It never ceases to amaze me how this TSW plays out - out things can change rapidly while other things stay the exact same for months. Last night the pain returned - no where near as bad as it has been - just pins and needles in various places plus a little restless leg syndrome going on. Slept well last night but woke up this morning itching up a storm! Broke up new areas on my forearms - weeping again. And now my face is super itchy and weeping in many new places like above my lips. It burns and hurts. My forearms have swelled again as well. My legs are getting super itchy in many areas with red bumps popping up - looks like I am in for a spreading flare. But here is what amazes me - my arms have been bad from the beginning - I was looking back on my blog and I can see the redness spreading through the weeks - I now have what I call red sleeves. My breasts and abdomen have been splotchy - red only in the break out areas - that changed as well to being red all over like my arms. My neck and top of chest are now splotchy. My inner arms where the break outs were the worst in the beginning are now almost all smooth...same with the creases behind my knees. Yet the break out and redness is spreading up and down my leg from the back of knee area. I know this is just the TSW working its way through the body, but it is aggravating not knowing what is next. Will my face, abdomen, and legs flare for months on end like my neck arms and chest did? Why is my neck and upper chest calming down but not my forearms?
Good things I have noticed:
...This morning I woke up with a sweaty back! I hope this is good news!!! I wasn't drenched in sweat or anything - but my shirt was damp.
...While looking back on my blog I read about how I was crying frequently because of the pain. I have not cried in the past 2 weeks at least! I could say it is maybe due to handling this better, but in all honesty I think the pain has significantly decreased...maybe my nerves are healing! That would be good.
...Not having to wear an ice pack around my neck 24/7 is a nice break!
....No more shakes - haven't had the shakes in weeks - the uncontrollable shakes that were persistent in the beginning are now gone.
...Agitation and anger levels are WAY down. For so long in the beginning I could not focus on more than 1 thing at a time. If I was on the phone and one of my kids started talking to me, I would lose it - it was like nails on a chalkboard - I was hypersensitive to sounds/noise and sometimes even smells. I would become instantly agitated. I have not had that in about 2 weeks as well.
...Able to tolerate the outdoors longer than 30 seconds. I can now spend about 10 minutes outside before the heat/sun/wind start aggravating my skin. This is nice! I would go out to get the mail and by the time I got back to the house I would be burning and itching severely.
I am so glad I started this blog - wish I would have from the beginning but I was way too out of it during the first 3 months. I am glad I can go back and remember some of the bad symptoms that are now getting better. During TSW, things can be stagnant for so long that it is hard to focus on anything positive (or even think of anything positive). But writing it down and then going back, I can see changes and that allows me to be more positive and have hope.
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