All you have is peanut butter???

Went to Bed Last Night: 1am?
Wakenings: none
Woke up Today: 7am
Naps: none
Meds Taken:
     • 20mg dextro @ 8am
     • 2000IU vitamin D pills (2x)
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:45pm
     • 500mg metformin @ 1:45pm

Food:
     Breakfast: nothing
     Lunch: roast beef & cheddar sandwich
     Snacks: none
     Dinner: Friday! It's Chinese buffet day!
Exercise: 40 minute walk from work to Nationwide Arena and back

Sleepiness Level: Awesome! Cold is gone, and that walk really gave me extra energy I didn't know I could have in the afternoon.
Other Notes: Woke up with the funniest dream. I was talking in my sleep and was saying, "What?? You only have peanut butter at this party???" I didn't realize I was saying it out loud as I was hitting my snooze button, but I was. :) I was at a party, and all they were serving was a jar of peanut butter with a spoon stuck in it. So I smacked the jar off the plate it was on (which turned out to be my snooze button).

a little better

Went to Bed Last Night: 9pm
Wakenings: 11pm-2am
Woke up Today: 7:15am
Naps: 6-7:30pm
Meds Taken:
     • 600mg Advil @ 11pm
     • 1 Mucinex @ 11pm
     • 20mg dextro @ 8am
     • 400mg Advil @ 8am
     • 1 Mucinex (NOT the decongestant kind) @ 8am
     • 2000IU vitamin D pills (2x)
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm
     • 500mg metformin @ 3pm

Food:
     Breakfast: picked at a granola bar for a few hours this morning (same as yesterday)
     Lunch: 6" sub from Penn Station (chicken, artichokes, mushrooms) @ 3pm
     Snacks: rest of the Miss Vickie's chips from yesterday @ 1:15pm
     Dinner: Chipotle – about 5 bites of my burrito and chips w/ guac
Exercise: none

Sleepiness Level: Awake but I'm pretty drained. (Same as yesterday)
Other Notes: Hardly slept at all last night. Was either too hot, too cold, too achy, Todd snored too loud, Todd turned the TV on too loud, cats knocked over a glass downstairs, cat meowing like nuts because she captured a bug, etc. I'm actually the same sleepiness level I usually am, but add in some physical exhaustion from the cold. It's getting better, since I'm hardly stuffed anymore. Now I just have random sneezes and a pesky cough.

sick as a sick dog

Went to Bed Last Night: 11:00pm
Wakenings: about 20 minutes around 2am thanks to my face caving in
Woke up Today: 7:15am
Naps: none
Meds Taken:
     • 600mg Advil @ 2am
     • 20mg dextro @ 8am
     • 400mg Advil @ 8am, 8pm
     • 1 Mucinex (NOT the decongestant kind) @ 8am, 1pm, 8pm
     • 2000IU vitamin D pills (2x)
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm
     • 500mg metformin @ 1:15pm

Food:
     Breakfast: picked at a granola bar for a few hours this morning
     Lunch: small turkey ranch sub on wheat, a few (around 3-4) Miss Vickie's chips, bottle of sweet tea
     Snacks: none
     Dinner: sushi from Kroger, cupcake
Exercise: 20 minute walk during lunch break (got lost trying to walk to Quiznos)

Sleepiness Level: Awake but I'm pretty drained.
Other Notes: Cold is getting worse. I'm all stuffy, which I guess is better than all drippy. I did my neti pot last night about 4 times and an insane amount of crud was coming out every time. Same thing with this morning's neti flush. Considering I can't take cold medicines with decongestants due to drug interactions, I have to be creative on how to kick a cold.

I've been slacking on my sleep diary. Nothing exciting has happened in the meantime. I've been getting sick to my stomach like clockwork every day last week from the metformin, so on Friday, I skipped my afternoon dose and was fine. Was fine all weekend, even though I slept a lot like usual. Then this morning, I woke up with the sore throat from hell. I didn't feel stuffy, but judging by my neti pot results, I sure was congested. I've been hoping I'd start feeling better throughout the day, but alas, just more pain.

Went to Bed Last Night: 12:00am
Wakenings: a few times to check the clock
Woke up Today: 7:10am
Naps: 6-7:20pm
Meds Taken:
     • 20mg dextro @ 8am
     • 2000IU vitamin D pills (2x)
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm
     • 500mg metformin @ 1:15pm

Food:
     Breakfast: none
     Lunch: 3/4 can of Amy's Organic lentil soup
     Snacks: 1/2 of a stick of cheese
     Dinner: roast beef sammy from Arbys, a few curly fries (blech), and Diet Coke
Exercise: sneezing

Sleepiness Level: OK, but physically tired today.
Other Notes:

Today I fell asleep walking down the hall at work. Go me. I have got to stick to an earlier bed time like I used to do before getting diagnosed. :/

Yes, it's super late, and I'm pretty much dead. I've had to wipe drool a few times sitting here, but I'm on a hunt. I'm trying to google information about contrast MRIs, EEGs, and sleep disorders (specifically hypersomnia), and I'm not having much luck. What exactly do the doctors expect to find? I've never had a head injury, so I don't know. I do have chronic sinus problems and a deviated septum, so is it possible that my misshapen skull is to blame for my defective hypothalmus? I don't know. I don't think anyone really knows, and it's frustrating, and my tiredness isn't helping the frustration and vice versa.

