NB ‘gp’ = groin pain
1.1.99 Occasional mild rectal aching - wave-like, so poss. peristaltic.
After squeezing hair dry for a few mins after washing it, it took several seconds to open hand out again.
Ache at back of knees quite often.
Wonder if this greater fatigue is due to Xmas excess (Indian meal & alcohol). It seems that a symptom, once sparked off or exacerbated by something (including medicines taken in 95-6), then persists for days, weeks, maybe longer.
Sense of smell seems impaired - think I have a ‘bubbling-under’ cold. Cats not keen on their food at moment - wonder if they also have loss of sense of smell. Related to meteor showers?
3.1.99 Dull but rather persistent & nagging headache which feels as if it is related to sinus-type congestion.
Weaker than usual still. For some days I have had the problem of text ‘swimming’ in front of eyes when trying to read, but can adapt to it to a certain extent. Slight vertigo if incline head when standing.
4.1.99 Muscles in left leg, esp. that at back of knee, suddenly became painful while walking downhill from library. Pain was sufficient to worry me & make me limp. It went away after I stood still for a few seconds in a shop.
6.1.99 Very tired & weak in early evening. Had walked to E. T. & back. Arms much more tired than usual, & eyes very tired although hadn’t used them that much.
7.1.99 Stronger today. Waited rather too long between loo visits (went twice between 1400 & 1600) & had slight leakage while walking home. Didn’t seem to be under my control at all, & it was sudden & without immediate warning. (2 or 3 times)
10.1.99 Urinary continence difficulty. Poss. due to extremely cold weather and/or brandy & coke in morning. (Power was off for 4 hours so I couldn’t have tea) Kept feeling need to go but finding very little to pass.
Orgasmic-type spasms/waves tonight (as described on 26.12.98)
12.1.99 Sweating & dreaming excessively during past week or so.
Relatively strong today.
13.1.99 Woke with nasal congestion, slight mobile respiratory catarrh & stuffy feeling head- & eye ache. Have been sneezing a little. There is a lot of ‘flu around.
14.1.99 4 or 5 urgent defecation dashes a.m. Last time foul-smelling as due to infection (unless it was due to Brussels sprouts or baked beans!)
Feeling quite sprightly today. Wonder if some problems are due to underlying or recurrent infection which is destroyed when body deals with other infections?
Haven’t had a ‘woozy’ spell lately (for months, I think; definitely weeks (forgot to close brackets)
Left knee pain almost absent*. It’s been quite bad at times recently. Still have a bit of a taut ‘pulling’ sensation at backs of knees, e.g. when stand or walk.
* Spoke/wrote too soon. Painful enough on bending, shortly after wrote this, to make me limp downstairs with leg straight. Pain right at front of kneecap.
15.1.99 Slime. Tap water smells very strongly of chlorine at moment (has for a week or so). At least I think it’s chlorine. Tastes quite sharp. Am using Boots filters but it still smells & tastes strongly after filtering.
Sharp twinge in rear left hip area in evening. Felt as though a nerve had been pinched (as in knee)
16.1.99 Still getting sharp but not severe pains in left hip when move in certain ways.
One of hands kept going numb in bed this morning although I wasn’t putting a lot of weight on the arm. Had to change position to prevent it.
Spell of extreme urinary frequency (every 10-15 minutes) after going to bed although it was >2 hours since last cup of tea.
Also flea paranoia (not completely unjustified). As consequence I took a ½-strength Nytol c 0200. Success.
23.1.99 About 5 ‘defecation dashes’ a.m., last one foul-smelling, like after alcohol binge (but haven’t had drink for weeks) Fermentation in gut?
Dreaming & sweating a lot (the latter v. pungent)
Have been irritable lately, as if premenstrual, but period is so late I’ve more or less stopped expecting it.
24.1.99 Cleaned teeth for first time in weeks & gums bled quite a lot.
26.1.99 Gums still a bit sore
28.1.99 Jaw aching, & mouth sore at times (but not at others - strange).
30.1.99 Accidentally made what appears to be a permanent black dye & stained large areas of my palms & fingers with it. Hope it’s not toxic! Was hennaing hair, had henna on hands & tried to wipe it off with a cloth which had been lying in possibly stagnant water for some time. Presumably bacteria or algae reacted with the henna. Soap won’t remove it.
31.1.99 Serious bowel urgency on waking. Motions quite soft. Black dye is coming off slowly.
2.2.99 Weaker & achier than usual. Have been sweating a lot again & sometimes feeling v. hot on mild exertion.
3.2.99 Copious & very slippery slime a.m. Similar in afternoon, this time red/pink. Turned into a period.
4.2.99 Very fatigable still/again. Quite knackered after just sorting out V’s & my organic veg. Really knackered after sorting out *cast-off clothes which S had brought round yesterday *& trying on. On hands & knees going up stairs to finish it after short walk. Walking up first bit of hill to highest bridge was very difficult. It’s still the muscles at backs of knees which feel most strained - they ache a bit a lot of the time. I have great longing to sit down much of time.
Did small amount of sewing yesterday evening; hand aching after 45 mins.
9.2.99 Breasts have been aching for days Unusually it started after period did (which I think is about a month late)
Leg weakness & back-of-knee aching has been persistent for at least a week, & arms tire very quickly when raised (within seconds).
No apparent increase in eye muscle weakness.
16.2.99 Sweating a lot for a while in afternoon (pungent).
18.2.99 Felt prickling sensation on right breast & found that wart appeared to be coming off.
Inexplicably cold when went to bed last night - weather mild.
Unexpected menstruation today.
23.2.99 Quite a lot of twinges on inside of where left thigh joins groin, when put weight on leg, today. Wart on breast still there. Still prickles occasionally.
24.2.99 Foul-smelling motions on one visit.
25.2.99 Arm muscles & upper abdominal muscles still aching intensely as a result of having to press down hard on photocopier 2 days ago.
Sneezing quite a lot. So is S (cat).
Had headache after walk a few days ago (it was windy.)
Pain on front left-hand side of head on lowering it.
26.2.99 Muscles still aching.
27.2.99 Bowel urgency this evening & yesterday evening (coinciding with intense thinking as often does). This evening it was followed by hunger accompanied by slight nausea, as I used to get a lot in ‘95/6 (& poss. before). It used to be esp. common in mornings
Have been having baked beans & veggie-sausage for breakfast instead of tofu.
1.3.99 Headache after fairly strenuous day (gardening, etc.). Pain on lowering head as well as persistent milder background ache (like on 25th).
Seem to be weaker than usual - even very mild exertion exhausts me very quickly (sometimes immediately). This has been so for several days, maybe longer.
4.3.99 Unpleasant chemical smell outside house in afternoon. Bit like bleach but seemed subtly different.
10.3.99 Getting those disconcerting involuntary spasms (like orgasmic ones) again quite often at moment (last week or so). Especially noticeable at night (poss due to having just washed area?).
14.3.99 For past 2 days I have had IBS g.p. from early evening (1700 or 1800) which is unusual. Eating same as usual & can’t think of any unusual activity that could cause it. Achey on waking, & have slight nasal catarrh; hair v. greasy too, so maybe it’s an infection. Have been stressed out by temperamental computer printer too. Very busy at present - on the go all day, largely in connection with anti-vivisection society of which I’ve inadvertently become acting secretary.
17.3.99 Right hand quite painful when doing diagrams for OU assignment. Pain mainly on side of hand between little finger & wrist. Still hurting when eating dinner in evening.
22.3.99 Woke in early hours with saliva (I think - or poss. nasal secretion) running into windpipe. Had to cough for few mins to try & expel it - it was like when accidentally allowing a drink to go ‘wrong way’. This has happened once or twice before in past year (during sleep)
Legs (mainly backs of knees) aching almost as soon as I get up over past 2-3 days. Today I ended up on hands & knees - I could walk but I’m worried that ignoring the pain means that I could be causing more damage.
Feeling a bit as though I have an infection. Bouts of tiredness, & am getting visual ‘repeats’ - when I look away from something I can still see it superimposed on the new view. This is not unusual for me. Maybe it accounts for the perception of something moving at edge of field of vision.
23.3.99 Armpits sweating profusely & rancidly. Weather cool.
28.3.99 Had a couple of gins today because tired & stressed over I.
Noticed that ache at back of knees is greatly diminished by alcohol - could this be one reason for being extra fatigable after a boozy evening?
Think I overrode fatigue signals today - quite physically active, partly to take mind off I. (So I can do it, but it’s probably not a good idea)
Very sleepy in evening - tiredness has been accumulating for few days due to insufficient sleep partly due to I & partly due to having to rescue mice from C in middle of night.
Oh - had at last 4 ‘defecation dashes’ a.m., last (2?) of which were loose & foul-smelling. Anus burning a bit, poss. due to a rather hot bit of chilli in last night’s dinner.
29.3.99 Similar bowel movements to yesterday. Had had another night of not much sleep (same reasons again). Extremely tired all day.
30.3.99 Slight urinary discomfort, & in evening the occasional sensation of passing small lumps which occurs with cystitis.
I has been diagnosed as having cystitis.
2.4.99 Red-tinged slime a.m. (Period just finished/finishing) Genitals smelt very yeasty earlier. They often smell a bit yeasty or cheesy, which I wonder whether is connected with the intense itching I get as well as my M.E.-type symptoms (including IBS).
Feeling woosy in early evening. Have been veering between nausea, hunger & feeling full all day. Maybe stomach is oversensitive due to overindulgence in wine on Wednesday. Concentration v. poor.
3.4.99 Weak-legged & woosy on getting up (am usually OK then). Think I still have red-tinged slime.
2nd defecation foul-smelling (like after alcohol binge).
Much more difficult walking up R H than usual. Legs v. weak for some time afterwards.
IBS gp all evening. Couldn’t get much OU work done as result, & gave up & got early night as it wore me out. Also unsteady & hallucinating (as is often the case with IBS)
4.4.99 IBS subsided during night but returned around 0500-0600. Woke up sometimes with arms & legs feeling as though all muscles tensed but couldn’t be sure whether was doing it unconsciously due to bowel discomfort of whether it was completely involuntary.
Foul smelling faeces & aching legs on getting up. Feel as though haven’t slept enough (maybe haven’t).
Urinary discomfort in evening.
5.4.99 3 or 4 defecation dashes, some foul-smelling (but then I did have an Indian meal & quite a lot of booze last night! P also has a digestive upset - not sure of its nature but it involves frequent visits to loo).
Legs very weak & achey again. Hand also more painful than usual when writing (yesterday too).
6.4.99 Foul faeces & extreme aching again.
9.4.99 Motions still loose & pale (butterscotch colour). Think that I’m feeling slightly stronger. Weak & woozy yesterday morning but better later.
Nostrils burning when walking up R H. Mr B was using some garden tool - maybe a strimmer.
Only average difficulty getting up hill.
IBS pain throughout abdomen in late evening.
12 & 13.4.99 Urinary discomfort in evening. I (cat) has cystitis again too.
Faeces normal again, ditto muscles (just usual weakness).
15.4.99 Urinary discomfort p.m. Foul-smelling faeces a.m. Defecated 5 times yesterday - once in evening.
Flushed & woozy for an hour or so in evening.
Feel a bit stronger than have recently. Walk to shops easier than usual.
This evening I noticed that back of left leg was markedly puffy.
17.4.99 1st completely IBS-free evening for a while - also crotch not smelling foul. (Wasn’t too bad yesterday either - on either count).
22.4.99 Eyes suddenly became v. tired & bleary in early evening. Back of neck aching at base (where joins shoulders?). Slight difficulty urinating a couple of times today, & slight burning discomfort in evening. Then extreme frequency for ½ - 1 hr (every 10 mins or so) & thirst. More normal by late evening. Then discomfort & frequency returned. Also tired again. Have been irritable today too. Poss. not enough sleep. Have been waking/getting up even more frequently than usual recently - 10 times a night or more sometimes.
23.4.99 Foul-smelling faeces on 2nd or 3rd defecation of morning. Sleepy attack in evening (fairly brief - ½ hr or less) & fasciculations of right eyelid. (Feeling as though it was stuck - not stuck shut but stuck in odd/awkward position for a couple of seconds at a time) Maybe upper and lower lids.
