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OK!! I am almost there! My one year Guai Journey. My actual one year date is March 30th, this Friday. So here is my story ...
Before Guai (BG for short):
I have had symptoms off & on
for years. What I mean by off & on (because FM does not go away) was that I would develop symptoms sporadically. I had RLS as a child (Restless Leg Syndrome). I was also chronically sick with sore throats. As a
teen I developed the headaches & the fatigue. I remember I would have to come home and take a nap after school. All my friends would make fun of me because I HAD to have a nap. Even then I have never felt
"awake". I STILL don't really know what it feels like to be awake, alert & not sleepy or tired. I would get sore throats every other day, it seemed. And back & leg aches. I built up a tolerance for
OTC medicines because I was taking so many, so often. I finally got to the point where I rarely bothered to take anything because I knew it wouldn't help. My parents didn't have medical insurance so I never really
went to the doctor as a child unless it was real bad.
In my early 20's I started having problems with body aches. All over aches. Kind of like when you have the flu. Everyday something would ache; my lower
back, legs, neck. My neck was so tight. Every time I moved it you would hear a "pop" but it never loosened up.
My social life became non existent. While all my friends were out on the weekends
having fun, I would be at home falling asleep by 8:30. And even though I was always tired, I could never get a full, peaceful, restful night of sleep. Most nights I woke up every hour or so. And falling asleep? It
would always take me at least a half hour to forty-five minutes.
I suffered from depression as a teen. I do not know if this was FM related or just being a teenager. But even then I knew that I didn't feel
"normal" like my friends. So it was probably a combination of both the FM and being a teenager!!
I am lucky in the fact that I never had any serious IBS problems. I also am not HG. Thanks God
because I could NEVER do the diet!!
Quite frequently I would get bladder infections. I would also get chronic yeast infections. Sex became painful and my sex drive went in reverse (at full speed, I might
add!!)
I am not too chemically sensitive although certain smells will send me into a spiraling headache.
There are many more symptoms that I have had off & on. I just pointed out some of the most
prevalent. If I had to name the biggest complaint, it would be the fatigue. I mean it when I say that I do not remember a day where I awoke feeling restful. There is always this cloud of tiredness over me.
Somedays more then others, but it is still always there. It is not just the, "I'm tired" it is like a ton of weights are on my shoulders. Every step I make is forced.
So that was me BG. How am I now that I have been on guai for a year?
Tough question!! If I would have answered this question a few weeks ago, I would say I was doing SO much better because I was. But these
past few weeks I have been feeling crappy again. Almost to the point of how I felt before guai.
My year on guai was tough, as it is for all of us. I went through a brain tumor scare that kept me out of work
for 4 months. I still do not know if it was FM related or not. The headaches were horrendous. Worse then migraines. And it was almost every day for four months. I have never been through anything like that. I
remember one night, it was so bad I would get into a steaming hot bath & soak all the way up to my neck with an ice pack on my head. I spent hours in there, crying. I had taken every medicine I could for the
headache and NOTHING worked. I felt like I wanted to jab my eyes out and pull my brain out through my eye sockets. Lovely, huh? Then the headaches went away. I still get them but not as severe or as often.
Many guaiers experience the 7-9th month HELL. I did not. My months 7-9 were actually my GOOD months. Months 1-6 were pretty hellish. But 7, 8 & 9 were the months that I had felt better in years. My symptoms were
much milder then they had been. The fatigue not as bad. I had more energy. I was going out & socializing, hiking, going to Disneyland. They were GOOD months and I wish I was feeling that NOW!!
Another
thing that has happened over my year on guai is I am off most of the medications my Rheumatologist had me on. I am no longer on my antidepressant. I still have my ups & downs but I think I am handling it OK
without any medication. I am also off Klonopin. I did not like the way Klonopin effected me. It did help with my RLS but it made me very hung over. My family said when I was on Klonopin, I had the glassy-eye
zombie stare. I am also off Valium. It has been replaced with Xanax, but in a much smaller dose. I also take OTC Benadryl for sleep too. (the Xanax is also for sleep. My sleep cycle stinks) I still have Darvocet for
pain, but I do not have to take it as much or as often as I was. I used to take up to 3 or 4 Darvocet a day. Now I take that many in a week. I also have migraine medicine, but I also do not need that as much. And
the guai has seemed to help my RLS because I don't remember the last time I had it. I also went off my birth control pill. I do want to get pregnant soon. I do not know if it was because I went off the Pill or the
guai but my sex drive has shifted from reverse to neutral. Sometimes I can even get it into first gear! I think this has more to do with going off the Pill though.
Overall, I have seen the changes &
improvements from the guai. Or at least what I hope to be guai. I am a doubter by nature. I doubt everything, so it is nothing against guai or the protocol but more of my human nature. Obviously I think it is doing
something or I wouldn't still be on it. I did experience about a 2 to 3 month period where I felt pretty darn good. Not normal by any means, but as good as we with FM can be at this stage. Because these past few
weeks have been so hard on me I am getting pretty down. It is hard when you "taste" what is out there & then have it taken away. I guess I just have to keep going because I have gotten a glimpse of
what it can be, but better. I will still hold out hope for something that is easier then guai. (I LOVE my products that have the forbidden sals in them) But until that day comes, I am staying with guai.
For
all of you who are just starting on your guai journey, I wish you all the best. It is hard. It is VERY hard. But I think we have learned to be tough & can stick it out. I think we have a great support connection
here. We really rally around when one of us is down. I appreciate that. Today it could be me, tomorrow it could be you. But at least we have a place where we feel "safe." (Penny is refering here to
the guaifenesin support group at YahooGroups)
Penny
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