Saturday, March 26, 2011

A Day on the Bay

Esmerelda woke up with me this morning.  I woke up in pain.  My first thought was, "Not this morning.  I have plans"  Esmerelda always tries to ruin my fun.  So I got up and took my pain meds and then laid back down so the pain could ease up some.  Fortunately, it had eased up considerably by the time it was time to leave.  


 I went to the bay with my mom, sister and nephew.  We had fun.  Although, I have to admit Esmerelda did try to ruin it.  We went to a very nice Conservation Center that has been built since the last time we went down there.  There was a very nice young lady working there and we got some free books.  They are very nice books, one on local birds and one on local plants.  We went down to the bay and ate some snacks.  There was a cute dog there.  My mom fed him some chips.   Then we went walking down a bird trail.  The young lady said it was a one-half mile loop.  Then we went to McDonalds.  It was a good day.  

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Slightly Manic Me

So, Maude, is acting up now.  But not really bad.  I am in a hypomanic state.  This means that I have lots of energy.  I want to do lots of things, all at once.  However, if I do too much it will wake my fibro dragon, Esmerelda, up.  I really want to be at home cleaning my house.  But I am stuck here at the office doing paperwork and when I get home I will be busy doing school work. 
For anyone who doesn't know, bipolar causes you to have extreme mood swings.  I am either really, really happy or really, really sad.  Unfortunatley, there is no, or very little, "middle ground" with me.  For the longest time I thought this was how everyone felt.  But, then my depression got really bad and I knew that I wasn't in the land of "normal" anymore.  Right now, I am really, really happy.  It's good in some ways.  I have lots of energy and am in an overly good mood.  The down side is I get easily irritated.  I have decreased appetite.  I want to do too many things at once.  Right now, I am talking on the phone and blogging.  I feel like I am super woman.  I also have a tendency to over-spend when hypomanic.  And I want to save the world.  I'm beginning with the dogs.  I am working with Lost Without You Animal Rescue.  I really want to foster a dog, or a cat, or just help in some small way.  
Esmerelda, my fibromyalgia dragon, is being somewhat good for the moment.  We are keeping her quiet with the right combo of drugs and therapy.  But, I have learned that the slightest thing can wake Esmerelda up.  And when she wakes up, she is not happy.  I am having some slight pain today.  But it isn't enough to slow me down.  I have pain pretty much every day.  But I try to not let it stop me from doing the things I love to do. 
So, for now, I am good to go.  I just need to get gooing on my paperwork at work.  I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful, blessed day.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Naming the "Nasties"

So with the help of my friend Dixie, I have named my "nasties".  The bipolar is now Maude and the fibro dragon is Esmerelda.  Tonight Esmerelda is telling me to go to bed, but Maude is telling me to stay up LOL  I do wish they would get along.

Hiking at Chickasaboque Park

Yesterday, Sunday March 20, 2011, we went hiking at Chickasaboque Park.  We decided since it was our first time out to take the "short" trail.  It is only three miles long.  I was hoping this would not aggravate the fibromyalgia- or my dragon as we fondly refer to it. (I guess I need to name my dragon.  But I don't know what name is fitting.  So I will be taking suggestions.)  I brought hubby, D and N and N's boyfriend, M.   Before we headed out for our adventure we bought snacks at the Dollar General- two bags of trail mix and a water bottle for each person. 
It is only due to my wonderful doctors that I feel I am able to go hiking.  A few months ago this would have not even been possible for me.  But we have, through medication, pain patches, and therapy, made this a possibility.  I have now, for three weeks, not called in late or sick.  This is a record for me and something I hope to continue to be able to do. 
I call bipolar and fibromyalgia the evil sisters.  They like to gang up on me.  When the fibro "flares" the bipolar kicks in too.  So not only am I in pain, I am also, usually, depressed.  Although I have also had times when I was in a severe flare and manic at the same time.  This is a bad combination because when I am manic I have a lot of excess "energy", my thoughts race and I REALLY, REALLY like to spend money.  I am slightly manic right now.  It is difficult for me to keep focused on anything.  However, I am still in the "happy" stage of mania.  Because of feeling better physically, I could really hurt myself.   So, I have to pace myself very carefully. 
Anyway, the hike was beautiful.  Spring has sprung and everything is blooming and growing.  I am doing marvelous today.  Back at work and enjoying the feeling of being productive. 

My First Blog

My name is Andrea and I have bipolar, adhd, fibromyalgia and chronic myofascial pain.  I have been married for almost twenty one years and have two children N and D.  N is 13 and D is 16.  I am currently taking creative writing courses at Full Sail University online.  I am very excited about starting a blog and hope my posts will help people to better understand bipolar and fibromyalgia.