Philip (Phil) England

Another new month, we sure are zooming through 2023 aren't we! August started with a visit to Neath Port Talbot hospital and an appointment in the Rheumatology department. I had to score my aches and pains and the Fibromyalgia. I think I may have under scored them some what! Time to keep taking a record for this month starting with 2nd August! WEDNESDAY 2nd: Feeling run down and achy, about 5 out of 10. I did have an appointment to see the nurse at the surgery, but emailed to cancel as feeling less than well enough to venture out. BP FIRST THING 124 / 83    BLOOD SUGAR 6.9 THURSDAY 3rd: I HAD to venture out to get some bits. Went to Home Bargains, was pushing the trolley and my hip started playing up. My aches and pains this morning started as about a 4 out of 10. By the time I got back to the car it turned in to 6 out of 10. Still not finished I made my way to Morrisons. By the time I finished in there I was feeling very run down, every bone in my body and every joint was achy

  In to the fifth month of the year , still getting tired a lot, my blood pressure seems to be improving, and my diabetic blood sugar levels seem to be within a good range. Eye wise, I am due some laser zapping again to clear up as one specialist called it, frosting behind the lens that was put in, after that my vision should be ok, so am now on a waiting list for that!   5 th May 2023: Woke up by great pain in my right arm, right shoulder, top of my back and neck, feeling sick with the pain again too. Pain is at 9 out of 10 I would say.   8 th May 2023: Well, it’s my 48 th birthday today, kind of a quiet one, uneventful, but that’s ok. Pain at a capable level, felt a little queasy this morning but not sick though.   9 th May 2023: Managed to venture out today with Neil. Had a little walk along the beach foot path, got some good fresh sea air and some moody photos, here is one of them.... photo © Philip (Phil) England MMXX!!! 16th May 2023: Last week I managed to

  April 2023, and it started of with great pain.  Saturday 1st April 2023: Started off the new month with pain at about 5 out of 10, this increased to about 8 out of 10 as the day went on. Early to bed, pain killers had, lower back is in terrible agony, hurts to sit and stand - heating pad on, which is helping. Sunday 2 nd April 2023: Still very achy but less than I was yesterday when I went to bed, pain at about 6 out of 10. Seem to have a runny nose too. Saturday 8th April: So there are Semaglutide supply issues again. People seem to be getting hold of it somehow and selling it on the black market, the Semaglutide helps people lose weight it's been discovered, and people are using that and buying it. It's annoying because I need it to control my blood sugar, it's taken me ages to get to where I am, I'm off the insulin now, only having to inject once a week for my diabetes instead of every day, don't have to worry about constant testing (pricking my fingers to g

March it is then , a new month and St. David’s Day!, just had to escape the flat today so ended up in Gloucester with Neil. Not too bad a day out all be it a bit cold and damp.   Thursday 2 nd March: Well after yesterday, I am in agony today. My back and my left hip are in great pain, lower back is the worst!     I hope it eases soon. The sun is out and shining in the window so will sit with my back to the window so the sun can work its magic, would rather the heat of the sun than force myself to take co-codamol. Saturday 4th March: So, it is Saturday, and I feel bored, trapped and stuck in a rut.  Look what happened when I tried to break out on Wednesday.... I caught a chill, and to make things worse, the friend I took with me also caught a chill.... I feel guilty  I'm too scared to try getting out of the rut I am stuck in again in case I catch something else!, you know, I think I may be becoming paranoid…. Wednesday 8th March: It's a snow day, and I'm sure I&

October, and Autumn seems to have really arrived  with wind and rain! The early part of this month I felt very sluggish and tired, spent a lot of time in bed, I really think I have the seasonal blues!. Friday 7th: Had Nero as always during the day time, then in the evening had Cosmo and Harley, but before they arrived decided to invite Neil up to help me with them. Saturday 8th: Had a pain in my side when I woke up, it was there a little bit yesterday but only slight. Run Neil and the dogs over to his. In the evening pain was still there but worse, not bad enough to warrent phoning NHS111 or out of hours doctor. Sunday 9th: Feeling cold, and still have that pain, but it is easing. Monday 10th: Monday morning, start of a new week, same old problems. Back, neck and shoulders up to their usual thing, pain at a so-so level of 5 out of 10. I'm feeling cold and drained, but I must get the milk in though, so must summon up the energy to get out of bed! Tuesday 11th: The pain continues

Blog Entry: 24th August: Fibromyalgia pain flareup again - pain level 8 out of 10, I'm in agony, lower back and hips seem to be the worst  Not too sure why, but with each flare up I seem to get a few days either side of it when my back goes itchy and all I want to do is scratch until I can scratch no more! Blog Entry: 25th August: Well, it's Thursday, and after pain killers and CBD oil before an early night, I can say I'm ready to tackle the day. The flare up has well and truly been knocked down, pain level at about a 3 out of 10.  So it's a case of up and at it. Have a good day everyone. To those affected by the Liverpool shooting the other day, my thoughts are with you, it's a nasty thing to have happened, and God willing, it won't happen again.  But life goes on, and if we let things like this get to us we will just give up on living.

