The plan for today was working up a post to either start some crowdfunding, or just get feedback on the ideas. Unfortunately, I'm having some cognitive and sensory issues. As such, we'll be talking about those.
Image from DayDreamAnatomy
So why would a disease like hypokalemic periodic paralysis cause cognitive or sensory issues? The answer is very complicated.... probably. Nobody knows why, but it is commonly reported by sufferers. It is also different for everybody.
Personally, here is what I'm dealing with for the 24-48 hours following any level of attack:
- Memory difficulty - things I used to know, I no longer know. Sometimes these are minor, like knowing what I had for breakfast. Other times, I can't remember my phone number, where I live, what things are called
- Word seeking - related to the memory thing. I can't pull up words. Often, I have to describe the word as best as I can recall and just move on. It can make for long conversations :)
- Sound sensitivity - normal volume is deafening. Should my wife or son laugh or cough when in this state, I will probably curl into a ball and wait for the mental shock to wear off
- Light sensitivity - things will suddenly be very bright. Looking at a phone or computer monitor is not practical
- Spacial ?something - the world will flatten on me. Depth doesn't make any sense. I have a hard time decoding what I'm seeing
- Balance - it doesn't seem like vertigo exactly, but I bonk into a lot of things and find myself facing odd directions
That is the short version. There are probably things being left out, but it has taken me much longer to write this post than it would usually take me to write something this short.
Practical examples:
- I have been administering Linux-based servers since 1997, and today, I can't figure out how to accomplish anything in my main web server. I understand the broad strokes of what needs to happen, but I can't remember how to do any of it and I'm not even smart enough to get usable search results.
- Someone called earlier and was trying to tell me something about an account of some kind. I have some incoherent notes and a phone number to hand foxe.
- I spent about 30 minutes on the front porch this afternoon. My phone wasn't on me. I don't know why I was there, but I felt really spacey. Unsure of what I was supposed to be doing, I sat in a chair there and waited until I could think of something.
- Trying to get out of bed this morning, I kept crashing into the wall. This wall is about 4ft from the bed. I have no understanding of why I was crashing into it. There was no falling involved, I didn't feel dizzy, my arms and legs were heavy but not paralytic, but I could not move in the direction I wanted
Days like this are frustrating, not just for me, but for everybody that needs to interact with me. I am ever grateful for the patience of my family, and the understanding of the @Platforms and @DPorn communities that I work with.
Today's mantra:
Breathe. This too shall pass