I’ve been thoroughly enjoying not having any doctor appointments to blog about this month, but the medical mystery of whether or not I have some kind of chemo-induced lupus still looms.
I started back on the Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) last night. I’m not feeling a hundred percent—more on that in a second—but I think things are good enough that I can track whether the medicine is going to be helpful.
Plus, when I stopped taking the Plaquenil, I told the nurse practitioner (and myself) that I would start up again when I felt better. My next appointment with rheumatology is at the end of October, so given how long this drug might need to take effect, It seems like a good idea to give it another try now rather than later.
I was feeling better after the anxiety work, and I started reintroducing some of my favorite foods to test my IBS. Though I haven’t endured my worst IBS-C ever the past couple of weeks, constipation has definitely moved back up the problematic scale to affect my overall quality of life.
Over the weekend I had a buffalo chicken pizza. It tasted glorious but had jalapenos on it. I removed the jalapenos originally when placing the online order but screwed up another part of the order, deleted the wrong pizza on accident, and then forgot to remove the peppers when I added my pizza back. (Honestly, the buffalo sauce was probably too much on its own.)
No big deal, right? Ha!
The inflammatory effects were immediate. I picked the jalapenos off subsequent slices, but the damage was done.
Not that one single misstep undid me. The weather was unstable. I was already feeling worse, which kicked off a series of “eat this to distract yourself from the pain” cues in my brain. I knew what was happening, but my lizard brain wasn’t interested in the pedantic warnings of my prefrontal cortex.
At least I understand the process of the habit now, thanks to Unwinding Anxiety.
Anyway, it’s pumpkin spice latte season, so I was off my sleep game too, consuming caffeine like it doesn’t keep me on the edge of awake all night.
And then meditation took a back seat to the most recently infuriating political shenanigans.
I’m going to be more mindful today. Not because I should, but because it helps.