Update:
The opening
line of Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities” (1859) describes how I’m
feeling this morning: “It was the best
of times, it was the worst of times.”
For over a
month, I’ve been taking Lyrica for nerve pain in my legs. I’ve had a multitude of side effects with
this drug. One of the worst side effects
for me has been insomnia. I was wide
awake several hours past my normal bedtime each night and then I would wake up
in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. I couldn’t even get a decent nap in during
the day to catch my sleep up. I decided
to stop taking Lyrica and weigh the costs/benefits of taking the drug. So with doctor’s orders, I’ve been stepping
down my dosage. One of the best benefits
of this is that I am sleepy again!!! I
can’t hardly keep my eyes open long enough to get into bed. That’s a nice feeling. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the
night and needed to use the bathroom. I fell
back asleep several times before I could get out of bed. Oh, it is so good to be sleepy again!
On the other
hand, my back pain from my bulging discs is increasing. Originally, I had pain in only my
hip/buttocks that led the doctors to discover my disc problem. I go in on Monday to be assessed and treated
by the Pain Clinic. Up until a few days
ago, I just had that hip pain and had no pain in my back. Well, that has certainly changed! When it started out, it wasn’t too intense,
just a constant dull pain that made it uncomfortable to do anything. Last night, my pain ramped up
drastically! I tried to get into bed and
I had terrible pain. 800 mg of Ibuprofen
didn’t touch it. I knew that I would
never go to sleep with that kind of pain.
I got up and went to the recliner.
I found in the last couple of days that for some reason, sitting in the
recliner seemed to calm most of my back pain.
Last night it helped; but my back still hurt. I was finally able to find one position where
the pain was reduced enough for me to sleep.
I woke up in the middle of the night in pain and couldn’t get
comfortable in the recliner again so I moved to the couch. My wife can take a very serious nap there on
Sunday afternoons, so I figure it held magically powers that might help me too. J It seemed to work somewhat. I found a position that reduced the pain;
however it was never gone enough for me to get back to sleep although I wanted
to! After my wife left for work this
morning, I was able to go back to the couch and grab a 1½ hour nap.
Right now my
back and leg HURT. I told my wife that
if I am hurting like this in the morning that I wasn’t going to church. If you know me, you understand what an
amazing statement that is. So, I’ve got
two more days before my appointment at the Pain Clinic. I am SO looking forward to this doctor’s
appointment. I hope they can bring me
some relief.
It is nice
to be sleepy again; but I am enough pain that I cannot enjoy it. “It was the best of times, it was the worst
of times.”
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