Slice of Chaotic Life

The daily life of a celibate middle-aged man.

Archive for October, 2012

You’re doing this on purpose, body

Posted by Itlandm on October 28, 2012

In the late morning, my pulse was back below 60. So I shaved, put on my pulse watch and dressed for a walk. By the time I was ready, my pulse was over 70 sitting, and it remained +10 or more for the duration of the trip. It really seems that my heart now only hold the “old” speed only when it thinks I am going to stay indoors. I suppose that makes some kind of sense, but why has it started thinking that way now?

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Not a success

Posted by Itlandm on October 27, 2012

The first day of my 5 weeks “writecation” has not been the success I hoped for. I put on my pulse watch to get some exercise done during work hours, when my pulse is lower. Except it was like +30-40. A sitting pulse of 90 and above is high even for a normal human. For me who usually has 60 or below at this time of the day, it was shocking.

My bowels went wild a couple minutes later, but I was not sure whether that was the cause of the high pulse or whether the high pulse just scared me shitless… Probably not, because over the next couple hours I had two more excessive bowel movements. In preparation for the second of the three, my heart did the drama queen thing where it goes as fast as it can, which seems to be around 170 these days. I am pretty sure it was closer to 180 last summer. Oh well. I survived (so far – it is now four hours later), still not sure it actually makes me stronger though…

 

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Will the real pulse please report?

Posted by Itlandm on October 15, 2012

I measured my pulse at work today, and it was below 60. That is excellent. In fact, it is lower than the resting pulse of ordinary men. I used to worry about it being too low (bradycardia) until I had my heart checked at a specialist lab in May and was basically told I could participate in top athletics if I just took my asthma medicine. I have avoided that, though, as bodies have a tendency to get used to drugs and stop working correctly without them. I would rather not depend on a chemical for breathing if I can avoid it.

Back to today, as I came home from work eager to exercise. But by now my pulse was up to +10 over what it used to be for the last months. (120-125 instead of 110-115 when walking quickly. Normally I have to jog every couple minutes to stay in that zone.) This is like it was during the 14 days of Mysterious Illness. Was the day of normal pulse just a fluke? Why did it seem OK at work but not in the afternoon? I don’t understand it. And I can’t think of any infection that would behave like that. It is likely not mental – I was eager to get back to my exercise, but not excited in any way.

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Mysterious illness – over?

Posted by Itlandm on October 10, 2012

Took a half-hour walk with some short jogging today, and my pulse is within my normal range (and well below normal human range). It came down a little slower after jogging than usual, but  that’s pretty much it.

I also think I may have found out what triggers the sudden and exaggerated bowel activity. It seems to happen a while after a quick carbohydrate meal: A large box of fruit yogurt or two cups of chocolate pudding is sure to trigger it. Judging from the delay I would guess that there is a sugar spike followed by an insulin spike, and the latter is what causes the symptoms. But I may be wrong. It fits the timing though. I can avoid it by walking for half an hour after the meal, as predicted by science.  (Physical activity, even very moderate, prevents the insulin spike: The body simply feeds the excess sugar to the muscles in favor of all other energy sources.)

More intriguingly, the symptoms seem similar to my fat poisonings, or “darkening” as I used to call them before I discovered the trigger. I feel cold from inside, but only like my bones had been stored in a fridge rather than a deep freezer. I shiver, but I don’t shake uncontrollably like someone left outside in a blizzard. My bowels start moving, but they don’t twist like a dying snake. I am overwhelmed by a feeling of malaise that does not let me concentrate, but my intelligence is not reduced to half and I don’t panic (at least so far).  At the end of the attack I am tired, but not suddenly overwhelmed by sleep. And making the room really warm can pretty much eliminate the attack, rather than just reduce the severity.

