I wouldn’t go as far as to say I enjoy being sick, that would be odd (and I am a perfect picture of normalcy *rolling eyes*), but I do try to see the bright side of any malady. I see being ill, at it’s least complicated; an opportunity to appreciate not being sick once recovered, and at it’s worst; an opportunity to learn, empathize and teach others from my own experience.

Ugh but the waiting to know the cause! That’s the worst.

I am T1D, so I am accustomed to health issues. As I age, common viruses hit me harder and harder each time. Blood sugar fluctuations leave me feeling like I have the flu or have me sweating with shaking hands and a sense of dread. But the fatigue I had complained of for years, that was simply brushed off as being due to the stressors of a being working mom, was getting suddenly worse. I was also becoming dizzy and sweating profusely at night.

I am an on call nurse, frequently taking calls in the middle of the night, so our first idea was that my sleep was so disrupted that I was not getting enough rest. When taking time off work did nothing to help my fatigue, the doctor advised I wean off the duloxitine I was taking for my peripheral neuropathy, thinking my symptoms may be due to side effects of the medication. When I called soon after to report my occasional forgetfulness was also worsening, he advised I stop the duloxitine completely. Well this resulted in some lovely withdrawal symptoms, but I got through that nasty week with no improvement to my symptoms.

It got serious when my vision changed. I can best describe it as an old fashion movie reel flashing slides behind my closed eyes. With my eyes open I was seeing shadows.  My already sensitive ears because even more fragile as a loud noise made me cringe. The next day while walking around the store with my kids, I began shaking. I had to sit down and take deep breaths till I felt secure enough to walk but I was notably disoriented.

*I am writing the below three weeks later*

It has taken me this long to get back to this blog. It has been challenging lately. Let’s see if I can stop rambling and get to the point.

My experience at the store convinced me to get into the doctor ASAP that same day, two hours earlier than my scheduled appointment. I became convinced what I was experiencing was seizure activity and decided to go to the ER with hopes of getting some testing. At the ER they conducted a spinal puncture (SP) at my request and at CT scan. The SP was intensely painful and incredibly nauseating. But the CT came first. The intensity of the sound and effort to keep still seemed to be enough to provoke my first real non diabetes related seizure. After the techs rolled me out of the scan, every muscle in my body tensed and I began shaking such small yet intense tremors that when the nurse asked me if I was OK, was I cold? – all I could mutter was Mmmmmy mmmmmu…. I was trying to say my muscles. It only lasted about a minute.

MY CT scan came back normal. They discharged me from the ER quickly, deciding not to conduct the MRI as they had originally planned – I’m not sure why. They stated they were able to rule out stroke or anything life threatening. The doctor shared no thoughts on my tremors, confusion, double vision, weakness and seizure activity. After almost daily calls from me to the ER and my primary care doctor, A WEEK LATER I received the results from my SP – I have bands in my blood and cerebral spinal fluid; immature white blood cells that can occur in response to infection, inflammation in the spinal cord, and who knows what else. Inconclusive.

So I was referred to a neurologist to discover what is going on. More on that in the next post. I’m afraid if I don’t post this now, I never will! I am exhausted!

Please if you have any questions about this rant of mine, I would love to hear it!