Good evening. Thought I should stop in and say Hi.

Well, I went to the Dr. about this darn foot, and it is inflammation in the Metatorsil. Keep taking Celebrex and stay off the foot and it will be as good as new. It is caused because I haven't been walking the right way, because of this darn back pain. I did go to the chiro today, and it does feel better than it has in the last 3.5 weeks. Hopefully, it will be even better tomorrow. I had stopped taking the Celebrex, because I needed to take a pain med that is Asprin based and you can't do that with Celebrex. Now, I am taking Tylenol 3 if I need something and a muscle relaxer if I need it. I guess the Celebrex was working, as my hands were really sore yesterday and they haven't been.

Mima - glad that you are starting to feel better. I guess the new med must be working.

Candice - I remember those snowmen from a picture you posted a few years ago. They are cuties.

Kate - it is nice to get back to normal, whatever the heck that is.

Well going to go sit and watch some TV for a bit. I have to be at work by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, so I need to start to get tired somehow.

Have a nice evening.

Oh yes, it was an absolutley beautiful day here today. I don't know if you know that after having temps of -35 below zero, that -3 (26F) feels like HEAVEN. After the chiro I was feeling pretty good, so went shopping, which wasn't the brightest thing to do with this foot, but it has been soooo long now since I could even drive the car. Found my insoles and away I went.

Here is a little fun for you. Uncle Jay explains the news for 2008

http://www.unclejayexplains.com/medi...012-22-08.wmv/

Happy.....it seems we all have foot pain, back pain and such...also it seems to flare around the same time. I guess our connection is the Fibro or are we all sisters?!? Maybe just getting old ......Yikes.. I take Tylenol #3 when I think I can't stand the apin much more and need a bit of help but it upsets my tummy and sometimes I get a weird reaction like a heart attack feeling, pain pressure, shortness of breath...scary....I hate meds! How is your elbow, mine hurts off and on.

Kate I usuall rely on someone else to report stuff too....sounds like you enjoy your time alone...well you do have Queenie! So do you cook for yourself when DH is gone?

Mima.....I am dissapointed in my orthotics....the left onehurts my foot, feels like something is making the ball of my foot hurt. I told him I could not tolorate the hard orthoics, tried them years ago, but that is what he made me and covered them with foam. I will have to go back and have them adjusted..they are a pian to get in and out of your shoe. Glad you are feeling better....I am a bit bloated today.....hate that feeling.

I shopped after the foot doc, can only where new orthoics two hrs at a time so had to change in the car. Got some good bargains on x-mas clearance.....(a really nice green entry rug with snowfakes on it for 5 bucks, was 30...I had my eye on it for awhile) stored for next year, then groceries. I am hurting and pooped. The dog still needs a bath, did get his tummy trimmed, but he is really wooly!

Hey Tam and Meme

Just checking in for a minute on my way to bed. It's nearly 3 am and pouring rain (again). Thunderstorms and flash flood watch tonight so you can guess what kind of shape I'm in. Entertained last weekend on top of Christmas and New Year ... I'm still asking 'what was I thinking.' At least I have leftovers for a couple of nights. Took today off completely (except for one customer ... in the rain) and from the looks of the weather forecast I'm going to be taking off tomorrow, too! It rained all day today plus there was a water leak down the road and the water dept. had all the water on our street turned off most of the day so I couldn't really do anything (not that I wanted to!)

I'm going to bed, hope you have a good Tuesday. I'm sleeping as much as possible!

Wow for all the foot and back pain. I have spinal stenosis and I told doc that it probably affected my foot. No comment from him.
Sometimed I put foam under my arch in my shoe. It is a pain to put them in and out-I only have 2 pair of shoes I can wear them in. Can't wear my sabdals which are most of my shoes. PT today.
I am thanking God that our car was fixed free-didn't realize it had a warrranty left and the heat wouldn't go off and the ac wouldn't go on. 600$
And a ride back and forth.
No call about my blood. Can't seem to find out what vitamins are in Hemax so I won't take too many.
Sleep, Meme, sleep. I was up at 4 so I will have an early nap before pt.
I enjoy my time alone-sometimes a little too much.
Have a good day all. Mima

Today is my turn to go to Dr.I really don't like running between labs and Dr.'s. I have been having a pretty steady weight loss. I don't know why but I will take it.. I weigh less now than I have in years..I guess I am just getting 'younger.'Tomorrow it may be up. Different each day.. Our daughter gave me a electronic scale for Christmas.. I have wanted one for a long time..
Today is the 6th of Jan. There will be huge crowds in town.. Big day here. Young men dive for the cross amd then there is a glendi till dark.. We don't go anymore.. Watch it on T.V.
Joanne

