Health Updates: It's going down, I'm yelling "Timber!" 😅 (Patreon)

By the title, do I mean my blood sugar, my blood pressure, or my health in general? 😂🙈

Anywayyyyy... It has been a time. Between starting the new meds, stopping the Botox, increasing the dose of the new meds, going back and forth between seasons and time zones, and all the travel and hysteria of the past...month or so 🙈 my body is a little angry with me 😬

The Botox wore off a little over a month ago, and the hope was that this new blood pressure medication would be an adequate substitute. It's a fraction of the cost (roughly $70 every 3 months vs $1,050 in the same time frame, so...quite a significant difference 😳), I don't have to get stabbed 37 times every few months, and allegedly, it shouldn't have significant side effects.

When I first started the blood pressure med, I didn't really notice a difference, but by the time I increased to the regular dose, the seizures had stopped again. And while I've still been having migraines, it seems to be pretty similar to when I first started the Botox. So I've had high hopes that it'll get more effective over time.

The problem, as many of you know, is: it is a blood pressure medication. But I don't have high blood pressure. So when I increased the dose, sure the seizures stopped, but I also became so exhausted so constantly that it was more debilitating than usual 🫠 Because lowering a normal blood pressure essentially means that my brain and body aren't getting as much oxygen...so it makes me effectively oxygen deprived and beyond sleepy 😪

This week, I started to feel like my body was shutting down. Basically any time I did anything remotely effortful, like get up to brush my teeth 🤦‍♀️ I felt dizzy and like my muscles turned to lead. So anyway, I'm trying to see my doctor ASAP about whether I should stay on this medication 😅

Of course, with my body just feeling like it's shutting down, it's been harder to identify when my blood sugar is low 🙈 So I've just been on a wild journey of "do I need salt, or do I need sugar? Is it both? Is it neither?!"

And on top of everything, because of course I love to live life on hard mode 😅 I wasn't able to do my physio exercises while I was away because a) I didn't really have the time or space most days, and b) I didn't have any equipment 🤦‍♀️ So my bones are once again trying to remove themselves from my body and my nerves are once again, pinched 🫠👍

Thankfully, though, now that I'm home, I should be able to get back on track with that stuff 🙌 It's just proving to be a little more difficult to do my exercises when my body is revolting against practically anything that requires any amount of energy 😅😪

Ultimately, the hardest part for me is the same as it's been since I started having seizures: At what point of losing control of my muscles will I no longer be functional? And how long will that take? How functional will I be a year from now? Will I still be able to sing? Because singing requires a lot of muscle control. And I don't always have that luxury.

Finding a solution for the nerve pain when playing guitar was a huge relief, physically and mentally. But even without that concern, I sometimes feel my vocal chords rolling, or my tongue doesn't work right and I slur my words more, or I genuinely feel like I'm choking on my tongue...mid-song. And it could realistically just be the migraines causing all that, but either way, it's gotten progressively worse over the past 4 years.

So sometimes it's really disheartening when I'm in periods where my symptoms are worse. May or may not have had a cry this past Sunday because I was drinking a chai latte while walking and had a moment where I couldn't swallow and then it was difficult and painful. Because my muscles just don't like to listen 🫠

Anyways, I digress. We'll get there. I'm sure of it. I had physiotherapy on Tuesday, and I see my doctor this afternoon, so... it'll get sorted! It's just a little extra tough in the meantime 🤷‍♀️