24.4.99 Fairly copious slime a.m. Am beginning to suspect a Candida connection with M.E.
25.4.99 Slime a.m. Right eye still twitching fairly frequently. Had quivery feeling in chest yesterday evening, as if heart was ‘fluttering’. Fasciculations? It occurs quite high in chest, I think.
Feel quite strange today - disconnected. Have been sleeping quite a lot, but with a lot of interruptions & heavy dreaming.
Some slight urinary difficulty last night. Think it might be due to a pocket of colonic wind pressing on urinary tract.
Generally bleary around eyes.
Occasional dull pains in reproductive or bladder area (I think).
26.4.99 Slime a.m. Considerable yellow discoloration of incontinence pads during day. Still occasional twitches of right eye.
27.4.99 Slime a.m. ‘Randiness’
28.4.99 Slight slime a.m. Painful clitoris later.
Slept better than have for some time - hours at a stretch! Lately I have been waking every hour.
I (cat) slept in box by bed instead of on/in bed. Had brown rice at supper time instead of pasta (non-organic, whereas pasta was organic). Could either of these have been factors in aiding sleep?
29.4.99 Slight slime a.m. I think. Clitoris still painful. V. weary & sluggish on getting up.
30.4.99 Slept quite well again but had to get up ‘early’ (0800?) due to urgency.
Having considerable ‘woozy/sleepy’ bouts, esp. in morning & early evening.
Slight urinary discomfort (T appears to have cystitis as well as I). Definitely feel as though have a bug of some sort. Bowels a bit loose; motions sometimes foul-smelling. Clitoris still painful.
1.5.99 Clitoris still painful. Started boiling water yesterday evening in case it contains cystitis-causing pathogens. (T & I (cats) & I have it to varying degrees)
Have been feeling a bit edgy, anxious & occasionally depressed for past 2 or 3 days. Not sure if due to poor sleep, hormones or the strong cup of coffee I’ve been having (per day I think) Think breasts were aching a bit yesterday or day before.
Lower neck was aching considerably after hennaing hair 2 days ago, & continued throughout yesterday.
2.5.99 1st faeces of day smelt cheesy after ½ - 1 hr. (added later - done in bucket?)
Right eye still twitching occasionally.
Getting occasional twinges of pain in lower groin - feels like reproductive or bladder region. (Poss. former - period came on 5 days later)
8.5.99 Right eye twitching/sticking quite a lot today. Have been using microscope a fair bit over past 2 days.
10.5.99 Slept & dreamed v. heavily last night. Woke with saliva dribbling over face, very thirsty (not unusual) & feeling as though had had an anaesthetic - dizzy, bronchitic feeling. Have occasionally had this before.
13.5.99 Quite bad eye fatigue at times during past 2-3 days. Had to abandon OU study before having completed day’s quota.
Still often waking up with limb muscles rigid, sometimes accompanied by cramp.
16.5.99 Getting unfamiliar abdominal cramps (gastro-enteritis-like) & having to defecate in evening. Sometimes foul-smelling. Put it down to eating whole packet of chilli-flavour tortilla chips!
17.5.99 Still having abdominal cramps at times - had to rush to ET (added later - presumably external toilet, i.e. bucket in shed) at 0530 to defecate. It burned a bit once or twice, Still smells rather ‘hangover’-ish. Hot flush either this evening or yesterday evening.
18.5.99 Cystitis started at 0500, along with full-blown gastro-enteritis. Former became v. painful v. quickly. Even after 3 Co-proxamols it still hurt a bit. Blood in urine later. About 15 defecation dashes before 1100 despite K & M. Often mostly wind.
Prescribed 10 Trimethoprim 200 m.g.
Symptoms had improved greatly by midday, but returned shortly after. Better again by mid-afternoon.
19.5.99 No cystitis symptoms. Bowel movements v. sluggish, as they were yesterday despite urgency & softness.
Bit nauseous a.m. Even after nausea had gone I couldn’t eat more than about ½ - ⅔ breakfast.
T (cat) is showing signs of cystitis again.
Urinary burning returned a bit c. midday.
Came over very sleepy @ 1300, although I think I slept quite well last night.
Bruised feeling in stomach region.
After some abdominal pains the sleepiness receded. Digestive region extremely noisy!
Persistent abdominal pain in evening & continual loud gurgling.
(Yesterday got hiccups when infection was at its height)
Evening defecation (2300) - wind & small soft motions. One yesterday or today was unusually pale.
21.5.99 Mildish urinary burning all day. May have been a bit dehydrated due to quite boozy day yesterday.
22.5.99 Urinary burning gone when got up but back (mild) by midday. Fluctuated during day. Appetite still not back to normal, but improving. Stomach & intestines still very noisy. Have had slight yellow discharge for few days.
23.5.99 No urinary discomfort a.m., but slight burning developed later. Finished antibiotics last night. Chest flutter followed by few seconds of faintness while using microscope. May have been holding breath (but not for long)
Quite bad IBS gp this evening & yesterday evening. Nausea when hungry but still only eating small meals.
24.5.99 IBS gp on waking. Relieved by defecation. No urinary burning. Cleaned washing-up rack - it had a slimy coating.
Burning started around midday. c.1600 I took a Power Health ‘double-strength’ cranberry juice tablet (claiming to contain equivalent of 4.5 fresh cranberries). Burning almost gone in evening.
Phone health centre - results of my urine test only arrived today (it took 6 days). One-word verdict ‘Normal’. Great help - no info on what was tested for.
25.5.99 Phoned doc to find out more re urine test. Said only very low-level bacterial infection found - not enough to cause symptoms. He said if I wanted to check for Trichomonas I’d have to have swab done by nurse, but that Trichomonas did not cause urinary burning.
He didn’t say if blood was found in urine.
I really think that doctors round here are of little use.
Taking 2 cranberry juice tablets a day with meals, & having garlic again (I hadn’t had any for weeks as none in organic veg box).
Very little urinary discomfort today.
Appetite normal again - or perhaps actually excessive.
26.5.99 Copious slime a.m. Some urinary and rectal/anal burning late a.m. (latter poss due to too much chilli yesterday).
27.5.99 Slime a.m. Right eye twitching quite a lot. Lower lip went into spasm a few times yesterday (felt like lip being pulled from sides)
Feeling ravenous much of time.
Had to leave library this afternoon because feeling nauseous. Also hot & shaky (& hungry) Same symptoms as I used to get 20 years ago (or a little more) which I put down to low blood sugar. Ate some chocolate in health food shop to try to stave it off.
Felt much better after sandwich & cup of tea at home.
Still have mildish urinary burning & discharge at times.
Have been feeling generally rather run-down since gastro-enteritis & severe cystitis on 18th.
Tongue sore a few days ago.
Very achey in evening as if have flu. Muscles seemed v. tense & rigid when I was trying to sleep. Have also had rapid, throbbing pulse at times, including when trying to sleep. Don’t think it’s due to anxiety - seems to be physically based (inexplicably high levels of adrenalin?) Had to take Nytol tonight.
28.5.99 No urinary discomfort until late afternoon. Extreme frequency at bedtime (every 10-15 mins), necessitating taking Boots Nytol equiv.
29.5.99 Urinary discomfort in afternoon. Had a defecation dash in late afternoon. Slept well without assistance.
30.5.99 IBS gp came on c. 1800 & persisted till c. 2100 (by which time I’d had a pint & a half of lager).
31.5.99 IBS in early evening. Persisted despite 2 pints of lager.
1.6.99 Cramp in leg a.m. V. little urinary discomfort today. No IBS! Tooth or gum ache in right upper jaw in evening - poss due to sinuses? (Felt a bit flu-y in early evening)
2.6.99 No urinary discomfort! Still taking 2 cranberry juice tablets a day & having quite a lot of raw garlic.
5.6.99 Stopped taking Cranberry Juice tablets.
9.6.99 Left foot still hurts to walk on following long walk in fields on 6th.
10.6.99 Right eye still twitching at times.
12.6.99 V. vivid dreams last night. Woke once or twice with arm muscles rigid - took some time to straighten (maybe 10-15 seconds). Sleep quality varies immensely. Had one or 2 unusually good nights recently, when slept for maybe 5 hours without waking. Other nights sleep seems v. shallow & strongly interrupted, & feel tired on getting up.
Nails growing v. fast at present.
15.6.99 Bleary-eyed (very) & a bit headachey in early evening. Used Frontline on all 4 cats earlier, but may be unconnected - there is a bug going round.
17.6.99 Right eye twitching a lot in evening. Think left one did once as well. (fasciculations, I think - muscles seem to contract in a rictus for about a second or two). Also some IBS-type gp in late evening, while eye twitching continued.
18.6.99 Eyes v. tired for much of day. Found it hard to focus both eyes & attention at times & not ‘drift off’. Right eye still v. twitchy.
19.6.99 Sharp, stinging pains in right eye several times while studying, followed by slight watering.
20.6.99 Pain (sharp but not severe, lasting few seconds) on left-hand side of chest in afternoon. A bit later (½ - 1 hr?) later I felt momentarily short of breath, & soon after that coughed up a bit of phlegm. Felt a bit ‘chesty’ soon after that when J B started using his highly polluting grass cutter in field (strong exhaust smell) & feeling persisted. Not wheezing. Still feeling bit odd around base of gullet, poss. like gastric reflux (burped a few times) an hour or 2 later. Maybe the occasional flutters I get in that area are fasciculations.
Had mildish pains higher in gut than usual yesterday. Maybe have a mild gut bug. Or maybe having too much fat - have had quite oily papadums on occasions lately.
22.6.99 Twitching of right eye is becoming worryingly persistent, occurring throughout day. Legs less achey than usual (perhaps because sitting down quite a lot).
23.6.99 Woke with IBS gp (as have a few times recently). It’s always relieved by defecation in mornings.
Very bleary-eyed & with burning nostrils on getting up, although slept quite well. This persisted for some time. Have often been tired (esp.eyes) on getting up, & for some time afterwards, lately.
Temperature control v. bad last night - often feeling hot, & when felt cold & put a cardigan on I was instantly too hot again.
Hungry today. Appetite had been a bit lower than usual for few days.
24.6.99 Legs (backs of knees, mainly) aching all day.
26.6.99 Mild pain on right side of chest* quite often during past few days. Am noticing a feeling at back of right knee as if cold water or cold metal on it, usually when walking.
Stubborn headache this morning (top of head & back of neck). 2 paracetamol did not alleviate. Had same for short time yesterday evening.
*Wonder if have mild bronchitis. Later concluded that I probably have. Have fairly dry & slight cough. Bronchitis would probably also explain the unfamiliar type of temperature swings, tightness in chest & slightly breathless feeling, sleepiness, headaches & fluctuations in appetite.
Eye twitching has decreased.
Wonder if bronchitis is viral, bacterial or parasitic? NB have had a few quite painful &/or itchy insect bites in garden in evening in last few days while picking wild strawberries. One on stomach is now a still-itchy red patch about 10 x 5mm following days of scratching. Could any of these bites have transmitted parasites?
Could it be infection that is causing the current delay of inset of groin pain, which more commonly occurs soon after evening meal but is currently occurring in early morning?
27.6.99 Having had 2½ cloves raw garlic last night & about the same this morning, my chest pain has gone. The old familiar evening g.p. returned. A lot better after a couple of gin & tonics, although they also made me v. sleepy for a short time (this is common nowadays).
1.7.99 Have been feeling tense, edgy, occasionally briefly depressed, & hungry, for past few days. (Depression has been so brief as to be perhaps better described as fleeting). Poss all due to PMT?
2.7.99 Still hungry, tired, itchy, & eyes sometimes feeling ‘gritty’. Have dandruff. Nails growing v. fast. Concentration & short-term memory v. poor. Still getting stubborn headaches.
Nausea early p.m. Shaky & sweaty. Lot of hallucinations lately. Pulse racing a(t?) times today. Slime today.
Headache in evening. Slight nasal congestion. Feeling well below par.
3.7.99 Slime a.m. Took long time to wake up fully (as often do these days). Still v. hungry. Bought an old walking stick yesterday, having improvised with a clothes-line prop for a week or 2 at times. Trying to get used to using it as much as poss, esp. when going up & down steps or bending. It seems to considerably delay leg fatigue.
Sometimes get feeling in back-of-knee muscles like a piece of elastic being gently twanged. This is prob. a fasciculation.
Vivid dreams again (& plentiful).
Slime a.m. (copious today & yesterday)
Right eye twitching a lot (or bit?) again.