Good morning everyone! Another fine sunny day here in Florida! I think we are due for a cool spell tomorrow night though and we really need some rain soon.
Candice, I have a neighbor who cannot take anything with codeine. Isn't that one of the ingredients in Tylenol 3? She gets these "panic-ky" feelings with heart racing and such. I had to go sit with her a few weeks back when she took some cough syrup with codeine in it from her doctor. She was really afraid of what she was feeling. Upset her stomach too. She has the same reaction to Benadryl too.
As for hubby being gone....well it is just a daily thing and he is home every night but I do enjoy the peace and quiet (almost too much!!) and yes, Queenie does keep me busy. I swear she hauls in a ton of sand every morning from her walk in the park! Sometimes I feel like the vacuumn cleaner should just be attached to my body! That way I could just suck up the dirt as I walk around! I cook everyday but once in awhile we have to do leftovers to clean out the fridge. I did have take-out pizza Sunday night though. I'm sure the scale will reflect that too!
I meant to ask those of you out there who have IBS; has your doctor ever suggested fiber therapy to you? I started fiber therapy way back when I was diagnosed and part of my evening regimen is to drink a glass of physicians grade psyillium with water/juice every night before bed. I buy 6 containers at a time through a company called N.E.E.D.S and have been doing this for over 25 years. It really did help my symptoms as long as I watched my diet. I still drink this every night even though my symptoms have subsided on the SB diet. Just curious if it was ever suggested to you. I know Metamucil is recommended quite often for IBS sufferers.
Off to the store to pick up some supplies. Making lemon chicken tonight. Hubby gets tired of poultry but I could eat it 7 nights a week. He loves his beef...I love my chicken and fish. Guess who wins most of the time??? I am the cook after all! Hope everyone enjoys the day. Kate

I know I've been kind of silent for a while. When I'm flaring, I just can't seem to follow threads easily that aren't on a single topic (does this make sense to anyone?). I do ok on one subject threads, but when there are several conversations going on at once (which I really enjoy when my brain is working), just reading them feels confusing.

If my post makes little or no sense, I'm sorry. The cognitive effects of fibro sometimes are the hardest for me to deal with. Hubby says I can seem like I have multiple personalities, because sometimes I will act and speak as if I'm almost drunk (long pauses in the middle of a sentence, taking seconds to comprehend what a person is saying to me, mixing up words, not being able to find the word I'm thinking of, and even slurring my words). Other times he says I'm "normal," and other times my thoughts are racing and I'm contemplating topics he says "sound brilliant, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

Ok, lost my train of thought.

Any way, Kate I have IBS and my doctor also recommended increasing fiber and veggies (slowly). I've noticed that it helps with the painful flares, but not so much, the inconvenient ones. As I said in another thread, my flares are now more of the inconvenient and embarassing kind (my husband calls me the gassiest woman he's ever met) and I have to stay close to the potty sometimes (are you in the bathroom, again?!) rather than the painful kind (the kind that inpire prayers for an instant death).

Hubby and I went to the doctor yesterday, and the doctor prescribed the muscle relaxant, cyclobenzaprine primarily to help with sleep and night pain, although I can take it up to three times a day if I need to (but he said it will make me groggy, so I won't want to use it except on days when I'm not good for much anyway).

I was wondering if anyone has been on this drug, or one like it and what they thought of it (I haven't picked up the drug from the pharmacy yet. Hubby is going to do pick it up this afternoon).

Sleep is a big issue for me, and if I don't get decent sleep I'm in flare city. I have had a lot of trouble staying asleep and the doctor feels this will help. One thing that does seem to help some (and maybe will help more with the drug) is a sleep mask. I seem to sleep longer with the sleep mask on, even though I didn't think there was much incidental light in the bedroom (just the digital numbers on the alarm clock).

I'm so tired of feeling like a giant chemistry set (not only my drugs, but all of the ways I'm trying to discover how my body works).

Hi Kaplods. That is the generic for Flexeril...a muscle relaxant. I was prescribed that many moons ago for muscle spasms but it did not do well with me. I got very irritated when I took it. Let's call a spade a spade here...*****y!! I got *****y on it. So they switched me to Soma which worked much better for me. Good luck with it, it's different for everybody. Have to walk the Queen....Bye for now. Kate

Kal.....you discribed all of us with fm fog! Sometimes I think it is early alzhiemers it is so bad, and as you can tell on the key board I change my letters around too as I do when I write manually. I tired Fiber, lots of it and just was bloated all the time...still try it naturally and to keepmy meds to a min. The Flexeril will make you tired and slow your bowel down. I use the elavil to go into a deep sleep and Ambien cr if I can't get there. Sleep is so important and I do not get enough of it and then flare too.

