Day 4:

Last night, I had trouble sleeping. I was bloated, but not to the point I was too uncomfortable to sleep. I was pretty comfortable. My body just wanted to move, but I forced myself to stay in bed and stare at the wall until my eyelids eventually became heavy, and I fell asleep. I woke up this morning feeling pretty groggy as a result of not sleeping too well, so I slept in an extra hour. That's still better than my usual. I've woken up in the mornings only to fall asleep for another four hours too many times to count. 

Once I was out of bed, I had my typical Trikafta breakfast, which consisted of a glass of milk, a glass of eggnog, and some lunch meat. Not exactly what I'd call a tasty breakfast, but I still see food in terms of how much fat and calories are in it, not whether or not it tastes good or looks appetizing. Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling very hungry still. I don't really struggle to eat when I have to since my gag reflex has remained at bay, but eating is still something I rarely enjoy. I'm hoping that will still change in the coming weeks, but most of the people who experienced a sudden increase in their appetite on Trikafta experienced it almost right away. And, I'm on day four. I was starving for maybe a day and a half before my sudden burst in appetite subsided back to my usual. So, who knows. Maybe I won't eat the entire fridge in one sitting after all. But, at least I don't have to force feed myself while my throat convulses. That was hell. 

Aside from that, I've been noticing some minor abdominal pain and discomfort. I might have to reduce my enzyme intake. I didn't think it could be possible, but I am noticing minor symptoms related to a surplus of enzymes. Maybe my pancreas still has some life left in it after all! I still took all four enzymes with my breakfast this morning because it was so high in fat and calories. But, I skipped them at lunch, which may or may not have been a good idea. I guess I'll soon find out. 

My cough has also returned, bringing with it the awful taste of death and decay from my lungs. I can feel things moving around quite a bit in my lungs, especially in my upper lungs. Every cough, voluntary and involuntary, brings up mucus. I am coughing stuff out that's been nearly every color of the rainbow, but most of the mucus is just stuck to my throat and will probably end up in my stomach. 

However, while I am still having crappy symptoms, I can't really say I feel like shit. Once the grogginess of this morning wore off, I felt like I had already gotten my morning dose of caffeine, but I hadn't. I still chugged down a mountain dew on the way to the grocery store with my grandma, but I don't think it had much of an effect on me. I was already wound up! After we spent an hour fighting the insane crowds at Costco, we had lunch. Unfortunately, I wasn't very hungry, and only had a little less than half of my meal. But, like I mentioned before, I didn't struggle to eat it. I didn't enjoy it so much, but I didn't have to give myself a pep talk each time I took a bite. 

After lunch, we returned, and I helped Grandma put the groceries away, before grabbing my keys to get more groceries that were kept in reasonably-sized packages. I sprinted to my truck, excited to finally have an excuse to drive and get out of the house more! I was just overflowing with energy! Our most recent snowstorm dumped a lot of snow and ice on our streets. My grandparents live at the top of a very steep hill. There's other, longer ways to get to their house to avoid that hill. But, I have many childhood memories of having to walk several blocks to my grandparents' house because Mom's shitty cars couldn't make it up the hill. Lots of times (including today), the neighborhood kids go sledding down the hill since only a few people have the ability to drive on it when its blanketed in snow and ice. 

Fortunately, I chose my vehicle with that specific road in mind, and had no trouble driving on it today. In fact, I had no trouble driving at all. I was actually having fun driving on the snow closer to the shoulders while others struggled on the clearer parts of the road in their shitty little sedans. I only ever feel my anxiety rise when I'm confronted with heavy traffic. Even then, I still feel comfortable enough to just focus on whatever redneck county rock music I've got blasting through my speakers, instead of coming up with a worst case scenario for everything. Of course, I still have my "what the fuck are you doing?" thoughts about the driver six cars ahead of me who didn't use their blinker, but I'm not thinking about what could happen if I got T-boned by a semi while going through an intersection. 

Once I got to the grocery store, I walked much faster than I typically do. I just felt like I had to move, which is a feeling I've never had before. It wasn't out of anxiety or anything bad. I just needed the exercise, I guess. I spent the least amount of time in the grocery store than I ever had before, and ran all the way to my truck, which I parked far away from everyone else. When I got to my truck, I wasn't wheezing or struggling to catch my breath again. My heart rate had barely sped up. I didn't feel like I'd done much of any running at all, let alone with a 20 pound bag of dog food in one arm, and snacks in the other. 

I chucked everything in the backseat, got in the driver's seat, and sped home still full of energy. On the side streets, I had fun plowing through the snow on the shoulder of the road, while I giggled at those who could barely get any traction. I parked in front of my grandparents' house, grabbed the groceries, and ran up the flight of concrete stairs to their front door, all without breaking a sweat. I couldn't hide just how excited I was to have all that energy, even though a handful of negative side effects had returned that morning. 

Now, I'm still bursting with energy, but am keeping myself relatively calm. I still have a cough, but the stuff in my lungs stopping moving around, and now it's just dry. Hopefully, my cough will stay away for now, until the mucus in my lungs get dislodged again. I've been feeling the mucus slowly pushing upwards into my throat, but unfortunately, it hasn't moved at all in the last hour or so. 

Hopefully, things will continue to improve, and soon the side-effects will wear off when my body gets fully acclimated to this new medication. But, as I mentioned before, this medication is still a massive experiment. It affects everyone who takes it differently. No two people have the exact same reactions to the medication. However, I'm glad I seem to be benefiting from this medication. I didn't expect it to do so much when I first started it, and I'm really blown away by how effective it has been so far. 

Update: 

Well, how the hell do I start this?

I guess I'll start with admitting that my reproduction system has been severely impacted by Cystic Fibrosis, though I've been too embarrassed to talk about it (until now). My menstrual cycles have never been normal. They've always been unpredictable and extremely painful. During the first couple of days of each cycle, I'm often doubled over in pain from the menstrual cramps I get. They make me nauseous, and I've cried many times from the pain, which is impressive considering I have a very high pain tolerance. It's so bad, that doctors have every reason to believe I have Endometriosis.

Endometriosis is when the uterine lining that is typically only found inside the uterus, grows on other organs outside of the uterus. During every menstrual cycle, the lining tissue swells up, and there isn't much I can do to help the crippling pain it brings.

So yeah, it's hell. 

Cystic Fibrosis, as you all know, causes problems for every organ that is covered in mucus in my body, including my uterus. CF causes my body to create a lot of extra mucus, which builds up in a lot of places, including in my uterus. That's why so many women with CF have problems with their menstrual cycles and getting pregnant. CF doesn't cause infertility in women like it does in men, but the extra mucus in the uterus definitely makes life harder for us. 

Also, as I've explained before, Trikafta puts everyone through a mucus purge for awhile. People have been purging from all ends thanks to the medication, and the stories I've read online are just something else. So, as happy as I am to say I probably don't have Endometriosis, I am extremely disturbed by what Trikafta revealed to me not very long ago while I was just trying to have a long, relaxing shower after another productive day. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that mucus is on its way out. But, I've never been so grossed out and downright disturbed by anything ever, which is something I never thought I'd ever say about anything.