6.7.99 Found stick helpful for walking up R H into town. Got an arm-ache instead of leg-ache!
7.7.99 Sudden attack of nausea as I started to eat breakfast. Used will-power to overcome it & it went away in few minutes.
8.7.99 Persistent OBS g.p. in evening.
Vodka & lemonade (+ small amount of tonic) ineffective, whereas g & t sometimes seems to cure it.
Faeces still frequently soft & foul-smelling. Poss. connection with v. hot weather or insect (e.g. flea) bites?
Lower lip has gone into spasm a few times over past week. V. broken sleep last night & not the full 8 hours, but bowels made me get up 0800. V. tired during day, but couldn’t sleep when tried in afternoon.
Extremely hungry.
13.7.99 Sudden dry cough at times today, which have had occasionally over past 2-3 days.
Unfamiliar pain across upper abdomen during afternoon - felt like stomach or other part of digestive system. Limb muscles aching a lot today & yesterday.
14.7.99 Catarrh & sore throat a.m. as yesterday. Stomach (?) pain like yesterday’s in late afternoon.
Right eye twitching quite a lot again, esp. when I have just changed focal point of vision.
15.7.99 Blood pressure 110/70 (Well-woman check at health centre). Weight 9st 4lbs with clothes. Think that weight gain may be largely due to inability to use muscles to burn calories, as don’t think my calorie intake is excessive.
Breasts aching a lot - having to wear bra (period 10 days overdue).
NB weight gain insignificant since 30.5.98)
17.7.99 Slime a.m. & p.m. followed (12 days late!) by period.
21.7.99 IBS g.p. all day, having started yesterday evening. Had taken K & M in morning as having to go out before usual ‘defection dashes’ would be finished. As a result, only had one dash.
23.7.99 Quite long-lasting IBS again (as for last 2 days, starting in quite early evening).
24.7.99 No evening IBS! Eyes aching quite badly during day while studying. Took paracetamol. Occasional stinging sensation in eyes, & notice in late evening sometimes that right one is bloodshot in one spot. Don’t think eye twitched today!
26.7.99 Aching around eyes a.m. after some computer work & illustration for OU assignment. Hand aching too. Ditto legs (as usual).
29.7.99 Admitted defeat & abandoned attempts to grow brassicas as removing butterfly eggs is too exhausting.
Am definitely significantly worse as regards leg-ache than this time last year. Bending down is v. tiring, so try to do it as little as poss.
30.7.99 Sudden moderate nausea c 1700 followed by mid-abdominal pain (just above navel). Gradually metamorphosed into the more familiar lower abdominal pain (again, not especially bad), persisting throughout evening.
About 5 bowel movements a.m., some sluggish, some nothing but wind & small amounts of nearly liquid faeces.
I think that these symptoms tend to occur in v. hot weather, as at present.
1.8.99 Right eye twitching a lot, also aching, following quite a lot of OU study including assignment work, which involved scanning pages of course unit. Think it must be just * due to muscle fatigue as with the twitching I get at back of knees when testing after exertion. Hand aching from writing. Had to keep resting other arm when grating carrots. (This is now usual.)
Have had nasal congestion for part of day for perhaps a week. Often wake with it.
*Changed mind, as I sometimes wake with eye already twitching, e.g. on 2.8.99 (could that be due to heavy REM sleep?)
6.8.99 Slime a.m. Eye twitch absent when under influence of alcohol (moderate amount - ½-1 can of Guinness)
7.8.99 Eye-twitch (right one as usual) is back. Nasal congestion a.m. as have quite frequently at present.
9.8.99 Keep getting bouts of extreme sleepiness in afternoon (e.g. today but not every day). When lie down & try to nap I can’t fall asleep.
11.8.99 Developed sinusy headache c 1050, i.e. 20 mins before solar eclipse. Had been looking at sun through solar viewer for brief periods (20 secs max at a time). Paracetamol didn’t seem to help, but nose began to clear rapidly when had cup of tea + toast & marmalade c 1235. Was burning before that.
14.8.99 After using microfiche viewer at library (poorly focused, with no focusing facility, & with pages moving from left to right instead of top to bottom as previously) for few mins, I became nauseous & sweaty & had to abandon it. Recovered about 10 mins after stopping. Think it was a form of motion sickness.
19.8.99 Getting very irritated by frequent spells of apparently phantom itches & sharp pains in skin. Itches feel like invertebrates walking on skin & pains are like insect bites or injections. This has occurred for a few years but I think is becoming more frequent.
22.8.99 Top of left arm (joint, I think) rather painful since last night. Was using computer a lot yesterday.
23.8.99 Left arm a bit better. Felt depressed in evening, poss. because worried about I (fearing that euthanasia time might be approaching). Then started feeling cold for a while - perception not quite normal. Seeing rapid movements in air, etc. (Had also seen this earlier, outside.) Wondered if there had been anything nasty in bonfire smoke which had blown over for some time today. Had smelt OK - woody.
27.8.99 Right eye (think it’s upper lid) hasn’t gone into spasm too often lately, but bad today. Spasms last 1-3 seconds approx. Had some Guinness last night - felt quite tipsy. Twitching is worse the day after I drink (and stops while I am under the influence, I think).
29.8.99 Getting mild headaches v. frequently - think of them as ‘sinusy’ headaches as also often have nasal catarrh (sometimes hard to shift). Also mildish pain at back of neck. Also frequent visual distortions - seeing non-existent movement, etc.
Despite generous swigs of kaolin & morphine, keep passing small amounts of runny (mucous?) gingery faeces along with gas. Farting a lot generally for past few days! At least it’s not building up & causing pain in groin.
1.9.99 Getting a lot of hot flushes lasting several minutes each. Have been cutting down on tofu due to cost - maybe should step it up again or take phytoestrogen supplement.
Sore throat a.m. (not uncommon).
V. sleepy lunchtime, catarrhy & with mild headache & back-of-neck ache. Nauseous early p.m.
2.9.99 Orgasm-like contractions early a.m.
Faeces still amorphous & gingery. (Have been for a couple of weeks). Anus v. slightly sore - wonder if due to chillies in dinner. Have been using quite a lot of seeds.
4.9.99 Started having tofu for breakfast again (every other day) in attempt to reduce hot flushes.
V. catarrhy on getting up - lots at back of throat which had to swallow. Headachey. Weather v. hot.
6.9.99 J B liberally spraying some kind of wood treatment on a piece of furniture in his rear yard in evening. Fumes penetrating my rear extension. I was outside briefly while he was spraying. Got wheezy & at times a bit dizzy. Some tightness & pain in chest & fluid in airways. At front of house the Bs are cooking on barbecue!
9.9.99 V. tense. Prob. PMT. Am getting about 6 hot flushes a day, including 2 or 3 at night.
11.9.99 Hot flushes milder & less frequent for a day or 2. Had been having tofu & scheese every day.
Motions still runny.
12.9.99 V. hungry & irritable - prob PMT. Shaky attack in evening prob because put off eating for too long (even though have been eating more than usual) Legs wobbly, arms trembling, nauseous.
16.9.99 Still v. hungry. Right eyelid extremely twitchy - really distracting. Had had Nytol last night & several swigs of K & M, & was worried about S (having dental treatment + heart murmur).
Despite K & M, motions still runny.
Felt distinctly fluey in early evening - catarrhy headache & bleary eyes After vet told me of risk to S of dental treatment (anaesthetic) but necessity for it I was rather choked, with tears welling up. Nose bled slightly afterwards, & again in evening.
18.9.99 Fluey symptoms had gone by yesterday although still have some catarrh & occasional mild headache. No hot flushes for over a week - had been having about 6 a day before. They got milder & then stopped.
Weather much cooler. Have not been having tofu or vegan HRT, but have had some Scheese every day.
Still get hot after mild exertion.
Right eye still twitching after 3-4 gin & tonics & a single-skin h.g. (evening) (added later - I think that this means that the twitching persisted despite the g & ts & joint.)
Quite bad, persistent gp in evening, poss. exacerbated by having to wear more clothes due to cold weather. Tried gin & tonic (several) but no effect.
19.9.99 Lot of nasal catarrh in early hours. Slime a.m.
20.9.99 Dullish pain in upper abdomen after supper.
21.9.99 Moderate flush in bed in early hours of morning.
Took a PhytoSoya capsule (made by Arkopharma)
Didn’t defecate till midday although had 2 ‘false-alarm’ dashes (wind). This is extremely unusual. Only went once today. (added later - presumably meaning defecation)
22.9.99 Upper abdominal pain in evening after supper (curry-type as usual). Not severe.
23.9.99 Right eyelid v. twitchy. Occasional spasms in left one. Think I may have had twitches/spasms in upper and lower right lids.
Still getting just one or 2 mild flushes a day, usually following exertion, eating or hot drink.
Regularly get horrendous itching of vulval skin, and still getting v. sore. Itching gets esp. bad when damp due to sweating (which occurs for no obvious reason). The most intense itching is when a small piece of cotton wool from pad, or tiny piece of loo paper, is stuck to skin.
Decided to start taking 2 PhytoSoya capsules a day as recommended on packet, to see if any symptoms (e.g. itching) are reduced. (No.) (written in different-coloured biro, so presumably later)
Eyes quite blurred today (as quite often are). They feel wet.
Didn’t defecate till midday again. Although ate some food for supper as usual, no abdominal pain in evening.
Did eat rather a lot of Bourbon biscuits during day.
23.9.99 Strange combination of edginess & slight sleepiness in early evening. Right upper eyelid & left lower eyelid twitching a lot.
Had been eating chocolate & chocolate biscuits during day.
25.9.99 Both eyelids still twitching, although stopped briefly when I started drinking G & T. Sometimes starts when I have been rubbing eyes or looking around a lot.
Gp in evening (after G & T & supper) caused me to go to bed early (2200 or 2230 as opposed to usual midnight).
27.9.99 Painful clitoris a.m.
29.9.99 Quite bad pins & needles + minor cramp after kneeling to clean out grate. This has happened before recently - think it may be a ‘normal’ thing now.
30.9.99 Mild, dull pain on upper right side of chest p.m.
Felt funny after early-evening meal. Shaky, slightly nauseous, hot, veins in hands standing out. Feel slightly catarrhy. Only ingredient different from usual was beetroot which I’d cooked in non-filtered water.
Slight pain on upper left side of back (near left shoulder). Slightly reminiscent of pains I got from my toxic mint wine in P. Wonder what symptoms of manganese poisoning are? (Added later, when typing up, why did I wonder this?)
Tinnitus comprising a high-pitched electronic-sounding hiss
1.10.99 Woke c 1000 although went to bed soon after 2300. Still v. sleepy - wanted to sleep on. V. catarrhy & ‘thick-headed’. Headache later which persisted so had to take paracetamol, which seemed to work.
Got weepy later when trying to report slug pellets on path (outside No 3, where else?!)
It appears that there is a flu bug going round.
Urinating even more often than usual. Feel grotty.
2.10.99 Painful clitoris.
Quite bad abdominal pain (tight, trapped-wind type, just above groin) in early evening. OK by 2100 (this is unusual - it usually persists) Had had 2-3 G & Ts between onset & recovery, & passed moderate amount of wind.
Left eye v. watery later, making reading difficult.
5.10.99 Headache c 1730. 2 paracetamol did not eliminate it. Sudden bout of sleepiness c. 1800. Slight urinary discomfort. Had walked & sat in sun earlier (pleasant but not hot)
Scars from flea bites are not fading despite having healed months ago.
8.10.99 Persistent back-of-knee ache pretty much all day, despite v. modest amount of activity
9.10.99 Had to lie down c 1530 due to wave of sleepiness. Heart pounding - this is not uncommon, & happened last night too. Urinary frequency (dilute, I think) Breathing hard too (as if had been exerting self)
DIY in evening resulted in slight pain on right side of chest while breathing heavily afterwards.
10.10.99 Still have mildish urinary discomfort. Too much sweet stuff? Have been eating biscuits & chocolate lately. Taking Power Health cranberry juice tablets (one a day) since 5th.
14.10.99 Urinary discomfort & vaginal discharge for past 2 days or so. Taking 2 cranberry juice tablets a day from 12th, & stepping up the raw garlic to a clove a day.
15.10.99 Foul-smelling faeces quite often for past few days. Have also had some itching & stinging pain in anal-perineal area.
