Wipe out

Cue beach boys music … except the sun isn’t shining

Anyway, after half a day in the office on Monday, am still feeling wiped out. Spent yesterday dragging around feeling in need of a nap and today surcumbed, spending 3 hours out of it this afternoon.

As Mp pointed out I don’t want to get my sleep patterns messed up, but on the other hand didn’t feel much up to making a contribution today. This is a real contrast to last week when I seemed to be doing much more, whether on the exercise, cooking or home front more generally.

Let’s hope the difference isn’t just down to going in to the office. Have an all day, off site meeting on Friday where all I need to do is attend (am not even driving most of the way) so will be interested to see how things go.

Hung over

Once again struggling to get out of bed in the morning. Thought giving up any drinking for the sake of the drugs (therapeutic, rather than recreational) would have helped, but clearly not – or at least not yet.

Perhaps it’s the deliteriuos effect of too many J2Os (which are surprisingly tastey as well as coming in a bottle with a label to pick). Or more probably the late(r) nights spent going out being entertained are adding to the fatigue. Should aim for some earlier nights, although with the slow starts this could mean spending over half my day in bed.

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho ….

… its back to work I go, next week, medical approval pending, subject to scheduling and phasing at work.

While the drug juggling hasn’t necessarily come up with the goods, the doc and I are of the same opinion that it would be good to get back something constructive – provided of course that its not life threatening, mission-critical, and dangerous to do while napping!

As it is, according to some anecdotes, I have anywhere between 4 months and a year of feeling tired to look forward to so I might as well get on and do something in the meantime. In the meantime, it’s amazing to look back and realise that this little medical hiccup has consumed at least 60 days of my working life, to say nothing of lost evenings and weekends.

But at least my travails, such as they are, should only be temporary, unlike Lg, Us, Jf or Mf and all those other people suffering with migraines, mental health issues or non-treatable cancers.

The one good thing is that I have started to get out on my bike more this week and am feeling fitter, even if the legs are more tired and the weight hasn’t shifted. I am sure laying about is not good for my cardio-vascular system and hope that I can just maintain the cycling to work, rather than copping out with the park and ride.

“And finally”, as the two Ronnies used to say, at least the sun is shining in Essex …!

Juggling drugs

Another trip to the doctors a couple of days ago has left me with a new alpha-blocker, alfuzosin, chosen fairly randomly from the list available. I know Db and Gm have had to do this kind of juggling in the past to get a drug within a class to suit them, but its yet another frustration.

First signs from alfuzosin are not promising as felt tired yesterday before taking the first dose, and dreadful this morning. At least the flow is holding up, but I can’t see this drug panning out before returning to see dB on Monday.

I was hoping we could find an alpha blocker by Monday that would keep my waterworks functioning, without causing undue fatigue, and therefore let me get signed off as fit for work. As it is, I am probably going to need to make a gradual return to work (its strange to have been out of it for so long) with shorter days and lots of working from home.

The bottom line is that unless the alfuzosin gets any better, it looks like we are back to playing drugs roulette. Now off to get some coffee (I REALLY need it), start a “tiredness vs drug” diary and google “tamsulosin fatigue alternative”.

UPDATE: having just been looking online, seems the stuffiness I was feeling this morning was listed as a side effect of tamsulosin, which I haven’t suffered from too much up until now taking the alfuzosin – looks like we are going backwards here!

To pee or not to pee …

To sleep perchance to rest, aye there’s the rub … (and apologies to Hamlet!).

Took consultants advice and swapped from tamsulosin to saw palmetto over three day period last week. Felt perkier pretty quickly, but within 36 hours urinary flow rate (and comfort) very poor. As I didn’t fancy the risk of cathetarisation at best, or renal failure at worst, went back on the tamsulosin. The results (positive flow, negative fatigue) were pretty instantaneous.

The upshot of all this is good if it means that we have found one of the major causes of fatigue, and good that the drug gets flushed out the system pretty quickly, but bad if it means I have to choose between peeing or being tired.

The Big Sleep – Part II

Saw the consultant yesterday and mentioned my on-going fatigue. His immediate reaction was “That will be the tamsulosin – younger people don’t get on with it very well”. Thanks for telling me earlier!

As for whether he is right, you know what its like reading the side effects of medicines, which always seem to include headaches, back pain, tiredness – and my favourite, only ocassionally seen, of “death”. Just a minor side effect that!

A quick skim of the literature (with asthenia – posh speak for weakness/tiredness) fails to pull up much, but I will try the recommended “herbal” alternative of “saw palmetto” and see what happens.

Anyway, if nothing else the (never sensitive) consultant reinforced my prejudice that perhaps fatigue is less well reported as a side effect as “older guys don’t notice as they expect to be tired”. Oh for a good bed side manner!

The Big Sleep

It’s been a while since last posting – two months in fact, and just before I was in hospital for my implants. Since then, it’s not so much been a question of a work/life balance as a work/life/sleep balance – and forget the work.

Despite visions of a two week post-op holiday (reading and catching up on directors’ cut DVDs) in a preview of things to come most of that was spent sleeping. Since then, its been back to work for an on-off, unproductive fortnight, two (really three) weeks off over Easter, another week back at work and now I find myself at home again, signed off for the entire month of May.

I feel I have really been fighting myself on the recovery front, feeling tired but wanting to get on with life. Friends, work and the doctor have all been good in encouraging me to take time off and having got through final revision and pre-exam assessments for students, I have gone with their advice. While I don’t want to be off work, I do want to feel better so its worth a try.