Eye doctor said that I *might* have ON, but that he didnt see anything weird in my optic nerve. (similar thing happened the first time I had ON. Changes in the optic nerve didnt show up for awhile) I had pain for a couple of weeks when I moved my eye, and a weird shimmer at the top of my vision. Now I kind of have a little bit of glittery "snow" in my vision sometimes, and some blurries, but it doesnt hurt anymore.

Went to the neuro, he didnt even do a neuro check on me. Just talked to me. Told me to go to my regular doctor and get checked out because I had a cold and The Hug + a cold was making me miserable. My back is really really stiff at about where the waistband of my jeans goes across my back, and my stomach down to a...personal area...has been numb. Neuro did say that I was in a flare, probably the same one that started in December, but said he didnt want to throw any more steroids at me. Asked me to deal with it. (oh...okay...dangit!) He told me that steroids dont always make the flare go away totally. Just lessens the symptoms some and that they can come back once the steroids wear off.

I read somewhere on the internet that being dehydrated can make some MS symptoms worse. I had a cold at the beginning of the week and was taking antihistamines (Mucinex) and was popping Baclofen and Valium like they were M&M's. I was constantly thirsty all week and was drinking pop instead of water. Couldnt seem to drink enough.

So, last night after I read that being dehydrated could make some symptoms of MS worse, I went out to the garage and dragged the case of bottled water into the house. Drank nearly 3 bottles last night before I went to bed. (surprisingly, I didnt have to go potty as much as I thought I would)

I must have been pretty dry. But, after the 2nd bottle (drank everything slowly over several hours) I actually started to feel a little better. My hands had been really numb and had this annoying tingle going on. I woke up this morning, and the tingle was gone and the numbness was better. My back still hurts and is still kind of numb, but a lot of the stiffness is MUCH better. I havent had any baclofen since about 4am. Not walking as funky as I was either.

I havent had any pop since last night. Today I only drank water, and I actually had a small amount of hot tea with dinner (went out for Chinese food) I hate tea, but I was so cold from having to put gas in my dad's car for him that I wanted the warmth.

I realized that I had a lot of edema again, kind of like I had last summer when I was taking Lyrica. I think all the sodium that's in pop and all the junky food I'd been eating recently must have got to me. I can tell that I'm still in a flare, but switching over to plain water and eating some asparagus (a very tasty natural diuretic) seems to have helped. I guess I didnt realize that you pretty much need to be hydrated enough for your nerves to work their best, and if you have nerves that arent working normally, if you're dehydrated that might make already misfiring nerves screw up more.

My cold let up, so now that I'm not taking all the cold medicine, and the spasticity seems to have calmed down I'm feeling a little better. Wish the ball of spasticity in my back would hurry up and go away, but at least that feels better now too. I was able to stand up and un-decorate my Xmas tree today. I even went to WalMart today with my parents. (had to keep sitting down. Yay for Walmart putting benches in Action Alley, that area where they put the dump tables for stuff that's on special)

My dad and I are going to go to the gym tomorrow and try to do a little recumbent bike exercising. My dad doesnt have a cold. His cough is probably from either his heart condition (I hope not!) or his asthma. My mom had a cold earlier this week for about a day. (that's just not fair. She never gets sick and when she does, she's better in about a day or two) My dad is living in fear that he's going to get the cold that my mom and I had. Hopefully he wont.

My sister was going to come over this week with my nieces. We told them that we had colds, and that my dad had a staph infection in his index finger. (that's been healed for about a week) and that was enough to keep my sister away. Good thing she didnt come over. My niece was in the ER last night getting diagnosed with walking pneumonia! (the contagious kind!) She had a 105 degree temp! My dad basically quarantined us. Told her NOT to come over till the kid is better and they're sure that no one else in their house is going to come down with it. Hopefully the rugrat wont be sick too long. I remember my sister had walking pneumonia when she was about the same age (9 or 10yrs old) and was down about two weeks.

Now I'm just hoping to get thru winter without slipping on the ice (again) I slipped a few weeks ago while putting salt on the driveway. Which may actually explain some of the back problem. Neuro told me that I could have strained/sprained something and that could exacerbate whatever is in my back that was causing me to drunk walk around Xmas. (pretty sure it was one of my spinal lesions that was mad at me)

I get to go see the regular doctor next week to get the stuff that the neuro wanted me to get checked out, and I'm planning on asking for physical therapy for the stuff from the flare I had around Xmas (drunk walking, balance issues) and for the back problem. I want them to show me the correct stretching exercises to see if I can get my back to loosen up some more. I'm going to get kvetched at by the regular doctor because the 'roids I took in December made me gain weight. My neuro already kvetched at me for that too. I figure the physical therapy might help with that along with going to the gym with my dad.

I just cant wait for winter to end and for the snow to melt. Trying to walk on ice and snow when you can barely walk normally across flat, dry carpeting really sucks. Plus it feels like MS symptoms are more annoying in the winter.