Tetanus Blech!

This week has been a pretty busy doctor's week for me. I had a sleep study done on Monday because my doctor in L.A. was concerned about my extreme sleepiness. She thought that it was possibly narcolepsy. It turns out that I do not have narcolepsy, but that I wake up something in the neighborhood of 82 times a night. As such, I'm just not getting enough sleep. My sleep doctor is prescribing Ambien. I'm a little worried because of the possible side effects. I could start sleep walking or sleep eating. I eat enough without adding night time sleeping into the mix. Who knows where I'd end up sleep walking?! Geoff will probably end up picking me up from some all night bowling alley while I'm dressed in a teddy or footie pajamas. I'm definitely going to start wearing pj's I won't be afraid get caught in public in. I'm also worried because I'm hyper-vigilant. If I'm asleep, who is going to get Geoff and me out of here in case of a fire, or who's going to fight off unknown burglars? Geoff sleeps like a stone. We're just goners. It has me frustrated. I mentioned my concerns to Geoff, and all he had to say was, "Did you ever consider that it's thinking like this that's caused this sleeping problem of yours?" He's just no help. Seriously, I shouldn't worry so much about the side effects. The doctor told me that side effects were very rare.

I start school at Saint Louis University in about a month, and I had to go to the doctor for booster shots and a physical on Thursday. She gave me a tetanus shot. I hate tetanus shots! Every time I get them, I end up feeling like crap, and this time is no exception. I have a fever and pain in my back, knees, wrists, and of course, on the injection site. The injection site is swollen such that that it is something like four inches in diameter, and it is itches like a son of a gun. I've put ice on it and Benadryl cream. I have also taken Vicodin for the unbearable pain. I called the 24 hour nurse line that I have with my insurance company. She told me that I should not take Benadryl orally because of the Lyrica I'm on and the Vicodin I took. She recommended that I try cortisone cream. I will go out and get some later today.

In lupus news today. Cheers goes out to New York State Senator Joseph A. Griffo who co-sponsored a bill to support lupus awareness and education. The bill has passed in the legislature. Now he is pushing Governor Paterson to sign it. You can read more about Senator Griffo at NorthCountryNow.

That's it for me today Lupies. I'm going to ice my arm and try to sleep off the effects of this tetanus shot.

Have a lupie day!

LupieKat