22 year old male, 6 years into the eosinophilic or morpheaic fray, post-college student, living and working in the (late) great high-five state of Michigan.
High-fives... something that I could not do as recently as a few years ago.
Understand that my story and symptom trail is very similar to both previous posts. And, after reading the Flares post, I have decided to skip all of that part of the story. I choose to skip the history because of the comment (paraphrasing), "In the midst of a flare, I can't get my brain to focus." *Bad pun alert* I am going to focus on that comment. (sorry for that).
Lack of focus- I expressed this feeling to my doctors every time I came in for new treatment, based on my flare-ups. Constant fatigue and lack of concentration were (and are) pervasive in my life. They would only respond, "I don't get any sleep either. I know how you feel." I tried to explain that this was a different feeling from my normal, college fatigue from study binges or late nights out. I even asked them to try and discover an answer during one of my MRI's. No answer was given other than "Not connected to the illness."
I tested my sleep patterns, tried to find my REM cycles, slept more, slept less, took natural vitamins on top of the regular treatment, and still felt lost and fatigued. I felt - and still occasionally feel- trapped and lost inside of my own mind. Somehow, it feels like I am peering through the back of my head into my eyes. I also have no history of ADD/ADHD.
Until now, I was nearly convinced (by others) that these symptoms were not symptoms at all.
So - thank you Jocelyn and thank you Kathleen. The blog has already caused me to re-evaluate the effects and status of my illness.
*Where is he now, you wonder?* I am currently off treatment and use crossfit workouts as my own treatment method. Check it out- it has worked wonders for me. I feel that the less active I am, the more flares I feel oncoming. Also, I am training for the Detroit marathon this October. Let me know if I will see anybody there!
Until next time,
Calvin
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Calvin, thanks for posting! I can definitely relate to the high five accomplishment-I bet you were excited when you were able to do it finally. When I was able to clap my hands I was so excited..
ReplyDeleteCalvin, what a great post! Great work on signing up for the Detroit marathon! I agree completely about keeping active. I have had to work on finding balance...I can't run, but I walked the Dublin marathon in 2001, and the Honolulu marathon in 2004. And this past June I did my first sprint triathlon. I'm going to check out Crossfit, I've heard about it a lot, and now you've really got me intrigued! Thanks for posting!
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