I was probably supposed to write about stuff in separate blogs over the past few months but sometimes my brain just isn’t up for it.
I had a manometry and pH study to evaluate for acid reflux in September. First I had a big tube probe thing put down my nose which was really fun, and I had to swallow water in intervals over the course of half an hour. Then I wore a smaller tube probe thing down my nose for 24 hours which was pretty awesome and I felt really sexy. The findings were rather interesting and not at all what I expected. My pH study was normal except for one event of acid reflux. My manometry however showed that I have weakeness in my esophageal muscles and “pooling” of food/liquid when I swallow. So now I’m wondering if that pooling is what is reflux-ing, instead of acid. After I eat I feel stuff come back up and I have to clear my throat for an hour and its really annoying. I just feel like I have stuff coming up a lot of the time.
I also seem to be very mucus-y for some reason. It’s in my throat and around my vocal cords all the time and it’s very annoying and uncomforable, and I just cant seem to get rid of it. I’m taking mucinex but I can’t decide if it helps or not.
I went off all the stomach meds for the testing and didn’t go back on them for a while because I didn’t feel any different. I have started taking the carafate again once at night because I still have gastritis that refuses to heal and the pain from it keeps me up all night. Unfortunately lately the carafate seems to be making me really nauseated now and last night I almost threw up my dinner.
Recently I’ve been having a lot of headaches and neck pain and vertigo again, so my neurologist ordered an MRI and a repeat SPECT scan. We were concerned that the vasculitis is making a comeback. I had them done this past week and I do not have vasculitis again. However, it came up on the MRI that my Chiari malformation is 8mm. I’ve had doctors write it off and tell me I don’t even have chiari, so it’s been on the back burner for a while. My neurologist tends not to be very quiet or humble, but he was today on the phone, so I believe he is concerned. He wants me to do another MRI with a flow study to see if fluid is being trapped by the herniation.
I’m having bad sleep apnea episodes. I am going to investigate central sleep apnea. As soon as I start to fall asleep I jerk awake. And this can go on all night sometimes, and other nights just for a few hours, or a few minutes. The severity comes and goes. An ENT told me that if you know it’s happening then it’s not sleep apnea, but that sounds dumb to me. The strange thing about it is that it doesn’t happen to me all the time, it flares, but the flares lately have been constant. I know this problem with my esophagus probably doesn’t help either if liquid is pooling when I am trying to sleep. Also, I am still dealing with chest tightness that is probably costochondritis and I know that doesn’t help the situation either. I’m still sleeping propped up. I tried to sleep flat but it gave me heart palpitations for some reason. It just didn’t feel right. Sleeping propped up makes my body hurt but I feel like I can’t go back to sleeping flat yet.
I also am getting some cognitive testing in the next few months because I have some pretty severe cognitive problems. It makes it hard to write which is probably why I haven’t in a while. My brain feels broken.
I got the flu shot for the 3rd year in a row and I didn’t die, so I recommend it if your doctor recommends it. If you have autoimmune disease or have family or friends with autoimmune disease please don’t get the nasal mist, just get the shot. The mist can make certain groups of people sick.
Other than that, my joints are killing me lately. I’m having fevers and night sweats. My headaches, vertigo and neck pain have been bad. I still pee a lot. My septum is deviated and my nose is clogged all the time. I’m still on the boring reflux diet because of the gastritis. It hurts to wear clothes. My eyeballs are inflammed every morning. I need the Wizard of Oz.
chronicallyjill 
As always……so sorry you are going through all of this shit. Wish they could find a magic potion for you! I’m having a bladder ultrasound and another test I can’t remember the name of to try and determine why I keep getting UTI s all the time. I think it’s from the steroids for my Addison s. Good luck to both of us!
Mo
Thank you. I’m sorry you’re going through bladder stuff. I’ve had my share of that and it sure is no fun. I really hope the tests can help the doctors figure out how to help you. Good luck, I hope you feel better soon!
As always, you are my hero. ❤
❤
I’ve been experiencing a lot of the same symptoms as you describe over the last few years in increasing severity and have also been given the ‘anxiety’ diagnosis more times than I care to count! I am really starting to think it’s lupus, but am wondering if the doctors can even help if that turns out to be the case…it sounds like you are on an insane amount of medication with little relief or support? I’ve just been reading about how one lady managed to get relief by using essential oils, I may give this a go instead! Have you had any experience using oils for lupus?
Hi Charley,
Thanks for reading my blog. Unfortunately I do not know much about essential oils, but I hope you can find some answers to see if they work for you. You’re right, it is a lot of medication without much relief, but I do think it’s still important to be on a med to suppress my immune activity so that I do not have longterm damage to any part of my body, so along with your research in essential oils I recommend getting a second opinion on the possibility of lupus (or other autoimmune disease) to make sure you don’t need to suppress your immune system to protect yourself from permanent damage. If you have any positive experience in the future with essential oils please let me know!