What's this? A whole week of feeling good?

I really don't want to get excited about this. But I've gone since the last blog post (a week ago) without taking daytime pain meds. And I've done a lot in my days. Since last week, the Disabled Guy etsy shop sold two birdhouses and two of my photographs. (in case you don't follow my every move, we're selling stuff to try and raise money to send our daughter to New York City with the high school orchestra). So I've been to the post office five times in the last week (five because I had to go once to get boxes for the birdhouses). I've been to the store- grocery, Wal-Mart and to Fashion Bug to buy jeans with the 17 year old (school starts on Wednesday). All without having to take pain meds in the daytime.

So, I'm pretty sure the Cyclobenzaprine is doing something good for me. It is helping with the sleep issue. The longer blocks of sleep are a good thing.

I have had a few days where I was achy in the daytime, itchy too. Like right now, my wrists ache and my skin is slightly itchy. My muscles are a bit sore, but compared to how I felt just a month ago, this is a huge improvement. I'll take "slightly achy" over "agonizing pain" any day. Of course, my deepest, not-so-darkest fantasy is PAIN-FREE, because I don't remember what that feels like.

Despite the good things about the Cyclobenzaprine, I still get that tired-ish hangover feeling in the mornings. Again, though, if that's one of the things I have to live with to feel human in the daytime, its not that bad of a trade-off. Oh, and the dry mouth. I already take a water pill (Hydrochlorothiazadide) for the edema I've had since late 2004 and I went through a period of time with the dry mouth from that. But now, from the muscle relaxer, I've got pretty bad cotton mouth. I can sit with a mouthful of water and it still feels dry.

I got some mouth spray called Biotene for dry mouth and its rather disgusting. Its 'gentle mint" flavored but its more like "we rubbed some Juicy Fruit on the bottom of a wet shoe and then made a spray out of it". Not good at all. Tastes awful and doesn't do much for the dry mouth. It has been suggested more than once that I try sour candy. So I got some "Icebreakers" brand sour things. They worked okay and even though I dislike sour candies, they weren't so bad. Except they're sugar-free. They have an ingredient called "Sorbitol". I don't know how to say this delicately, so I'll just do the best I can. "Sorbitol" helps people who are having a difficult time with... umm... let's just say it helps you "go" and leave it at that. So, if I use a lot of these Icebreakers Sours, let's just say I don't get to spend that much time sitting at the computer.

So, I will find an alternative because I have stuff to do that requires me to leave the house. And the fact that I've felt damn good in the last week and I can leave the house, well, that's all the better.