Day 366-368: Three More Days of Weirdness and the Usual Chaos

Jul 21
7 min read

So, after Thursday’s unexpected episode of “The Street That Never Sleeps,” complete with police cars, heart palpitations, an optical migraine and my Visible Band having what can only be described as an existential crisis, I was hoping Friday might decide to be a little kinder.

It didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet, but it did at least stop throwing quite so many surprises at me.

Friday - Running on Empty (and Electrolytes)

Friday was another work from home day because I was still paying for Thursday’s heart shenanigans.

That’s the frustrating thing with POTS that I don’t think people always see. Something happens that might only last an hour or two, but your body behaves as though you’ve just completed an Ironman. The adrenaline eventually disappears, but it leaves behind complete and utter exhaustion. It’s like your nervous system has emptied every battery you’ve got and then forgotten where it put the charger.

My Visible Band and I continued our ongoing battle of wills.

Honestly, I think it hates me.

Every time I stood up it seemed to have something to say.

“Easy now… you’ve been standing for thirty seconds.”

“Heart rate’s creeping up.”

“Maybe don’t wander all the way to the kitchen without a risk assessment.”

At this point it feels less like a health device and more like a very overprotective parole officer. Sometimes it wins. Sometimes I win. Most days it’s probably a draw, although I suspect the app would argue differently.

The real hero of the week, however, was Hydrava.

I genuinely think I’ve drunk enough electrolytes this week to rehydrate a small village. At this point they’re basically my morning coffee. In fact, they’ve almost replaced coffee altogether, which is something I never thought I’d say out loud. Anyone who knows me knows that coffee used to be one of my love languages. I was the person who could smell a fresh cup from three rooms away.

Now?

I actually struggle to finish one.

If you’d told me a year ago that I’d happily reach for electrolytes before caffeine, I’d have assumed you’d been drinking the wine and rum instead of me.

Work ticked along quietly before I headed off for what felt like the end of a very long chapter.

My final dentist appointment.

Three years.

Three years of Invisalign trays. Honestly, I reckon I’ve gone through enough aligners to build a small greenhouse. Countless appointments. Implants. Tweaks. Checks. More trays. More appointments. Somewhere in the region of twenty thousand pounds later…

Done.

Finished.

I honestly can’t quite believe it.

Walking out of that practice felt strangely emotional because it’s been such a huge part of my life for so long. It’s one of those things that you just get used to. Every few weeks there was another appointment in the diary, another adjustment, another stage of the process.

Then came the funniest part of the whole visit.

The receptionist smiled and asked, completely innocently,

“So… shall we book your next appointment?”

I actually paused.

It genuinely caught me off guard because it was the first time in three years that I didn’t automatically say yes.

I laughed and said,

“Oh… hang on… this is the first time I actually get to say no!”

She burst out laughing.

“I suppose I’ll see you if somebody punches me in the face and undoes three years’ worth of work in one go.”

Thankfully she found that just as funny as I did.

Touch wood, let’s hope I haven’t tempted fate.

Exactly What My Brain Needed

Friday evening couldn’t have been more different.

After the chaos of the previous few days, I went to see my lovely friend who runs the meditation and healing retreat that I’ve mentioned before.

The full works.

Meditation.

Affirmations.

Healing.

Singing bowls.

Gongs.

The sort of evening that leaves you wondering why you don’t do things like this more often.

The funny thing is, my POTS tried really hard to convince me not to go.

You know that little voice that starts whispering…

“You’re tired.”

“You’ve had a long week.”

“Just stay home.”

“The sofa misses you.”

Honestly, my sofa and I are in a very committed relationship these days.

But I ignored it.

I’m so glad I did.

For a couple of hours everything slowed down.

The constant overthinking disappeared.

My shoulders dropped somewhere back to where they’re supposed to be.

Even my nervous system seemed to take a deep breath and say,

“Fine… we’ll calm down for a bit.”

I walked out feeling lighter than when I’d gone in.

Not physically, unfortunately - that bit came later in the week - but mentally.

Sometimes that’s just as important.

The Weekend - Competing in the Olympic Event of Doing Absolutely Nothing

After last weekend’s little adventure, there was absolutely no danger of me trying to repeat it.

This weekend’s itinerary was wonderfully simple.

Recover.

Rest.

Repeat.

Honestly, if resting was an Olympic event, I think I’d finally have a chance of bringing home a medal.

Gold, preferably.

My social life at the moment consists of me, my other half, Netflix, my protein intake and a wristband that treats standing up like it’s an extreme sport.

Rock and roll.

We spent most of the weekend exactly as planned - on the sofa, watching football and binge-watching Castle.

Can we just talk about Nathan Fillion for a moment?