OK my typing is horrible when I'm this tired and the fact that I'm crying during commercials on TV tells me I am way beyond tired. No wonder I always thought I was losing my mind. I should have always found it suspicious that my depression went away with naps. Hmmph.

My forehead is slowly healing, by the way. The skin is still a little scaly, but it's not three big red dots like it was on Friday. My bruise on my elbow from the MRI is still present, but now it's just a greenish yellow that's spread a bit farther than before. If bruises photographed better, I'd keep track of it.

OK brain got heavy. Must go before I'm unable to walk up the stairs to the bed.

Acetones r poysen

Can you see them? I still have three dots on my forehead from the EEG electrodes. Not only are they red dots, but the skin has a different texture than the rest. Yes, it's burnt. Burnt! The redness has gotten better since yesterday (my boss actually laughed at the marks when I got in the office), but the texture is just getting drier and crackly, despite the amounts of lotion I'm using.

Anyone have any suggestions? :(

Went to Bed Last Night: midnight, maybe?
Wakenings: none
Woke up Today: 10:45am
Naps: none
Meds Taken:
     • 20mg dextro @ 11am
     • 1000mg metformin @ 11am
     • 1 spray of Veramyst @ 2pm
     • 500mg metformin @ 10pm
     • 2000IU vitamin D pills (2x)

Food:
     Breakfast: a mini bagel (1.4 oz) with fat-free cream cheese and sugar free jam, 1 tbsp peanut butter w/ celery
     Lunch: none
     Snacks: Coke Icee @ 6:30pm (needed a fast bloog sugar boost since I hadn't eaten or taken my amphetamines since the morning)
     Dinner: Football food! 6 oz. ribeye, 6 shrimp, 6 asparagus, 3 freakishly large brussels sprouts, 4 bruschetta (bread, tomato, mozzarella, salt/pepper, olive oil), about 6 bleu cheese-stuffed olives... Hey, I had calories to use up since I didn't eat lunch. :) Oh! And a cupcake and two bites of Buckeye ice cream. yum yum yum. At least the food was good -- game, not so much.
Exercise: officially, none, but I have had a very busy day -- painted the bathroom, did weightlifting (aka carried a heavy basket at the store for a good hour), did a lot of up and down during the game

Sleepiness Level: OK.
Other Notes: Buckeyes blew it. Expect a major depression to kick in now. :P

Went to Bed Last Night: 11:30pm
Wakenings: just once to check the clock
Woke up Today: 6:20am
Naps: none
Meds Taken:
     • 1 spray of Veramyst @ 7am
     • 20mg dextro @ 7am
     • 500mg metformin @ 7am
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm
     • 500mg metformin @ 1:15pm
     • 2000IU vitamin D pills (2x)

Food:
     Breakfast: a mini bagel (1.4 oz) with fat-free cream cheese and sugar free jam
     Lunch: 3 oz. chicken breast, baggy of celery, cottage cheese, raspberry preserves
     Snacks: I've been working on a can of Coke Zero all morning, baggy of celery intended for lunch
     Dinner: Chinese buffet (I had a lot, but I was good)
Exercise: 30-min walk -- dog hates me now

Sleepiness Level: Surprisingly OK considering I took my dextro so early, but I did take that into consideration when I decided upon drinking a Coke Zero for the day, so I bet that caffeine is helping.
Other Notes:

Went to Bed Last Night: 11:30pm
Wakenings: a few seconds around 2am to check the clock
Woke up Today: 6:00am
Naps: 15-min nap @ 1:30pm, 3-hr nap @ 4:30pm
Meds Taken:
     • 500mg metformin @ 7:00am
     • 1000IU vitamin D pills @ 7am
     • 1 spray of Veramyst @ 7:30pm
     • yes, you read right —— no dextro and no afternoon doses. couldn't take the dextro for the EEG and forgot my afternoon meds

Food:
     Breakfast: granola bar, cup of soy milk @ 7am
     Lunch: most of a 12" turkey and ham sub from Subway (w/ wheat bread, provolone, lettuce, tomato, pickles, black olives, cucumbers, salt/pepper, and spicy brown mustard) @ 1:45pm
     Snacks: munched on peanuts between 11am and 1:30pm, about 1/2 cup of shells produced.
     Dinner: sushi (spicy tuna rolls)
Exercise: none

Sleepiness Level: I would say that the 3-hour nap says it all. And no meds. I'm a cranky, tired, dizzy mess today.
Other Notes: Today is EEG day — no dextro. :( I look dumb, but I'm using a bandana that I bought my dog to camo it. It's hot pink with skulls all over it. :)

For those of y'all that wear fanny packs... c'mon!

