves to perch on my shoulder and follow me around. He often sneaks into my room when Iām taking a nap, just so he can perch on my leg to snooze in unison. Heās content as long as he can be with me, which always reminds me to be grateful for all I have in life, too! (P.s. Now I have a sheltie, Talisker, to cuddle, too!)
Chatting with Different People to Gain New Perspectives in Life
Finally, I went for a lymphatic drainage massage to see if it would help with those nerve tingling sensations. I enjoy chatting with Veron of Nourish Naturally, as we share a number of common topics of interests.
I also think itās important to chat with and listen to many different kinds of people, perhaps not to agree with - actually, especially not to agree with. But to learn new perspectives, and to challenge my own way of thinking. You never know what insights you can glean from a friend, or even a random person off the street. And isnāt it fantastic to learn more about how others deal with life?
Weāre all navigating this same element of ātimeā, yet with variable situations, capacities and resources. Our ability to choose makes all the difference. Iāve learned quite a bit this month chatting to various people, and would like to stretch my mind even further through the knowledge that each and every person out there has to share.
Thank you for reading my thoughts for August 2018. You can continue with the chronic illness life series in September 2018, or read last month's entry for July 2018 š
Comments Archives:
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Marya
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Sheryl Chan
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Kathy
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Sheryl Chan
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Dov
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Sheryl Chan
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Carrie Kellenberger
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Sheryl Chan
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Nicole Starbuck
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Sheryl Chan
Start a new conversation in the Member Comments below!Hi Sheryl!
Just joined for the first time..quick question..how did you get your Instagram pics to line up like that? Mine are one after another.
Thanks for hosting!
Hi Marya, really happy you decided to join us this month! As for Instagram, I donāt quite understand the question, do you think you can give more details? š But anyway, I just schedule them in Buffer!
Hi, Sheryl! I enjoyed reading your post. You gave me lots to think about as usual. I hope they get your new symptoms sorted soon.
Hi Kathy, thanks for reading! š Heh, I hope itās thinking in the good kind of way ;p Yea me too! The new meds (sigh) seem to help some, but still, not a pleasant new addon as you know š Sending hugs!
Sheryl,
Wonderful reading your post this month. I really appreciate what you say about the mysteries of living with chronic illness (the ways illness can be mystifying, our sometimes really surprising, stressful reactions to foods and medicationāhow our bodies can be a mystery to us.)
I really like this quote: āIn Chinese we have this saying, āč¶åø®č¶åæā, which means āthe more you try to be helpful, the more problems you createā. Sometimes I donāt even feel like trying new remedies out for such reasons.ā Itās so true. I think itās hard for people without chronic illness to understand how much work it can be to try new things, and how much distress and recovery time might be involvedā¦
And what you say about trying to separate weekday time from weekend timeātime becomes so strange and kind of fluid (?) when one isnāt a part of all the hustle and bustle of weekday and weekend activity. āā¦Iād like to start differentiating my weekends from my weekdays. Because Iām home most of the time, the lines can get blurry. I have decided that Iād like to set work, blogging, and other computer-related activities aside during the weekends.ā That makes sense. I havenāt really found a way to do that, and for the most part Iām okay with it. But, I often find myself wondering about how different it is that my activities arenāt ātime bound.ā
Really interesting about being bored. I never really thought of it that way but I love your mediation on boredom and how it helps you come up with ideas. And the stuff about touch, that makes so much sense! Itās awful that some people are so isolated, forced to live in a world without any affectionate physical connection. I think solitary confinement is, except for in very specific and rare circumstances, utterly cruel and, frankly, unethical. And the absence of physical affection is one of the many things that can make the isolation of illness so cruel. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and linking to the articles.
As always, I appreciate your writing and your prompts. Thanks for hosting the link up and for sharing your experiences!!!
Hi Dov! Thanks for reading and participating as always š Now that you describe it that way, itās funny huh. How itās our bodies yet thereās still so much mystery within it š
And yes! That idiom is often used when children or people try to help out say, in the kitchen. And you end up needing to do extra work because of it lol. Hereās another one you may like: ē»čę·»č¶³ which literally means ādraw a snake, add some legsā. Kind of like messing things up by adding unnecessary things š
Itās strange as well regarding weekdays vs weekends, because I donāt work M-F 9-5 anymore. But I guess Iām a very rigid person (I blame my dad ;)), so somehow there are remnants of that feeling leftover from those days.
Isolation is an extremely cruel and unethical form of punishment. I think people underestimate it, but isolated prisons are hell Iād imagine.
Sending love your way! x
Sheryl, I can see that we had a lot of similarities with our writing prompts this month. Letās make sure my cats never meet your birds. š I really enjoyed participating in this monthās link-up festivities. Iām especially grateful to people like you who are in my time zone and up when I want to chat. You do so much for our community.
I followed the link to your new diet because I was curious. I overhauled my diet again at the beginning of the year. My diet has been strict for years, but this year I really focused on eating lots of green veggies everyday that are grown by a friend of mine who is an organic farmer. He was convinced that my stomach issues were caused by bad gut flora and after a month on his rabbit diet, I am amazed at the difference. He was able to eliminate two of the three meds I take for my stomach just by introducing veggies that are grown in a microbe-rich medium. I never wouldāve believed it, but even my GI doc was impressed and wondered what I had done.
Anyways, I hope you are well today. Sending spoons and extra strength for Friday. Have a great weekend!
Hey Carrie, I enjoyed reading your prompts, too! Itās amazing how all the entries can be so different or similar even though theyāre derived from the same words š I think this month it was especially varied with the āBoringā prompt, actually! Very interesting š
And Iām happy to have someone in my timezone too. As an expat living in Asia, I guess you know the feeling of constantly needing to adapt to āthe other side of the worldā haha.
I rewinded my diet so Iām really back to square one now. Just waiting out these new nerve and epileptic symptoms, before I slap on new things or changes again! But definitely going to retry again soon-ish.
Btw, Iāve always been super curious about the healthcare system in Taiwan, and how you manage there as an expat. If youāre happy to share, feel free to email me, or I could interview you someday if youāre up for it. I think it will be a super interesting topic ā living overseas with chronic illnesses! You take care too! x
Thank you for this! I have a hard time resting (being boring doesnāt feel productive to me), but youāre so right that itās in those quiet moments that we give ourselves the space we need to breathe, refresh, and be creative. Some of my best ideas come to me on walks or in the shower, when Iām not connected to my phone or computer! Thanks for the reminder to take a break.
Hey Nicole! Yes I kind of see them as a different kind of consolidation and productivity (thereās me convincing myself ;)). Take care of yourself, dearie!