Myalgia?

I'm getting body aches. It's not serious, but feels like the day before onset of a viral illness. I've felt it before; I don't think I've been exposed to anything other than mosquitoes (which would be bad this year!) but I think it's not onset because it's been at this level pretty much all weekend except when I've been on advil. Advil works great -- but not sure it's a brilliant idea to take it all the time. (Have to ask the doctor about that one.) Alan did find "myalgia" listed as a possible side effect of taxol, so that's what I'm thinking is going on.

It's a rare symptom, and I'm counting my blessings, because neuropathy* is a common side effect, and so far I've been managing to avoid it. (*tingling, numbness & lack of feeling in fingers and toes.) Sometimes it lasts for months after the taxol has been discontinued. Sometimes it lasts forever and makes it hard to write and stuff. I have a feeling that keeping moving (heavy duty exercise) should help avoid it because of all the blood circulating...... so I'm doing my best with that. (Course I'm just making this up as I go along. That's what the doctors do, after all.... they're just better informed -- about SOME things.)

THIS thing I think I should be able to manage -- I think the problem is I have conditioned myself to think that when I feel this way I should take a hot bath and go to sleep for 12 hours to chase the virus away before it catches. (I don't like getting sick; usually I have been able to avoid it. Too bad all my tricks are for avoiding infectious illnesses......) So I keep thinking I need to rest....... I spoze more rest wouldn't hurt me, but yesterday it really didn't make me feel any better (which made me thing it might be my first proven taste of "chemo fatigue!") whereas advil-walking-swimming did. Today I took advil, but did a less serious walk and didn't swim, and the aches came back in the evening. Maybe I will make it a point to swim tomorrow.

I didn't swim today because we went berry picking and came home and did dinner and the pool closes earlier on Sundays so I ran out of time. I had no body aches while picking, though -- I out picked everyone else as usual and got herded off of the blackberry field and drove us home and didn't feel a THING until we got here. (Maybe I should get out more?)