No Such Thing as Status Quo with Me
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with our whole family. Our older daughter and her hubby both love to cook. So they went overboard with the food, but it was important to them, as their first big family meal in their new home. I could tell she was getting all stressed, which is not good for her at all, but I sure was glad I didn't have to have them all at my house. Don't get me wrong, I love being around all of them... but I get way too panicky at the thought of having that big a group all at once.
Plus now, my house is not clean enough for me to feel comfortable entertaining. I have started trying to unclutter some parts of the house, but it took it several years to get in this mess, and it's not going to be clean overnight. Hubby says to just ignore it .... something he seems to be able to do quite well. It bothers me, though. Every time I try to tackle it, I get worn out before I've made a dent! LOL
Anyway, I did have an appointment with my Gastroenterologist this week. I am still having lots of belching and gas, although the elimination difficulties have improved considerably since he put me on the Bentyl. I had read some things on the Internet that made me ask about the Metamucil and Glycolax, as far as were they contributing to the gas problem. I gave him the printout showing the times I was taking my meds, thinking he might see something that I needed to change. He was flabberghasted. He said he had no idea I was taking the Metamucil and Glycolax in the morning - that I should be taking them at night!
He also said the loud belches were from swallowing air. I told him I knew I did that when I took my meds with a big gulp, because I had trouble swallowing them. He suggested I take them in applesauce, instead of water. And .... it works! I do have a little trouble getting the swallow to come, though, thanks to my uncooperative tongue.
My tongue has started some kind of tic. I'm lip licking, or lip sucking, or moving my tongue around, rubbing against my teeth almost constantly now. I mentioned this new quirk in the PLM forum, and one of the Parkies said she had been rubbing the back of her dentures with her tongue for 14 years! She's actually worn a hole in the back side of two of her teeth!
Speaking of the TAP, I am continuing to get 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep each night. My alarm watch is waking me up now to start my meds at 5:00AM. If I could just stay awake later at night, I would change the time of the first meds. But it's all I can do most nights to stay awake until 9. I'm toying with the idea of taking a short afternoon nap, but I will wait awhile longer before I try that, to be sure I have the sleep habit well established.
I am out of the muscle relaxer meds now, but they really didn't help a whole lot to ease the soreness and stiffness in my neck. So I'll be calling my Orthopedist this next week.
I'm still having a lot more tremors than I had before my trip to the ER. The tremor in my right hand is unpredictable, but strikes often and hard. If I stand still for even a few moments, my right leg starts a little dance all by itself, making my whole body bounce, and sometimes now it starts up even when I am sitting down. That was only happening at church before, where I was blaming it on being cold and the seat being uncomfortable. Now it's pretty much a given that if I'm standing, I'm dancing, and if I'm the least bit tired or upset, I'm jiggling as I sit. And walking still feels like I'm on Jello. I'm using the cane all the time when we go somewhere now, except for church. I'm still stubbornly holding out on that, as it puts too much attention on me.
I am going to have to keep track of the times of the day that all these tremors start and stop, so I can tell if it has anything to do with my meds wearing off.
So today, I can give my sleep problems an A, elimination difficulties a B-, stiff and sore neck a D, and tremors a D.
Plus now, my house is not clean enough for me to feel comfortable entertaining. I have started trying to unclutter some parts of the house, but it took it several years to get in this mess, and it's not going to be clean overnight. Hubby says to just ignore it .... something he seems to be able to do quite well. It bothers me, though. Every time I try to tackle it, I get worn out before I've made a dent! LOL
Anyway, I did have an appointment with my Gastroenterologist this week. I am still having lots of belching and gas, although the elimination difficulties have improved considerably since he put me on the Bentyl. I had read some things on the Internet that made me ask about the Metamucil and Glycolax, as far as were they contributing to the gas problem. I gave him the printout showing the times I was taking my meds, thinking he might see something that I needed to change. He was flabberghasted. He said he had no idea I was taking the Metamucil and Glycolax in the morning - that I should be taking them at night!