17.10.99 Started inadvertently defecating when using wee-bucket in bedroom (Able to stop quickly).
Catarrhy headache today (mild).
Hungry, slightly nauseous when didn’t eat quickly in response to hunger.
Disconnected feeling in evening + mild ache in neck & top of spine. (between shoulders)
Sudden urinary urgency at times. Urinary discomfort still coming & going. Pass large amounts of urine some nights (looks like 2-3 bladderfuls!).
22.10.99 V. ‘irritable’ bladder (& urinary tract? (forgot to close brackets) tonight & last night. Can feel liquid moving downwards inside. Discomfort near exit of urethra at times, whilst at other times there is no discomfort anywhere. Yellow discharge (don’t think it’s urinary leakage). Have had this for a few weeks on & off. Definitely passing too much urine, as get thirsty.
23.10.99 Bladder bad again in evening, + thirst, although not too bad last night (in bed) - but had taken Nytol to ensure night’s sleep wasn’t prevented by urinary frequency. Took one again this evening. Problem is like cystitis but with discomfort rather than pain. Also have itching/occasional stinging in anus.
24.10.99 No bowel movement till after midday, then slower & more solid than usual.
27-8.10.99 Calculated fluid input, output & urinary frequence (should be frequency - later note) 0800-0800. 44 urinations! (For unknown reason, daytime frequency was extremely high Took Nytol to enable sleep to win over urge to urinate, otherwise it might have been higher). Only passed about a pint overnight.
Input 2590 ml (all water apart from 2 mugs of tea - much less than usual tea-drinking). Output 3-3.1l.
28-29.10.99 Passed a litre of urine overnight, as do fairly often.
29.10.99 Right arm still v. tender where doctor took blood sample 3 days ago. He was quite adept, & I don’t usually have tenderness for so long.
IBS-type gp in evening for 1st time in a week or so. Had beans & veggie sausage for breakfast for 1st time in a week or so (instead of tofu). Connection?
(not sure if same date) Short-lived (expelled the gas) but accompanying visual disturbances continued as more gas moved along. Had hallucinations (of cat in lounge) before the pain started as well as after. This is quite usual.
Eyelid twitching has become much less frequent; no longer troublesome.
31.10.99 Passed well over a litre of urine last night (10 hour period max.)
Polyuric & thirsty this evening, with frequency similar to 27th-28th. Frequency was preceded by urinary discomfort, & the feeling of passing small solid (but not hard) objects - dead epithelium? Often get this when have urinary problems such as cystitis. Still taking 2 cranberry juice tablets & having 2 raw cloves of garlic a day.
Back to ‘normal’ frequency later in evening (had drunk 2-3 mugs of water).
No IBS GP p.m. although had beans & veggie-burger for breakfast (ditto yesterday).
2.11.99 Still getting urinary discomfort for a period every day or 2. Also have thin yellow discharge at times as before.
5.11.99 Paradoxically I’m having more hot flushes since recommencing taking PhytoSoya than when I went without - about 4-5 a day as opposed to 0-1 a day.
6.11.99 Dull pains in per abdomen on occasion during past 2-3 days. V. brief dull pain to front of left armpit today. Spleen & lymph nodes? (indicating infection). Still have thin yellow vaginal discharge. Have had to go to bed early a couple of times (2300 & 2200) as v. sleepy. Sleepy this evening too - difficulty reading OU text; eyes hard to keep open.
Disconnected feeling in early evening & tinnitus later (before sleepiness). Tinnitus consisted of fairly faint, high-pitched electronic-type whistling whine, like sometimes occurs on poorly-tuned TV or radio.
Dull upper-mid-back pain-again, lasting until early morning. Had been pounding washing - connection? (.)
9.11.99 Woke up with one arm rigid & crampy. OK after few minutes.
Getting spasms of lower lip a few times a day for past few days.
10.11.99 High-pitched ‘tinnitus’ 2040. Have identified what it sounds like - my computer monitor before computer is switched on.
Could it actually be an external sound? Seems to occur around same time each time (although I have heard it during night when in bed). I know the electrical wiring is a bit dodgy in house.
V. sleepy in early evening, + weak & flushed at times.
11.11.99 IBS-type gp in early evening - first in a couple of weeks, I think. Had thought about it yesterday, i.e. that it hadn’t happened lately! Started having apples as snack food instead of biscuits & chocolate yesterday, as weight is now well over 9 st.
12.11.99 Still have yellow discharge but haven’t had urinary discomfort for about a week, so have stopped cranberry juice tablets & relatively high raw garlic intake.
V. itchy anus yesterday; also rather sore esp around outside.
Just after writing the above, got urinary discomfort so started 1 cranberry juice tablet a day again. Discomfort only lasted ½ - 1 hr. Poss. due to dehydration due to few gins last night.
13.11.99 Dull but persistent gp (also had yesterday for quite a while I think). Went around 1700, when started drinking g & ts.
15.11.99 Following tiring walk up R H plus walk to top of R H car park, when got home not only muscles at back of knees & calves but also those at front of thighs were feeling taut & throbbing a bit. This is unusual.
Right eye v. itchy in evening. Had been in coffee shop where I think someone was smoking, then in A P’s car. Had also handled a bird cage bought 2nd-hand from W & cleaned out cage of sick mouse (see Nature Diary). Had also handled I’s abdomen which is bald & scabby.
Before itching, both eyes had felt as though had grit or eyelashes in them, leading to rubbing.
16.11.99 Uncomfortable in bed last night, as sometimes am - difficult finding comfortable position for legs, & getting pins & needles in forearms & hands.
Tend to get pins & needles (almost cramp today) when kneeling & leaning forward to clean grate. Right eye watering a lot in late evening & stinging a bit. About an hour earlier there had seemed to be foreign objects in eye which I rubbed away (also see yesterday). Strange correlation - yesterday I rushed mouse to vet which had badly injured right eye.
Stinging & blurring due to watering eventually forced cessation of studying. Eye then felt as though there was a piece of grit in it.
17.11.99 Slept v. well last night. Bowel action unusually slow & motions much more solid than usual. It’s as though I were taking Spasmonal.
Nasal catarrh, feverish spells & mild headache, as though have a cold developing.
Seeing non-existent movement & vague shapes quite a lot. Legs went wobbly in evening (different from usual feeling). Haven’t eaten anything different from usual.
Urinary discomfort in late evening (towards outside). Took an extra cranberry juice tablet.
Spell of extreme sleepiness around midday. Prob. would have dozed off if hadn’t been physically busy.
21.11.99 Slime early a.m. Haven’t noticed this for ages (months, I think). Had erotic dream in early hours - such feelings seem to coincide with slime attacks. Still sliming a bit p.m.
27.11.99 Moderate IBS gp all evening. Have had this quite a lot lately. Due to worry over I (cat)? Although pain not severe, it still causes tiredness & concentration problems. Have gone to bed ‘early’ several times recently (e.g. 2200, 2300 - maybe earlier; not sure).
28.11.99 Gp still persistent - continued through night & morning, & still present, although mild, in afternoon. Not bothersome when lying down.
30.11.99 GP still persistent. Decreased during morning & early p.m. then increased again.
Slightly disconnected spell in late afternoon accompanied by flushed cheeks, which also felt hot. Rest of body felt normal (apart from slight g.p. - more a tightness than a pain, & usual leg ache/weakness).
Extreme urinary frequency in late evening + some discomfort. There had been a v. hot piece of chilli in my dinner earlier - connection? Took an extra cranberry juice tablet & a Nytol.
1.12.99 Urinary discomfort at times. Other poss. cause: S is v. snuffly at moment, due, I think, to a damaged tooth impinging on sinuses. Before urinary discomfort started (morning of 30th, I think), some of his nasal secretions &/or saliva entered my eye when he shook head.
3.12.99 Diarrhoea a.m. Had taken Nytol & CoProxamol last night due to considerable urinary discomfort. Had I euthanased today. Her illness has caused me a lot of stress over past weeks. Drank ⅓ bot gin & smoked h.g. joint. Surprised to find self able to dance when was playing music for I’s send-off.
4.12.99 No noticeable hangover, but foul-smelling diarrhoea. Period came on quite heavily yesterday (a month late). It was preceded by a few hours of red-streaked slime. Sore tongue. Realised that I had become run-down during I’s last few weeks.
5.12.99 Tongue still sore (tip). Still rather absent-minded due to trauma re I. Quite physically active - a bit hyper (but still slow due to CFS). Spirits not too low. Yesterday I had none of the usual tension & excitement when checking lottery nos - didn’t care whether won or not. (Flat sort of mood)
Feeling very cold at times in evenings, shivering a lot, although weather not especially cold. Have only noticed this since I (cat) died.
Also getting twinges in small of back - kidneys? intestines?
9.12.99 Tongue recovered a few days ago.
Getting stomach pain after eating sometimes. Moderate amount of gp, sometimes necessitating early night.
Some chest pain today, esp near right armpit (dullish).
Tense feeling around upper back (aching)
Facial flushing or hot feeling, esp. eyes, jaw & sinus areas. Feeling v. cold this evening although weather not especially cold. Legs aching pretty much all day (back of knees as usual, but it’s not usually so persistent).
11.12.99 Lower lip has frequently gone into spasm during past week.
13.12.99 Have had ache in upper back quite a lot during past few days. It’s in centre (spine?) Had thought it could be due to some of exertion, but now doubt this. Also wonder whether it is tension, but don’t think so.
Bout of extreme urinary frequency after supper (at least every 15 minutes) Had this 2 nights ago, but not last night, although ate same food. Only difference was that last night I only drank coffee - no tea (and by ‘night’ I mean 2000-2100 at the latest)
15.12.99 Breasts aching a.m.; ditto yesterday. Period not due (although they seem to have become two-monthly now anyway) Still have yellow discharge (not copious but fairly continuous). Have had this for months.
Gp started in early evening & persisted. Some pain in mid-abdomen at one point. Had gp all yesterday evening too & resorted to g & t. Had to give up studying this evening too.
Wondering whether upper middle back pain is due to hunching up against the cold.
X - has become persistent by 2002. (does this refer to pain?)
16.12.99 Aching breasts a.m., & gp in evening, but bearable until quite late, whereas previous 2 nights I’ve had to go to bed early.
17.12.99 No backache. No gp in evening but sleepy.
24.12.99 Nagging but not severe headache & back-of-neck ache for much of day. Had dug hole in garden earlier, & have noticed before that often get mild headache after exertion (e.g. walk to shops, esp. in sun). Extremely hungry for unknown reason. Bit nauseous at times. Bladder or urinary discomfort & frequency in early evening. Not cystitis-type.
Spot on back of neck (left side - not where ache is; that’s central & further down.)
Also have diarrhoea (although this is not unusual) & am belching quite a lot. Visual disturbance & inexplicable bouts of sleepiness, which again are quite familiar.
Also have painful clitoris again.
25.12.99 Bad gp & uncontrollable passing of wind in evening. Mild headache earlier - had to take 2 lots of paracetamol. Drinking g & t & vodka & orange. Had to make a defecation dash in late evening - highly productive!
26.12.99 About 4 defecation dashes a.m. High productivity still!
Gp p.m. again → early night.
27.12.99 Gp & fatigue again p.m., & brief mild headache. Early night. Physically active day (washing, cooking, etc.)
28.12.99 Worse-than-average urinary frequency esp. in early morning (while in bed). Had not had spicy food in evening, which had thought might be an exacerbating factor (diuretic effect)
29.12.99 Urinary discomfort, having not occurred for about 2 weeks I think, came on suddenly immediately following inhalation of strong scent from one of J’s taxi drivers going to his house. Connected? On and off after that. Took a cranberry juice tablet (had stopped).
Extreme urinary frequency on going to bed - every 10 mins. Not cystitis-type irritation but due to volume accruing in bladder. Had to take Nytol.
30.12.99 Passed at least 1½ litres urine last night over about 12 hours. Bowel movements slow a.m. Slight headache.
Also had gp during night.
Headache persisted till evening, slightly eased by paracetamol.
Felt rather strange until then - disorientated, disconnected. Intermittent urinary discomfort. Felt much better in evening.
Haven’t had hot flushes lately.
31.12.99 Gp in early hours again. Bowel movements quite slow again a.m. Back to ‘normal’ (i.e. runnier) after breakfast but felt incomplete. Slight headache then started.
