Health stuff

[zimena]

I don't feel very good at the moment.

I've been feeling strange for about a week. It's hard to say exactly what has been wrong, as it's nothing specific, but pretty much every daily task has felt like an insurmountable challenge. When I had to go out to do some grocery shopping and errands yesterday, I did not enjoy being outside at all. In fact, I spent most of the time out just hoping that I could be done with this soon, so that I could go back home. Not that being home is much better, because I don't really feel like doing anything there either. For example, I wanted to change the tablecloth, but I just sat there for two hours thinking that I should do it, but I just couldn't make myself get up. It takes maximum a few minutes, including removing the old tablecloth and everything that is on it, but I just had no energy to get to it. I also have fun stuff to do, such as calling the best friend or writing an email for a person I truly enjoy writing to... but I just... don't get to any of it.

Then, a few days ago, my feet started getting swollen. Not so much in the morning, then more and more as the hours passed until evening. By bedtime, I would have problems getting my socks and pants off - and I usually wear stretchy, comfortable materials. I tried wearing compression stockings, too, but it didn't help very much. Also, today my wrists are swollen as well. I don't know if I can describe it as actually painful, though - more like, sore and "heavy" in some way.

At least I'm going to the doctor later today... but I'm not sure I truly want to go there, because I don't know what to tell him. Okay, the swollen feet/ankles/wrists are actually visible issues that I can point to and possibly get some answers about, but the rest of what I described in this post feels so abstract that it's hard to put to words.

Perhaps I'm even writing this post mostly for myself, because now I already put it to words once. Let's see if that will be helpful.

EDIT: Got medication, but can't start it until tomorrow morning, apparently. Also, was told to wear compression stockings and try to sit or lie with my feet up as much as possible.

Good excuse to go to bed early, find an extra pillow for my feet, and then watch some more Yuri on Ice?

No, but seriously, apart from the medication, this is nothing new. The other tips are the same ones I had already tried before going to see the doctor, so I hope the meds will help. Apparently I'm supposed to feel better in a few days' time, even though I should keep taking meds for a week.

Comments

[jenni_blog]

Oh no, hon, I hope you will be feeling better soon! *HUGS*

[zimena]

Thank you. *HUGS BACK*

[gobtastic]

Oh love, I really hope you're feeling better by the time you read this. That kind of swelling is that sort of annoyance that's not 'pain' per se, but it's really bloody annoying and not nice to have to put up with. I hope it's something passing. Are the meds helping?

Also, I so get you on the energy thing. I've been feeling like my batteries are dead since before Xmas. There doesn't seem to be a reason. Keep telling myself it's the time of year or something, but it's not getting better much. Hopefully soon? Maybe the warmer weather and longer days will help us?

Look after you. Xxx

(aside: omg I need to set up my DW account properly again, it's been so long...)

[zimena]

Thank you! Yes, it's better, but still not quite back to normal. I guess I need the meds for another few days, but then it should be okay. On the positive side, I have some really good compression stockings - even quite comfortable to wear, unlike most socks of that kind - so at least I don't spend all day wanting to get out of those :)

Yeah, the time of year could be part of the reason for the low energy levels. January is usually such a long and dark and cold month, especially after December with all its extra lights end festivities, so I guess it's easy to feel a bit down after that. January this year has been quite nice, though - at least weather-wise, here. No snow, not so cold, not like what I tend to think of as "normal" for January, anyway.

Oh, and about DW/LJ... LJ moved to Russian servers, and there were some posts about how this could put especially Russian-speaking users at risk because Russia does not have laws to protect users' privacy, and even if something is posted behind locks and filters on LJ, the authorities can still demand to see it as long as it's stored on a Russian server. There was even a post going around with quotes from Russian users complaining that some of their LJ content had just mysteriously "disappeared" from one day to the next - even filtered/locked content, posts just got deleted. I also saw some comment about people getting in trouble with the police/other authorities offline for stuff they had on their LJ accounts, but I've not found any articles or news about any such things.

Either way, this stuff sort of scared me a bit. Not that I think this has to do with me, but I just don't like the idea that posts CAN possibly disappear without my knowledge etc. So it felt like a good excuse to backup everything to DW and maybe just move here. LJ has been doing a lot of things I don't like over the past few years anyway (design changes, mostly, screwing up the profiles and update page, for example), and it's no longer the place it was. It was still my online home for 10 years, though, so I can't just leave it behind. I still read and comment there, even though I would like to post mainly over here now. (If you want my DW posts on your LJ friends page, you can subscribe to zimena_dw, btw - I set up a feed so that my LJ friends can still see my DW posts easily. (I hope the link works!)