7th August - Blog Entry: Heat is building! Had a funny feeling I had over done yesterday, down and upstairs a number of times sorting my plant tubs out in the garden, before doing that going to Home Bargains and Tesco's, I ignored my limits and just kept on going, and now I am paying for it, not as bad as it could have been but still enough to stop me from doing much today. Should be popping to see some of the Cuppa and Chat group later this morning (if I can manage it!) 11th August - Blog Entry: In a scorching heatwave!  Woken up by a thumping headache, feeling a bit queasy, and my neck and shoulders are killing me! I hate feeling like this, just feel like hiding away when I feel like this, the heat isn't helping 17th August - Blog Entry: Finally it feels fresher! So I may have over done sorting out cupboards today, my back and shoulders are starting to play up!         I seemed to have only just moved things out and right back in, nothing got thrown away.... Pointless really.

 Blog Entry: Friday 10h June 2022 Last 4 Days 7th June: Morning all, a bit achy again this morning, think I slept on my right side as my right arm feels like a weight, my neck is in agony too.  Later in the day: Not feeling too good, feeling a bit sick thanks to a terrible pain flare up, it just crept up on me, a lay down I think for the now. 8th June: Last night's flare up started to subside finally, didn't sleep too well at all, pain is currently at a 6.5 out of 10, last night it was around 8. 10th June: As the 2nd test starts today in the cricket, I am feeling very run down, totally exhausted. My get up and go has left me feeling like a drained empty thing. Apart from that, not too bad this morning. Very high on the pollen today, a mix of grass and nettle mostly, eyes are streaming already and throat is tickly. In the afternoon: I went for a lay down as my neck and right shoulder was really hurting, sometimes just going to lay on the bed helps, that and my tablets.  I m

This week has been mental health awareness week.  I suffer with physical issues; Ankylosing Spondylitis, Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia acts as a kind of amplifier, boosting the pain, and other issues.  These physical issues really affect my mental health  I get frustrated and stressed when I fail to do every day tasks. Currently, I have a problem with my left eye. Started off with floaters, and at the end of last year went blurry. I am awaiting an operation, that was due to take place, as I was led to believe, earlier in the year. I was then  told that my good right eye needs to deteriorate before they will do any operation.  Having a blurry eye is really reducing my enjoyment of life. Even though I have been given the green light for driving by the DVLA, I am unable to enjoy it and therefore find myself staying as local as possible. Going for long drives has gone out the window, so I can go to see friends and family. I contacted my local councillor, Paul Ll

 Early May, and what a start to my birthday month it was 2nd May:  Every bone in my body is aching, my throat is sore, it hurts to talk, cold then hot then cold, been sneezing, been sick, got a headache... what is this thing I've got? and how have I caught it? Well it's not Covid, but still, how did I catch anything? I've kept wearing the mask even after the Welsh Government said we no longer had to. I've been really careful! 3rd May: Feeling a little better, but got a feeling my back is gonna be hitting me tomorrow 4th May: Just after 3am and OWWWWWWCCHHHH Aching from head to toe, slight high pitched noise in my ears, tingly all over, Fibromyalgia working with my Ankylosing Spondylitis to woke me up, hate this, I really hate this. Pain at level 9.5 out of 10 5th May: So after my full allowance of Co-Codamol, and Gabapentin backed up with 10 doses of CDB oil, the pain has FINALLY gone down to 7 out of 10, still not a good level but its getting there FACTS : The Co-

For the last few nights I have been waking up at about 2am and going back to sleep about half an hour later, not sure why. I seem to be getting around 7 hours sleep a night. Pain wise today, it's at about a 6 out of 10. The Fibromyalgia seems to be playing it cool and not pushing it's self too much so far today, but one thing I have learnt is it can turn just like that.  I try to keep  positive thoughts , which seems to help me manage to some degree, but even then it don't help much. There is always underlying pain every day thanks to the Ankylosing Spondylitis , Osteoporosis and the Carpal Tunel in my hands. Why do I keep a blog? I find it useful for keeping a record of daily struggles of life and my health. Keeping it is also a useful tool to help the DWP  my GP and hospital specialists understand what I am going through. You can visit me onbline facebook.com/philengland and twitter.com/philengland1 also my website philengland.com #staysafe