1.1.99 Occasional mild rectal aching - wave-like, so poss. peristaltic.
After squeezing hair dry for a few mins after washing it, it took several seconds to open hand out again.
Ache at back of knees quite often.
Wonder if this greater fatigue is due to Xmas excess (Indian meal & alcohol). It seems that a symptom, once sparked off or exacerbated by something (including medicines taken in 95-6), then persists for days, weeks, maybe longer.
Sense of smell seems impaired - think I have a ‘bubbling-under’ cold. Cats not keen on their food at moment - wonder if they also have loss of sense of smell. Related to meteor showers?
3.1.99 Dull but rather persistent & nagging headache which feels as if it is related to sinus-type congestion.
Weaker than usual still. For some days I have had the problem of text ‘swimming’ in front of eyes when trying to read, but can adapt to it to a certain extent. Slight vertigo if incline head when standing.
4.1.99 Muscles in left leg, esp. that at back of knee, suddenly became painful while walking downhill from library. Pain was sufficient to worry me & make me limp. It went away after I stood still for a few seconds in a shop.
6.1.99 Very tired & weak in early evening. Had walked to E. T. & back. Arms much more tired than usual, & eyes very tired although hadn’t used them that much.
7.1.99 Stronger today. Waited rather too long between loo visits (went twice between 1400 & 1600) & had slight leakage while walking home. Didn’t seem to be under my control at all, & it was sudden & without immediate warning. (2 or 3 times)
10.1.99 Urinary continence difficulty. Poss. due to extremely cold weather and/or brandy & coke in morning. (Power was off for 4 hours so I couldn’t have tea) Kept feeling need to go but finding very little to pass.
Orgasmic-type spasms/waves tonight (as described on 26.12.98)
12.1.99 Sweating & dreaming excessively during past week or so.
Relatively strong today.
13.1.99 Woke with nasal congestion, slight mobile respiratory catarrh & stuffy feeling head- & eye ache. Have been sneezing a little. There is a lot of ‘flu around.
14.1.99 4 or 5 urgent defecation dashes a.m. Last time foul-smelling as due to infection (unless it was due to Brussels sprouts or baked beans!)
Feeling quite sprightly today. Wonder if some problems are due to underlying or recurrent infection which is destroyed when body deals with other infections?
Haven’t had a ‘woozy’ spell lately (for months, I think; definitely weeks (forgot to close brackets)
Left knee pain almost absent*. It’s been quite bad at times recently. Still have a bit of a taut ‘pulling’ sensation at backs of knees, e.g. when stand or walk.
* Spoke/wrote too soon. Painful enough on bending, shortly after wrote this, to make me limp downstairs with leg straight. Pain right at front of kneecap.
15.1.99 Slime. Tap water smells very strongly of chlorine at moment (has for a week or so). At least I think it’s chlorine. Tastes quite sharp. Am using Boots filters but it still smells & tastes strongly after filtering.
Sharp twinge in rear left hip area in evening. Felt as though a nerve had been pinched (as in knee)
16.1.99 Still getting sharp but not severe pains in left hip when move in certain ways.
One of hands kept going numb in bed this morning although I wasn’t putting a lot of weight on the arm. Had to change position to prevent it.
Spell of extreme urinary frequency (every 10-15 minutes) after going to bed although it was >2 hours since last cup of tea.
Also flea paranoia (not completely unjustified). As consequence I took a ½-strength Nytol c 0200. Success.
23.1.99 About 5 ‘defecation dashes’ a.m., last one foul-smelling, like after alcohol binge (but haven’t had drink for weeks) Fermentation in gut?
Dreaming & sweating a lot (the latter v. pungent)
Have been irritable lately, as if premenstrual, but period is so late I’ve more or less stopped expecting it.
24.1.99 Cleaned teeth for first time in weeks & gums bled quite a lot.
26.1.99 Gums still a bit sore
28.1.99 Jaw aching, & mouth sore at times (but not at others - strange).
30.1.99 Accidentally made what appears to be a permanent black dye & stained large areas of my palms & fingers with it. Hope it’s not toxic! Was hennaing hair, had henna on hands & tried to wipe it off with a cloth which had been lying in possibly stagnant water for some time. Presumably bacteria or algae reacted with the henna. Soap won’t remove it.
31.1.99 Serious bowel urgency on waking. Motions quite soft. Black dye is coming off slowly.
2.2.99 Weaker & achier than usual. Have been sweating a lot again & sometimes feeling v. hot on mild exertion.
3.2.99 Copious & very slippery slime a.m. Similar in afternoon, this time red/pink. Turned into a period.
4.2.99 Very fatigable still/again. Quite knackered after just sorting out V’s & my organic veg. Really knackered after sorting out *cast-off clothes which S had brought round yesterday *& trying on. On hands & knees going up stairs to finish it after short walk. Walking up first bit of hill to highest bridge was very difficult. It’s still the muscles at backs of knees which feel most strained - they ache a bit a lot of the time. I have great longing to sit down much of time.
Did small amount of sewing yesterday evening; hand aching after 45 mins.
9.2.99 Breasts have been aching for days Unusually it started after period did (which I think is about a month late)
Leg weakness & back-of-knee aching has been persistent for at least a week, & arms tire very quickly when raised (within seconds).
No apparent increase in eye muscle weakness.
16.2.99 Sweating a lot for a while in afternoon (pungent).
18.2.99 Felt prickling sensation on right breast & found that wart appeared to be coming off.
Inexplicably cold when went to bed last night - weather mild.
Unexpected menstruation today.
23.2.99 Quite a lot of twinges on inside of where left thigh joins groin, when put weight on leg, today. Wart on breast still there. Still prickles occasionally.
24.2.99 Foul-smelling motions on one visit.
25.2.99 Arm muscles & upper abdominal muscles still aching intensely as a result of having to press down hard on photocopier 2 days ago.
Sneezing quite a lot. So is S (cat).
Had headache after walk a few days ago (it was windy.)
Pain on front left-hand side of head on lowering it.
26.2.99 Muscles still aching.
27.2.99 Bowel urgency this evening & yesterday evening (coinciding with intense thinking as often does). This evening it was followed by hunger accompanied by slight nausea, as I used to get a lot in ‘95/6 (& poss. before). It used to be esp. common in mornings
Have been having baked beans & veggie-sausage for breakfast instead of tofu.
1.3.99 Headache after fairly strenuous day (gardening, etc.). Pain on lowering head as well as persistent milder background ache (like on 25th).
Seem to be weaker than usual - even very mild exertion exhausts me very quickly (sometimes immediately). This has been so for several days, maybe longer.
4.3.99 Unpleasant chemical smell outside house in afternoon. Bit like bleach but seemed subtly different.
10.3.99 Getting those disconcerting involuntary spasms (like orgasmic ones) again quite often at moment (last week or so). Especially noticeable at night (poss due to having just washed area?).
14.3.99 For past 2 days I have had IBS g.p. from early evening (1700 or 1800) which is unusual. Eating same as usual & can’t think of any unusual activity that could cause it. Achey on waking, & have slight nasal catarrh; hair v. greasy too, so maybe it’s an infection. Have been stressed out by temperamental computer printer too. Very busy at present - on the go all day, largely in connection with anti-vivisection society of which I’ve inadvertently become acting secretary.
17.3.99 Right hand quite painful when doing diagrams for OU assignment. Pain mainly on side of hand between little finger & wrist. Still hurting when eating dinner in evening.
22.3.99 Woke in early hours with saliva (I think - or poss. nasal secretion) running into windpipe. Had to cough for few mins to try & expel it - it was like when accidentally allowing a drink to go ‘wrong way’. This has happened once or twice before in past year (during sleep)
Legs (mainly backs of knees) aching almost as soon as I get up over past 2-3 days. Today I ended up on hands & knees - I could walk but I’m worried that ignoring the pain means that I could be causing more damage.
Feeling a bit as though I have an infection. Bouts of tiredness, & am getting visual ‘repeats’ - when I look away from something I can still see it superimposed on the new view. This is not unusual for me. Maybe it accounts for the perception of something moving at edge of field of vision.
23.3.99 Armpits sweating profusely & rancidly. Weather cool.
28.3.99 Had a couple of gins today because tired & stressed over I.
Noticed that ache at back of knees is greatly diminished by alcohol - could this be one reason for being extra fatigable after a boozy evening?
Think I overrode fatigue signals today - quite physically active, partly to take mind off I. (So I can do it, but it’s probably not a good idea)
Very sleepy in evening - tiredness has been accumulating for few days due to insufficient sleep partly due to I & partly due to having to rescue mice from C in middle of night.
Oh - had at last 4 ‘defecation dashes’ a.m., last (2?) of which were loose & foul-smelling. Anus burning a bit, poss. due to a rather hot bit of chilli in last night’s dinner.
29.3.99 Similar bowel movements to yesterday. Had had another night of not much sleep (same reasons again). Extremely tired all day.
30.3.99 Slight urinary discomfort, & in evening the occasional sensation of passing small lumps which occurs with cystitis.
I has been diagnosed as having cystitis.
2.4.99 Red-tinged slime a.m. (Period just finished/finishing) Genitals smelt very yeasty earlier. They often smell a bit yeasty or cheesy, which I wonder whether is connected with the intense itching I get as well as my M.E.-type symptoms (including IBS).
Feeling woosy in early evening. Have been veering between nausea, hunger & feeling full all day. Maybe stomach is oversensitive due to overindulgence in wine on Wednesday. Concentration v. poor.
3.4.99 Weak-legged & woosy on getting up (am usually OK then). Think I still have red-tinged slime.
2nd defecation foul-smelling (like after alcohol binge).
Much more difficult walking up R H than usual. Legs v. weak for some time afterwards.
IBS gp all evening. Couldn’t get much OU work done as result, & gave up & got early night as it wore me out. Also unsteady & hallucinating (as is often the case with IBS)
4.4.99 IBS subsided during night but returned around 0500-0600. Woke up sometimes with arms & legs feeling as though all muscles tensed but couldn’t be sure whether was doing it unconsciously due to bowel discomfort of whether it was completely involuntary.
Foul smelling faeces & aching legs on getting up. Feel as though haven’t slept enough (maybe haven’t).
Urinary discomfort in evening.
5.4.99 3 or 4 defecation dashes, some foul-smelling (but then I did have an Indian meal & quite a lot of booze last night! P also has a digestive upset - not sure of its nature but it involves frequent visits to loo).
Legs very weak & achey again. Hand also more painful than usual when writing (yesterday too).
6.4.99 Foul faeces & extreme aching again.
9.4.99 Motions still loose & pale (butterscotch colour). Think that I’m feeling slightly stronger. Weak & woozy yesterday morning but better later.
Nostrils burning when walking up R H. Mr B was using some garden tool - maybe a strimmer.
Only average difficulty getting up hill.
IBS pain throughout abdomen in late evening.
12 & 13.4.99 Urinary discomfort in evening. I (cat) has cystitis again too.
Faeces normal again, ditto muscles (just usual weakness).
15.4.99 Urinary discomfort p.m. Foul-smelling faeces a.m. Defecated 5 times yesterday - once in evening.
Flushed & woozy for an hour or so in evening.
Feel a bit stronger than have recently. Walk to shops easier than usual.
This evening I noticed that back of left leg was markedly puffy.
17.4.99 1st completely IBS-free evening for a while - also crotch not smelling foul. (Wasn’t too bad yesterday either - on either count).
22.4.99 Eyes suddenly became v. tired & bleary in early evening. Back of neck aching at base (where joins shoulders?). Slight difficulty urinating a couple of times today, & slight burning discomfort in evening. Then extreme frequency for ½ - 1 hr (every 10 mins or so) & thirst. More normal by late evening. Then discomfort & frequency returned. Also tired again. Have been irritable today too. Poss. not enough sleep. Have been waking/getting up even more frequently than usual recently - 10 times a night or more sometimes.
23.4.99 Foul-smelling faeces on 2nd or 3rd defecation of morning. Sleepy attack in evening (fairly brief - ½ hr or less) & fasciculations of right eyelid. (Feeling as though it was stuck - not stuck shut but stuck in odd/awkward position for a couple of seconds at a time) Maybe upper and lower lids.
