The End of an Era After two decades, I have decided to leave the blogger platform behind. Yes it’s been a long journey.  Never fear.  I am transferring the best posts from my  blogs to my new site. The web address for the site is https://iriscardenauthor.wordpress.com Blogs This site is effectively multiple blogs in one site.  If you want the content you’ve been reading at sometimesitislupus.com, you will find it at: https://iriscardenauthor.wordpress.com/category/lupus/ If you want the content you’ve been reading at mrbumpycat.com, you will find it at https ..read more

One of the worst parts of summer for me is fatigue.  Summer is fatigue season.  Winter is pain season. When I've shared this before, a number of other lupies have said they experience the same, so I know it's not just me. My summer fatigue isn't just feeling a bit sleepy.  My whole body is tired, I feel the fatigue in every muscle and joint, and sometimes my mind wanders off and doesn't return for ages because it's so tired too. One of the causes of the fatigue, apart from the obvious chronic illness effects, is that hot summer nights ,combined with even my normal low-level eve ..read more

I got the shower chair a year or more ago.  The challenge now, is  actually getting in and out of the shower. Before the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) came into being, I had help from a Queensland state government program that provided someone to clean for me at a subsidised rate.  When I was assessed for that scheme, it was decided that enough adults lived with me (my house is actually two flats and my older daughter's family were here as well), that I didn't need help with the yard work. Then, the NDIS began, and the state government scheme closed down ..read more

 It's been a while. Let me tell you what's been going on. A while back I was diagnosed with diabetes. I'd been told I had it before, but persuaded the GP to let me try and manage it with diet alone. It's got to the stage where medication was necessary. The standard first up treatment for type 2 diabetes is a drug called metformin. I've been on so many medications for lupus, some of which took a while to get used to, that I thought I could handle anything. Metformin was rough.  I started on a low dose and very slowly increased it.  It was working, but I just wasn't handling the ..read more

 This is what life with lupus is like: I bought a book on how to keep a house clean in 15 minutes per day.  What takes the person in the book 15 minutes takes me five hours and major pain relief. One morning per week is assigned to sort my week's pills. Everyone at the pharmacy knows my name. Many people who aren't my doctor tell me my medications are dangerous (they are, but lupus and now diabetes are both even more dangerous), that they know better, natural, ways to cure things that medical science can only manage.  These people fail to acknowledge that before medical science ..read more

 For years, I've been hearing about various anti-inflammatory diets, and even seen a list of foods graded on an inflammatory scale.  I haven't shared any of them with you because, I haven't been able to find any research backing any of it. Well, here's the holy grail.  It's an anti-inflammatory diet that's based on the latest research. Dr Donald Thomas, the rheumatologist who brought us the Lupus Encyclopedia (review here), has shared the diet he shares with his own patients, which is based on research. He cites his sources, so you can check them out for yourself. You can find i ..read more

 Here's your chance to help the Autoimmune Research and Resource Centre, and possibly help yourself to something amazing. https://playforpurpose.com.au/autoimmune-resource-research Play For Purpose is a not-for-profit raffle raising money for the Autoimmune Resource & Research Centre (ARRC). With a one in 34 chance of winning $500,000 worth of prizes, and a minimum of 50% of every ticket sold going directly to ARRC Play For Purpose is the ultimate win-win raffle.   There are only 2 weeks to go for your chance to win a $250k first prize package of a Range Rover Evoque wi ..read more

Break the foil with a fingernail  I've always been one of those people who has problems with blister packs of pills. Theoretically, I should be able to push on the bubble side of the blister pack, and have the pill just pop out of the foil side.  That's what manufacturers would have me believe is possible. What actually happens is that I push and push, and nothing happens.  I keep trying, and throw my whole body into the effort and almost find myself rolling on the floor wrestling with the packaging.  When I finally do get the pill out, I am more than likely to cut ..read more

I had the appointment with the gerontologist who looks after my cognitive issues. (See previous post.)  Because the government is allowing telehealth appointments under Medicare  now, I was able to see her over FaceTime and not have to go into Brisbane. Here's the good news:  I don't have dementia, just still the mild cognitive dysfunction of lupus.  That huge thing I freaked out about forgetting, she said, was just my brain responding to extreme trauma. Apparently my brain just decided to deal with it by not dealing with it. She's sending me to a psychologist to deal with ..read more

I've had issues with cognitive dysfunction for years.  I've had brain scans and other tests, and the only thing of any real note was some vascular changes, which were put down to "normal lupus." For a couple of years, my GP had me going for regular check-ups with a gerontologist/neurologist, who would monitor my cognitive function.  It was only ever a little bit off, and wasn't getting any worse, so when I forgot to make the next appointment, my GP and I both just shrugged it off and said it probably wasn't worth going back anyway. A couple of weeks ago, I needed to see my GP for n ..read more