push-ups gone again

Oh well. I am now back to 4-5 push-ups. One of these days I will work back through the dates and figure out the cycle of strength, or lack of it. No, I probably won't. If I thought it mattered I would. I guess it is fine for me now just to know that whatever strength I feel one week will be gone after a week or two.

Update update

Well, it goes on.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that my tremor had been going away a bit. Corresponding to this time span, my strength had returned a bit. I noted earlier that I was able to increase my push-ups to 25 or so. Now the last few days I see my tremor returning again, and as you might guess by now this also has corresponded to a decrease in the number of push-ups I can do- which has now returned to around 10. Also in this time I have noticed my left leg has been weaker again up near the hip. I have had brief stabs of pain in my left knee and foot. Prednisone has helped this left leg issue. Oh, and if that is not enough, my left arm also had some pain in the shoulder area followed by more weakness. Again the prednisone has helped this feel more normal.

This left leg issue is curious. I know in the past my doctors have been quick to point out that my right arm was weak because I did not use it as much as I used to, favoring my left arm instead. And then my left arm was growing weaker due to over-use. Well, the leg issue sort of shoots this theory down. It is not as easy as they may think, to favor a leg over the other one- even giving them that it might be possible to do this with the arms. If you walk on two legs, other than hopping on one foot, how would you favor one leg?

Recently I had to walk fairly quickly at least a quarter mile if not more. About halfway into this I felt my left leg start to fatigue a bit but kept on at a slightly slower pace. My left hip and upper thigh never recovered from that. The muscles still feel fatigued. My right leg feels much the way it usually did, except it still shakes when I try to exert it for long periods of time. People can see that I have a slight limp as I walk. Doctors especially, think that this limp is caused by pain. They assume it anyway. Nobody has asked me how it feels. There is not really pain as I walk anyway. It is just that the muscles of my left leg do not work the same as those on the right. This causes a bit of an extra swing of my left leg to make it go. That swing makes up for the lack of muscle control and makes me look a bit lopsided as I walk. Not all limps involve pain. This one is just to compensate for lack of muscle control in upper leg.

now back to 25

Well, I just did 25 pushups. The last time I tried, it may have been around ten just a few days ago- and those were shaky. Just now, I did not get any shakiness until the last couple. I may have been able to push it to 30, but why bother? It is not like a PE instructor is breathing down my neck. I would like to consistently hit 25 at least. I am not sure why I could do more just now, but I have noticed a bit of improvement in my tremor in the last week or so. Maybe they are connected.

Strength update

Well, I am back down to 10 pushups and those are a struggle. Also, I attempted to do a bit of yard work yesterday keeping in mind that I have to watch what I try to do. I seemed very shaky during this and that actually helped me to limit what I tried to do. But, I still had problems later; a tender pain area under right scapula and a feeling of weakness (if I can get any more weak) down my right arm. That arm issue seems better today, but I still notice a pain under my right scapula.

A new cycle of strength?

Well, for whatever reason, I have been having a cycle of strength return since about the time my bad tooth was removed. I am now up to 20 pushups. Actually, I did 20 followed by 15 a few days after the tooth was removed, but then it dropped back again. Over the last week or so, it has built up again. No doubt, it is just a coincidence as other cycles have also been. One thing does not imply another. Of course no doctor would ever suggest that the overall health of my teeth had any impact on NA symptoms, or vision problems even.

That second part I know since I have already asked my eye doctor if my tooth infection could ever have impacted my vision health. Of course, he said no, and then suggested- Not that I know of anyway. I had mentioned that I have had a minor improvement of reading ability. Prior to dentists getting involved with my mouth, I had noticed my ability to read was diminished at least partially by stinging and tearing within minutes of starting to read. Eye doctors suggest that is due to dry eyes and of course there are drops for that. What I had said of course was that prior to my tooth removal, I had this symptom, but not since. And overall, my length of reading ability has also increased. They do not hear that part. And continue to suggest there is not a link between infection and eye health. One other thing eye related is that my intraocular pressure was even in both eyes this most recent time checked. Even as pressures have declined with medication over time, the two eyes have varied quite a bit. Of course, pressures should be even in each eye even if they are elevated. This had been a concern of my doctors. Now that it is even in both eyes, they do not even comment on the fact that my eyes have never had equal pressure since any of this has started.

How is any of the vision stuff related to NA/PTS? I wish I knew. Maybe it is still a coincidence that the two conditions started up around the same time. Maybe my teeth impacted both issues.

A few days later. . .

Well, I had mentioned I felt like I had been hit by a truck after my extraction of infected tooth. I was weak, and with aches and even a fever of 100.7 for at least part of it. Now, it has improved again and I am noticing that at least one previously tender lymph node has returned to standby mode. It must have been switched on so long I had stopped noticing it was there. And, since no doctor ever seemed to notice it either, even if they took the time to look, I guess I started to take it for granted that it should feel like that. I almost seem to remember thinking that tenderness might be associated with my NA. And who knows? Maybe it was- just not in the way I had thought. Maybe my tooth infection was the cause of the NA flare-ups and tinnitus in ears and even my eye issues. It is too soon to have any definitive proof. But a few days after the flood of bacteria has been handled by my autoimmune system, I do feel better overall.

I feel a bit less weak than before, but due to cyclic nature of this in the past, I could just be going through a stronger cycle. But, I suppose that the nature of infection could support cyclic changes. My reading ability may even have improved. Prior to extraction, I would start reading and have instant stinging and tearing of both eyes. The first time reading after things stabilized a bit seemed almost normal. That is probably a coincidence, but it has been a long time since I have pad no eye related issues after starting to read a book.

We shall see how things progress, or if they do. It probably is just coincidental that I feel any different at all. But, it is a good reminder too to keep watch for those teeth. They may be a good source for things that could be adding stress to your health.

To pull or not to pull: a question of possible tooth infection

Here is something else to consider as far as discovery of a cause for PTS starting- maybe, and I stress maybe, since I can’t find anything out there that alludes to what I am going to say. And that is, what about your teeth?

OK, I have to admit I have not been particularly tuned in as far as my teeth have gone for a few years anyway. It is for any one of the common issues; no time to see a dentist regularly because other health issues take precedence, no insurance or too little insurance to do any good, no job or other income to defray the possibly huge expense, or you just do not see anything up there that is amiss and there is no pain. Well, I guess you can have things going on even if you have no visual or pain related clues. And some of that should be dealt with insurance or not. OK, and now I see there are low cost clinics out there I didn’t not know about so there is really no reason to put off that visit.

So, as it went, I had some infection in the root of a tooth. Is this enough to cause a bout of PTS or any other autoimmune disorder? My hygienists and dentist suggest it could. But the only thing I can find out there about this sort of a link goes the other way. Namely, talk of autoimmune disease causing dental problems. Go figure. Infection is infection, and if it is noticed by your autoimmune system, it might just never turn off until that source of infection is removed. That is the theory anyway to lead to removal of that tooth. One issue I take with my own case is that my dentist did not give me any antibiotics to help kick the infection. He suggests that with the tooth gone, the source of infection will be gone and therefore the reason for the autoimmune system response. I wish he had opted for antibiotics anyway. I feel I have been flooded with infection now and I hope he is right about not paying any attention to that. We will see. Or I should say I will see since I do not see him here anywhere. I feel as if I have been hit by a truck, and it can’t all be due to trauma of having a tooth pulled.

I will let you know if any of my other symptoms improve now that the infection source is gone and has been dealt with.