Charlotte-That pic of Nicole is one of my favorites. She's always putting on "odd" outfits. And of course, we had to top it off with our bike helmet... Now that I know how to do it, I will post more pictures for you ladies.

Sorry to hear about your mouth ulcers. I haven't had to deal with that yet. What's your dose of methotrexate? I'm at 20 mg. I'm hoping I don't start getting those side effects.

Well gotta go get the love bugs to school. I'll talk to you ladies later.

~chris

Charlotte-You poor thing! You must be feeling just miserable. I'm thinking of you and praying for you. Doesn't the whole prescription thing just get you. Why are drugs soooo expensive? We'd be filing bankruptcy if we didn't have prescription coverage. Mine alone are almost 400 a month without insurance, and Kelly's are around 300 a month, then there is Miss Tiana with her asthma.
I hope to never see a lupus diagnosis come my way. My grandmother had it and it was bad. I seem to come from a family of auto-immune diseases (on both the father and the mother's side). Grandma had lupus, My mom has RA and sarcoidosis, my brother has sarcoidosis, sister has endometriosis, and then there's me...

Joanne-How are you doing? Enjoying the beach. I would love to be able to walk on the beach everyday instead of the plain old sidewalk. That would be heaven...

Gotta get to bed. Morning comes way too early for me.

~chris

Hi Chris, Charlotte and Joanne.

Just to let you know I have NOT forgotten you, just haven't felt like posting much. This year has not started well for me. When I was in the hospital in January with that bout of Atrial Fibrillation, they upped my meds. I have been to tired to do much. Today, I saw the heart specialist and she is knocking that med down (it's a beta blocker) and adding a new one, whose side effects sound terrible. I hope they won't apply to me. I will see her again on the 28 Mar. when I go and get the Holter Monitor. This drug is NOT supposed to cause fatigue! I already have enough fatigue with the FM. Even doesn't help.

Joanne - I just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday. Hope you had a nice day and your shoulder wasn't too bad. Also, wishing your sister a happy birthday as well.

Charlotte - boy sounds like you are not feeling one bit well. I just finished a round of antibiotics (the Z pack) for the flu I had. Three weeks of it. I hope these Drs. can get together and find out what the problem is. I hope you have NONE of the things they are testing for.

Chris - cute kids you have. Alzheimers Disease is a terrible thing to watch. My Mom had it and it just broke your heart. They forget everything eventually. It does effect everybody differently though, depending on which parts of the brain it hits. I hope you have been feeling well.

Well, I think I am going to try to sleep. It is 1:30 a.m. and about the 4th night in a row I haven't slept, and I can't nap during the day. I feel like a zombie! Everybody have a nice day.

I had a really nice Birthday yesterday.. It was the first time my children were not here. They have there own lives and I have to accept that. They did send nice card and a gift. I recieved a lot of cards from friends and family. I am such a pack rat I want to keep them all. I got to get out of that habit. I told my hubby I have to start getting rid of STUFF. It is getting to be too much. I don't have the room to keep everything.
Angel .. I hope you can resolve these medical problems soon..
Happy..My shoulder and arm are still hurting like the devil..Eleni and I went to lunch with our sister Mary for our birthday..We both had a chocolate cake for our birthday. I baked mine. Betty Crocker. I put walnuts in mine and sprinkled it with stars. I ate one piece. My hubby will finish it..
Chrilly- I walk on the sidewalk even at the beach. It is too hard to walk in the sand..I have increased to 4 miles . I want to try and get back to at least 5 days ..
Got to get busy...I have let things go lately and it has piled up...See ya later..Joanne

Joanne, I couple years ago when my grandma died, I found out she was a pack rat too. She saved every last card and art piece that all of the grandkids have made through the years. Boxes and boxes and drawers full of the stuff. I enjoyed looking at things I did when I was just really tiny and got filled up with tons of memories. I took some of them home with me and put them in my scrapbook with my Grandma's picture. Cherish those cards...they are worth millions...