Well, that would be interesting if my hypothesis was true. Neither fat nor large amounts of sugar? I would become unbearably healthy, I guess. ^_^ Although I seem to be able to ingest lots of sugar if only I portion it out. I can drink about a liter (quarter of a gallon) of Pepsi over the course of the workday, by not drinking more than about a third of a glass at a time, and then stay off until I get the sugar craving again. So I don’t think I risk starvation because of this.

 

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Mysterious illness, day 12

Posted by Itlandm on October 9, 2012

Pulse is much closer to normal now, so that is good. But this morning, despite sleeping for over 7 hours, I woke up kind of hazy. It was as if my senses were all behind a thin layer of gauze, if that makes sense. I felt not quite dizzy, but a bit unsteady and clumsy. At work, I ate a light breakfast of two cups of chocolate pudding. After this I began shivering for about an hour, had to hurry to the toilet several times, and was generally overcome with such a feeling of malaise that I could not concentrate on my job. Eventually I went into “hibernation mode” as I call it, a state of dreamless sleep in my chair. For about half an hour I did so, waking up every five minutes, and then slept continually and dreamlessly for about a quarter of an hour. I woke up and felt mostly fine, except for a slight headache. I worked normally the rest of the workday.

In the evening I walked for 20 minutes. My pulse was still only +5 – +10, marginally higher than normal. So that is good. But the hazy feeling started to come back, so I went home. It seems like I need unreasonably much sleep these days. Normally, 6 hours 30 minutes used to be enough. I think the semi-stuffy nose could contribute to this: I don’t get as much oxygen as usual. Well, that is one hypothesis. I really don’t know. But it seems I have had these two things for the same period of time.

Anyway, now I have a dry cough. Not sure what’s up with that. Perhaps I just have to have SOMETHING to complain about. ^_^ Hopefully no one is reading.  I mean, I don’t really want people to read this unless I die, in which case perhaps they can find a clue here as to why. I certainly don’t have a clue, but then I am not dead either. Well, as of writing this, I am not!

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Weird sickness

Posted by Itlandm on October 9, 2012

Still sick, still not sure what it is. The pressure in the upper jaw faded during the day yesterday and returned in the night. It has faded during the day today again. But I am still not feeling well. Now my upper body is stiff in weird places, such as the sides, where I am not normally using muscles. And my pulse is 85-90 while sitting, normal is 60-65, so that is a rather huge difference.

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There we go…

Posted by Itlandm on October 6, 2012

Gums are sore and feeling of swelling in both upper jaws, starting with the left. It began last evening, and a long night’s sleep did not cure it this time, although it has only progressed very little in my sleep. My face feels stiff and swollen around the upper jaws, but I cannot see anything in the mirror, so it can’t be much. There is no strong pain, just the constant pressure, and the tenderness in the gums.

 

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Slightly sick is the new normal?

Posted by Itlandm on October 4, 2012

It’s been a week and my pulse is still 10 beats higher than it used to be. I can’t point to any particular infection; in fact, my digestion is more or less back to normal, it seems. My nose is still slightly stuffy, but no more than that. I am perhaps a little more sleepy than usual, but that is hardly an illness.
I walked for an hour today, even though my pulse was still higher. After half an hour, my lower legs were getting stiff; after one hour, my upper body is also stiff. And I was not even jogging, just walking fast. So yes, there is definitely something going on. But I don’t know what it is.

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Vocal cords trouble

Posted by Itlandm on October 2, 2012

Suddenly my vocal cords felt like there was something stuck on them, and I began to clear my throat compulsively. Now my throat is super sore and it still hasn’t quite stopped. This bothers me because occasionally my vocal cords lock up completely for half a minute when I have these attacks, and I cant breathe till they unlock.

I am still alive as of writing this though. I am not sure whether it relates to the infection I wrote about on Sunday. I also wake up each morning with what feels like a head cold, though I suppose it could be dust mite allergy or something, not sure if that plays in. Really, I’m not sure about anything regarding this. I took more phones today than I have done in a long time, there seems to be a correlation between that and getting this condition too. Who knows. Humans see patterns even where there are none. I am still human enough that I might do this too.

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