Crash Day and Stranger Things 2

I had a crash day yesterday. Was the full monty too - shaking, cold chills, joint ill, gut pains, headache, tiredness so overwhelming it was hard to move. That sick buzziness in every nerve was back. Anxiety spike showed up to the party too, because: of course!

It took me by surprise in a way, although I had been feeling fatigue creeping up for the past fortnight (which has been just ridiculously busy and has featured some difficult stressors). I realised that crash days have become so rare now that my autoimmune cluster is better managed that I have almost forgotten preceisely how shithouse they really are.

But yesterday was a sharp reminder - I have chronic illnesses. They are mostly manageable and they are all relapsing-remitting in type, which means a lot of the time, I can live a perfectly regular life (if I am vigilant about my diet, of course). However, it also means my resilience to physical and emotional stressors is undeniably less than it would be for a person blessed with fewer mutations in their genome.

I think, looking back over the past month, that I have been burning the candle at both ends for too long really. My schedule would be a full and busy one for a completely healthy person, and much as I would like to be such a person, the plain reality is that I am not. Our Sydney trip was ace but pretty exhausting - so instead a resting on my time off, I just took on a different range of stressors (mostly physical but some mental for sure). And I came back from that trip into a maelstrom of work issues, a heavy workload, and family things to be navigated. I guess it is not surprising that my body called Uncle.

I seem to be a lot better today - still heavy-eyed and low energy, but my joints and nerves are settling and I do not have a headache. This in itself is a massive improvement - before my Hashimotos diagnosis and treatment, a crash like this, fuelled by low thyroxine levels, would've knocked me out for a week. Keeping up my thryoid meds means that when the other conditions flare, they don't get a rocket blast assist from a wonky thyroid, so I can pull up much much faster.

So yesterday, feeling pretty lousy, I was super grateful to be able to have a Netflix and chill day with my spouse. We watched the new ep of Star Trek Discovery. We ate sushi. We had some chatting time, especially about our Japan trip. I did my daily words on my NaNo novel. And we binged the last 6 eps of Stranger Things 2 across two sessions - one while the kids were at school, one at night once the youngest was abed.

I have to say this about Stranger Things 2 ... it was superb. Better than the first season and I loved the first one, so that's saying something. The acting is absolutely first class. The emotional affect is pitch perfect. The story is tight, beautifully paced and internally consistent. And the 80s vibe is just .... ahhhhhh. If this doesn't win all the things, I just don't know what to think anymore.

And without too much commentary, because I know lots of people haven't seen it yet and I don't want to spoil, I will leave you with these thoughts: Winona Ryder gives the performance of her career as Joyce. Sean Astin is absolutely adorable. Mad Max! The ship I always wanted finally sailed. 80s male hairstyles are still hilarious. And Eleven KICKS ALL THE ARSE.

(This is post #4 in NaBloPoMo. 4 down, 26 to go!)