AI

It is almost two-thirty a.m. as I begin to write this. I am the only member of my family who is not in bed. I am not in bed because I am in so much pain that I cannot sleep and being in bed was making the pain worse.

I hate this.

I am in pain because I actually dared to get something done yesterday. Though the real punishment started after trying to get two things done. IN ONE DAY. Because that's apparently against the new rules of my body.

When did/do the rules change?
Whenever my body damn well felt/feels like it.

I have fairly recently discovered that a number of my health issues may be caused by one or more autoimmune (AI) disorders. If there is one, there is likely to be another because AI disorders get lonely, I guess.

There are some symptoms that are common among most AI disorders - namely joint pain and fatigue - that leave a person feeling almost constantly sick.

You know when you've been sick for a while, and you want to be better, so you start doing things but do too much and then feel worse? That's where I live. And sometimes that "feeling worse" includes pain that the highest label dose of the most effective (for me) over-the-counter pain reliever can't quite beat. That's the pain I am feeling right now. This pain started, and woke me up, well after I took the highest label dose of my pain reliever of choice. And this pain reliever usually helps me sleep.

I am tired. I need sleep. I don't deal well with pain.

I have always had a feeling that my joint pain wasn't right - that it wasn't at all normal - and that what people and doctors were telling me was not correct.

My joint pain was not caused by excessive weight, because the pain got worse while - and after - I lost 90lbs. I was 5lbs away from my "ideal" BMI and I could barely function some days.

I readily admit that I am not as healthy as I once was and that is part of the reason why my symptoms are worsening.
There are conflicting reports about how to treat AI disorders.
Some people respond perfectly well to prescription medication.
Quite a few people can't tolerate the side effects.
Some say a gluten-free diet can trigger remission.
Some say only a paleo diet leads to remission.
Some claim that cutting out GMOs will heal just about everything.
Some say that vegan is the only sane diet.
Some swear by yoga.
Others tout the healing benefits of aerobic exercise.
Some people take fistfulls of herbal and vitamin supplements.
Some claim that supplements are nothing but hokum.

I would like to improve my/our diet yet I don't know where to start. The baker in me (who has a small stockpile of all-purpose flour) does not want to go gluten-free. The cheap/broke part of me doesn't want to cut out GMOs. The fatigue doesn't want me to stray from the most convenient of convenience foods.
I don't even know where to start.

There is a book that supposedly has an effective plan for AI remission but I can't afford it. Even the ebook version is too expensive and only slightly cheaper than a hardback copy. I could probably find a copy of this book at the library but that would require me having the energy to get there. And then having the energy to return it before there are any fees.

Yes, I am aware that I am feeling sorry for myself. Writing about it helps me get it out of my system so I'm not carrying the self-pity with me for the forseeable future. sigh.

After sitting in a strange position for a while I am feeling better, the pain is almost gone, and I am feeling sleepy.
I hope this is also the end of my self-pity and sleeplessness.
At least for tonight.