Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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Feeling more like writing – what do you want to read about?

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I haven’t been myself the last few months and I think it’s been evident on my blogs.

Obviously if you’ve been reading my posts over the last several months you know I haven’t been feeling all that well. First it was the Crohn’s that (well for the last five years) and then that seemed to start clearing up (finally!), but then I started having severe migraines.

I thought the pain of Crohn’s was bad enough, but somehow over the years I managed to work through it and well, at least I could work from home and when I really wasn’t feeling well I could at least read or watch TV.

Then when the Migraines started I began to get dizzy with them. Even watching TV or trying to read was difficult. Heck – sometimes even just lying down didn’t stop the spinning sensation. Now if only the migraine medication wasn’t causing so many side effects and now maybe skin blemishes I’d be happy! I think I have to get some acne products to battle the blemishes.

Normally my blog posts have lots of pictures in them, but I just realized … I haven’t picked up my camera to take photos of my garden or even taken my camera to any of the events or places I’ve gone since the end of May or beginning of June. Now that’s a first!

The good thing is that my head is clearer these days. My migraines are a lot better and well, the dizziness is still around, but it’s better than it was. In the last month it’s easier for me to write posts that it was all summer. Now if only I had more pictures of some of the things I did over the summer to add to my posts that would be nice. LOL

Oh one more good thing … maybe .. yesterday I wrote that my abdomen was so sore that I was curled in a ball on the couch. Today, for some reason, I’m feeling quite a bit better. My abdomen is still crampy, but it’s better than it was. Maybe it will slowly start to get better over the rest of the week. Fingers crossed.

So … now that I’m feeling a little more up to writing, or a little more “able” to write, what kinds of things would you like to read about? If you’re a long time reader of Tricia’s Musings what kind of posts do you enjoy reading when you come to visit?

Lets see .. I can write more posts about this great city – Toronto – and the various events that I like to try to attend (usually free or almost free), or I can write more posts about my silly Labrador Retriever?, life with my husband, crazy neighbors, my garden, home renovation and decor – although we haven’t been doing much renovating these days. What do you WANT to read about?





I’m miserable

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Ah, I spent the day curled up in a ball on the couch. My stomach is so sore.

What was I saying last week? That I thought my Crohn’s flares were over? Ha … serves me right for even breathing a word of what I was thinking. It sure looks like it’s back with a vengeance. If not … it’s either a side effect of the migraine medication I’m taking (which of course means I might have to stop taking the new medication) or some kind of bug.

If it’s a bug it could be something as simple as what might be a 24 hour bug for a healthy person but what will take 2 weeks for me to get over.

I’m still losing weight too. I think I lost another couple of pounds overnight. My husband says he wants a mens fat burner so he can lose weight this fast too. LOL

Anyway .. I’m going to rest and hope this is a bug and that I’m feeling better next week.

Losing weight too fast

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I just went upstairs and pulled out my old dusty weight scale. I have a hate hate relationship with it.

I think the last time it was used was about a year ago and it was by my husband to weigh the dog. LOL He weighed himself first, then he picked up our Lab and I peered at the scale as quick as I could to get their total weight before Midnight wiggled out of Chris’ arms. Probably not the best way to weigh a dog, but it worked.

Anyway … I rarely weigh myself at home because I hate seeing what the scale has to say. You see, when I’m really sick with Crohn’s I drop weight really fast so the scale is scary, and then when I’m on medications that make me gain weight or when I’ve been stuck at home due to illness (like the last few years) I tend to gain a bit of weight (not too bad luckily) and the scale results are frustrating. Plus … I see my pain doctor just about every month and for some reason she loves weighing me every time I see her so I generally don’t feel the need to weigh myself at home.

Today though … I felt the need to weigh myself.

I started taking a new medication for my migraines on August 19th and it seems to have helped quite a bit. I don’t have constant day in and day out migraines anymore – although for the last week I’ve had a couple of migraines and that nasty dizziness has come back (it’s bad again today).

One of my migraine medications many many side effects is that it can cause anorexia (lack of appetite) and weight loss. It can also cause taste perversion.

Taste perversion is a weird name for what basically amounts to carbonated drinks like Coca Cola tasting like salt, sweets tasting both sweet and salty, sour foods like anything flavored with lemon tasting salty or odd, and greasy foods tasting rancid and making other food items taste slightly strange, flat or just not as good as they used to taste.

