Where is everyone today? I ended up sleeping most of the day. I took a shower, and that wore me out. Pitiful.

It was another beautiful day. sunny and cool.

The 2nd couple interested in the house called us last night, and the man and his FIL went to the house and did some measuring. We have no real interest this whole time, and now we have 2 very interested couples. The 2nd couple hasn't made an official offer though.

I was up all night last night. Was still up this morning when hubby was getting ready for work. Hadn't slept any. I finally went to sleep around 6 and slept until 11. I feel awful when I do that. Hope tonight is better. I always do this when the seasons change.

New CSI tonight and it's nearly time here!

Meme, at least I've been sleeping, even though it's been in spurts. Hope you get more sleep tonight!! I'm heading to bed soon.

Well, I went back to sleep after I woke up at 3:30. That feels so good-this sleep business and achiness is terrible. Affects your whole day.
Went to the tea room with my sil and my friend Betty-I had some kind of lentil soup amd some apple cake-mostly apple. I sure miss eating a nice Courtland apple this time of year. Have to cook them first,
Have to bake for the Fair and then I have an eye appt. She just tells me my eyes are dry.
I have to go to the Podiatrist=now I have a pain in my heel in the other foot and both sides of my toenail are ingrown. It's hard to be able to wear shoes although my sneakers work. I will have to wear them or my black sandals if I get called to sub. They are probably just getting your lettes about my criminal activities.
Everyone feel better-I be it's the change in seasons. It's beautuful here but cool. Mima

Newbie
 

Hi everyone. I am Chris and have fibromyalgia...as well as a long list of thing..some related to FM and some aren't. I am doing Weight Watchers at home. Thanks to the help of forums and email groups, I am staying on track with the diet. I am on SS....not for the FM or the 6 or 7 other ailments but for the depression that accompanies it all. I do bowl a couple times of a week. Not a good bowler by any means....but it does get me out of the house. Other than bowling, and a few trips to the store (most of the time I do shopping on my way home from the bowling center), I don't leave the house. I have a treadmill and walk 5 minutes at a time. I am hoping to increase that to several times a day. Just can't seem to do it yet. I am married. Look forward to hearing from others on how they are doing on dieting and pain.

~~chris
Biggest Loser
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Welcome Chris!!!! I used to bowl for many years. I had to stop when I was pregnant (son is now 18), and I've never gotten back into it. I was diagnosed a couple years ago with fibro, and there is not way I could bowl now. It hurts too much. Good for you on doing the treadmill! Every little bit helps. I get walking in most days, and I do water aerobics a couple nights a week at the Y. I have been on WW in the past, and I did ok with it. I know if I'd get my mind made up, I could lose some more weight, but I just don't seem to have the willpower. My slider shows that I'm aiming for 10 pounds because I'm trying to lose in 10 pound segments. I need to lose 40-50.

Mima, the tea room sounds nice. Bob and I went to Bob Evans this morning for breakfast. He ordered blueberry pancakes. They were mushy, not done, and icky. They took that off of our bill. Bob went to the kitchen to get our waitress. After she served our food, she never came back to check on us. Not a pleasant visit. I'm making spaghetti for supper, his favorite meal for his birthday.

Welcome Chris and Happy BD to Bob!

Didn't sleep again last night. It rained all night & most of the day and we are under heavy thunder storm watches, etc. all around us. It has cleared off some here right now so I'm going to try and go to the store in a few minutes while I can. It's supposed to rain most of the day tomorrow, too and even some Sunday, so the weather man is saying. I had only been to sleep for about 2 hrs. when hubby got up and was trying to find the dog ... wind blew the door out of his hands and slammed it back against the wall and woke me up. I finally went back to sleep about 8 and slept for about 4 more hrs. Sleep like that makes me feel almost drugged when I get up. I'm just aching all over like I have the flu. I think I'm going to get my groceries and stuff in and camp out in front of the TV for the night.

