Up in the middle of the night

And no, it wasn't the soda.  I sleep in two braces, one on each arm, and tonight they're hot and uncomfortable, they're not helping the pain in my hands, and one arm is hurting from the hand all the way up through the shoulder to the point where I'm having trouble sleeping.  L Although the pain is radiating UP my arm, I know it comes from nerves being impinged at the neck on between the chest and shoulder, as I've had trouble before. I just got up to go to the bathroom, originally thinking it was later and I might as well get up and stay up, but it's only 3 am.  Still, that was good, as YKWIA was sitting up with his glasses on and a cat on his lap (sans a cup of tea in his hand, at least), totally asleep, which is bad for his neck.  I woke him up, which was good, as he also hadn't taken his medicine before bed.  So I went and peed, he took his medicine, I took some ibuprofen, and I'm waiting for that to kick in.  I wish I could take one of the muscle relaxers, but it's too late.

He is winning the war of dog comfort.  One dog sleeps in the bed.  One dog wishes she did, but she's older and can't get into it, for one, and they were discouraged years ago until the puppy came and melted hearts and was spoilt just a bit.  So the little dog usually sleeps at the foot of my bed (well the side, it's a daybed, so it's complicated, anyway, the short end) on a blanket that's actually a thin comforter/bedspread, so it's comfier than the others, which are fleece.  She also loves a little purple blanket I was given when I broke my ankle, that on impulse I put down on a cold night, because one, she knows it's hers, and two, she can make a pillow out of it.  But the other day YKWIA put an old worn out comforter under the thick fleece blanket in his room.  So just now, despite apparently starting out in my room, she was stretched out on this nice, thick, padded bed.  That, and I may have frozen her out with the fans going, but really it's 62 outside right now and the heat is on because YKWIA is from a desert people and freezes in sub-80 degree weather.  My people, on the other hand, are from a cool, rainy island, and I sweat like a pig in any sort of humid summer day.  He'll actually come up in the middle of winter and hold onto my hands, which generate their own heat or try the back of my neck, and his hands will be like ice.

Okay, it's not really easing up yet (in fact my thumb, which is the focal point of my arthritis, is actually throbbing and referring up the arm), but I think I'll try to go back to bed now.  I'm having trouble opening not only jars but resealable pouches due to my arthritis, or turning certain things.  If I'm like this at 51, that's not a good sign. Typing's uncomfortable too, at least at the moment, and since I do an awful lot of that, it's not good either.  :(

Today I was off from work

I had a nerve-wracking drive across town early this morning to see my psychiatrist, and the gas light was on the whole way (it had gone off yesterday, but then it came back on this morning). I hadn't been able to get in touch with the my friends the day before to ask if they could help me out, so I just went over on a wing and a prayer. The doctor (finally) got the notes from my psychological testing and gave me a sample package of Strattera, a medication I'd been on before for my Attention-Deficit Disorder. Before though, I don't think we went as far up in the dosage as this will be eventually. My experience before was that Adderall seemed to have more effect, but it also may have made my heart race a few times, so he thought the Strattera would be safer. Also, it works through the day and night, as opposed to the others, plus, it's not a controlled substance, so I don't have to pee in a cup monthly to be sure I'm not abusing or selling my meds. So, we'll try it and see. I see him in a month for my other refills.

I went over to my friends' house afterwards, again, just praying I wouldn't run out of gas. A had called right before my meeting with the doctor, and I'd explained the situation. We visited for awhile and then about 1 pm I went and got gas, and then I took them to run an important errand. Then I dropped YKWIA off at their house and took A with me to my orthopaedic appointment, as he had a nearby doctor's appointment himself in a little over an hour after mine. It took awhile to be seen--I thought we were going to be late to his appointment. The EMG shows carpal tunnel, but very mild, so while it could be causing my symptoms, it could also be arthritis, which I definitely have in my thumbs. The doctor suggested giving me cortisone shots in my wrists to see if it got better; if it does, it very well could be carpal tunnel, although it's rare that it would come back. If not, it may be the arthritis and the fact that my ulna (the smaller long bone in the lower arm) is congenitally short on both sides. And my left wrist has been broken at some point in my life, unbeknownst to me, so that's an interesting tidbit I didn't know before going about the pain in my hands. Then he had me talk things over with an occupational therapist on exercises that could help and things I should do at work. I'm going to have the occupational therapy department at work do an ergonomic study of my desk setup. He said the fact I had a drawer that went under the desk may be a problem, depending on the height of my chair, as it tends to make the wrists extend up. He also thought I should brace my wrists loosely at night to keep them from flexing one way or the other. So basically they're treating it like carpal tunnel in the hopes it won't get worse. The cortisone shots hurt a bit but not nearly as much as I expected, and the syringe and needle weren't terribly intimidating. He did it quickly and it wasn't too bad, actually.

After my appointment, we went over to A's, an office where we share a doctor. I think I fell asleep out in the waiting room, when I should have read for a bit. Then we went back to their house and then out to Captain D's to pick up food. YKWIA and I watched an episode of 'Lost Girl' and then one of 'The Vampire Diaries'. We were all tired after a full day and I came on home just before dark. I've been working on some photos for my characters, gleaned from the Internet, which I can put on my character sheets.

Okay, I think I'm going to go read some of Grave Secret, by Charlaine Harris, for a bit, and then maybe call it a night. I did find out that my car will go at least 25 miles on its gas light, so yay for that. It's back to work tomorrow morning. It was a busy day at work today (many, many kids in clinic), so I'll have lots of data entry to catch up on. :) It was nice to have the day off, and important to, although I think I have exhausted my PTO except what I'll accrue over this pay period, which isn't great, as Labour Day is almost here. I should have that covered, though, if I can manage to keep my time on an even keel. I stayed late the other day to help make up time from my EMG. I'll go in a little early tomorrow morning, if I can, to help with that. I think I'm just a half hour off my time at this point. Have a good night.

Only I

Could hurt myself flushing a toilet. My fingers slipped and I flushed with my middle finger, which hyper-extended and now I think I've done something to the tendon. My hand is sore, and it hurt as I drove home. It is, unfortunately, my dominant hand, and the same side as the arm that is having numbness and pain due to an impingement of a nerve coming from my neck. Joy.