Day 269

Stats: Walked 34 minutes (2 miles)

Today's walk turned into a very scary experience. Thankfully, I was walking alone as the difficulties started at lap 7. I was beyond uncomfortable. It's what I call 'prickly.'

'Prickly' happens occasionally. It's like my skin is hyper-sensitive. Anything out of the ordinary touching me drives me crazy. The littlest thing can become unsettling.

This morning was cold. As a result, I was wearing gloves. They were bothering me. Plus, I was starting to feel overly warm. So, I unzipped my jacket a little & removed the gloves. I tried hooking the gloves onto the hook that holds my keys. Irritating! Then, I moved them to the zipper on my jacket. Annoying! In my pocket...not working! In my hood...too much laying on my upper back/lower neck.

By the beginning of lap 8, I would have walked right out of my skin if that were possible. Then, I ended up unbearably hot at the half-way mark. Stupidly, I removed my jacket all together. With 2 miles logged, I decided to give it up for a bad job.

When I got back to the car, I put my jacket back on as the smoldering had stopped. Off to the market.

Driving down Main Street, my vision started going blurry. Like the sun was too bright, but my eyes were hazy. It was not constant, but did occur a few times for far too long. In reality, it was probably no longer than 5 to 10 seconds each time. It seemed impossibly long while it was occuring. It's hard to describe what happened properly. But, it scared me. Thankfully, I was driving slowly and was well acquainted with the road.

By the time I made it to the funeral home on Main, my nerves started going haywire. I've NEVER felt anything like that before. The back of my head started first. The lower section of my head, just above my neck, the nerves started what I would describe as racing. It didn't hurt. It was totally right there just below the skin. Back & forth. Back & forth the sensation traveled. I liken it to those Christmas tree lights that flash in a running manner.

It was crazy!

After arriving at the market, I decided to stay in my parked car to see if it would go away. I was too afraid to go into the store. Was I going to end up passing out? I had no idea what to expect, so I just stayed put. I'd considered calling T to come & pick me up. Could I drive home? What on earth was happening to me?

After a short time, I decided to drive a little further. Nothing had changed. No more episodes with my vision. It was a slow drive out of town and, if needed, I had numerous places to stop.

Everything was fine--if you count the nerves in my scalp chasing from side to side fine. Coming over the mountain, the nerves started in my back. Side to side. Diagonally. Chasing. Chasing. Then it hit my calves. This was 100 times worse than 'prickly!'

By now, I was so cold!

When I got home, I took my shoes off & told T what happened & was still occuring. Of course, he wants to take me to the ER or Dr. K. I didn't want to go through unnecessary time & testing for which I didn't believe they would have any answers. Five & a half hours later, I still believe I made the right decision.

I took my blood pressure...116/76. A little high for me. But, I'd just sat down. Considering the fear & annoyance I'd been dealing with, it was understandable to have a slight increase. It was well within the normal range, too.

Then, T had me take my temperature. 95.4...that was a little disconcerting. It ended up taking 4 hours to finally feel warm again.

I don't know when the hyper-active nerve action ceased. After laying under some heavy blankets, the racing nerves eased enough that I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was gone.

I've concluded, this is not a Dr K problem. This is a Dr O problem. He is the neurologist I saw a number of years ago, when I was dealing with the worst of my problems. Fatigue, aching muscles & joints, painful hands & feet. All tests came back negative. He felt my problem was the after effects of a virus and that the symptoms would leave as they came...unexpectedly. But, he told me to return if I had any new symptoms. I think this qualifies!

When I was dealing with all my problems, cold was a problem for me. I couldn't swim unless the water was super warm. The cold water was painful. Snow was a nightmare, as it made me hurt terribly. So, I was left watching my husband & son playing in the snow from the comfort of the warm house.

I believe that the cold is what triggered this episode. Now, I need to talk to Dr O. Another clue that will eventually lead to a diagnosis, though I think I'm still far from one.

As for the vision, I'm rather positive that was a blood sugar problem. Normally, I don't eat anything before walking. My stomach does better if I wait to eat until I get home. This morning I had eaten a couple pie dough pinwheels, which I believe triggered the vision scare.

Hopefully, I never experience anything like this again.