ok folks! I'm on day 3 here in the mines. (disclaimer: I'm on a little pocketpc so please excuse punctuation/spelling errors. and I highly encourage all future montana mine adventurers to bring your laptop and not rely on a "qrty" device.)
if anyone wants details of things like the town of boulder, accommodations, recreation, just ask. i'll simply give a brief rundown of my symptoms/ AS-related stuff here.
I logged almost five hours on day one. I spend almost all my time down in the actual mine itself as opposed to the "radon room" which is at ground level, is heated, has recliners and is full of people breathing radon air pumped up from below.
I prefer the mine 85 feet below because it's private (I'm usually the only one down here), quiet and, hey, it's a mine! very awesome! the... uh... elderly folks seem to prefer the radon room. I think I'm the only one here under the age of 80 with the exception of the amish who travel across the country religiously (pun?) seeking relief from arthritis. they even bring their kids. I think there are about 2 to 1 amish to non-amish visiting right now. I've had some great conversations learning about their culture.
anyway - back to day 1: by about hour #4, I began to feel a strange burning sensation in my eyes along with a sort of flush on my face. kind of like a niacin reaction, if you've ever experienced one of those... or like I was out in the sun too long. it was difinitive that I was feeling "something" out of the ordinary. by the end of my fifth hour, I checked out and had to go look at my face in the mirror cuz it felt red. sure enough, flushed. I also felt sleepy drowsy tired coupled with a headache - which I rarely get. I guess you could describe it as like the beginning of the flu but different than anything i'd felt before. I was going to go to the hot springs but decided to go right to bed. had trouble sleeping that night. took some benzos at 3am and slept well until 9. also decided not to take my nsaid that night to "see what happens". haven't been able to go 24 hours without nsaids in my system for over six months without flaring to a 5 or 6 at a minimum. the usual eight PM inflammation did not come until about midnight and it was very light. I was trying not to get to excited.
day 2: woke up feeling great. no nsaid (i'm on indicin right now) the night before. inflammation was a 2 at best. what the heck??? I went swimming at the hot springs all the while tickled pink that I was giving my GI a little break drom the drugs. sat in the mines for six straight hours. felt the same flush, etc. feelings but not as strong. inflammation SLOWLY started creeping back to about a 3. very mild and extremely atypical.
now the day before I started the therapy I went without my nsaid one night to get a baseline of where my body was right now. I usually take it around 6pm and, the night I did the test run, I hit a 7 pain level by 10pm, nearly froze up and took the drug. so, to go all night and all the next day without shooting up on inflammation was definitely eye opening. I tried really hard to not get excited.
that evening, I went for a run in the mountains. I'm a runner by nature (if that makes any sense) and I haven't ran a single mile in 6 months, although I've tried on several occasions. well, I ran on a trail with my dog for about 45 minutes. my inflammation pain level was still about a 3. again - trying to keep calm but my attention had really been caught.
through the evening the inflammation crept back in slowly until it hit a 4-5 so I decided to quit being a hero and take the drug so I could get some good sleep. that was at about 10 pm. so I had gone over 48 hours since last taking the indicin and at least 24 hours since it left my body. yeah, I know that it could have had some build up effect but it was difinitely atypical of my body's indicators. did I have an immediate positive response to radon? it's possible, but I'm going to give this its entire ten days followed by a month or two of "wait and see" before I come to any conclusions.
day 3: woke up with zero inflammation (remember, I took the nsaid at 10 last night). swam at the hot springs for an hour. saw a bunch of naked men that I could've done without. here I am, going on my third hour for the day. inflammation level is a zero to one - which is unusual, even on the drugs. nsaids usually bring me down to between a constant 1-3 and sometimes 4. I have that familiar burning of the eyes sensation along with a dull headache.
For those interested in diet, I decided to really cheat on the LSD I had been pretty good at following. previously, I would eat minimal whole grains with my breakfast and lunch meals and strict nsd for dinner (didn't need the energy at night). well, for the past week leading up to the radon therapy, I have consumed a considerable amount of starch although I'm still scared to eat potatoes or bread. I've been programmed well!
that's it for now. i'll post again in another couple of days unless I have some priority news. will also check back frequently to answer questions.
-brad
