Getting Forgetful

I forgot to blog the last two days!

Tuesday was one of the more painful days I have had. Burning pain in my skin. But spasticity was not bad. I was pretty darned tired. And I had PT.

Yesterday my pain was low. It was wonderful! I got some anaerobic exercise in the morning. And I had PT. PT has been good; I have not been kept waiting too much. Yesterday my left knee was bugging me again, and I had some trouble walking on the treadmill. Jackie the PT checked it out and found that the problem was not with the joint. My spastic quad muscles were not allowing my knee to work properly.

Today I had another less pain again. I was busy at work and came home pretty tired. I made myself a bit of dinner--boiled some ravioli--and totally wore myself out. I have been resting on the couch all evening and have no energy. But I was walking really well all day until I ran out of steam.

I had two weird forgetful moments today. A coworker told me that she was going to get her blood pressure checked, explaining that it had been up and down all day. A few minutes later, I looked around to find that she had vanished. I had absolutely no recollection of our earlier conversation and was really wondering where she was. I let it go. After five or ten minutes or working and idly wondering (as it is highly unusual for her to be gone), I asked another coworker where she was. Then I instantly remembered where she had gone.

The other example is that I had pills in my pocket. At first I thought they were my mid-afternoon dose of gabapentin, but then I realized that they were my breakfast pills, which I had forgotten to take. I took them around lunch time. Several hours later, as I was packing my things to leave, I remembered the pills and realized that I had not taken my mid-afternoon dose of gabapentin. I felt in my pocket for the three gabapentin pills, only to find that my pocket was empty. I panicked for a minute, wondering where the pills might have dropped out. During a meeting? Maybe I should look in the conference room. First I looked around my desk area. A few seconds into my search, I remembered that I had taken the pills in my pocket--and they were not gabapentin.

These little lapses in short-term memory happen to me all the time. They make me confused sometimes.

My dry mouth has been pretty bad. I emailed Dr. Rick today to let him know that I am throwing in the towel on amitriptyline. He is going to call in a prescription for another tricyclic anti-depressant, desipramine. I wonder if my pain will increase again when I stop taking the amtriptyline. I am not sure if it is helping or if my pain just happened to decrease yesterday and today.

I ordered an exercise ball and foam roller, which I am using in my PT sessions. I can use them for exercises at home.

Sensory:

-Pins and needles: 3
-Tingles: 0
-Dysesthetic pain: 5
-Paresthesias: 6, electricity crackling through my right foot (mainly)

-Numbness: 3, still having tongue issues, mild fingertip issues, and of course the feet as always
-Vision: 2, up and down but generally better
-Nerve pain: 4
-Hearing: 1, sometimes I think I hear sirens... weird

Motor:
-Walking: 1 daytime, 5 evening
-Sore muscles: 1
-Fine motor: 3, tremor bugging me
-Weak muscles: 4
-Spasticity: 1

Cognitive:
-Processing: 0
-Memory: 1
-Attention: 0
-Confusion: 0

General:
-Fatigue: 4 day, 8 evening--"can't hold my head up" tired
-Balance: 2
-Sleep: 0
-Bladder: 2
-Proprioception: 1
-Swallowing: 1
-A: 0
-B: 0

Emotions: Fine. I handled a potentially stressful meeting well. But then I almost cried at a friend's email mentioning my MS and how you would never know I am in a lot of pain. That I hide it well. That makes two people who have said that to me today, that I hide it well.