I live in a northern state, where the days are pretty short for 3/4 of the year, the temperature is freezing, if we're lucky, for about six months, and precipation ranges from cold rain to snow and sleet, six months of the year. Sound pleasant? It is also next to a Great Lake, which keeps things damp and the wind slamming in off icy cold waters.
I should move.
Climate does play an important part in how manageable my Behcet's symptoms can be.
All late spring through early autumn, I enjoyed relatively good health. Not perfect, not all the time, but I was otherwise healthy and my Behcet's symptoms were minimal.
It's late fall. It's cold. I caught a cold. I therefore had another bout with mouth ulcers. As I've stated before, when I get sick, the Behcet's gears up for a good kick.
Something I had forgotten about was that I now am experiencing Reynaud's phenomenon as part of the change in climate. My fingers and hands suffer the most, with numbing, tingling, and generally annoying pain that is really more discomfort than pain. My feet also get cold, but I can keep them in wool socks, which helps a great deal. Another thing to put on my shopping list when I see my rheumatologist. I had forgotten about this particular annoyance until today, when it returned in the morning, for no particular reason that I can discern. It does go away after awhile, and it helps to hold a cup of something hot.
I also went to the eye doctor because my vision has taken a steep decline rather rapidly. He thinks I only need new glasses, for which I am very thankful. We'll know more when I have a visual field test, which my insurance company doesn't pay for unless a certain amount of time has passed. I hate insurance companies. In fact, today, I hate all corporations. Just having one of those days, I guess. This country is run by a bunch of fat corporate pigs who have destroyed all semblance of a good life for the working class. It bothers me more than a little that a bunch of executives hold sway over my health care. In a perfect world, these pigs will ultimately suffer painful, slow and agonizing demises, for which there will be no insurance coverage. No sympathy, either, at least not from me.
At any rate, I am going to climb on the band wagon of moving to Nevada, or Florida, or Belize. My husband likes these ideas, he just doesn't act on them quickly. He still is working. I've given up, having discovered that my health is more important than my finances. Hell, I'm ready to walk away from a mortgage and everything that goes with it, and settle for a simpler, more healthy lifestyle, meaning a whole lot less creature comforts, but a whole lot more satisfaction. Can't take it with me.
Meanwhile, I urge Behcet's sufferers to take extra care in cold, damp and inclement weather. Dress properly. Eating properly is more important in the colder months, when we become more sedentary than we are when its warm outside. A diet rich in vegetables and fruit (I don't really like fruit, so try to make up for it in vegetables and tomato juice) and plenty of whole grains really works wonders.
Halloween candy is my nemesis, and I wish I could be in a coma for the next two weeks and not see it everywhere. I thought I could satisfy my sweet tooth (which I broke in half on Monday - and can't see the dentist till my mouth ulcers are healed) with a trip to a very high end chocolate shoppe. (adding a "p" and an "e" to "shop" automatically gives them the right to charge exorbitant prices). I spent $30 on a bag of chocolate non-pareils and a box of smaller solid chocolates. Well, obviously, I'm not doing well on giving up certain creature comforts. At any rate, chocolate is better than those orange and green pumpkin sugar blobs, but I think maybe they contributed to my current symptoms, as I ate two handfuls of them.
I just ate a cucumber. Not satisfying. Not sweet. No all that great......but better for me than the chocolate, which I promptly shipped off to a friend in New York because I had buyer's remorse.
I am trying to be responsible with my diet. I just wish it wasn't Halloween. I wish I didn't have this disease, either, but since I do, I think I should be entrepreneurial. Does anyone want to join me in my kitchen where we will attempt to concoct the sweetest, best candy anyone ever tasted that actually heals Behcet's ulcers? We'll probably kill ourselves trying, but hey, there are worse ways to die.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Getting Sick and Having Behcet's Disease
I have a very bad cold. Hence, my mouth is full of ulcers because my health is otherwise compromised. Add to this, I broke a tooth and can't go to the dentist until the ulcers are healed. Thank God for steroid mouth rinse. I think I can safely get into my dentist's office by the end of the week.
When you have Behcet's Disease, and your health becomes compromised some other way, it is almost certain your Behcet's Disease will flare. At least, that's been my experience.
It is important to eat right, get plenty of rest, drink tons of water, and avoid sick people if you suffer Behcet's Disease. It's not really funny how touchy our health becomes when we have this disease. A simple thing like a cold virus can virtually flatten us. I spent all day in bed on Monday, too weak to participate in life. I was also in a great deal of pain, because coughing, with mouth ulcers, hurts. A lot.
At any rate, people who have been diagnosed with Behcet's Disease should take extra care to keep themselves healthy, and keep unhealthy people away from them. And, in my particular case, I pushed myself to help a friend paint a huge room, spending three days balancing on a ladder. This did me no good and exhausted me, despite the fact that I limited my involvement to about four hours per day. The room is beautiful. Me, not so much.
I get very resentful sometimes with this disease. I am disgusted that my life is dictated by this disease. But I can't change that. I can change how I live, which means understanding what my limitations are. That has been my biggest challenge, because I always want to do more, go more places, have more fun. Alas, it just isn't possible anymore.
When you have Behcet's Disease, and your health becomes compromised some other way, it is almost certain your Behcet's Disease will flare. At least, that's been my experience.
It is important to eat right, get plenty of rest, drink tons of water, and avoid sick people if you suffer Behcet's Disease. It's not really funny how touchy our health becomes when we have this disease. A simple thing like a cold virus can virtually flatten us. I spent all day in bed on Monday, too weak to participate in life. I was also in a great deal of pain, because coughing, with mouth ulcers, hurts. A lot.
At any rate, people who have been diagnosed with Behcet's Disease should take extra care to keep themselves healthy, and keep unhealthy people away from them. And, in my particular case, I pushed myself to help a friend paint a huge room, spending three days balancing on a ladder. This did me no good and exhausted me, despite the fact that I limited my involvement to about four hours per day. The room is beautiful. Me, not so much.
I get very resentful sometimes with this disease. I am disgusted that my life is dictated by this disease. But I can't change that. I can change how I live, which means understanding what my limitations are. That has been my biggest challenge, because I always want to do more, go more places, have more fun. Alas, it just isn't possible anymore.
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