On the 10th of February, I had the third transcranial magnetic stimulation appointment. I felt a mix of excitement and expectation and a fear the relief would be shorter than it has been or never exist again. In terms of percentages, it was around 80% excitement and 20% fear. That and a total dose of lack of sleep on the previous night.
My fear was unfounded, thank Zeus! The relief started making itself feel mid-appointment. During that day, it only decreased during the two-hour ride home, which was expected. As soon as we got home, I went to bed and slept like a 10-ton rock.
On the first day after the appointment, 11/02, my pain level was an overall 2.0 because I mostly felt relief. The exceptions were the arms at a solid 4.0 level and my knees with a 5.0. I had some difficulties washing the dishes, washing the clothes, and other basic home tasks. Still, I could do everything with baby steps.
Overall, my mood was a good one. However, the fatigue level remained more or less the same as always. The doctor wants to try using oxygen during the appointments because, apparently, it helps reduce tiredness. Still, I haven’t looked up literature about it. It will be one of those ’try and see’ situations.
The next day, I woke up at 2PM with an overall 4.0 pain level and my arms hurting more than the day before. My thought is it was because I slept so many hours. I was forced to take two hot baths and put hot water bottles on my back to get some relief, but it helped decrease the pain throughout the afternoon. At least the muscle pain because of the headache I felt that day stuck.
Before midnight, I went to bed but only managed to sleep after 4AM. My lower back started to ache more by the end of the afternoon, and it was what kept me awake most of the night.
When I woke up, my arms weren’t hurting as much. That was until I made any effort, and then the pain on them would increase. My body, however, was aching more than the day before. It was ‘visit the in-laws’ day, so I had to sit on their chairs. My body hated the experience so much that I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. After 5AM, I finally managed to get to snoresville, which was only after my second hot water bottle in a row.
After noon, I woke up. My back and my right leg were aching a lot! That eventually relieved me for a few hours, but my arms hurt more as the day went by. By the end of the afternoon, my body was aching as much as my arms: 4.5.
I don’t think I need to say I had another not-so-good night. When I woke up at 1PM on the 15th of February, my pain level was at 4.8 and slowly increasing.
On the sixth day after the appointment, I woke up with a little less body pain, but it became stronger as the day went by. I also had a gigantic headache and an immense feeling of tiredness. That kept me awake until well after 4AM.
When I woke up on 17/02 at 2PM, I felt my body crushed. This pain level, 6.0, has mostly stuck. Sometimes it goes to a 7.0, sometimes it decreases to a 5.0. It has been like this since that day, and that’s the reason it took me so much time to write this blog post: I’ve been in a lot of pain and feeling completely exhausted. I’m like a car with an empty gas tank and completely crushed.
Overall, I believe the effects lasted 6 days, in what seemed like a type of linear decrease. I wished the lower pain days were more, but I guess I’ll have to wait for a few more appointments for that.
photo from Unsplash