~chris

I just thought I would like to share epxeriences with you'al. I am 56 years old. I was diagnosed with RA about 4 years ago. I didn't have to start on the big guns at first and I found out about the antibiotic protocal and I have done well on it. If anyone would like more information about this I would be glad to share.

I have 6 grandchildren and one on the way in August. Most of my life is centered around them. They range in age from 22 down to 5.(plus the new one coming of course!)

My occupation for 25 years was as a nail technician. I thought I would not be able to do this any longer so I sold everything about 4 years ago, but a few months ago I decided to go back into the business and have rebought everything and sort of do it as a hobby these days and enjoy it.

I have found that the low carb type eating helps my ra a lot. I have "fallen off the wagon" for awhile though and I am trying really hard to go back on induction phase and start all over.

I have been married for 33 years and together we have six children and 14 grands. It is really getting hard remembering all those birthdays! Anyway, just thought I would drop a line and get acquainted.

Cindy

Cindy!!

So glad you posted with us! Hope you'll become part of our little community here. We all share a lot of the same ailments, and understand. I like having friends I can talk to.

I'm 55, have 4 children, & 11 grands! My DH & I have been married for 36 yrs. I've had severe RA for about 3 yrs. I'm on Methotrexate injections once a week, & Remicade intravenous treatments every 5-6 weeks. The Remicade has been a miracle drug for me. Of course, I still have my daily problems, but Remicade really takes the edge off of it. It also slows the progression of RA. Although my knuckles are a little swollen, my hands aren't deformed. I do have a lot of infections....I'm fighting off ear & throat infection, now. I try to stay as active as possible, volunteering as a secretary 3 days a week at a Christian TV Station. Also co-host the evening news,weather, etc., & have my own program "Vision of Heaven" where I try to do a little singing. It's good that you were able to go back to your business.

I'm very interested in the antibiotic protocol you mentioned. I haven't heard of it before. Please tell me about it.

I'm trying to help myself by doing a research on the foods I shouldn't be eating. I was really surprised about some of them. I'm also going to buy a Juicer....my Dr recommended it last week, when I told him about my food research. Sweets are VERY bad & I love them sooooooo much. But, with the juicer, a lot of things are naturally sweet. The manager at the TV Station makes strawberry & banana smoothies for us to drink.....DELICIOUS!!
Here's a list of the bad foods I've found so far:

1. dairy protein
2. corn
3. wheat
4. citrus fruits
5. eggs
6. red meat
7. sugar ( )
8. salt
9. caffeine
10. potatoes
11. egg plant
12. tea
13. saturated fat

Well......gotta get off of here, hope you'll stay with us.
Hello to all.........

Welcome Cindy- We are a good group here. I have severe OA. Lately it has been very painful. Maybe the weather has something to do with it. I have 2 grown children and 2 G/children. Sadly I have not been blessed with anymore. My son has just remarried after being single 20 years. No children there. My daughter has 2. One still in Irag for the second time and one in college. The boy should be home next month and is getting out of the navy in June.I have been eating low carb for a while. Keep coming to see us.
Angel- Thanks for the B/D wishes. I have to say that 72 is just a number. I walked 4 miles again yesterday. It helps stop the pain but later I pay the piper. By this afternoon I should be able to do it again.. My brother in Az. says there are few people who can walk that far at my age. Maybe so. The beach was so crowded yesterday. I take my life in my hands to walk there on the weekends. I may look for another route those days. As it is getting lighter I could go later.The traffic should be better.
Chrilly- I can save just so much stuff!I start looking for a path to my bed after awhile.I am bad. I will toss something and then go back and get it.. There was a piece in the paper last week on that same subject.. The pictures were a nightmare. I said that is going to be me if I don't get busy..Down here there are a lot of retirees. It seems that keeping junk is part of a problem.Some of them don't even toss out the garbage. Now that is a problem! Some pack rat animals. Can you imagine 20 cats/dogs in a small house!It happens..Hope you are feeling good today...
Hello everybody..Joanne

Hi Chris Angel, Joanne, and welcome Cindy, to our little corner of the web.

