Teetering on the brink

EatingBeans

Well, I have officially hit crisis level of Trigeminal Neuralgia pain now. 😭 I got a phone appointment with the gp because I sure as hell am not leaving the building in this cold weather, but I could barely even speak to him. Thankfully he got the jist - my question was how many of my old go-to medication can I safely take because I know it is dangerous to change quickly but at the same time I am not coping. Sod side effects right now, how many can I take to kill the pain without being dangerous. 16 a day was the answer. None of this, increase by one every two weeks malarky, I have his approval to increase by max two a day. He’s also said that I can just contact the surgery on Monday via the webpage to request an extension to my fit note, no appointment necessary. Oh, and he’s removed the repeat prescription for the other evil tablets so I can’t accidentally start taking them again. Phew.

So yeah, life is basically on hold until this is back under control. Thankfully the girl’s have both been super good and asking what they can do to help. Heat packs sorted, a plan made for the dogs, dd1 is going to pick up more of the medication for me and post some coins I sold on ebay, and dd2 is on it with the house cleaning. Oh and dd2 also made the lemon drizzle cake so I have that to look forward to. 😋

Work will just have to do whatever they will do. Literally no chance I can work right now. 

Cherryfudge

I'm really sorry it's so bad, though thank goodness for your GP and your lovely girls. I hope the pain relief does the job soon.

Could your older daughter do the Olio run for you?

EatingBeans

The desire for debt and weight busting is still there but ability is sorely lacking. I’ve just taken to asking the dds to grab me microwaveable meals (and comfort chocolate) from Tesco’s and I’m not even looking at the budget at this point. 😔 Currently my life is wake up in pain, take painkillers, eat, and then go back to sleep where the pain can’t hurt me. I really hope the tablets start to work soon. 

The best bit is, Little Dog has now come into season (making dog care especially challenging), and the builders have shown up to start fixing the subsidence in the house next door. Great timing! Last I heard they had submitted a recommendation that the whole two story outrigger at the back be taken down and rebuilt. I was kind of hoping he was wrong but there is a lot of bricks being thrown down so they are indeed taking at least part of the wall down. A rather loud and stressful reminder of the issues of my own house that I could really do without right now. 😢

dawnybabes

It sounds awful 😢. Hopefully cake will help !

do you claim pip ? If not I’d be making a claim it can help cover the extra expenses you’re incurring because of it. 

bubblycrazy

I'm sorry things are so tough right now. Hoping the tablets kick in soon 🤞🫂

EatingBeans

Weigh-in day.

Today's weight: 203.7lbs
Average this week: 202.1lbs
Average last week: 201lbs

The result is not that surprising given my apparent desire to just eat and sleep the TN pain away, but crickey, it is amazing how quickly all my hard work can be undone. I mean the medication I am now taking like sweeties is known for weight gain but surely that is over time not a week! Maybe the weight comes from the sudden desire to eat everything in sight rather than some internal mechanism - either way it is wholly disappointing.  

EatingBeans

Wrap up of debt busting for October:

End of	Aug-25	Sep-25	Oct-25
Brother	7,950.00	7,800.00	7,650.00
Overdraft owed	0.00	0.00	0.00
MBNA CC	11,540.56	11,481.53	11,504.06
Barclaycard CC	9,771.80	9,662.17	9,558.10
Fluid CC	809.75	1,046.44	1,036.29
NatWest CC	11,814.72	11,705.36	11,693.03
Aqua	1,147.94	1,127.94	1,107.94
Total debt	43,034.77	42,823.44	42,549.42
Paid off in the month	90.37	211.33	274.02

It's going down. Slowly, and very much helped by my scrabbling together my £5's but at least it is going in the right direction. Final £5's figures were:

	Target:	£150	30	x	£5's
Total extra cash in theory:				Total extra cash received:
	£5's	32			£5's	30
	£	161.88			£	154.08
	Achieved	107%			Achieved	100%

Since £150 (aka 30 £5's) felt like a challenge but was actually achieveable in a month, I have decided to set the same target again for November.

ellenvan

Well done on reaching the £5's target.
That was really good considering you hadn't been feeling good.
The weight will go back down when you are moving around more. I find if we have a few rainy days and I don't get to a walk in, just eating the same amount, weight creeps up .
Wishing you the best of luck with November targets. Hope you manage some Olio runs also 

badmemory

Also not moving much leading to water retention.  You would be surprised how quickly that can add up, but quickly goes once you get moving properly.  2lbs is nothing in 24 hours

EatingBeans

Ok so pain wise life is really bad atm but I just got a notification from the Student Loans company that they have looked at my request for a refund and they are apparently sending me £1319! 😱🎉 Considering I didn’t think I was actually owed anything I am gobsmacked. So yeah, if you’ve been paying off a Student Loan I thoroughly recommend requesting a refund! 

The question now is what do I do with the money to use it to best effect? Pay off a credit card, fix the van, put it in a savings account as an emergency fund (given my work situation). What do you think?