The events of the last few days

Wow it has been a hectic week. This is the reason that it has been nearly a week since my last post. Since I first became ill I have had many ups and downs, false dawns and setbacks. I think this week has been the perfect example of this. When I last posted I wrote about my niggling doubts about the candida diet because of the wind and disappearing energy etc. However, I continued on and after a few days started to reap the rewards (ish). My energy came back and the wind died back somewhat. However, as there always seems to be, there was a sting in the tail. My blood pressure was low at the start of the week and continued to drop almost daily to worrying lows (I had one reading of 87/38). My hands and feet were freezing, my head was dizzy and I had pains in my hands where the veins embossed. The blood pressure raised when I did some exercise, a little dancing (don't tell anyone) or a brisk walk, but soon fell again as soon as I sat down for any length of time. Naturally I was worried. Although, on the other hand, it was reassuring to find that I was able to do all this exercise without any problems. I did more exercise in one day on Monday than I had done in months before. However, on Tuesday it came to a head, perhaps as a result of the exercise - who knows?

Tuesday morning, after a hot and cold shower and a few stretches, the b.p was on the verge of normal (105/59), but by lunch time this had lowered to (100/41). Desparate for it not to fall any more I went for a short, brisk walk. When I returned I had lunch but I wasn't feeling great. I thought a short 30 min nap would sort me out. I woke up 2 hrs later, panic stricken, heart pounding, sweating and disorientated. I lay in bed not knowing exactly what to do, but I tried to go back to sleep. A few hours later I woke up, felt ok (ish). I took my b.p, which was normal (something like 115 / 70 - the highest it had been in a week). I found this bizarre. I went to the doctors to check it out anyway. Again the doctor read my b.p as normal, but recommend I see a specialist to get my C.V system checked out properly. This is what I am doing tomorrow. However, since then my readings have been fine and I have had no other symptoms etc. This seemed truelly bizarre until I discovered that the readings my girl friend's parents' b.p measure varies depending on the position of your arm. When I hold it in the position I was instructed by the doctor I get a low reading (altho everyone else seems to get a normal reading this way) and when you hold it as instructed in the manual, you get a normal reading. This means that the chances are my bp had never actually been as low as I thought. However, how do you explain the dizzy headaches, cold hands and feet, embossed veins and pains? All of these disappeared on Tuesday afternoon so were they all manifested by panic? Hopefully the specialist will get to the bottom of my little mystery.

During all of this I entered the next phase of the diet. On Monday I started taking the replete that I was actually meant to take along with starting the diet, but found difficult to source in Germany. So I have started 2 weeks late. Biocare Replete is high strength acidophilus recommended to me by my herbalist. It contains 100 billion bacteria per sachet (50 times the strength of my quest acidophilus) and you take 1 sachet per day for 7 days. You take each sachet dissolved in water and with your first sip you can feel the effect. Actually, it is not a particularly pleasant sensation, bringing about wind (not disimilar to what I have been experiencing). The tub notes this as a possible side effect, so I will keep an eye on it and consult my herbalist if it continues.

Well that was my week. I hope this post makes sense. I feel as if I have just blurted out everything in one incoherant rambling. Maybe this is the best way to blog. Let me know what you think.

First experience of german doctors

When I moved to Germany to be with my girlfriend and to continue my recovery I never imagined that I would visit a German doctor so soon. I thought that I knew enough about my state of health to recover by pacing my activities and working on my diet. Nevertheless I was wrong. During my time in Germany I have been plagued by digestion problems. This was initially just trapped wind, which occasionnally caused some pain when the pressure built up. However, on Sunday last, the heat turned up a little.

Suddenly the wind was no longer trapped and causing pain, but free flowing and endless. I have been rifting continuesly since Sunday evening. This sounds comical, at worst embarrassing, but I can assure you it is much worse than this. It is extremely uncomfortable and the condition has worsened steadily since Sunday, with the air becoming more and more acidy and pressurised. Last night I could stand no more. I decided to go to the doctor. In Scotland I would have gone a long time ago, but a number of factors put me off going in Germany. The first factor is the unknown, what will the doctors give me? Will this undo the good work of my herbalist and doctor in Scotland? Then there is the language barrier. My German is hardly fluent and my medical vocab is not my most complete. Again, my timing here is attrocious. My girlfriend is fluent in both languages and would have been able to translate without problems. However, she is away at a conference until tomorrow evening. Could I wait until Thursday? I don't think so I was so uncomfortable that I didn't think this was an option. Further, on Thursday we were meant to be travelling to Essen to visit my family there. I'm not sure if this will happen or not.

So, I decided to brave visiting the doctor, hoping he or she would be fluent in English. Alas he was not, so I gave it my best shot of communicating 10 months of illness with particular emphasis on the last three weeks. I was rather proud of my efforts as the Doctor seemed to understand, but of course one always has niggling doubts. My bloodpressure and pulse were taken and were incredibly high! I was thrown back at this because these usually return normal like every other test. My pulse measured 120 and bloodpressure 156 / 68. I also gave a sample of blood but I am unsure what they used it for.

I was given the option of homeopathic or traditional approach, which was a difficult choice for me. I know nothing about homeopathy, but the natural approach appealed more than say an antacid. Although for all I know the homeopathic method, it may have the same effect. Nevertheless I chose this option and was prescribed gastricumeel, which is described as "relief of indigestion and heartburn. Helpful when overeating or eating bad food combinations".

This is not the most informative of statements but it is the best I can find. All I can do is trust in the doctor.

Anyway, after returning home, I checked my bp and pulse, which had started to lower. Now (3 hours or so later) thankfully, they have returned to normal. The airflow has not relented since taking my first tablet, but I will give my digestion some time. The other advice the doctor gave me was to eat little sugar, beans and pulses, onions, alcohol etc. and to drink herbal teas such as peppermint and fennel. Most of this I have been trying to do over the last few weeks, but I will continue and try to be more disciplined.

I will keep you updated with my progress. Meanwhile, I will try not to panic.

Another set back or just a blip?

Days like today are extremely challenging. After a pretty good week, where I have felt my health improve continuously while achieving my goals (I will talk about these another time), today I cannot get the motor running.

It really started last night around 8.30pm. In the time it takes to flick a switch I went from feeling great, to completely shattered. It also coincided with a return of the chest pain and trapped wind that had all but faded during the week. I went near enough directly to bed - there was nothing else for it - and I fell fast asleep.

When I woke up this morning I felt terrible. It is not too uncommon for me to get days like these and they mean one of two things: just an blip day where I am off colour and don't get much done or a full set-back that means back to square one. I will find out the answer tomorrow. The important thing is, and I have learned this lesson, to stay postive and not to worry too much about it and try to get on with as normal a day as possible. Just don't over (or under) do it.

I have likened the feeling to a hangover. My head has a dull ache, my legs and arms are heavy and I generally just feel like crap. When I do finally manage to get out of bed, I just cannot seem to get the motor started. I struggle to concentrate on the simplest tasks and work is almost impossible. But, this won't stop me from trying. It is so frustrating because yesterday I was getting myself into the groove quite nicely and the week generally has been quite productive.

This is the nature of the beast - I keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow