A busy time

This is reposted from an old, now dead blog.

I have recently stopped working, and am being supported in order to focus on regaining my health (physical and mental), and finish my studies (which were essentially on hold while working).

The demands on my health in the second half of my year-long contract damaged my hands much more severely than I expected. I have had to switch to using voice recognition software (MacSpeech dictate).

Although MacSpeech Dictate works fairly well, it takes a lot of getting used to, and is quite unstable (crashes regularly).

Edit – It’s been many years, and MacSpeech Dictate is now the much improved Dragon Naturally Speaking which works fabulously.

Finishing Zoladex

I have finished the Zoladex treatment, and didn’t kill anyone. I even lost 8kg while on the treatment, but it was not easy.

I don’t know if withdrawal effects include blackouts, but a couple of times recently I have almost fainted both during and after intense exercise. The side effects of Zoladex are continuing, but I think they are decreasing slowly.

I do need to find a better way to deal with blisters on the balls of my feet from all the walking I have done, and want to do.

Although I have finished work, the next several months are intensely busy. I must finish my TESOL diploma (correspondence), study enough to pass the JLPT3 in December, visit family in WA in November, and travel to Japan in December/January for a home-stay culture course.

Also in November is a 50km charity walk that I would love to take part in, and a 15km fun-run, but I will see how the blisters behave.

Busy busy busy!

Pain signals in the brain

Recently I have noticed a clearer connection between pain levels and how my brain is interpreting signals from the nerves.

The costochondritis has been playing up because I have been doing a lot more exercise. The medication I use for fibromyalgia, to help me stay asleep throughout the night, also helps control the costo pain.

By decreasing the pain signals, gabapentin reduces the tension in my chest.

At the doctor’s suggestion, I increase my minimal dose, when needed, to help control the costo pain. I find it surprising that such a small dose can have such an effect.

Edit – over time, that dose has had to be increased.

When people say that the pain is all in my head (which happens unfortunately regularly), I confidently reply “Yes – my brain does not react to nerve signals normally!”

The brain is one area that is not even close to being understood, let alone treated.