I absolutely love him.

The funniest part is that my boyfriend has been trying to get me to watch Castle for a couple of years.

And every single time he suggested it, my ADHD brain immediately went,

“No.”

Not because I didn’t want to watch it.

Purely because someone had suggested it.

If you’ve got ADHD, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The more someone tells you to do something, the less your brain wants to cooperate.

Fast forward to now…

I am hooked.

In fact, I think my boyfriend might have a bigger crush on Nathan Fillion than I do.

I’m not even jealous.

I completely understand.

Food This Week - Protein Is My Personality Now

The jab is still doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

My appetite is well and truly suppressed, so rather than trying to force myself to eat things I don’t fancy, I’m focusing on getting the most nutrition into the food I do eat.

Protein has become my best friend.

My Instagram-worthy protein bowls have made an appearance pretty much every single day this week.

I’ve gone off bread again, which seems to happen every now and then. My body clearly likes to keep me guessing.

Lots of chicken bone broth.

Plenty of vegetables.

Fish.

Simple, wholesome food that actually makes me feel good.

It’s funny because, before Mounjaro, I’d probably have looked at some of these meals and thought they were a bit boring.

Now?

They genuinely make me happy.

Who even am I?

I’ve also subscribed to a new collagen - Revive Enhanced Plus.

First impressions?

Really impressed.

It actually tastes delicious.

The best way I can describe it is passion fruit baby food.

Now I appreciate that’s not the world’s greatest sales pitch, but trust me…

It’s really nice.

I just tear open the sachet and drink it straight.

Apparently it has better reviews than Oslo Skin Lab and, importantly for me, it’s supposed to support hair as well as skin.

Given everything my body has put my hair through over the last year, I’m more than happy to give it a go.

The Cat MEOWcasts Continue…

The girls have also been exceptionally vocal this week.

Honestly, Molly and Ruby have held more meetings than I have.

This week’s MEOWcast schedule included:

Monday: “Emergency Breakfast Summit: Why We Are Clearly Starving (Despite Having Eaten Twenty Minutes Ago).”

Tuesday: “The Great Feather Toy Investigation and Other Crimes Against Felines.”

Wednesday: “Is Mum on Another Teams Call? Excellent. Let’s Sing the Song of Our People.”

Thursday: “Breaking News: There Is Definitely Something Under the Fridge.”

Friday: “How to Pretend You’ve Never Been Fed Before in Five Easy Steps.”

By Saturday they’d moved on to what appeared to be an in-depth documentary about the squirrel that occasionally visits the garden.

The commentary was… passionate.

Honestly, I should start recording these broadcasts.

When they eventually become internet sensations, I’ll finally be able to retire and live off their earnings…

Exactly as they’ve been living off mine for the last twelve years.

Children really are expensive.

Even the furry ones.

Shoulder Update - The Little Wins

I know quite a few of you have been asking.

It was pretty painful from Monday right through until Saturday.

Not agony, but that constant, annoying ache that reminds you it’s still there every time you move.

Then, finally…

Things started easing.

I’m sleeping on it more comfortably.

My range of movement is slowly improving.

And I’m ridiculously excited about something that most people never even think about.

I can scratch my own armpit again.

Honestly.

If you’ve never had a frozen shoulder, you’ll probably wonder why on earth I’m celebrating something so random.

If you have had one…

You’ll completely understand.

It’s the little things.

Those tiny victories that remind you healing is happening, even if it’s slower than you’d like.

So come on shoulder…

Keep going.

We’re getting there.

Sunday - The Bit We Were All Waiting For

And then…

Sunday.

Weigh-in day.

After a week of feeling like my body had completely ignored every single memo I’d sent it, I stepped onto the scales without expecting very much.

Another two pounds gone.

Two.

More.

Pounds.

That means I’m now almost back to where I was before I became ill and had to pause on 5mg.

Considering everything that’s happened over the last few months, that feels huge.

The real mischief this week came from my body generally. The heat, the POTS, the frozen shoulder… none of them got the memo about cooperating.

But the jab?

The jab just quietly kept doing its thing in the background.

Suppressing my appetite.

Helping me make better food choices.

Allowing consistency to do what consistency does best.

I’m now nearly thirty-six pounds down.

Thirty-six pounds.

That’s a small dog.

That’s an absurd tower of butter.

That’s like permanently carrying around a fully loaded suitcase and then suddenly putting it down.

And perhaps more importantly…

It’s one whole year of sticking with this journey.

Not every week has fireworks.

Not every week is full of dramatic victories.

Some weeks are simply about showing up, drinking enough electrolytes to fill a paddling pool, eating your protein, listening to your body, spending more time horizontal than vertical and trusting the process.