24.4.99 Fairly copious slime a.m. Am beginning to suspect a Candida connection with M.E.
25.4.99 Slime a.m. Right eye still twitching fairly frequently. Had quivery feeling in chest yesterday evening, as if heart was ‘fluttering’. Fasciculations? It occurs quite high in chest, I think.
Feel quite strange today - disconnected. Have been sleeping quite a lot, but with a lot of interruptions & heavy dreaming.
Some slight urinary difficulty last night. Think it might be due to a pocket of colonic wind pressing on urinary tract.
Generally bleary around eyes.
Occasional dull pains in reproductive or bladder area (I think).
26.4.99 Slime a.m. Considerable yellow discoloration of incontinence pads during day. Still occasional twitches of right eye.
27.4.99 Slime a.m. ‘Randiness’
28.4.99 Slight slime a.m. Painful clitoris later.
Slept better than have for some time - hours at a stretch! Lately I have been waking every hour.
I (cat) slept in box by bed instead of on/in bed. Had brown rice at supper time instead of pasta (non-organic, whereas pasta was organic). Could either of these have been factors in aiding sleep?
29.4.99 Slight slime a.m. I think. Clitoris still painful. V. weary & sluggish on getting up.
30.4.99 Slept quite well again but had to get up ‘early’ (0800?) due to urgency.
Having considerable ‘woozy/sleepy’ bouts, esp. in morning & early evening.
Slight urinary discomfort (T appears to have cystitis as well as I). Definitely feel as though have a bug of some sort. Bowels a bit loose; motions sometimes foul-smelling. Clitoris still painful.
1.5.99 Clitoris still painful. Started boiling water yesterday evening in case it contains cystitis-causing pathogens. (T & I (cats) & I have it to varying degrees)
Have been feeling a bit edgy, anxious & occasionally depressed for past 2 or 3 days. Not sure if due to poor sleep, hormones or the strong cup of coffee I’ve been having (per day I think) Think breasts were aching a bit yesterday or day before.
Lower neck was aching considerably after hennaing hair 2 days ago, & continued throughout yesterday.
2.5.99 1st faeces of day smelt cheesy after ½ - 1 hr. (added later - done in bucket?)
Right eye still twitching occasionally.
Getting occasional twinges of pain in lower groin - feels like reproductive or bladder region. (Poss. former - period came on 5 days later)
8.5.99 Right eye twitching/sticking quite a lot today. Have been using microscope a fair bit over past 2 days.
10.5.99 Slept & dreamed v. heavily last night. Woke with saliva dribbling over face, very thirsty (not unusual) & feeling as though had had an anaesthetic - dizzy, bronchitic feeling. Have occasionally had this before.
13.5.99 Quite bad eye fatigue at times during past 2-3 days. Had to abandon OU study before having completed day’s quota.
Still often waking up with limb muscles rigid, sometimes accompanied by cramp.
16.5.99 Getting unfamiliar abdominal cramps (gastro-enteritis-like) & having to defecate in evening. Sometimes foul-smelling. Put it down to eating whole packet of chilli-flavour tortilla chips!
17.5.99 Still having abdominal cramps at times - had to rush to ET (added later - presumably external toilet, i.e. bucket in shed) at 0530 to defecate. It burned a bit once or twice, Still smells rather ‘hangover’-ish. Hot flush either this evening or yesterday evening.
18.5.99 Cystitis started at 0500, along with full-blown gastro-enteritis. Former became v. painful v. quickly. Even after 3 Co-proxamols it still hurt a bit. Blood in urine later. About 15 defecation dashes before 1100 despite K & M. Often mostly wind.
Prescribed 10 Trimethoprim 200 m.g.
Symptoms had improved greatly by midday, but returned shortly after. Better again by mid-afternoon.
19.5.99 No cystitis symptoms. Bowel movements v. sluggish, as they were yesterday despite urgency & softness.
Bit nauseous a.m. Even after nausea had gone I couldn’t eat more than about ½ - ⅔ breakfast.
T (cat) is showing signs of cystitis again.
Urinary burning returned a bit c. midday.
Came over very sleepy @ 1300, although I think I slept quite well last night.
Bruised feeling in stomach region.
After some abdominal pains the sleepiness receded. Digestive region extremely noisy!
Persistent abdominal pain in evening & continual loud gurgling.
(Yesterday got hiccups when infection was at its height)
Evening defecation (2300) - wind & small soft motions. One yesterday or today was unusually pale.
21.5.99 Mildish urinary burning all day. May have been a bit dehydrated due to quite boozy day yesterday.
22.5.99 Urinary burning gone when got up but back (mild) by midday. Fluctuated during day. Appetite still not back to normal, but improving. Stomach & intestines still very noisy. Have had slight yellow discharge for few days.
23.5.99 No urinary discomfort a.m., but slight burning developed later. Finished antibiotics last night. Chest flutter followed by few seconds of faintness while using microscope. May have been holding breath (but not for long)
Quite bad IBS gp this evening & yesterday evening. Nausea when hungry but still only eating small meals.
24.5.99 IBS gp on waking. Relieved by defecation. No urinary burning. Cleaned washing-up rack - it had a slimy coating.
Burning started around midday. c.1600 I took a Power Health ‘double-strength’ cranberry juice tablet (claiming to contain equivalent of 4.5 fresh cranberries). Burning almost gone in evening.
Phone health centre - results of my urine test only arrived today (it took 6 days). One-word verdict ‘Normal’. Great help - no info on what was tested for.
25.5.99 Phoned doc to find out more re urine test. Said only very low-level bacterial infection found - not enough to cause symptoms. He said if I wanted to check for Trichomonas I’d have to have swab done by nurse, but that Trichomonas did not cause urinary burning.
He didn’t say if blood was found in urine.
I really think that doctors round here are of little use.
Taking 2 cranberry juice tablets a day with meals, & having garlic again (I hadn’t had any for weeks as none in organic veg box).
Very little urinary discomfort today.
Appetite normal again - or perhaps actually excessive.
26.5.99 Copious slime a.m. Some urinary and rectal/anal burning late a.m. (latter poss due to too much chilli yesterday).
27.5.99 Slime a.m. Right eye twitching quite a lot. Lower lip went into spasm a few times yesterday (felt like lip being pulled from sides)
Feeling ravenous much of time.
Had to leave library this afternoon because feeling nauseous. Also hot & shaky (& hungry) Same symptoms as I used to get 20 years ago (or a little more) which I put down to low blood sugar. Ate some chocolate in health food shop to try to stave it off.
Felt much better after sandwich & cup of tea at home.
Still have mildish urinary burning & discharge at times.
Have been feeling generally rather run-down since gastro-enteritis & severe cystitis on 18th.
Tongue sore a few days ago.
Very achey in evening as if have flu. Muscles seemed v. tense & rigid when I was trying to sleep. Have also had rapid, throbbing pulse at times, including when trying to sleep. Don’t think it’s due to anxiety - seems to be physically based (inexplicably high levels of adrenalin?) Had to take Nytol tonight.
28.5.99 No urinary discomfort until late afternoon. Extreme frequency at bedtime (every 10-15 mins), necessitating taking Boots Nytol equiv.
29.5.99 Urinary discomfort in afternoon. Had a defecation dash in late afternoon. Slept well without assistance.
30.5.99 IBS gp came on c. 1800 & persisted till c. 2100 (by which time I’d had a pint & a half of lager).
31.5.99 IBS in early evening. Persisted despite 2 pints of lager.
1.6.99 Cramp in leg a.m. V. little urinary discomfort today. No IBS! Tooth or gum ache in right upper jaw in evening - poss due to sinuses? (Felt a bit flu-y in early evening)
2.6.99 No urinary discomfort! Still taking 2 cranberry juice tablets a day & having quite a lot of raw garlic.
5.6.99 Stopped taking Cranberry Juice tablets.
9.6.99 Left foot still hurts to walk on following long walk in fields on 6th.
10.6.99 Right eye still twitching at times.
12.6.99 V. vivid dreams last night. Woke once or twice with arm muscles rigid - took some time to straighten (maybe 10-15 seconds). Sleep quality varies immensely. Had one or 2 unusually good nights recently, when slept for maybe 5 hours without waking. Other nights sleep seems v. shallow & strongly interrupted, & feel tired on getting up.
Nails growing v. fast at present.
15.6.99 Bleary-eyed (very) & a bit headachey in early evening. Used Frontline on all 4 cats earlier, but may be unconnected - there is a bug going round.
17.6.99 Right eye twitching a lot in evening. Think left one did once as well. (fasciculations, I think - muscles seem to contract in a rictus for about a second or two). Also some IBS-type gp in late evening, while eye twitching continued.
18.6.99 Eyes v. tired for much of day. Found it hard to focus both eyes & attention at times & not ‘drift off’. Right eye still v. twitchy.
19.6.99 Sharp, stinging pains in right eye several times while studying, followed by slight watering.
20.6.99 Pain (sharp but not severe, lasting few seconds) on left-hand side of chest in afternoon. A bit later (½ - 1 hr?) later I felt momentarily short of breath, & soon after that coughed up a bit of phlegm. Felt a bit ‘chesty’ soon after that when J B started using his highly polluting grass cutter in field (strong exhaust smell) & feeling persisted. Not wheezing. Still feeling bit odd around base of gullet, poss. like gastric reflux (burped a few times) an hour or 2 later. Maybe the occasional flutters I get in that area are fasciculations.
Had mildish pains higher in gut than usual yesterday. Maybe have a mild gut bug. Or maybe having too much fat - have had quite oily papadums on occasions lately.
22.6.99 Twitching of right eye is becoming worryingly persistent, occurring throughout day. Legs less achey than usual (perhaps because sitting down quite a lot).
23.6.99 Woke with IBS gp (as have a few times recently). It’s always relieved by defecation in mornings.
Very bleary-eyed & with burning nostrils on getting up, although slept quite well. This persisted for some time. Have often been tired (esp.eyes) on getting up, & for some time afterwards, lately.
Temperature control v. bad last night - often feeling hot, & when felt cold & put a cardigan on I was instantly too hot again.
Hungry today. Appetite had been a bit lower than usual for few days.
24.6.99 Legs (backs of knees, mainly) aching all day.
26.6.99 Mild pain on right side of chest* quite often during past few days. Am noticing a feeling at back of right knee as if cold water or cold metal on it, usually when walking.
Stubborn headache this morning (top of head & back of neck). 2 paracetamol did not alleviate. Had same for short time yesterday evening.
*Wonder if have mild bronchitis. Later concluded that I probably have. Have fairly dry & slight cough. Bronchitis would probably also explain the unfamiliar type of temperature swings, tightness in chest & slightly breathless feeling, sleepiness, headaches & fluctuations in appetite.
Eye twitching has decreased.
Wonder if bronchitis is viral, bacterial or parasitic? NB have had a few quite painful &/or itchy insect bites in garden in evening in last few days while picking wild strawberries. One on stomach is now a still-itchy red patch about 10 x 5mm following days of scratching. Could any of these bites have transmitted parasites?
Could it be infection that is causing the current delay of inset of groin pain, which more commonly occurs soon after evening meal but is currently occurring in early morning?
27.6.99 Having had 2½ cloves raw garlic last night & about the same this morning, my chest pain has gone. The old familiar evening g.p. returned. A lot better after a couple of gin & tonics, although they also made me v. sleepy for a short time (this is common nowadays).
1.7.99 Have been feeling tense, edgy, occasionally briefly depressed, & hungry, for past few days. (Depression has been so brief as to be perhaps better described as fleeting). Poss all due to PMT?
2.7.99 Still hungry, tired, itchy, & eyes sometimes feeling ‘gritty’. Have dandruff. Nails growing v. fast. Concentration & short-term memory v. poor. Still getting stubborn headaches.
Nausea early p.m. Shaky & sweaty. Lot of hallucinations lately. Pulse racing a(t?) times today. Slime today.
Headache in evening. Slight nasal congestion. Feeling well below par.
3.7.99 Slime a.m. Took long time to wake up fully (as often do these days). Still v. hungry. Bought an old walking stick yesterday, having improvised with a clothes-line prop for a week or 2 at times. Trying to get used to using it as much as poss, esp. when going up & down steps or bending. It seems to considerably delay leg fatigue.
Sometimes get feeling in back-of-knee muscles like a piece of elastic being gently twanged. This is prob. a fasciculation.
Vivid dreams again (& plentiful).
Slime a.m. (copious today & yesterday)
Right eye twitching a lot (or bit?) again.
