Last night found me tossing and turning most of the night, struggling to get comfortable in spite of horrible neck and shoulder pains. I know a lot of it is stress. I tend to internalize stress and, when it's not "tummy issues" that rear their head, it's my back/neck/shoulder issues. Not to say I probably didn't sleep "funny" on my shoulder or neck. I'm sure I did. But if I wasn't so stressed out about what's going on with my son, I probably wouldn't have had such a hard time sleeping last night.

So, since the doctor cannot do anything for my neck and shoulder other than give me pain pills, I am seeing a chiro today. First time in AGES – well over a decade. Who knows, maybe it'll even help.

I have to confess I am very skeptical about chiros. I saw one for several years following a slip and fall and, while I was in his care, I would have said chiros were great. He even managed to address the persistent back pain that pre-dated the slip and fall. But isn't the point of seeing a doctor – any doctor – to get "fixed" so you don't have to keep going back several times a month? Whenever I suggested to this chiro that maybe we should start tapering off my treatments, I would be given another reason not to do so. Being the pushover that I am, I'd go along to get along… until, eventually, I got fed up and quit cold turkey. And I was fine for several years. Then I started having neck problems – something I'd never had before the chiro – and I started becoming convinced that the cervical neck traction he had me doing screwed my neck up more than it ever was before him.

But, thanks to whatever is currently going on with my neck/shoulder, I'm in so much pain I'd rather go back to a profession I don't really trust because I know at least the pain would go away. It's hard to explain: it's kind of like how no one really likes to barf, but when you're sick with a stomach bug, you *want* to barf because you know your stomach will feel better afterwards… that kind of thing.

The boy child is at school today. I made sure he took his vitamins, his fiber, his Addy, and also some ibuprofen – as a preventive measure against the headaches and tummy aches he's been having. He had a nice big breakfast, and I reminded him he needs to drink lots of water and stay hydrated even if he doesn't feel hungry or thirsty. I hope today is better than last Friday for him. I guess if the ibuprofen works, we'll just keep giving it to him in the mornings until the side effects go away – which I know they will eventually, once we find and stay at the right dosage. We're playing with it again, per the doc. He's down to 12.5 this week – seeing if there is a difference with school work vs. complaints this week. If so, we'll keep him on 12.5. If not, he goes back to 15 as that's where the doc calculated he should be at. And if the side effects don't go away by the next appt, I may ask about other meds. There has to be something that treats what's wrong without making him sick in other ways.