I’ve never taken diet pills or fat burners, but I’m starting to think that this migraine medication (well really anti-convulsive) with it’s anorexia, weight loss and taste perversion side effects will keep me from looking for the best fat burner any time soon!

I was weighed by my pain doctor around the beginning of August and as I said I started the new migraine medication with it’s many many side effects on August 19th … and now, after weighing myself a little while ago it looks like I’ve lost 12 pounds. I’d say that most of that weight has come off in the last three weeks.

The way I’ve been feeling the last few days – with my stomach acting up (either a mild Crohn’s flare, a bug or yet another medication side effect) I haven’t been eating very much and when I do I’ve been getting abdominal cramps and it feels like I’m losing more weight by the day. I guess I’ll be keeping my hated scale out for a while and I’ll weigh myself a little more regularly. I wouldn’t be surprised if I lose another five pounds by the end of next week.

I think the dizziness is going away – fingers crossed

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I’m happy to report that I’ve been feeling a little better in the last day or two. I’m still a little dizzy but no where near as dizzy as I was on the weekend and at the start of the week. Thankfully.


Man, that was awful.

I’ve never experienced dizziness like I have in the last several months. I’m a nurse and I’ve taken care of patients that have complained of feeling dizzy all the time and I have to admit that I had no idea how bad it was. It’s really something that you just can’t understand until you experience it yourself. At least in my case it was.

I’m still having a few migraines a day. They only last a few hours at a time, but it’s disappointing since they were pretty much gone for about three weeks. Oh and my abdomen is hurting again. I’m not sure what’s causing that … maybe the new medication (Topamax) or just whatever happens to set off my Crohn’s. Who knows … I just hope it settles down again soon.

Like I said the other day when I was complaining about being so dizzy I think maybe my hormones might have set it off. I had my period and it’s over now and the dizziness seems to be starting to go away so maybe there’s a connection.

The one good thing about how bad I’ve been feeling lately and the new medication is that I’ve lost some weight. If this keeps up that might end up being a bad thing … but for now it’s a good thing. LOL I haven’t weighed myself, but all my clothes are looser. I think I might have lost close to 10 pounds by the look of how my clothes are fitting. Hmm maybe it’s time to treat myself to some new clothes and maybe even some lingerie ? Maybe … or maybe I should wait and see how much more I actually lose.

Anyway … if I’m lucky the dizziness will go away sometime over the weekend and maybe the migraines will go away sometime after that too. Hopefully I’ll start next week feeling better.

The dizziness is back

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I’m feeling kind of crappy today. Well, not just today … maybe the last five or six days.

Sigh …

Other than all the weird side effects from the new medication I’m taking for my migraines I thought I was feeling better. I mean, my Crohn’s has been doing a lot better for most of this year, and with this new drug my migraines and the accompanying dizziness seemed to be under control … until a week ago that is.

Big Sigh ..

I was feeling so good that I was actually starting to think that if it continued that maybe I’d be able to get back to work in a few months.

Now I’m not so sure.

The dizziness has come back. Big time. I’ve spent the better part of the last few days feeling like I’ve just got off a ride at the exhibition or something. My head is spinning. I get dizzy if I’m fast forwarding a show on the TV or scrolling to fast on the computer or even just turning my head slow or fast.

I’ve also had a couple of migraines. Not as bad as what I was experiencing in June, July and August .. but still, it’s disappointing.

I have thought of one possible cause for my symptoms coming back. It’s my time of the month and I almost always get headaches or migraines during this time. So I was half expecting to be a little more headachey or to possibly have a migraine this past weekend … but I didn’t count on the dizziness. Maybe my hormones made the dizziness come back. Maybe if I’m lucky when my period is over and my hormones settle down the dizziness and the extra headaches and migraines will go away again.

Sigh …

If it doesn’t and if this is all starting up again I guess my idea of going back to work soon might not work out. Too bad as we kind of need me to get back to work. Our finances are shot. We have to watch every penny. Literally. Hmmm maybe I could look into online schools and see if I could find a career that I could do from home, so if I continue to feel this bad for the foreseeable future I can at least start earning a better income?

In the meantime … Do any of you suffer from periods of dizziness? I mean truly disabling dizziness? What do you do about it? Maybe I should talk to my doctor and see if there’s any other kind of medication I can take for it? From the research I’ve done over the last few days it seems medication is pretty hit and miss and the medication that I’m taking for my migraines (Topamax) might eventually help the dizziness however dizziness is also one of it’s many side effects too.

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