Hi Meme..yes what were you thinkin! WE have ice and light snow here..I feel crappy with rain too. Rest...rest...rest......while you can.....

Kate.....I thought your DH was gone for a few days at a time with his job! I know all about the sweeper and we do not have sand! Kate that sounds like my reaction with the codine but it does not happen everytime and I can't seem take anything else. Sooooo I do not take it but once in a blue moon!!!!!!! I just suffer! LOL

Mima....I had to get some rest off my feet to try them again to make sure that is the problem...need to be pain free in the foot which usually happens with rest before I can go back to him, and I do not sleep much. Glad your car was fixed for FREE!

Joanne.....hope you are not losing due to illness! Keep and eye on it, Meme did that awhile back.

I am trying to get a few off now too...

I was so tired when DH got home and didn't feel good ate a banana and took a meclizine(for nausea) and told him he was on his own and layed back down and fell sleep, then he comes in the room and wakes me up to tell me he is going to bed..I was so tired I just stayed there and fell asleep again(the med makes me tired and I needed the rest! ) Got up at 2am had a v8 and a salad and A ww meal and a piece of dark choc and have berries defrosting for a snack later......am gonna go watch my shows and then back off to bed after DH gets up and leaves, since we have more snow. If I have no appts and the weather is bad and no sun I sleep good. Still gotta bathe the pup..but since yesterday was laundry maybe it will get done today after I get up. This whole move thing has had me so messed up!!!!!!!!

Good news-I am NOT anemic-went to doc yesterday-he said the lab the insurance co used must have made a mistake. I was upset for all I went through but I had my thyroid checked when I retested and my med is too high. No wonder about the sleep and waking up so early. He changed and lowered my med-now I am on genetic synthroid but I am a little skeptical. I was on Armour Thyroid and it worked well-had to adjust the dose once in a while. The good thing is that the new med is 4$ at Walmart. I will try it but
go back if it doesn't work. I have too many docs, Our doc here uses different meds than back home. I don't like the part where you have to wait 30 minutes to drink coffee.
I hate flexeril-can't stand being groggy and I was b----- too.
I loved the tolmetin but it made me bleed. Am only taking tylenol and one 5mg of prednisone when I get up. Foot is still sore and I am done with pt yjis week. He is giving me home exercises and I will wait before I get another shot. I know I am on my feet too much.
I am finally going to have my favorite art teacher today-Suzanne wants a picture for her bathroom and laughed when I suggested outhouses. I found something cute on the net so I am painting a pair of watercolors-small -and frame them. Hope they come out ok.
And then we will eat at church and go to the service. No cooking tonight.
And I can get a ted Dekker book out of the church library.
Hey tammy-are you back?
Bye for now. Mima

It has rained solid for days. I'm so tired of it. Poured all day and all night and were supposed to have rain, SNOW and wind tomorrow. They say we should dry out for a couple of days after that but I'll believe it when I see it.

Flexeril knocks me out and I feel like something the cat dragged in the next day. It knocks out everyone I know who has ever taken it so be careful that you don't need to go anywhere or do anything. Doc gave me some for the times when I need to sleep but I usually take Tylenol PM instead. At least with that I don't have a hang over when I wake up. I really believe if I took a Flxeril and the house caught on fire I'd just burn up in it.

I've had IBS for years. Can't stand the fiber stuff. Bloats me up like a big ole frog. I usually tough it out ... take Imodium or something else and try to get through it best I can. I've had pills for it, little pills for muscle spasms because I have spastic colon, doesn't really help. Nothing much helps except pepermint capsules. They help sometimes.

I'm glad you're not anemic, Mima ... that really sucks. I've been there all my life. And no one understands why I'm so tired all the time. How do you explain that to someone who has never experienced it? Between the arthritis, fibro and anemia along with lack of sleep, some days I don't even feel like getting dressed. Hard to explain to 'normals.'

Sometimes I find myself wishing a few of the people I know could take a little stroll in my shoes (so to speak) for just a day or two. I don't wish them any harm ... just wish they could experience the joy of being me for a bit. I think there might be a rude awakening.