Thanks for the welcome, Meme and Tammy. This weather is doing a number on me too. This time of the year always gets me bad. I hate the upcoming months....all the holidays and all. I have no family other than my hubby and the holidays are all about family. Was suppose to bowl tonight but told hubby to go without me. I am in such a funk. Not like me at all. There have been nights I haven't bowled, but I always went to the bowling alley anyways. Hubby made golash for dinner. I ate about 5 bites and said that was enough. Oh how I hate feeling like this

~~chris
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I know just how you feel, Chris, but even though I feel too bad to move I promised myself I would accomplish SOMETHING every single day no matter what ... even if it's just a couple of loads of wash or cooking dinner. Yesterday I did both and taught piano, too. Today I cleaned out some magazines and got in all my groceries for the next week. If I just sit down and do nothing, I will pretty soon lose my desire to do anything at all and ... well ... first thing you know, there goes my life! I've seen too many people with only half of what I have do just that. I have osteo arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and anemia. But ... as most of the ladies on the message board can tell you, I live a very full life. (With an occasional setback from being a little too full.) And when that happens ... I go to bed for a couple of days. The point is, not to let the disease(s) take away your life if you can possibly help it. I take pain pills so I can do things I want to do a lot of times and then sometimes I go to bed at night crying because I did too much of what I wanted to do! :p Went to dinner with friends tonight. My best friend who fell off the ladder last weekend was there and was talking about how bad her ankle was hurting. Well, I had just slipped my shoe off under the table because I couldn't stand it on my foot anymore ... my foot and ankle was killing me. It had hurt so bad last night I couldn't sleep all night long (again). I couldn't help thinking that I was probably hurting as bad if not worse than she was but no one there knew anything about it ... my whole leg and hip felt like it was on fire ... didn't say a word. What's the point in making everybody else feel bad? When people ask how I am I just say, fine, and leave it at that. They don't need to know all the details of my maladies ... it would just bring them down or make them uncomfortable. People don't usually know what to say or how to act when you start telling them about how bad you feel.

Supposed to rain more tomorrow and Sunday. Really cool here. Guess I'm up with 'Arthur' (& fibro - instead of Fabio) ;) again tonight.

I guess it's going to rain here today-can feel it. And today is the Fair-you should see the scarves that have been made and donated. Wish you guys could be here.
I am fortunate that I have family here and in Fl but I also have a church family here and in Florida-at times, they can be better than family. Welcome , Chris. I am Gail and have had fibro since I was in my 20's. And now I am 68 . So I have a few other things in the mix. Pain can make you depressed and so can some meds.
Finally made an appt with the podiatrist for my ingrown toenail which is ingrown on both sides now. And I have a sharp pain in my left heel.
I sure hope the rain holds off. Everyone has worked so hard. Brad made a wreath holder from a piece of lattice he got from the dump and put a stand on it. He carries out the stuff and puts it back at the end of the day. What a guy.
Sure hope they have the apple crisp-it's the only thing I can eat there. Bringing a sandwich.
Fun at the eye doc's-They didn't pull my chart-so I wasn't called til I went to the desk. Had to feed a meter. Then my appt took 10 minutes-she told me I didn't have dry spots on my eyes anymore-I lied and said I used drops 4 times a day like she told me but I actually forget. You should see this doc-a little Asian woman-she must wear a size 2. And she has such beautiful clothes!!
Bye for now Mima

Thanks for the welcome, Gail. Good luck at the fair. Hope the rain stays away for you.

Meme, I know exactly what you are talking about. Guess we are good friends to those who complain of aches and pains. So many times I have listened to friends complain and I think "if only you knew what it was like to be me". My hubby knows how much I hurt but no one other than him.

This is from a list I belong to. I have given to my closet friends....but I don't think any of them remember it.

A Letter To "Normals"

Having FMS/MPS/CFS means many things change, and a lot of them are invisible.
Unlike having cancer or being hurt in an accident , most people do not
understand even a little about FMS/MSP and its effects, and of those that
think they know, many are actually mis-informed.

In the spirit of informing those who wish to understand......

These are the things that I would like you to understand about me before you
judge me....


