Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Two Months on Full Dose Gastrocom

I have now been on full dose gastrocom/cromolyn sodium for about two months and things are improving.  :)  It is very nice to stop the accelerated worsening I've had over the last several years.

The first thing I noticed was a lessening of the severity of my headaches.  I still have a constant headache but it spends more time in the three range now instead of the four/five range of the last year.  Next, my sense of smell improved.  I noted this when I was surprised by the smell of ground black pepper.  Apparently I hadn't smelled that in so long that I forgot that it had a smell.  My spice cabinet apparently smells when I open it, too.

My gastrointestinal system then improved with less extremes and much less nausea.  Additionally, for the majority of my life I had no appetite and was never satiated/full.  I ate because I needed to do so but apart from crashing blood sugar levels was never self prompted to eat.  The antihistamines I started over a year ago had given me a regular appetite which was an improvement but I still never felt full.  Now with the gastrocom added I actually feel satiated as well.  It is something of a foreign sensation but I'm excited to now eat when hungry and stop when full.

In the last few weeks I have also noted that my fragrance sensitivity might be improving.  Normally, even with premedicating with additional medication (benadryl which is a rescue medication for me) and a face mask I feel worse for the remainder of the day and up to three additional days after being among lots of other people.  I forgot to premedicate before church three weeks ago and did not feel worse for the remainder of the day.  The next week I did premedicate and still did not feel worse after church.  This last week I did not premedicate and did not feel worse after church.  It would be a wonderful blessing for my fragrance sensitivity to continue to improve.

I have noted, however, that I am more reactive during the second half of my menstrual cycle and am back to getting fairly ill the first week of my cycle.  I am also experiencing "an excessive inflammatory response to ovulation" for up to five days which started four months ago. I may have to go on medication to regulate that but have thus far responded poorly to artificial hormones.

In other news, I graduated from physical therapy for my core and am doing much better in regards to pelvic movement and recurring low back injuries.  Next up is tackling my moderate to severe neck and upper back pain.