He also said the loud belches were from swallowing air. I told him I knew I did that when I took my meds with a big gulp, because I had trouble swallowing them. He suggested I take them in applesauce, instead of water. And .... it works! I do have a little trouble getting the swallow to come, though, thanks to my uncooperative tongue.
My tongue has started some kind of tic. I'm lip licking, or lip sucking, or moving my tongue around, rubbing against my teeth almost constantly now. I mentioned this new quirk in the PLM forum, and one of the Parkies said she had been rubbing the back of her dentures with her tongue for 14 years! She's actually worn a hole in the back side of two of her teeth!
Speaking of the TAP, I am continuing to get 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep each night. My alarm watch is waking me up now to start my meds at 5:00AM. If I could just stay awake later at night, I would change the time of the first meds. But it's all I can do most nights to stay awake until 9. I'm toying with the idea of taking a short afternoon nap, but I will wait awhile longer before I try that, to be sure I have the sleep habit well established.
I am out of the muscle relaxer meds now, but they really didn't help a whole lot to ease the soreness and stiffness in my neck. So I'll be calling my Orthopedist this next week.
I'm still having a lot more tremors than I had before my trip to the ER. The tremor in my right hand is unpredictable, but strikes often and hard. If I stand still for even a few moments, my right leg starts a little dance all by itself, making my whole body bounce, and sometimes now it starts up even when I am sitting down. That was only happening at church before, where I was blaming it on being cold and the seat being uncomfortable. Now it's pretty much a given that if I'm standing, I'm dancing, and if I'm the least bit tired or upset, I'm jiggling as I sit. And walking still feels like I'm on Jello. I'm using the cane all the time when we go somewhere now, except for church. I'm still stubbornly holding out on that, as it puts too much attention on me.
I am going to have to keep track of the times of the day that all these tremors start and stop, so I can tell if it has anything to do with my meds wearing off.
So today, I can give my sleep problems an A, elimination difficulties a B-, stiff and sore neck a D, and tremors a D.
Labels: "Parkinson's", Bentyl, difficulty walking, elimination difficulties, family, gait, Gastroenterologist, house cleaning, Metamucil, Miralax, muscle spasms, PatientsLikeMe, swallowing, TAP, tremors
posted by Dirty Butter @ 6:36 AM
4 Comments:
At 11/25/2007 9:47 AM ,
Marion said...
DB, I so understand the need to clear clutter that just seems to accumulate when illness strikes...purging all that "stuff" definitely clears my outlook on life, making positive thinking much more prominent.
As you say, however, it is not the easiest thing to do when you are so ill. Perhaps a family work bee would be possible...you could order food in for a thank you dinner.
At 11/25/2007 3:50 PM ,
Dirty Butter said...
Sounds like a good idea, Marion. The stuff doesn't even faze my hubby, and bothers me big time. I think it's one of those OCD tendencies from the Requip.
At 11/25/2007 4:29 PM ,
Joe said...
I'm glad to hear that you had a good Thanksgiving.
I love Marion's idea about having a "family work bee." My mother always feels so guilty when any of us kids come over to do some work around the house for her, so I'll send my children in the house with all the ingredients for one of my favorite treats (like rhubarb pie! mmm, mmm...I can taste it now, just thinking about it)That way she gets the house work done without feeling guilty, the grandchildren get to spend time with grandma, I get rhubarb pie, and the children get to learn my mothers secret recipe for the pie...okay, that's to my benifit too since I'm the only one in the family that likes rhubarb since my father passed away.
Sorry to hear about the "tongue tricks." They are more than likely caused by one of your meds. Unfortunately a lot of PD meds will cause what is called extra-pyramidal effects, i.e. uncontrollable movements, primarily of the arms, face, and especially the tongue.
At 11/25/2007 5:47 PM ,
Dirty Butter said...
Thanks, Joe, for adding another medical term to my growing vocabulary - extra-pyramidal. And giving me an idea of how to get the help without feeling helpless!!
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