- Please understand that being sick doesnt mean I'm not still a human
being. I have to spend most of my day in considerable pain and exhaustion,
and if you visit I probably don't seem like much fun to be with, but I'm
still me stuck inside this body. I still worry about school, and work and my
family and friends, and most of the time I'd still like to hear you talk
about yours too.

-Please understand the difference between "happy" and "healthy" .When you've
got the flu you probably feel miserable with it, but I've been sick for
years. I cant be miserable all the time , in fact I work hard at not being
miserable. So if you're talking to me and I sound happy, it means I'm happy.
That's all. It doesnt mean that I'm not in a lot of pain, or extremely
tired, or that I'm getting better, or any of those things. Please, dont say
, "Oh, your sounding better!" I am not sounding better, I am sounding happy.
If you want to comment on that, you're welcome. Please understand that being
able to stand for ten minutes doesn't necessarily mean that I can stand up
for twenty minutes ,or an hour. And, just because I manage to stand up for
thirty minutes yesterday doesnt mean that I can do the same today. With a
lot of disease you âre either paralyzed, or you can move. With this one it
gets more confusing.

-Please repeat the above paragraph substituting "sitting", "walking",
"thinking", "being sociable" and so on.... it applies to everything. That's
what FMS/MPS/CFSdoes to you.

-Please understand that FMS/MPS/CFS is variable. It's quite possible (for me, its
common) that one day I am able to walk to the park and back, while the next
day I'll have trouble getting to the kitchen. Please don't attack me when I'm
ill by saying "But you did it before!" if you want me to do something then
ask if I can. In a similar vein, I may need to cancel an invitation at the
last minute, it this happens please do not take it personally.

-Please understand that "getting out and doing things" does not make me feel
better, and can often make me seriously worse. Telling me I need a treadmill
, or that I just need to loose (or gain) weight, get this exercise machine,
join this gym, try these classes... may frustrate me to tears, and is not
correct....if I was capable of doing these things , don't you know that I
would? I am working with my doctor and physical therapist and am already
doing the exercise and diet that I am suppose to do. Another statement that
hurts is, "You just need to push yourself more, exercise harder..." Obviously
FMS/MPS deals directly with muscles, and because our muscles don't repair
themselves the way your muscles do this does far more damage than good and
could result in recovery time in days or weeks or months from a single
activity. Also, FMS/MPS/CFS may cause secondary depression (wouldnt you get
depressed if you were hurting and exhausted for years on end!?) but it is not
created by depression.

-Please understand that if I say I have to sit down/lie down/take these pills
now, that I do have to do it right now...it cant be put off of forgotten just
because I'm out for the day (or whatever). FMS/MPS/CFS does not forgive.

-If you want to suggest a cure to me, don't .It's not because I don't
appreciate the thought, and it's not because I dont want to get well. It's
because I have had almost every single one of my friends suggest one at one
point or another. At first I tried them all, but then I realized that I was
using up so much energy trying things that I was making myself sicker, not
better. If there was something that cured, or even helped , all people with
FMS/MPS/CFS then we'd know about it. This is not a drug company conspiracy, there
is worldwide networking (both on and off the Internet) between people with
FMS/MPS/CFS, if something worked we would know.

-If after reading that, you still want to suggest a cure, then do it, but
dont expect me to rush out and try it. I'll take what you said and discuss
it with my doctor.

In may ways I depend on you....people who are not sick....I need you to visit
me when I am too sick to go out....Sometimes I need you to help me with the
shopping, cooking or cleaning.

I may need you to take me to the doctor, or the physical therapist. I need
you on different levels...you're my link to the outside world...if you don't
come to visit me then I might not get to you .

..and, as much as it's possible, I need you to understand me, and still love me.
I miss my former life...I miss everything I used to do that I can't now. I grief for
those things.....in a way you cannot understan.
Please just be there.....

Meme, I agree with you about feeling drugged when the sleep is so haphazard. This morning I couldn't get moving for the longest time.

