I’ve been dealing with insomnia and problems with my sleeping pattern for about as long as I can remember. As a matter of fact, I had just allowed my mind to adjust to the fact that I was never going to be able to get a good night’s sleep. Sometimes, I would toss and turn at night and be unable to fall asleep at all and then the next night, I would fall asleep immediately, but wake up before too long with the weight of the world on my shoulders. I have dealt with this for so long that I was surprised whenever something happened which changed all of that in me.
The day my hands refused to work properly I sensed my “superwoman” days had ended! My body hurt all over, and I was so exhausted that it felt as though water, not blood, was running through my veins. Physically unable to carry on as senior teacher in a special school, I returned home believing that I’d be fine after a few days’ rest. I wasn’t to know that I’d already taught my last lesson and that a diagnosis of the pain and fatigue condition fibromyalgia would mean that my life would never be exactly the same again.
It all began with an incredible eye ache. I suffered for about a week. Then I went to an evening engagement where I drank several glasses of wine. I recall that detail due to the fact that my head stopped pounding. I felt cured, until the next morning. Then I assumed that I was experiencing a hangover but the following day, the ache was still there. I called my doctor, who then referred me to an eye doctor. I went that day. After a “light” exam, I was asked if I new what MS was.
I was a very obese kid growing up, but extremely intelligent. I didn’t get a long with my peers very well and was often considered to be an outcast. Most of high school, I didn’t have a very active social life. My mother was an OCD neat freak and made me afraid to go out in the world. Her fears became my fears and I became afraid of the world. My grandmother lived with us and she was emotionally abusive. My mother and step-father were in constant yelling matches with us and each other.
A gout attack is caused when uric acid reaches such high concentration in the blood that it precipitates as monosodium urate crystals which then become deposited in a joint, often causing severe and widespread pain and inflammation in that joint and the area surrounding it.
Psoriasis had beat me up my entire life. One day, in 2001, I was feeling really down. I had been going to my UV treatments twice a week for 6 months and my psoriasis wasn’t improving. It was just there laughing at me. I had just had a flare up and was covered with psoriasis from the neck down. It was heartbreaking.
Hiccups are caused by small bubbles trapped along the lining of the stomach. Hiccups are the body’s natural way of trying to shake the stomach to make those small bubbles merge together into a burpable size. In the presence of mucous, these bubbles will not merge together.
My son was born nine years ago. He was always different from other children, even from birth. He was colicky for four months, crying inconsolably every day for hours on end. None of the standard calming techniques worked. Matthew couldn’t even ride in the car seat.
