(no subject)

[kayre]

So, this time I'm the quiet one, as a couple of you pointed out. The fact is, after the summer which was full of big nasty administrative screwups to sort out... September was just quietly PAINFUL. I've got chronic bursitis in both shoulders, and a partial rotator cuff tear in the left, and I got into a downward spiral where I kept irritating one or both shoulders, and by last week I was really starting to despair. Then something finally clicked. I was describing the pain to someone, and said that it felt like my bones were being crushed-- and that's a key phrase for me. When I'm under stress, my potassium levels drop like a rock. That 'bone-crushing' sensation is a symptom, along with crashing depression. I think the pain itself caused the stress that sent my potassium lower, and that made the pain worse, for a rather scary downward spiral.

So anyway, after 2 days of having a potassium-rich food at every meal (bananas, oranges, tomatoes, potatoes), last Saturday I woke up feeling almost completely restored. That was just in time for a quick road trip to meet Laura halfway from her school to pass along some essentials, and I had a tremendously fun day exploring and shopping. Turns out US 20 west of the Albany area is *gorgeous*-- I'll be going back that way soon! And now I'm moving forward on rehabbing the shoulders, and continuing with at least one potassium food per day.

Comments

[kshandra]

Ugh. Hypokalemia is nothing to f*** with, as gridlore and I learned the hard way last summer... Hope you're able to keep it at bay with the dietary changes. <3

[kyrielle]

Glad you recognized it and hope the potassium-rich foods do the trick!

[sine_nomine]

So good to hear from you! and so glad to hear you are finding solutions. It's amazing how debilitating and mentally challenging pain can be.

And oh re gorgeous drives... may have to add that one to an adventure some day!

Good luck with shoulders and all else...

[gingicat]

I'm really glad you're feeling better.

[cellio]

Yikes. Both shoulders? One is bad enough! I'm glad you found a way to make it stop hurting.

Is rotator-cuff surgery in your future, or are there other things you can do to mitigate?