Obscure Ben Folds Five reference: approved.

Anyhow, I look super awesome in my mobile EEG/EKG garb. Not. :P I didn't go into the office after I was done getting attached, and working from home is no peach. I could access websites fine on my Mac as far as speed goes, but since they're mostly optimized for Windows, I had to use our PC desktop to access them for certain functions. How frustrating that the PC was running super slow and kept crashing. Gah. It's only a 3-yr-old computer too -- it's more up-to-date than the PC at work, and that one doesn't crash all the time. I don't get it. Oh wait, back to the EEG stuff. So they hook up the EEG wires on my head, EKG patches on my chest, put gauze all over my head to keep the wires in place, and give me my little fanny pack that holds the machine in place.


I know I look dumb with all that stuff on to the point where I won't go in public and yet I posted it on the internet for anyone to see. But the point is for someone else who has to get the EEG done can see what it was like.

On a really cute note, this is love (the brown furry thing is my dog):

Went to Bed Last Night: midnight
Wakenings: none
Woke up Today: 7:10am
Naps: none
Meds Taken:
     • 1 spray of Veramyst @ 8am
     • 20mg dextro @ 8:45am
     • 500mg metformin @ 8:45am
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm
     • 500mg metformin @ 1:15pm
     • 1000IU vitamin D pills (2x)

Food:
     Breakfast: 1/3 cup of dried cranberries
     Lunch: 6oz. chicken breast, 1/2 cup frozen spinach
     Snacks: Smart Balance popcorn
     Dinner: 3 oz. pork roast; mixed greens salad with tomatoes, cheese, and ranch dressing; cooked spinach
Exercise: none

Sleepiness Level: OK, but my eyes are getting really dry.
Other Notes: Must find time for exercise!

My days are all screwed up

I woke up thinking today was Thursday and that I had missed my EEG appointment. No worries, it's only Wednesday. Whew. I was also apparently having a pretty awesome dream when my alarm clock was going off this morning. Todd was greatly amused by it. I was on some game show where you had to do some task and then ring a buzzer (see where the alarm clock plays in?), and I guess every time the alarm would go off, I'd slap the snooze button and yell, "Haha! Got another one!" How my family hasn't committed me to a psychiatric ward before knowing about my sleep disorder is a mystery to me, lol.

I can't remember if I've mentioned before that I loathe having my blood drawn. Nobody can ever find a vein in my arm, and the 15% of people that do then have the fun of dealing with a rolling vein, whatever that means. This is why I usually have them draw blood from my hands. At the MRI yesterday, I had to have dye injected into my vein, and MA Nina was actually able to find a vein in my arm and successfully get a needle into that bugger. Congrats to her! And look, my bruise isn't as bad as I would expect either:


Normally, I get a dark purple bruise the size of Wyoming. I know the cell phone pic isn't the best quality, especially since my office is dark and I held my arm under my daylight lamp. It's a little bluer than what the photo shows, but still nothing as bad as I've had in the past. Hooray!

I've forgotten to eat lunch again. I'm off to heat me up some foods.

Happy MRI day!

I had my MRI today. Nothing super exciting besides the drive there and back. I freaking hate that side of town (Tuttle area, for you Columbusites) -- no one lets you over and everyone thinks they deserve your spot in traffic. Gah! Then on the way back, I almost got rear ended coming up to the split on I-70. Not fun! And then once I got onto Front St., there was some guy that pulled out into traffic that started having a mental breakdown afterwards. I don't know if he was honking and screaming at me, but HE was the one making the illegal maneuver from his stop sign, and I had the right away. It's not like I was doing 10mph -- I'm not that much of a stereotypical Prius driver. At least I got back to work alive, albeit with a very sore elbow from the injection.

Oh, right... Back to the MRI. Nothing exciting, as I said. Can't wear metals in there, got to listen to the radio station (lunch time requests! Why do people request "Push It" by Salt N Pepa -- seriously), took a mini nap, got the dye injected, then took another mini nap, and then it was done. I'll see my neuro at the end of the month to go over the results. Until then, I just have the EEG on Thursday to look forward to.