Dr. visit yesterday. Blood back in control No anemia here either now.. Still taking iron though.. The bad was the sugar.145. Ate wrong over Christmas.. Cholesterol high,273 Triglycerides 455.. Not good.. He said my weight loss was because of the high sugar.. I don't mind the weight loss..But, I guess I need to really take charge..
It was 70 degrees here this morning.. It is supposed to rain tonight.. If we get much more than 5-10 minutes I will be surprised.Meme, You can send us some of your rain..
I too take Tylonal pm.. I can't take any of the other drugs to sleep . I refuse to take a prescribed drug for sleep. They are too addicting..I want a clear mind .I am up at least 5 times a night..
I just looked out the window . It is starting to rain.. I am timing it!!!!!
I have been wishing a few people could walk in my shoes for years."If wishes were horses".
Joanne

Good morning all! Joanne, it's cloudy here on the east coast and looking very seriously like it will rain any moment now. Very windy too...suppose to get cool tonight for a few days. Hubby has high glucose as well and they put him on Metformin 2X a day. He still likes his bread and sweets which I have been discouraging. I only keep sugar free fudgicles or sugar free puddings around now. His triglycerides were up to 400 as well but the tricor medicine bothered him so he just stopped taking it the other day. His doctor put him on 4000 mg of fish oil capsules and 250 mg of niacin(to start) to help bring the cholesterol down...and of course watching his diet! I just have to make sure he's eliminating some of those carbos.
I sometimes have to take Advil PM to help get me to sleep at night too. I only take 1 tablet though just for a little help....and I have recently started taking 3 mg of melatonin instead and find it works as well. Have vivid dreams with the meletonin though. Joanne, before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, I was up an average of 6 times a night going to the pots. Once I got used to sleeping with my CPAP machine, I sleep straight through the night. That will make a big difference in FM symptoms. Why I am feeling so crumby lately I can only chaulk up to stress. Between the economy and worries about our retirement funds, I have some issues I can't seem to let go of. I try not to think about it too much but it just hangs in the back of my mind. I need to exercise it out of there I guess!
I think that is why we like this forum Meme, because we are all surrounded by "normals". This gives us a chance to communicate with folks that know how it feels to want to stay in bed and not face the world once in awhile and feel crumby for weeks at a time. I think we just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and not let it get to us. We're stronger for it, yes?
Enjoy the day folks....Kate

It is nice to be able to talk about the fog and have someone understand. During my last year working (when we were still struggling to get a diagnosis), I was so embarassed when my words would slur and on other days the thoughts and words would race. I knew my coworkers thought I was on drugs.

Last night was my first night on the Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine) on top of the Elevil (amitriptyline). I woke up about 90 minutes after falling asleep to go to the bathroom (as usual), so I thought "geez, this stuff isn't working at all", although I was a bit groggy, but once going back to sleep I slept the rest of the night, so that was actually pretty good.

I did wake up a bit groggy, but more like a sinus headache than a hangover (and I've been having sinus pressure the last few days, so maybe it really was just a sinus headache). Once I got dressed, I felt ok, so maybe it's a good sign.

I'll have to ask hubby about the irritableness, because he notices that in me more than I do (I just think he's being a bigger jerk than usual).

It's like a joke I read in the reader's digest: A woman's doctor asks her what happens when she stops taking her antidepressant and she says "To me, nothing, but my husband becomes a big jerk."

I really do appreciate everyone's experience and just the understanding. My husband does the best he can, but there's no substitute for someone who understands because they've been through it.

I was wondering has anyone else had instances of sleep paralysis, or dreams in which you realize you're dreaming, but feel like you can't wake up. I wonder if it has something to do with the alpha wave anomoly I've read about, in which people with fibromyalgia can have alpha wave brain activity (usually associated with being awake) during other stages of sleep, it's like our brains don't shut the awake part off (or it doesn't stay off) while we sleep. Combined with not getting much Stage 4 sleep, I'm wondering if that might not be the core of at least some fibro. (on the other hand, it might be a consequence rather than a cause of the fibro).

It's frustrating to know that sleep might be key, because it's not like you can guarantee the right amount and kind of sleep. Drugged sleep often isn't the right kind of sleep, but it's not like you can choose to get the right quantity, quality of sleep in the healthiest proportion of sleep stages.

Good afternoon for a nap....cloudy, rainy and cool now. Curl up under those covers and snooze. Queenie will join me....just like a furry blanket! Stress is getting to me with all these monthly financial statements coming in. Maybe I should just throw them in the trash!