Good Symptoms, Bad Symptoms

It is really sad when even 'better symptoms' have to be met with suspicion.

With many chronic illnesses come many chronic symptoms. There are these sets of symptoms that become your 'new normal'. They rarely go away and they stay within a certain range of your own personal normal for years on end.
With IBD it might be more frequent bathroom breaks - so instead of the normal 1-3 times a day, it might be 8-10 times a day (or more), for years and years.
For certain levels of arthritis, instead of taking 20 minutes to shower and get ready in the morning, it may take an hour or more because of joint pain and stiffness.

What can be a little disheartening is that if these chronic symptoms ease abruptly, instead of simply celebrating improved symptoms, we have to worry about the reason behind the change. By all means, sometimes it is just a randomly good day, but the majority of the time it is because of something else unsettling.

If I suddenly go to the washroom a lot less during a day that doesn't make any sense, instead of simply celebrating, I have to be concerned about excess pain, abdominal distension, nausea, or anything else pointing to a potential blockage.

If I suddenly wake up with a great deal of energy, it may be a pleasant surprise, but it could also be a sign of increased heart rate or heart palpitations.

It is unfortunate that improved symptoms have to be met with such concern and suspicion, but it is reality.
Usually a one-day one-off doesn't get me too concerned overall. If symptoms persist, however, whether they are more pleasant or not, I have to bring forward any back-burner thoughts about potential problems associated with these changed symptoms.

As I wrote yesterday, I have had a few days now of better sleep.

My 'normal' usually means that I wake up every couple hours or so - to go to the washroom, or because of over-heating, and I have always had issues with sleep. I suffer from insomnia a lot of the time, I suffer from sleep apnea on occasion, and I rarely reach the REM level of sleep without aid. So the other night, when I fell asleep almost instantly, only got up once in the night, and slept in overall until 2pm, while I was relieved by the sleep itself (and the dreaming), this was also an abrupt and 180° contrast to 'my normal'.
Which means that it was suspicious.
Then, after sleeping that much, feeling like I could sleep the entire day away was another sign that this was not just a 'good night' out of the blue.

Today I feel the same.
I slept really well. I was only up once in the night. I had vivid dreams and several of them. I slept in and slept well, but now I do not feel awake. Not entirely. Yet, although the bulk of yesterday was spent trying desperately to keep my eyes open, in the evening I had a burst of energy and felt wide awake.
I have been placed on more Vitamin D, so that is a start, but I am more concerned about a bug or Mono. That may sound paranoid, it may sound alarmist, especially after only a few days feeling this way, but this is the reality of people with chronic illness. A simple change in symptoms could mean something simple, but if it means something more complicated, we have to catch it asap.

I get Mono almost every year - every two years at least. My immune system is dysfunctional, so when I got mono when I was 17, the virus is never actually fought out of my system. It, instead, goes dormant (or so was explained to me by my physicians). So, when I get particularly rundown, it tends to make an appearance (very much like colds, shingles, or any other illness that kicks you when you are already down). It is not usually a full-blown infection like the first time - it is a little more subdued. So, instead of four months of doing *nothing but sleeping*, it winds up being 4-6 weeks of mostly sleeping and never feeling rested.
The problem is, that kind of feeling is also in the realm of 'my normal', so when I have a few weird days like this, it is almost impossible to know for sure if this is just a weird few days or if there is something else going on.

There is still good news.
Because I sometimes develop mono from the virus already in my system, I am not considered contagious. I mean, I don't plan on sharing drinks or double-dipping chips or anything reckless, but the attack of my body is not contagious. So that's a positive.
Plus, I may just be having some odd days. It may not be my recurrent mono. It might just be that my body is confused. Or maybe my body feels the change to Autumn in the air and is just ready to check-out for a few days. Maybe the fact that I had nothing really planned this week gave my body the hint that now was the best time to crash. Maybe I have been doing too much lately. Maybe my body is reacting to changes in medication.

Or maybe, just maybe, I am simply really tired this week.