If anybody actually reads this, does anyone know if I'll be able to get a copy of the MRI or EEG? I'd love to frame them. :)

Went to Bed Last Night: 8:30pm (yes, for real)
Wakenings: a few -- me checking to see if Todd was in bed (twice), our dog being scared of the storm, and our cat freaking out over a stray cat on her porch outside, but nothing kept me up for over 2 minutes.
Woke up Today: 7:20am
Naps: none
Meds Taken:
     • 1 spray of Veramyst @ 8am
     • 20mg dextro @ 8am
     • 400mg Advil @ 8:35am
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm

Food:
     Breakfast: a peach @ 8:15am
     Lunch: salmon fillet (about 6 oz.)
     Snacks: munched on trail mix during the morning
     Dinner: Arbys-popcorn chicken w/ buffalo sauce, mozzarella sticks, caff. free Diet Coke
Exercise: none

Sleepiness Level: OK
Other Notes: Started getting neck strain last night before bed, woke up with it still there, escalated into a pretty bad headache on the ride to work (no thanks to the idiot behind me with his brights on during the rain, grrr), but I took 2 Advil when I got in, and it's 90% gone now (9:50am).

Went to Bed Last Night: 2:00am (House marathon kept me up)
Wakenings: none
Woke up Today: 7:15am
Naps: none
Meds Taken:
     • 1 spray of Veramyst @ 8am
     • 20mg dextro @ 8:45am
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm
     • 1 Alavert @ 8:30pm

Food:
     Breakfast: nothing
     Lunch: leftover chicken breast, raspberries @ 1pm
     Snacks: a peach @ 5pm
     Dinner: sushi @ 7pm
Exercise: none

Sleepiness Level: Slow day at work, plus I'm behind on sleep. I'm dragging pretty hard.
Other Notes: Waiting for my dextro prescription to come in the mail so I can make one trip to the pharmacy, so I'll start the metformin at the same time.

Endo update

Just got back from my endo appointment, so I figured I'd blog about it now before I forget everything.

New diagnosis: polycystic ovarian syndrome. It's not causing my sleepiness, but it's probably not helping either. Regardless, it does explain my other symptoms I've struggled with (no periods, weight gain, facial hair, etc.), so at least I'm moving in the right direction. Doctor seemed not so jerkish this time -- maybe I caught him on a bad day last time, or maybe I perceived him as a jerk? Dunno, but he was super nice this time, but I do get the feeling he hates the office he's working in.

I had a very bad glucose tolerance test, which means my body doesn't process sugars. My fasting level was perfect, but after 2 hours, my blood sugar was still very elevated. He suggested doing diet and exercise (derr), as well as starting me out on a diabetes drug called Glucophage/metformin.

I also have low vitamin D levels. Could this explain the tiredness? Maybe. I just got back in the office, so I haven't had a chance to google much about it. I'm going to start taking supplements for that, so we'll see how that goes.

Well, that's about it. I just wanted to type up a quick update before I forgot everything.

The week of many appointments

Here's my doctor schedule this week:

Today I see the endo to go over the test results he ran last month. I'm not incredibly nervous -- I know they'll all come back normal, as usual. I'm just anxious about how he will deliver the news. He doesn't seem to be the most understanding or compassionate doctor I've been to. If he doesn't get that I'm not all-over-body tired, then I don't know what more he can bring to the table. We'll see.

Tuesday, I go for an MRI. Not the best way to spend my lunch break, but it could be worse, I guess.

Wednesday, I see my chiropractor, who is just absolutely amazing. It hasn't added any extra energy, but I'm feeling so loose and well that I don't have to fight a tight aching back or shoulders.

Thursday, I go in the morning to have my EEG "installed." I'll miss about a half day of work, and since I'll look really dumb with all the wires all over my head, I'll be working from home the rest of the day. Unless I get there and I don't actually look too stupid, then I'll go into the office for the rest of the day. I want to make sure I keep my schedule as normal as possible so it's an accurate reading. Then I go Friday morning to have the wires removed. I'll be late for work that day too since I have to drive an hour away to get them off, then an hour home to shower, then a half hour to work. I'm not looking forward to that commute. Yuck. :P

I haven't really been keeping track of my sleep schedule this past week. Honestly, I've been too preoccupied with other things that logging onto here and adding posts hasn't even crossed my mind. Nothing major has happened, really. Yesterday, I slept almost 12 hours until about noon, and then I had a 30 minute nap around 4 or 5pm.

Labor Day Sleep-a-thon continued

Blah, I've been too busy to keep track these past few days. I've slept OK with normal hours. No nap Monday, had a 30 minute one last night. Here's for today:

Went to Bed Last Night: 11:00pm
Wakenings: none
Woke up Today: 7:30am (late!)
Naps: 7pm-7:45pm
Meds Taken:
     • BCP
     • 1 spray of Veramyst @ 8am
     • 20mg dextro @ 8:45am
     • 10mg dextro @ 1:15pm

Sleepiness Level: Had a hard time getting up, but I had an OK time at work. Crashed when I got home.