No Sleeping Beauty

Insomnia Persists

Prednisone and my allergic reaction are still keeping me from sleep.  I did nap a little yesterday and today, so I think I may have had a total of 8 hours of sleep in the last six days.  I don't think I will even bother to try tonight - I need to be at the airport by 7 am since I have to be hand patted down because of the stimulator and I'm carrying a bucket load of medication including a fair amount of liquid medication and that throws the TSA screening completely out of whack.

I bought a backpack today that I can carry my laptop in if needed.  I have a laptop case on wheels but its just too large for these little planes I have been hopping.  I'm not going to take my ancient laptop with me this time; its very heavy.  It contains some legacy software that won't load on the newest versions of Windows, so the old thing is necessary but it weighs a ton.  I went into work and printed off some materials, gathered up some thumb drives with info, and worked on a couple of more projects that I just didn't have the concentration to finish.  I'll use the backpack this time to carry my medication, my plane pillow, my plane blanket, my reading material, my printed training materials and my chewing gum (my ears pop too much when I fly so I chew gum).

I'm still having swelling in my throat, my lips, my baggy eyes, and a lot of edema in my lower legs.  All that fluid has to go somewhere and gravity dictates where.  It seems to be somewhere my kidneys can't grab it until it gets down to my feet and then it gradually will disappear.  Hoping that flying this week won't aggravate it - in the past I have blown up like a balloon during the flight when still in the process of hiving.  Not sure why - maybe it's the inactivity or just the crowded closeness you can't avoid with nowhere to put your feet up or maybe the pressurized cabin. I'm glad to go see our clients - wish I had been able to go last week but since I had this durn flare of hives it probably was a good thing I didn't.

I guess I will sleep on the plane flights tomorrow if I can, and on the ride to the hotel.  That is a definite advantage of being very very very very very sleepy.  I quit driving for work purposes this summer - the medication levels and the daytime sleepiness were not good combos for driving, nor were my tingley numb legs.  I just don't want to expose the company I work for with any liability for my impaired ability to drive, so I will be chauffered by coworkers all week.  They are all great drivers so I'm happy to ride.  If I wanted to strike out on my own in the evening the hotel is just a couple of blocks from fast food places and Wal-Mart so I could walk there easily.

Haven't packed my bag yet.  Not sure what I am waiting for.  Procrastination is not my friend.  I think my brain is just so tired from not sleeping and being on prednisone overdrive that even making small decisions is hard.  With the swelling still active and the hives and angioedema trying to revive about 18 hours after I take the prednisone I don't think I just stop taking it.  I will be in trouble if I try.  I did buy some liquid benedryl capsules today, as they are a little more quick acting than the tablets.  I'm out of my benedryl/phenergan skin cream so until I get it ordered at the compounding pharmacy I will have to depend on oral dosing.

Let's see - I will be carrying at least 18 medications with me.  There are probably a couple I have forgotten.  Almost all of those medications this time are to manage my hives. Costly problem.  Wishing it would go away puhleeeese. Ah well, enough fooling around - I better decide what outfits I'm going to wear next week and get things done.  No one's going to do it for me.  At least when I leave on a jet plane I know when I will be back again - next Saturday this time!