On the struggle bus...and off for a bit

This is kind of how I feel lots of day. A little out of focus, a bit of bright, but a lot of past-my-prime areas.

A mix.

I had a whole blog post finished and was proofreading and somehow lost the whole thing. That was twelve days ago. I was struggling then. I had a few days of physically feeling pretty rotten as well as just feeling down. But it was only for a few days and that feeling shifted.

I had seen the pulmonologist and told him about my feeling as if I had the flu after two days of Symbicort. He said that was not the usual side effect but maybe the carrier caused it. So he gave me a prescription for a powder inhaler.

I waited to start the powder inhaler until after hurricane passed so I wouldn't confuse weather-related pain with side effects. I did use Albuterol twice a day two days in a row and started feeling the same way I had after Symbicort—joints hurting, muscle aches. That suggests to me that the problem IS the carrier because both Symbicort and Albuterol deliver the medicine the same way.

So I took several days "off" (using nothing to help my breathing) and this week started the powder inhaler while I wasn't aching from any big weather system. So far I have no noticable side effects other than a bit of soreness in my throat for a while after sucking in the powder. It's fluticasone, the same medicine in Flonase spray, which I have successfully used for years. Here's hoping it helps. So far I can't tell any improvement though.

A big positive for me is that my sister arrived yesterday. She'll take me to Monday's scan and be with me when I get the results on Thursday. She's a great help around the house, but I won't make her work the whole two weeks she's here. We'll have some fun outings too.

I'm thinking it's best I lost the other post because it was pretty darn whiny. I'm very grateful not to be stuck in that mood and to be feeling a lot better overall. The arrival of fall weather helps a lot. It's my favorite season. I love the changing of the leaves and the blue blue sky and the crisp temperatures.

The photo above isn't accurate so much now with how I feel or with the season. So here's a photo of the mums in front of my house. I planted one or two of those fall mum container plants many years ago, and one batch made it. I let it spread because I do love mums in the fall.