There is so much I wanted to accomplish during my little hiatus. Paying more attention to the spiritual side of me, painting, working on some things in the house….
What have I been doing? Sleeping. A lot.
First I’ve been having much more Migraine Associated Vertigo (MAV), one day I had 2 attacks in one day! That’s never happened before. On those days I understand why I’m so whipped out, but there are many days where nothing has happened, but I feel like I can’t keep my eyes open. I’m wondering if one of my medications is bothering me, but nothing has really changed recently. I was taken off one drug, but nothing was added when this started.
On the 12th I had the Pneumovax -23 vaccine. It’s a vaccine for 23 different strains of pneumonia. Including one that causes meningitis. This vaccine is required for anyone who is getting a cochlear implant.
Unfortunately, I’m one of the people who had side effects to the vaccine. Including extreme soreness of the injection site, and my whole arm, fever, swelling of injection site, redness of injection site, diarrhea, and extreme fatigue. Normally, all of the side effects subside within about 5 days, but some people feel some of them (especially the fatigue and malaise for 14 days or more.) I think I’m in the more category.
This has been an experience. Most of the symptoms did disappear after the first few days. The injection site is still a little pink and warm to the touch, but I can lift my arm, not fever, the extremely gross diarrhea didn’t last long, I’m grateful to say. (too much information following) – One day I was having loose stools, nothing serious, but I felt so exhausted, so I decided to take a nap. While I was asleep the diarrhea struck, it didn’t even wake me up! What a mess. That was a scary thing indeed, for a long time I was afraid to go to sleep, but I was so tired. We decided to put a pad under me on the bed so I knew if something happened I wouldn’t ruin the bed, then I was finally able to go to sleep. But I had 3 times where I had to RUSH to the bathroom before sleep finally came…and I’m happy to say the extreme diarrhea stopped.
Still I’m tired. It’s been 19 days. I don’t think this is just the vaccination. I think it’s a combination of MAV (yes I’m having it almost daily, luckily this vertigo isn’t as intense as my vertigo from the Meniere’s. It is easier to get through.), some medication, and probably just some of the stress from everything. Plus, maybe some of the medication.
I am putting together a post about my journey on my way to getting a Cochlear Implant (CI), mostly it’s a lot of waiting. Next week I tell them which processor I’ve chosen, and I find out where we are with the insurance. I’m really hoping this will happen soon. I’d like to have it turned on by my birthday…what a present that would be!
In the next post, I’ll explain more about what is going to happen, which processor I’ve chose, and a bit more about the process I had to go through to get qualified for the CI.
Until then, I think I’ll take a nap. After all I only slept 12 hours last night. : )
Picnic with Ants 
POOR YOU, you do get all the side effects, don’t you? For once, can’t it just be easy? Hang in there, friend, I’m so sorry you are going through this. My thoughts and best wishes are with you. I’m here for you. Laurie
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At least when I’m awake I’m feeling better, but I’m just so sleepy most of the time. And I wake up feeling horrible for an hour or two. Every day. I wake up with a little vertigo..it’s not bad, but the world is not still, I’m seeing double, and I often have a bad headache. I take my meds, and eat something and it goes away. Bet I’m the only woman around who gets breakfast in bed nearly every day. : )
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Oh, hang in there! Sleep is very healing, too. It’s not a bad thing.
Best to you. 🙂
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Thank you Rita. I do feel that one heals a lot when they sleep, but I could sleep ALL the time! I’m having a hard time holding my head up right now, and I’ve only been awake for 2 hours. It’s crazy. Hopefully, it will let up some soon. : )
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Hope the nap helps 🙂 More seriously, sorry to read how bad you’ve been feeling and what you’ve been dealing with. Hope the worst has passed, and you start recovering from the shot.
Good luck and sending good vibes your way!
Take good care.
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Phylor. thank you. naps….ah, they are nice. I don’t usually wake up feeling bad when I take a nap, but after a whole night’s sleep I wake up feeling bad, every day. A bit of vertigo, stomach hurts, head hurts, hungry and nauseous at the same time, double vision. I take my meds and eat and it clears up soon. But it’s a bad way to wake up!! Rough on the old psyche. : )
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I get what I call “positional migraines/tension headaches when I sleep in a certain postion for too long. Sometimes, I wake up in time to take precautionary measures, other times, I wake up but don’t get up (bad move) and sometimes, I don’t wake up til morning, but which time the headache is entrenched.
I’ve been thinking of getting one of those special pillows that are good for necks (I have the same issue with my neck), but they are expensive and big (we sleep on a futon frame with an Ikea mattress so it’s not a true double bed, and if my pillow was too big, hubby would either find himself pushed out of bed or worse, lol.
Wonder if that’s what’s going on re your head on those long sleep times?
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I do have trouble with my pillow…really wish I could find one that works for me! I’ve spent so much money on pillows it’s ridiculous. However, my headaches after a long sleep are caused by the Intracranial Hypertension…or so I’ve been told. I can’t take the meds in the middle of the night, and lying flat makes it worse. So I wake up and can’t focus, sometimes have vertigo, and normally have a blinding headache. Lately, I’ve been waking up around 5am too pee, so I’ve been taking my morning dose then, and it has helped a lot! If you find a pillow you love, let me know. w
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How are you feeling now? I am a bit behind on my reading as you can see. LOL. I certainly hope you are feeling more relief.
Perhaps the sleepiness is causes from a combination of everything. It seems when several things hit ya at once, your mentally and physically wore out. This happens to me with the common flu bug. 😦
Bug hugs to you my friend! ♥
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