[gobtastic]

I'm glad to hear there's been an improvement, and I really hope things are back to normal as soon as possible. Still no idea what caused this?

And ohmygod, compression stockings. Like being dipped in a million biting ants all at once, ARGH. And they always, always roll at the top and that really hurts. Thank the gods that you got some comfortable ones that you can wear just fine! Where can I get some of these mythical items? ;)

It's strange about Winter this year. It's been colder here than last year (which was in the high teens for many days in December and January, wtf), but still not what's traditionally Winter weather. There have been some frosty mornings at least, but it's strange, how mild it's been again. But yes, god, isn't January just the darkest and most awful sometimes, too? And such a long month also. I guess that's why Christmas/Yule was invented back in the day, but it really is hard to cope with at times. Does it help that the days are slowly getting a little longer now?

Ah, I didn't know that about LJ. I don't know how this privacy compares to UK laws, but I know here everything you do online has to be stored for 6 years now, I think, and authorities are allowed to access it whenever they want. That includes emails, blogs and Twitter etc, even deleted posts :(. Posts disappearing is never a good thing, though, and that's really worrying. I'm not surprised it scared you.

And yeah, I hate what LJ has done with the profiles - hiding interests really sucks, and not everyone wants to post stupid memes to show the world who they are, it's fun to find people into the same things you are via interests (that's how I found footyslash!).

Thank you so much for setting up a feed for your DW content! I wish there were a way to post everything from LJ automatically to here on DW, but I can't get used to how DW looks, no matter how hard I try. Still, using both isn't a bad thing, I guess.

[zimena]

Just to answer your question about the compression stockings, the ones I have a called Jobst Opaque. They're apparently available in various colours and models, but mine are knee-high, black ones. They've been really helpful to reduce the swelling, and at the moment I'm using only them - no medication anymore. I might still need the medication again if the problem comes back, but for now this works.

These stockings are quite comfortable as well. In fact, for me they're better than regular socks, because regular socks tend to roll and nearly come off during the day, but these ones at least stay in place. Getting them on is the hard part, though - but I do it with the thingy that's pictured in this post. I don't do it quite like she describes it, though - I pull the stocking higher up so that it covers the whole yellow cloth bit before I put my foot in. It's the only way I've found that works for me. I know there are other items available to help with pulling on compression stockings, but this is the only one I'm comfortable using. I guess you have to "learn the technique" for that specific item that you choose to use, though.

[gobtastic]

Ooooh, thank you so much for letting me know about these! They're very different to the ones we have here (ours are thick and bright white, no way you could wear them without trousers to cover them up), and they look like they would be much more comfortable to wear all day. I'm glad the swelling has gone and you're not needing meds for now. Long may that last!

That looks like a handy gadget! I've seen people roll the stockings into a kind of sausage ring and then roll them onto the foot, but it doesn't always make for the best fit. Much easier to use something like is pictured here than wrestling with pulling the things on from scratch, omg...

[zimena]

I know about those thick and bright white ones, too. They tried to give me those in hospital after my surgery. I think I might even have a pair somewhere, but these things are just not comfortable AT ALL. I think it should be possible to get these Jobst stockings in the UK as well, though, because when I googled them for you, I got some hits leading to a UK site by BSN Medical or something like that?

Here, the best place to buy the stockings is from a special kind of pharmacy that also sells colostomy equipment and other "special" equipment for various conditions, though. While a regular pharmacy might have a couple of different stockings, these special ones are likely to have the whole range, plus expertise on it so that they will help you find the most suitable model and size for you. Don't know if you have a pharmacy (or maybe it has a different name? Here it's called "bandagist", which literally means "bandage-shop" or something, though I don't think of the literal meaning when I hear the word) of that kind there? If so, you could try to check there, if you need compression stockings, that is?

[gobtastic]

Oooooh, thank you! Although I don't think we have the equivalent of a specialised pharmacy that does bandages and equipment, though. I'm pretty sure that if I knew the brand name, a large pharmacy here would be able to order them in for me...but I wouldn't be able to get the right size by anything other than trial and error. Perhaps if I asked at my doctor's, though, they might have some more info on these things. Thank you so much, though - I'm so glad you managed to find these stockings that are comfortable to wear and work too, that's just so ace!