Joanne - my Mom was 78 and walked everywhere. She had no aches and pains, but did end up with alzheimers Disease. The Drs. all said that they wished they could be as flexible as she was at THEIR ages. I swear she was like a rubber band at times. My daughter is the same. I have ALWAYS been stiff, even though I was always active in sports and such.

I am NO packrat. I never have been. Can't stand junk around me. My Gkids make me stuff, and I put it in my recipe binder. I like that and it is easy for me to see it.

Angel - are those foods that cause inflammation? I have been doing some research on this as well, and I am waiting for a book written by some Canadians on the subject. I will share it with you when I get it - should be soon, I hope.

Cindy - welcome. Well, I will be 59 on the 23 March, so it is coming soon I don't have RA, but OA and FM. I am happy for you, that you were able to get back doing what you enjoy. That is great.


Chris - It sounds like a nice scrapbook you have made. The secret is to NEVER let the junk stuff take over your space. Once it is thinned out it is so much easier to exist.

Well, have to go make supper. Hope you all are having a good day.

OH this stinks! I posted a long post and it got lost out there in cyber world.

Anyhow...Welcome Cindy!

I'm Chris. I'm the baby of the group. I'm 33 yrs. I live in Montana and have 3 little girls. I work part-time for my dad in his candy business and stay home with the girls the rest of the time. I've had RA since I was 27. I'm finally starting to cope with it. I've been on Methotrexate for 2 yrs now after the sulfasalazine I was on starting causing liver damage. Talk about being sick. Then I had to be off medicine entirely until my liver counts went down. That was for almost 3 months. I could hardly walk. It hurt so bad. Now since I've lost weight and have been exercising and stuff...I feel much better. My last blood work was even normal for once. I'm glad you found us and just want to say these ladies are wonderful....

~chris

Sorry I haven't been around. Everybody's been sick...and I mean everybody. Then my dad is out of town for a few days so I've been subing for him at work and taking care of his cats.

Hope you are all having a pain free day. I'm doing good. Last night was a little rough again. Darn my stupid wrist. I was waking up all the time with my hand tingling and on fire and hurting like crazy. Kayla snuck off with my splint somewhere so if I had that, I would have been sleeping like a baby.

Gotta get nicole out of my stuff again. Will this constant chasing ever end?

~chris

Hello everyone,

I've been gone a few days, also, Chrily. Just a lot going on. I'm so sorry your hand is hurting you so badly. I wish you could get some relief from that.
Yes, dear, that constant chasing will end. I know it doesn't seem like it, but it will. One day, they will be out of the house, with lives of their own, & you'll wonder where all the time went. It'll be too quiet & lonely. My daughter that has the 3 girls close together, stayed so frustrated when her kids were young. She would even cry sometimes & tell me she didn't know if she could handle it all. Of course, she did. Now, they're 13, 14, &17! A lot of help to her (but, costly of course.), & she's already dreading them leaving home. Just hang in there....it's worth it.

Well....I don't know any more about my tests. The Dr's office usually calls me the next day to give my lab results, but, after a week, I still didn't hear anything. So, Thursday, I called them. A nurse got on the phone & said that my "regular" blood work was in the same range as usual "for me". I told her that the Dr had done special blood work to check for Lupus, Fibromyalgia, etc., & she said the Dr hadn't signed off on it, yet. She didn't have anything to tell me. Sounded strange to me.
I go for a treatment Monday. Maybe Dr there can tell me something. He's the one with my MRI's, also. I wonder if he's even looked at them! I took the stupid cervical collar off. I figured it must not be too important, or they would be letting me know something. My ears & throat are a little better.

Hello to Joanne, Happy Canuk, grannyc...some that are MIA! Hope you all are feeling well, today. Have a good weekend.