6.7.99 Found stick helpful for walking up R H into town. Got an arm-ache instead of leg-ache!
7.7.99 Sudden attack of nausea as I started to eat breakfast. Used will-power to overcome it & it went away in few minutes.
8.7.99 Persistent OBS g.p. in evening.
Vodka & lemonade (+ small amount of tonic) ineffective, whereas g & t sometimes seems to cure it.
Faeces still frequently soft & foul-smelling. Poss. connection with v. hot weather or insect (e.g. flea) bites?
Lower lip has gone into spasm a few times over past week. V. broken sleep last night & not the full 8 hours, but bowels made me get up 0800. V. tired during day, but couldn’t sleep when tried in afternoon.
Extremely hungry.
13.7.99 Sudden dry cough at times today, which have had occasionally over past 2-3 days.
Unfamiliar pain across upper abdomen during afternoon - felt like stomach or other part of digestive system. Limb muscles aching a lot today & yesterday.
14.7.99 Catarrh & sore throat a.m. as yesterday. Stomach (?) pain like yesterday’s in late afternoon.
Right eye twitching quite a lot again, esp. when I have just changed focal point of vision.
15.7.99 Blood pressure 110/70 (Well-woman check at health centre). Weight 9st 4lbs with clothes. Think that weight gain may be largely due to inability to use muscles to burn calories, as don’t think my calorie intake is excessive.
Breasts aching a lot - having to wear bra (period 10 days overdue).
NB weight gain insignificant since 30.5.98)
17.7.99 Slime a.m. & p.m. followed (12 days late!) by period.
21.7.99 IBS g.p. all day, having started yesterday evening. Had taken K & M in morning as having to go out before usual ‘defection dashes’ would be finished. As a result, only had one dash.
23.7.99 Quite long-lasting IBS again (as for last 2 days, starting in quite early evening).
24.7.99 No evening IBS! Eyes aching quite badly during day while studying. Took paracetamol. Occasional stinging sensation in eyes, & notice in late evening sometimes that right one is bloodshot in one spot. Don’t think eye twitched today!
26.7.99 Aching around eyes a.m. after some computer work & illustration for OU assignment. Hand aching too. Ditto legs (as usual).
29.7.99 Admitted defeat & abandoned attempts to grow brassicas as removing butterfly eggs is too exhausting.
Am definitely significantly worse as regards leg-ache than this time last year. Bending down is v. tiring, so try to do it as little as poss.
30.7.99 Sudden moderate nausea c 1700 followed by mid-abdominal pain (just above navel). Gradually metamorphosed into the more familiar lower abdominal pain (again, not especially bad), persisting throughout evening.
About 5 bowel movements a.m., some sluggish, some nothing but wind & small amounts of nearly liquid faeces.
I think that these symptoms tend to occur in v. hot weather, as at present.
1.8.99 Right eye twitching a lot, also aching, following quite a lot of OU study including assignment work, which involved scanning pages of course unit. Think it must be just * due to muscle fatigue as with the twitching I get at back of knees when testing after exertion. Hand aching from writing. Had to keep resting other arm when grating carrots. (This is now usual.)
Have had nasal congestion for part of day for perhaps a week. Often wake with it.
*Changed mind, as I sometimes wake with eye already twitching, e.g. on 2.8.99 (could that be due to heavy REM sleep?)
6.8.99 Slime a.m. Eye twitch absent when under influence of alcohol (moderate amount - ½-1 can of Guinness)
7.8.99 Eye-twitch (right one as usual) is back. Nasal congestion a.m. as have quite frequently at present.
9.8.99 Keep getting bouts of extreme sleepiness in afternoon (e.g. today but not every day). When lie down & try to nap I can’t fall asleep.
11.8.99 Developed sinusy headache c 1050, i.e. 20 mins before solar eclipse. Had been looking at sun through solar viewer for brief periods (20 secs max at a time). Paracetamol didn’t seem to help, but nose began to clear rapidly when had cup of tea + toast & marmalade c 1235. Was burning before that.
14.8.99 After using microfiche viewer at library (poorly focused, with no focusing facility, & with pages moving from left to right instead of top to bottom as previously) for few mins, I became nauseous & sweaty & had to abandon it. Recovered about 10 mins after stopping. Think it was a form of motion sickness.
19.8.99 Getting very irritated by frequent spells of apparently phantom itches & sharp pains in skin. Itches feel like invertebrates walking on skin & pains are like insect bites or injections. This has occurred for a few years but I think is becoming more frequent.
22.8.99 Top of left arm (joint, I think) rather painful since last night. Was using computer a lot yesterday.
23.8.99 Left arm a bit better. Felt depressed in evening, poss. because worried about I (fearing that euthanasia time might be approaching). Then started feeling cold for a while - perception not quite normal. Seeing rapid movements in air, etc. (Had also seen this earlier, outside.) Wondered if there had been anything nasty in bonfire smoke which had blown over for some time today. Had smelt OK - woody.
27.8.99 Right eye (think it’s upper lid) hasn’t gone into spasm too often lately, but bad today. Spasms last 1-3 seconds approx. Had some Guinness last night - felt quite tipsy. Twitching is worse the day after I drink (and stops while I am under the influence, I think).
29.8.99 Getting mild headaches v. frequently - think of them as ‘sinusy’ headaches as also often have nasal catarrh (sometimes hard to shift). Also mildish pain at back of neck. Also frequent visual distortions - seeing non-existent movement, etc.
Despite generous swigs of kaolin & morphine, keep passing small amounts of runny (mucous?) gingery faeces along with gas. Farting a lot generally for past few days! At least it’s not building up & causing pain in groin.
1.9.99 Getting a lot of hot flushes lasting several minutes each. Have been cutting down on tofu due to cost - maybe should step it up again or take phytoestrogen supplement.
Sore throat a.m. (not uncommon).
V. sleepy lunchtime, catarrhy & with mild headache & back-of-neck ache. Nauseous early p.m.
2.9.99 Orgasm-like contractions early a.m.
Faeces still amorphous & gingery. (Have been for a couple of weeks). Anus v. slightly sore - wonder if due to chillies in dinner. Have been using quite a lot of seeds.
4.9.99 Started having tofu for breakfast again (every other day) in attempt to reduce hot flushes.
V. catarrhy on getting up - lots at back of throat which had to swallow. Headachey. Weather v. hot.
6.9.99 J B liberally spraying some kind of wood treatment on a piece of furniture in his rear yard in evening. Fumes penetrating my rear extension. I was outside briefly while he was spraying. Got wheezy & at times a bit dizzy. Some tightness & pain in chest & fluid in airways. At front of house the Bs are cooking on barbecue!
9.9.99 V. tense. Prob. PMT. Am getting about 6 hot flushes a day, including 2 or 3 at night.
11.9.99 Hot flushes milder & less frequent for a day or 2. Had been having tofu & scheese every day.
Motions still runny.
12.9.99 V. hungry & irritable - prob PMT. Shaky attack in evening prob because put off eating for too long (even though have been eating more than usual) Legs wobbly, arms trembling, nauseous.
16.9.99 Still v. hungry. Right eyelid extremely twitchy - really distracting. Had had Nytol last night & several swigs of K & M, & was worried about S (having dental treatment + heart murmur).
Despite K & M, motions still runny.
Felt distinctly fluey in early evening - catarrhy headache & bleary eyes After vet told me of risk to S of dental treatment (anaesthetic) but necessity for it I was rather choked, with tears welling up. Nose bled slightly afterwards, & again in evening.
18.9.99 Fluey symptoms had gone by yesterday although still have some catarrh & occasional mild headache. No hot flushes for over a week - had been having about 6 a day before. They got milder & then stopped.
Weather much cooler. Have not been having tofu or vegan HRT, but have had some Scheese every day.
Still get hot after mild exertion.
Right eye still twitching after 3-4 gin & tonics & a single-skin h.g. (evening) (added later - I think that this means that the twitching persisted despite the g & ts & joint.)
Quite bad, persistent gp in evening, poss. exacerbated by having to wear more clothes due to cold weather. Tried gin & tonic (several) but no effect.
19.9.99 Lot of nasal catarrh in early hours. Slime a.m.
20.9.99 Dullish pain in upper abdomen after supper.
21.9.99 Moderate flush in bed in early hours of morning.
Took a PhytoSoya capsule (made by Arkopharma)
Didn’t defecate till midday although had 2 ‘false-alarm’ dashes (wind). This is extremely unusual. Only went once today. (added later - presumably meaning defecation)
22.9.99 Upper abdominal pain in evening after supper (curry-type as usual). Not severe.
23.9.99 Right eyelid v. twitchy. Occasional spasms in left one. Think I may have had twitches/spasms in upper and lower right lids.
Still getting just one or 2 mild flushes a day, usually following exertion, eating or hot drink.
Regularly get horrendous itching of vulval skin, and still getting v. sore. Itching gets esp. bad when damp due to sweating (which occurs for no obvious reason). The most intense itching is when a small piece of cotton wool from pad, or tiny piece of loo paper, is stuck to skin.
Decided to start taking 2 PhytoSoya capsules a day as recommended on packet, to see if any symptoms (e.g. itching) are reduced. (No.) (written in different-coloured biro, so presumably later)
Eyes quite blurred today (as quite often are). They feel wet.
Didn’t defecate till midday again. Although ate some food for supper as usual, no abdominal pain in evening.
Did eat rather a lot of Bourbon biscuits during day.
23.9.99 Strange combination of edginess & slight sleepiness in early evening. Right upper eyelid & left lower eyelid twitching a lot.
Had been eating chocolate & chocolate biscuits during day.
25.9.99 Both eyelids still twitching, although stopped briefly when I started drinking G & T. Sometimes starts when I have been rubbing eyes or looking around a lot.
Gp in evening (after G & T & supper) caused me to go to bed early (2200 or 2230 as opposed to usual midnight).
27.9.99 Painful clitoris a.m.
29.9.99 Quite bad pins & needles + minor cramp after kneeling to clean out grate. This has happened before recently - think it may be a ‘normal’ thing now.
30.9.99 Mild, dull pain on upper right side of chest p.m.
Felt funny after early-evening meal. Shaky, slightly nauseous, hot, veins in hands standing out. Feel slightly catarrhy. Only ingredient different from usual was beetroot which I’d cooked in non-filtered water.
Slight pain on upper left side of back (near left shoulder). Slightly reminiscent of pains I got from my toxic mint wine in P. Wonder what symptoms of manganese poisoning are? (Added later, when typing up, why did I wonder this?)
Tinnitus comprising a high-pitched electronic-sounding hiss
1.10.99 Woke c 1000 although went to bed soon after 2300. Still v. sleepy - wanted to sleep on. V. catarrhy & ‘thick-headed’. Headache later which persisted so had to take paracetamol, which seemed to work.
Got weepy later when trying to report slug pellets on path (outside No 3, where else?!)
It appears that there is a flu bug going round.
Urinating even more often than usual. Feel grotty.
2.10.99 Painful clitoris.
Quite bad abdominal pain (tight, trapped-wind type, just above groin) in early evening. OK by 2100 (this is unusual - it usually persists) Had had 2-3 G & Ts between onset & recovery, & passed moderate amount of wind.
Left eye v. watery later, making reading difficult.
5.10.99 Headache c 1730. 2 paracetamol did not eliminate it. Sudden bout of sleepiness c. 1800. Slight urinary discomfort. Had walked & sat in sun earlier (pleasant but not hot)
Scars from flea bites are not fading despite having healed months ago.
8.10.99 Persistent back-of-knee ache pretty much all day, despite v. modest amount of activity
9.10.99 Had to lie down c 1530 due to wave of sleepiness. Heart pounding - this is not uncommon, & happened last night too. Urinary frequency (dilute, I think) Breathing hard too (as if had been exerting self)
DIY in evening resulted in slight pain on right side of chest while breathing heavily afterwards.
10.10.99 Still have mildish urinary discomfort. Too much sweet stuff? Have been eating biscuits & chocolate lately. Taking Power Health cranberry juice tablets (one a day) since 5th.
14.10.99 Urinary discomfort & vaginal discharge for past 2 days or so. Taking 2 cranberry juice tablets a day from 12th, & stepping up the raw garlic to a clove a day.
15.10.99 Foul-smelling faeces quite often for past few days. Have also had some itching & stinging pain in anal-perineal area.
