Another update

I finished my work week! I’m really looking forward to tomorrow; I’m doing absolutely nothing at all except sleeping. I’m meant to be going for dinner at my fiance’s parents in the evening but I’ll have to see how I’m feeling. Hopefully the sleep will help me feel well enough to go. I haven’t seen them in a long time and it’d be nice to spend time somewhere other than my flat or work.

Monday is the start of my seven day working week so I’m trying to conserve spoons. I should be ok but I’m going to keep a very close eye on my fatigue and if I need to, I guess I could ask to go home early.

As for my infection, I don’t feel like the antibiotics are doing much; I’m still going around eight times a day and it’s not what you’d call of a “normal” consistency. I’m going to call the helpline tomorrow so I’ll be able to talk to the nurse Monday and get some advise.

My GI has advised that I stop the steroids completely, and given that I haven’t been on them for an extensive amount of time, and that was already on a rapid taper, he said it would be safe to stop them entirely without tapering. He also said that I should start feeling the antibiotics kicking in fully in about a week so I should be feeling a lot better in time for my busy work week and then my week off.

At the hospital for my checkup with my GI. After that, I’m going to head home for a lazy afternoon. It’s a really nice day out so I might go for a walk later. I’m feeling a lot better after last night; I had a very relaxing bubble bath and then just chilled on the sofa until bed.

I think I’m going to book some time off work towards the end of this month. I’ve got a busy couple of weeks coming up so I think my body will appreciate the rest. I’m finding I’m having to reteach myself the meaning of self-care and that time spent recovering is not time wasted. Thanks @natsufatsu for the suggestion; it’s not easy for me to get time off but I’m sure my work will understand.

@thatchronicfeeling Thank you. It’s been a tough couple of weeks and I start to wonder if it’s something I’ve done or not done that’s caused it all. I will try to be more gentle with myself; I’m planning on having a self-care evening of bubble bath and warm blanket nests in front of the tv tomorrow after work so I’m hoping that’ll help. Thank you again for your kind words, it really means a lot. Hugs and spoons!

I’m a little annoyed with myself today because yesterday I was feeling a lot better compared to Wednesday (in that I didn’t look like death and could actually go more than an hour with having to use the bathroom) but this morning I felt like I’d been hit by a truck; I didn’t sleep as well as the night before and my BM were looking like they’d be every hour again. Thankfully, things seem to have settled now but my stomach muscles are really soar so I’m back to taking paracetamol and codeine, at least for today.

I’m hoping the antibiotics I’m taking for the infection will kick in soon so my weekend of working goes as painlessly as possible. I’ve got Monday and Tuesday off, though, so I can catch up on my sleep. To be honest, I think that’s what I’m really needing; sleep. So, my plan for when I get back from my appointment on Monday is to build a spoonie-nest of blankets and pillows on my sofa and just dose the afternoon away.

So, it turns out I do have an infection which explains why I’ve not been getting any better. I’m being put on antibiotics to treat it so hopefully things will start to improve soon. When I spoke to him yesterday, my GI said the infection was being caused by both the prednisolone and the co-trimoxazole so I’m now having to rapidly tapper the steroids so I can stop them safely, and I’ve already stopped the co-trimoxazole which he also advised to do. I’ll be starting the antibiotics this evening so I’m really hoping they start to work quickly because I’ve got to work all weekend and could use a break from my explosive gut.

General update

Definitely getting worse. I’ve had 10 BM this morning and I was up practically all night. My stomach is cramping so I’m using heat pads again, and even the thought of eating anything more interesting than a plain omlette is making me nauseous. I’ve had two fortisip drinks today instead of breakfast and lunch (I normally only have one with my prednisolone) but I have managed a handful of plain crisps and most of a cup of tea at lunch, so… bonus? I guess we’ll see how that goes this afternoon. I’m at work now for the next four days so I could really do with my gut not keeping me awake all night.

Spoke to the IBD nurse this morning and they want to rule out infection so I need to do some samples. Typical that, now that I need to, my gut is behaving.

In other news, I was thinking about returning to the gym this afternoon. Only for a light bit of cardio to see how my body takes it, but it’d be nice to start again so I can get back into a somewhat normal routine. I’m planning on going to London Comic-Con in May and I want to be as healthy as I can for that.

I’ve called the helpline. I know they won’t really be able to do a lot because I have my appointment with my GI next Monday, but I just feel like I need to talk to a nurse; the last few days haven’t been good.
I have to have a blood test at the hospital too so I’m going to be busy this morning. I’m not planning on doing a lot this afternoon though; I’m not sleeping enough so I might try and have a nap after lunch.