There are good reasons why I nearly cried at work today

[selenay]

Today has been a Bad Day.

My back has been hurting a fair bit for the last couple of weeks and I've been waking up a lot through the night, finding myself lying flat on my back which only makes it worse. I'm suspecting that part of the reason for my back being so sore and stiff when I first get up is the sleep position issue. Last night I tried sleeping with a cushion to prop me a bit and another to cuddle-ish and it seemed to work. Or at least, I slept pretty well and wasn't lying on my back or front when I woke up! And wasn't *quite* as stiff as I'd been other mornings.

Unfortunately, shortly after work I started to get really bad stomach cramps and nausea, which didn't make me feel amazing and my back then kicked in. Yay. Took several hours with herbal tea, heat pads and anti-spasmodics to get it under control and quell the urge to just double over and wish for death.

In the middle of this, we discovered a big issue with the project that I'm working on. That wouldn't have normally got me massively upset, but the project is suppose to go for release on Thursday and the issue could mean that I miss my release. It's that size of issue.

Plus, I haven't got the first clue how to fix it because it was one of the few bits of the software that actually appeared to be working correctly. It's all about which code gets assigned to data for which dates (yes, it's a load for some huge, complicated database tables) and it's wrong for some data. Gah.

We discovered this and my boss announced that it needed fixing just as I was feeling particularly ill. I didn't take it well.

And that is why I nearly ended up in tears at work today.

Thankfully my stomach is settled and feeling fine now. So fine that I've got a huge craving for fish and chips or possibly sushi, but I'm playing it safe and having baked salmon with steamed veg instead. My back is...um...yes. And although I'm home, I'll be spending the evening working because a whole bunch of data needs to be re-loaded for validation first thing tomorrow morning.

Really, this week can stop sucking. I'm serious. Why is food my first thought when things are going badly?

Comments

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Not good. *Sends sympathy*.

The dates thing. Um, not due to daylight savings by any chance?

[selenay]

Thanks for the sympathy. I'm sure that I'll be back on top of this tomorrow.

Thankfully, daylight savings has no bearing on these dates.

The big issue is that we're bringing in data from a dozen different sources and trying to ensure that we don't have overlapping start/end dates but also keep gaps between end and start where appropriate. With the addition that most of the sources have the wrong dates to start with.

Yeah, I'm definitely not happy about that last bit. But as they've 'passed' those sources as fine (wrong, but fine to use??) there's nothing I can do except try to code around all the insanity.

The problem is that it turns out that in some cases, we're missing date ranges. So a code will cover one long date range rather than a short range, be null for a short range, and pick up with a new code for the next range.

I'm getting such a headache from it all.

[djonma.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're having a bad time recently, wish I could do something to help!
I definitely know what nausea's like at the moment. Have you tried stuff with peppermint in? It's usually good for stomach complaints and even cramping with periods and ibs. I can't have it at the moment as I'm just too sick, but it might help you if you can get it down and keep it down.

As for the back... backs are evil!
Could it be the change in weather; to a colder season, that's causing it? I know I get massive flare ups at this time of year because of that.

If propping yourself up a bit seems to help, look into those huge triangle-ish pillows. My Mum has a really bad back; couple of slipped discs, ongoing problems with whiplash in her neck from an accident when I was a toddler! (The court said it was just whiplash and it'd go in a month or so, so she got no compensation... I'm 28 now and she still has hell with it, trapped nerves regularly and all sorts!)
She swears by her huge triangular pillow. It's not a full triangle, rather like two long pillows stuck together to make this shape: /\
It's really big and props her up well and she can't sleep without it now.
I'm not sure where you'd get one from, I had a look on amazon a while back to get myself one and there was one on there, but I don't know if you could get one somewhere else that might be better, since I couldn't see the size of it on amazon. My Mums' pillow is huge, goes down to her elbows from under her head/neck/upper back!

Hope you can get some relief and get some good sleep!

[selenay]

I was guzzling peppermint tea all morning :-)

The back could be almost anything including "it's just decided that it hates me". I got a big flare up when the weather turned warmer and foggy and a big flare up this time a couple of years ago. I'm at the stage of deciding that I don't care what the cause is provided I can get it under control at some stage.

I've been considering one of those long body pillows. Propping myself up doesn't usually help - it makes things more painful - so I'm most comfortable on my side. A body pillow would give me somewhere to rest my upper arm and upper leg comfortably and hopefully keep me resting in a better position. Although it would also make me sleep on only one side, probably, and I'm not sure whether that would help either!

I've spent the last hour with a cold pack on my back, taken an extra dose of my AIs and I'm planning to have some sleepy tea while I watch NCIS and then toddle to bed. Hopefully I'll at least get some more sleep and tomorrow won't have the IBS complicating things.

[djonma.livejournal.com]

Oh those body pillows are meant to be amazing!
I really want to get one one day!
They help seperate the legs out so your back is in a more natural position. It might help with moving around in your sleep too.
I know I move a lot in my sleep, which doesn't help!

Try taking a hot water bottle to bed with you and having it rest against your back. Especially after icing it, alternating cold and heat is one of the big bits of advice I get from doctors when my joints are playing up.

Hope you sleep well!

[djonma.livejournal.com]

Oh and... I've found that although I don't have a body pillow, what helps a bit is to shove a bit of the duvet in between my legs. It keeps my legs seperated a bit, so it reduces chances of overheating and restless leg syndrome, and it keeps my hips and back in a better position so they don't go out of place and cause problems.
I get under the duvet, lie on one side, then open my legs up, grab the duvet that's there above the gap, and shove some of it between my legs.
It works just like the body pillow, and I tend to end up hugging the duvet as well if I've not got bears. Though I like hugging bears, which solves my arm problems.

[elenopa.livejournal.com]

I can understand the sleeping position.

I swear I don't move when I sleep, and I've found that if I lie on the wrong side or my back when I go to sleep, I can have such a stiff back in the morning.

Since I discovered this, things have been mainly OK.

[selenay]

My biggest problem is that I do move around a lot at night, so I'll start out in a comfortable position but within a couple of hours I'll have squirmed into a much more pain-inducing position. So far, barricading myself with pillows and cushions is the only thing that has really worked and I don't like to do that too often because other parts of my body then get stiff.

Ack. I'll see what I can do with myself tonight.

[paranoidangel]

*hugs*

[clairecnc.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I have a body pillow and it is rather cool although I no longer actually use it as my body has decided that sleeping on my stomach is the best way for sleep right now, but it was handy prior to that as it kept my knees from digging into each other etc...
Have you tried things like a different mattress? I have a pressure relieving one, but I know many people who recommend the tempur ones. It's the only thing I could think of that might help considering the amount of moving bendy bods tend to do.

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Bless you. Feel better xx