17.10.99 Started inadvertently defecating when using wee-bucket in bedroom (Able to stop quickly).
Catarrhy headache today (mild).
Hungry, slightly nauseous when didn’t eat quickly in response to hunger.
Disconnected feeling in evening + mild ache in neck & top of spine. (between shoulders)
Sudden urinary urgency at times. Urinary discomfort still coming & going. Pass large amounts of urine some nights (looks like 2-3 bladderfuls!).
22.10.99 V. ‘irritable’ bladder (& urinary tract? (forgot to close brackets) tonight & last night. Can feel liquid moving downwards inside. Discomfort near exit of urethra at times, whilst at other times there is no discomfort anywhere. Yellow discharge (don’t think it’s urinary leakage). Have had this for a few weeks on & off. Definitely passing too much urine, as get thirsty.
23.10.99 Bladder bad again in evening, + thirst, although not too bad last night (in bed) - but had taken Nytol to ensure night’s sleep wasn’t prevented by urinary frequency. Took one again this evening. Problem is like cystitis but with discomfort rather than pain. Also have itching/occasional stinging in anus.
24.10.99 No bowel movement till after midday, then slower & more solid than usual.
27-8.10.99 Calculated fluid input, output & urinary frequence (should be frequency - later note) 0800-0800. 44 urinations! (For unknown reason, daytime frequency was extremely high Took Nytol to enable sleep to win over urge to urinate, otherwise it might have been higher). Only passed about a pint overnight.
Input 2590 ml (all water apart from 2 mugs of tea - much less than usual tea-drinking). Output 3-3.1l.
28-29.10.99 Passed a litre of urine overnight, as do fairly often.
29.10.99 Right arm still v. tender where doctor took blood sample 3 days ago. He was quite adept, & I don’t usually have tenderness for so long.
IBS-type gp in evening for 1st time in a week or so. Had beans & veggie sausage for breakfast for 1st time in a week or so (instead of tofu). Connection?
(not sure if same date) Short-lived (expelled the gas) but accompanying visual disturbances continued as more gas moved along. Had hallucinations (of cat in lounge) before the pain started as well as after. This is quite usual.
Eyelid twitching has become much less frequent; no longer troublesome.
31.10.99 Passed well over a litre of urine last night (10 hour period max.)
Polyuric & thirsty this evening, with frequency similar to 27th-28th. Frequency was preceded by urinary discomfort, & the feeling of passing small solid (but not hard) objects - dead epithelium? Often get this when have urinary problems such as cystitis. Still taking 2 cranberry juice tablets & having 2 raw cloves of garlic a day.
Back to ‘normal’ frequency later in evening (had drunk 2-3 mugs of water).
No IBS GP p.m. although had beans & veggie-burger for breakfast (ditto yesterday).
2.11.99 Still getting urinary discomfort for a period every day or 2. Also have thin yellow discharge at times as before.
5.11.99 Paradoxically I’m having more hot flushes since recommencing taking PhytoSoya than when I went without - about 4-5 a day as opposed to 0-1 a day.
6.11.99 Dull pains in per abdomen on occasion during past 2-3 days. V. brief dull pain to front of left armpit today. Spleen & lymph nodes? (indicating infection). Still have thin yellow vaginal discharge. Have had to go to bed early a couple of times (2300 & 2200) as v. sleepy. Sleepy this evening too - difficulty reading OU text; eyes hard to keep open.
Disconnected feeling in early evening & tinnitus later (before sleepiness). Tinnitus consisted of fairly faint, high-pitched electronic-type whistling whine, like sometimes occurs on poorly-tuned TV or radio.
Dull upper-mid-back pain-again, lasting until early morning. Had been pounding washing - connection? (.)
9.11.99 Woke up with one arm rigid & crampy. OK after few minutes.
Getting spasms of lower lip a few times a day for past few days.
10.11.99 High-pitched ‘tinnitus’ 2040. Have identified what it sounds like - my computer monitor before computer is switched on.
Could it actually be an external sound? Seems to occur around same time each time (although I have heard it during night when in bed). I know the electrical wiring is a bit dodgy in house.
V. sleepy in early evening, + weak & flushed at times.
11.11.99 IBS-type gp in early evening - first in a couple of weeks, I think. Had thought about it yesterday, i.e. that it hadn’t happened lately! Started having apples as snack food instead of biscuits & chocolate yesterday, as weight is now well over 9 st.
12.11.99 Still have yellow discharge but haven’t had urinary discomfort for about a week, so have stopped cranberry juice tablets & relatively high raw garlic intake.
V. itchy anus yesterday; also rather sore esp around outside.
Just after writing the above, got urinary discomfort so started 1 cranberry juice tablet a day again. Discomfort only lasted ½ - 1 hr. Poss. due to dehydration due to few gins last night.
13.11.99 Dull but persistent gp (also had yesterday for quite a while I think). Went around 1700, when started drinking g & ts.
15.11.99 Following tiring walk up R H plus walk to top of R H car park, when got home not only muscles at back of knees & calves but also those at front of thighs were feeling taut & throbbing a bit. This is unusual.
Right eye v. itchy in evening. Had been in coffee shop where I think someone was smoking, then in A P’s car. Had also handled a bird cage bought 2nd-hand from W & cleaned out cage of sick mouse (see Nature Diary). Had also handled I’s abdomen which is bald & scabby.
Before itching, both eyes had felt as though had grit or eyelashes in them, leading to rubbing.
16.11.99 Uncomfortable in bed last night, as sometimes am - difficult finding comfortable position for legs, & getting pins & needles in forearms & hands.
Tend to get pins & needles (almost cramp today) when kneeling & leaning forward to clean grate. Right eye watering a lot in late evening & stinging a bit. About an hour earlier there had seemed to be foreign objects in eye which I rubbed away (also see yesterday). Strange correlation - yesterday I rushed mouse to vet which had badly injured right eye.
Stinging & blurring due to watering eventually forced cessation of studying. Eye then felt as though there was a piece of grit in it.
17.11.99 Slept v. well last night. Bowel action unusually slow & motions much more solid than usual. It’s as though I were taking Spasmonal.
Nasal catarrh, feverish spells & mild headache, as though have a cold developing.
Seeing non-existent movement & vague shapes quite a lot. Legs went wobbly in evening (different from usual feeling). Haven’t eaten anything different from usual.
Urinary discomfort in late evening (towards outside). Took an extra cranberry juice tablet.
Spell of extreme sleepiness around midday. Prob. would have dozed off if hadn’t been physically busy.
21.11.99 Slime early a.m. Haven’t noticed this for ages (months, I think). Had erotic dream in early hours - such feelings seem to coincide with slime attacks. Still sliming a bit p.m.
27.11.99 Moderate IBS gp all evening. Have had this quite a lot lately. Due to worry over I (cat)? Although pain not severe, it still causes tiredness & concentration problems. Have gone to bed ‘early’ several times recently (e.g. 2200, 2300 - maybe earlier; not sure).
28.11.99 Gp still persistent - continued through night & morning, & still present, although mild, in afternoon. Not bothersome when lying down.
30.11.99 GP still persistent. Decreased during morning & early p.m. then increased again.
Slightly disconnected spell in late afternoon accompanied by flushed cheeks, which also felt hot. Rest of body felt normal (apart from slight g.p. - more a tightness than a pain, & usual leg ache/weakness).
Extreme urinary frequency in late evening + some discomfort. There had been a v. hot piece of chilli in my dinner earlier - connection? Took an extra cranberry juice tablet & a Nytol.
1.12.99 Urinary discomfort at times. Other poss. cause: S is v. snuffly at moment, due, I think, to a damaged tooth impinging on sinuses. Before urinary discomfort started (morning of 30th, I think), some of his nasal secretions &/or saliva entered my eye when he shook head.
3.12.99 Diarrhoea a.m. Had taken Nytol & CoProxamol last night due to considerable urinary discomfort. Had I euthanased today. Her illness has caused me a lot of stress over past weeks. Drank ⅓ bot gin & smoked h.g. joint. Surprised to find self able to dance when was playing music for I’s send-off.
4.12.99 No noticeable hangover, but foul-smelling diarrhoea. Period came on quite heavily yesterday (a month late). It was preceded by a few hours of red-streaked slime. Sore tongue. Realised that I had become run-down during I’s last few weeks.
5.12.99 Tongue still sore (tip). Still rather absent-minded due to trauma re I. Quite physically active - a bit hyper (but still slow due to CFS). Spirits not too low. Yesterday I had none of the usual tension & excitement when checking lottery nos - didn’t care whether won or not. (Flat sort of mood)
Feeling very cold at times in evenings, shivering a lot, although weather not especially cold. Have only noticed this since I (cat) died.
Also getting twinges in small of back - kidneys? intestines?
9.12.99 Tongue recovered a few days ago.
Getting stomach pain after eating sometimes. Moderate amount of gp, sometimes necessitating early night.
Some chest pain today, esp near right armpit (dullish).
Tense feeling around upper back (aching)
Facial flushing or hot feeling, esp. eyes, jaw & sinus areas. Feeling v. cold this evening although weather not especially cold. Legs aching pretty much all day (back of knees as usual, but it’s not usually so persistent).
11.12.99 Lower lip has frequently gone into spasm during past week.
13.12.99 Have had ache in upper back quite a lot during past few days. It’s in centre (spine?) Had thought it could be due to some of exertion, but now doubt this. Also wonder whether it is tension, but don’t think so.
Bout of extreme urinary frequency after supper (at least every 15 minutes) Had this 2 nights ago, but not last night, although ate same food. Only difference was that last night I only drank coffee - no tea (and by ‘night’ I mean 2000-2100 at the latest)
15.12.99 Breasts aching a.m.; ditto yesterday. Period not due (although they seem to have become two-monthly now anyway) Still have yellow discharge (not copious but fairly continuous). Have had this for months.
Gp started in early evening & persisted. Some pain in mid-abdomen at one point. Had gp all yesterday evening too & resorted to g & t. Had to give up studying this evening too.
Wondering whether upper middle back pain is due to hunching up against the cold.
X - has become persistent by 2002. (does this refer to pain?)
16.12.99 Aching breasts a.m., & gp in evening, but bearable until quite late, whereas previous 2 nights I’ve had to go to bed early.
17.12.99 No backache. No gp in evening but sleepy.
24.12.99 Nagging but not severe headache & back-of-neck ache for much of day. Had dug hole in garden earlier, & have noticed before that often get mild headache after exertion (e.g. walk to shops, esp. in sun). Extremely hungry for unknown reason. Bit nauseous at times. Bladder or urinary discomfort & frequency in early evening. Not cystitis-type.
Spot on back of neck (left side - not where ache is; that’s central & further down.)
Also have diarrhoea (although this is not unusual) & am belching quite a lot. Visual disturbance & inexplicable bouts of sleepiness, which again are quite familiar.
Also have painful clitoris again.
25.12.99 Bad gp & uncontrollable passing of wind in evening. Mild headache earlier - had to take 2 lots of paracetamol. Drinking g & t & vodka & orange. Had to make a defecation dash in late evening - highly productive!
26.12.99 About 4 defecation dashes a.m. High productivity still!
Gp p.m. again → early night.
27.12.99 Gp & fatigue again p.m., & brief mild headache. Early night. Physically active day (washing, cooking, etc.)
28.12.99 Worse-than-average urinary frequency esp. in early morning (while in bed). Had not had spicy food in evening, which had thought might be an exacerbating factor (diuretic effect)
29.12.99 Urinary discomfort, having not occurred for about 2 weeks I think, came on suddenly immediately following inhalation of strong scent from one of J’s taxi drivers going to his house. Connected? On and off after that. Took a cranberry juice tablet (had stopped).
Extreme urinary frequency on going to bed - every 10 mins. Not cystitis-type irritation but due to volume accruing in bladder. Had to take Nytol.
30.12.99 Passed at least 1½ litres urine last night over about 12 hours. Bowel movements slow a.m. Slight headache.
Also had gp during night.
Headache persisted till evening, slightly eased by paracetamol.
Felt rather strange until then - disorientated, disconnected. Intermittent urinary discomfort. Felt much better in evening.
Haven’t had hot flushes lately.
31.12.99 Gp in early hours again. Bowel movements quite slow again a.m. Back to ‘normal’ (i.e. runnier) after breakfast but felt incomplete. Slight headache then started.