Chris, believe Meme when she says she leads a full life! She makes me tired just thinking about all that she does. I like that letter to "normals". I may have to print that and take it to school. Might give some people a clue as to what I'm going through.

Mima, I didn't know your name was Gail! Where have I been????

Hoping the rain holds off. Football game tonight, and if it's raining we aren't going. It's 100 miles round trip, and if I sit out in the rain, I know how I'll be feeling tomorrow. If I could just go and watch the band for pregame and halftime, I'd be satisfied. They have a concert tomorrow afternoon, so we'll be going over for that and spending time with Tim afterwards. Looking forward to seeing him.

Hey There
 

Welcome Chris- So far I am the oldest of the group,although oldest is a bad word.. I guess we are as young as we feel.. I don't have fibro. Just osteoarthritis a some heart problems and probably diagnosed diabetic after my next bloodwork. I am working hard on that . I reached my goal weight 2 years ago and still am not satisfied with the weight I am.. Another 5 lbs or so and then we will see. It was a long hard struggle to get there. I was overweight for more than 30 years. Still everyday there is pain. We just learn to live with it,with advil and Darvocet n 100.
I went to my first class for diabetics. It didn't tell me much more than I already know. The next one is on the eating plan. Hopefully it will be more informative.Meme ,gave me some good advise. My Dr. said S/B was the way to go. Cutting the carbs is good. The only thing is the IBS.. Too many veggies and I have to pay the piper..Yesterday was awful. More pain and cramps than ever..My abdomen feels like someone beat on it today.
Mima- No rain down here for a few days.. No big storms to speak of this year and we may not get any..That's good.Oct 19 is my turn at the eye Dr. surgery on left eye and 2 weeks later right eye..I hate waiting!
Hello Happy..I guess you have snow about now..
Tammy... The system up there must be different than Fl. When my hubby retired from teaching it was cut and dry.. One day he was working next day done.. He wasn't well so that made a big difference.He sat around for several years going to a Dr that said he was going to grow new arteries until he almost died and got a new Dr who had him get a quad bypass.. That was over 10 years ago.. He is fine and probably will live to be a 100. His mother was 94 when she died..
Have a Grea Weekend Everybody...Joanne

JoAnn, I know the IBS pains and cramps all too well. I, too, have it. It is a fine line we have to walk with the veggies and fruits. Sorry to hear about the diabetes. My hubby has it. He lost 40 pounds (and I found them) and he is now diet controlled. Speaking of my gaining what he lost...in the past 6 years I have gained 100 pounds. But in the last 6 years I have a hysterectomy, the fibro came to a big head and let itself really be known, and the rest of the ailments just followed along for the ride. Now I have found out that their is MAJOR cancer in my family. (I am on the outside of the family looking in....we aren't close at all). Grandma died from breast cancer, one of her sons and one of her daughters died from lung cancer, another of her sons died shortly after surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his neck, and another son (my dad) has had prostrate cancer. My dad is the only one of them still living after dealing with cancer. That is the reason I have decided to loss some weight. I have enough risk factors and genrics working against me....I don't need the weight to add to it.


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Joanne, I hope you learn something at those classes that will benefit you.
bob has been doing pretty good watching his diet lately, so hopefully when he goes for the bloodwork and the appointment, the doctor won't say medicine. He said it once before, and Bob stopped taking it. He is so stubborn!!!

Chris, I thinking losing weight will help in so many areas! I really need to stick to the WW plan, and I know I'd do better. Keep us posted on how you are doing. Right now I'm trying to drink more water each day. I should read the SouthBeach diet book again. There are so many good ideas in there. I did lose when I did that, but that was before all my health issues started.

Too much rain to go to the game. Tim said he understood when I called. We'll see him tomorrow, so I think that made us all feel better about it. They have a game next weekend too, and we have a hotel room. If it rains, Tim can come over after the game and we can visit, and we can be together on sunday morning. That's the last home game for a few weeks. I'll have to make a visitation run sometime during those weeks. We're keeping my nephew one weekend, and I thought we might take him over to see Tim's room and to see the college. He's an 8th grader.