9th & 10th MARCH Yesterday afternoon (9th March) : Not feeling too good, back killing me to the extent it is painful to breathe, was alright when I woke up. Feeling really drained and a little sick. Pain killers just not helping  Laying on my bed, hot water bottle in middle of back, heat is helping a little, this could be a very long afternoon This morning (10th March) : Back a bit better, after about 6 hot water bottles and a nights sleep, still hurts when I take deep breaths, so even that's an improvement.  Wednesday 30th  MARCH So, another day in excruciating pain (9 out of 10), tingly skin, thumping head, took me a while to pick my phone up  and type this... it is only 3am. Hate this feeling, no amount of CBD oil or co-codamol will have any affect and being woke up by it really sucks. It's 7am and I am still in great pain all over, can hardly move, so fed up.  I must try and get up... somehow, can't spend all day in bed, knowing the kitchen needs a clean is dr

I was trying to get down stairs to put milk bottle out when my back decided to fire pain at me, it stopped me in my tracks  I am really getting fed up with it all, fed up of no quality of life, any life I do have is impacted by damn Covid. I have days when I am trapped in my flat, when I can even get out side the block to get some fresh air. Life can't get any worse right now, unless I catch Covid, then that would be the cherry on the top. I keep wondering why I am taking Co-codamol or my Gabapentin, until I stop taking it for a 48hour period, when I realise it does actually ease the pain I feel, no matter how slight.

Sunday 24th Oct: Another bout of horrible pain again.  Every part of my body is hurting like hell again. My skin is tingly and sensitive to the touch. If I could get inside my bones to scratch I would. I hate feeling like this. Also sensitive to light right now, and have a thumping headache. It seems to be the norm to feel like this at least once or twice a month. I have no idea why this happens and why I can't predict it. It really floors me when it comes. Sometimes it comes at night, sometimes in the day time, I never know when, it just seems to arrive and stays for anywhere between 12 and 48 hours. It's been 6 hours already... please go  12 hours in, damn this, why won't it ease down. Lucky I have water beside the bed and pain killers. Time for a few I think, and two Gabapentin. 16 hours in starting to ease, at long last, on a volume scale of 1 to 10, it's finally been turned down to a 8. Monday 25th Oct: Well not much sleep had but at some point things eased, and

 It is sure annoying, when you go somewhere and can't do what you really want to do because the pain is so great. Was down in Wallington dog and house sitting, and went out to walk the dog, Nikki, in Richmond Park. Started out ok, but soon went down hill. My knees started playing up clicking and popping, then my left hip followed by my lower back. Had to sit down and take a few pain killers. The next thing that occured wass I started to get problems with my breathing and a tight chest, nothing too bad, but enough to knock the wind out of my sails.  Headed back to the car and went back to the house. Once back I tried to relax and rest. Even sitting out in the sun in the garden didn't really help. The heat did with my back and other body pains, but the air was so still, dry and hot that I could hardly breath. Later in the evening I started to get more pain, all over, pins and needles overload, thumping headache and felt clammy. Had to go to bed, even though I wanted to watch a fe

  Great Back Pain – 20 th August 2021 Last night I went down stairs, knees popping and left hip hurting, to put the milk bottle out, on putting it down I somehow kicked off my bad back pain. It was a shooting pain that really stopped me dead in my tracks. I slowly made it back in to the flat, every move sending shooting pain up my back. Pain at a 8 I took some pain killers and also some CBD oil and went to bed half dressed Woke up a number of times in the night in agony, but managed to get back off to sleep. Pain at a 7 Finally woke this morning at about 8:45am still in pain but not as much, took my morning medication with a cuppa. Started to get back to normal manageable pain levels – Pain at a 5 , so went down to get the milk in. It happened again, bad back pain again, shooting up my back. So once again I slowly made it back to my flat, sat down and had a cry. Pain at a 8 This is no way to live, and knowing nothing can be done does not fill me with any kind of excitement

So, in the middle of the night my body decided I didn't need any more sleep and woke me up. A tingly type of pain, which develops in to a constant aching pain which seems to then spread from my mid to lower back and then moves up the back to also cover the top part of my body. Sometimes I get one pain in the mid to lower part of my back and my neck and shoulders at the same time, then the two seem to join up. I am really not liking trying to live my life with pain, it really gets me down. Seems my medication isn't really doing much to counteract it, it eases a little, but that's about all. Think of it as the sound on a hifi. The pain I wake up with and live with on a daily basis is at 9 or 10 - full volume, which gets reduced to 6 or 7. I am ALWAYS in pain and that makes my life horrid.

Life with spondylitis, an inflammatory disease, can mean living your days in constant lower back pain as your immune system attacks your joints and spine. Unfortunately, because your outward appearance may not reflect the physical pain happening in your body, your friends, family, co-workers, and other observers might think you’re perfectly fine. One survey found that  54 percent  of people with ankylosing spondylitis felt that friends and family did not understand their chronic illness. Spondylitis and chronic pain can take a toll on your overall wellness and quality of life. A strong  network of support  is one way to get the help you need when living with spondylitis. Because the symptoms of spondylitis are often invisible, it’s important to be able to discuss your condition with the people who love you most or those who will see you most often. Understanding Spondylitis Pain Spondylitis , a type of arthritis, is an autoimmune disease, which means that the immune system