Pam-I have never used Cymbalta. Google it and see, I know you have to get off deprtession meds gradually but I wouldn;t do that without the doc;s help. Hope all turns out well.
Joanne-so sorry.Take it easy-. Prayers for you. And Tammy-check in please.
Need lots of prayers for sickness this week. Brad;s cousin Dil's mother. God is in charge and He is a big God.
Apt needs too much work right now to fix, Havimg a big party on Sunday,
Please take care Joanne, Love from Mima
Funny -Lily gets up on her hands and knees and then tries to roll over-Clunk,

Hi all

I am new here. I have fibro and a whole host of other health challenges that are getting worse all the time. I am now completely disabled and live with pain every day.

I have been on every pain med, all the way up to and including morphine. None of them helped much and they all gave me intolerable side effects. So now I white knuckle it through each day.

I've been on a host of antidepress meds as well. Zoloft ruined my ability to have & enjoy a sex life, and even after being off the drug now for 4 years, none of that ability has returned. Cymbalta was for the pain and the depression. It helped mildly, but had its own side effects, so I terminated that as well.

I have a couple o fmaster's degrees in health fields so I have researched medicine and alternatives to traditional health care for YEARS, and finally, I did find something that helps with depression with NO side effects AT ALL. It is L-Theanine (I use the patented form called "Suntheanine"). I take 200mg a day and that has made all the difference in the world. On really bad days I take an extra 100 or 200mg. NO side effects. And it's not terribly expensive. (I get all my supplements at vitacost dot com or swansonsvitamins dot com or webvitamins dot com and save a bundle).

L-Theanine is the unique amino acid (protein molecule) found in tea that gives it its unique flavor, and scads of scientific studies through the years have found it to be totally safe and actually helpful. I know i would not be alive today without it.

I also drink fresh brewed tea (hot or iced) every chance I get rather than diet soda. Gives me extra theanine and antioxidants.

No one should ever go off antidepressants cold turkey, but taper off them, and have something to help the body adjust, like L-Theanine.

Now if I could just find something that helped with pain the way theanine has helped with mood!!! Rigtht now I am experimenting with Calcium D-Glucarate (it's not a calcium supplement and it's not the same as any regular form of calcium. the glucarate is the critical and active part), and because a lot of my pain is associated with excess estrogen levels, it seems to actually be helping with the pain a bit so far. It's also just a darn good anticancer supplement, and assists the body in clearing out toxins and excess hormones. Anyone significantly overweight produces too much estrogen, and estrogen signals the body to store fat, and other not so good things. There are many cancers that feed off estrogen, and estrogen dominance also causes endometriosis and other not so good things. Which I have.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope some of this info might be helpful to someone else.

Hi everyone, sorry I've been MIA for so long. Have been busy and haven't been feeling too well either. Had my daughter's 2 children homeschooling them for several weeks. She quit her job and had to give a 3 week notice and asked me to tutor them while she fulfilled that. Hubby and I went on a mini vacation for his BD and just a lot going on. Too much really, has about got me down.

Joanne, sounds like you have really been though a lot lately. I'm so sorry. The clot, pneumonia and heart attack all sound serious. You need a vacation away from reality ... and places to fall down! Sure hope you get better fast and nothing else happens to you for awhile.

Tammy, I have battled anemia all my life. They discovered I was anemic when I was only 5. Being tired all the time really sucks.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Good morning -posted twice and it went into cyberspace.
Having major flareups-probably related to sugar. And the exercises for my foot that hurt my back at therapy. Gotta make an ice pack for my back,
Sure hope you are on the mend Joanne. And Tammy -check in and let us know. Good to hear from you Meme.
Lily is almost 7 months. Red hair-so cute,]
3 weeks til FL because Brad has jobs to finish. It's been cold.
Bye for now. Mima

Hello Everybody.. Slowly getting there Mima.. I bet you will be glad to get down here. No rain in my area in over 4 weeks . We are really dry.
Mima..Yes this has been no fun. The scary part is the Dr. said it will happen again as part of my heart is weak and I am prone to pneumonia and have had blood a clot in the past. I try to stay out of crowded areas and so far just go where I need to. The Dr. gave me a B12 injection this week,to help me get some energy.. I feel a little better daily. Lost some weight. That was o.k.
Hello Happy. Tammy.
Welcome new girls ,hope you are doing well.
Have a good weekend, Everybody...
Joanne

That's really tough. Hope you feel stromger. We are leaving around the 15th. It's nice being upstairs because I have a room to put things in that will travel . Some things I can't do til last minute.
I have been going to therapy for my foot but it's better on it's own. It's my back that's so bad.
Hey Tammy, how are you doing> And Anne?
Bye for now Mima

Good Lord, look at all I have missed!! Sorry to be gone for so long but it seems I am having the same hectic life as everyone in here..First, I want to let Tammy know I am pulling for you! It seems you are going through a rough spell with this colon stuff and I do hope it turns out to be nothing serious. Do keep us posted, okay Tammy?? My girlfriends husband has had RA since we were in high school together and it recently appears to have gotten worse. Not sure which medication he is taking but I do know she is big on the nutritional alternative stuff to help with the symptoms. Anne, how did the toe surgery go?? I have missed so much not checking in but I have been dealing with many issues myself. I have just recently attended a couple of seminars about the lapband and gastric sleeve procedures. I am not impressed with going to such drastic measures and will be trying even harder to get my portion distortion under control. The procedures would be a consideration should I gain any more weight back. As for the FM....not any better for me in that department either. Lots of discomfort, especially at night which is interferring with sleeping. I just can not find any way to get a handle on it and can not afford the chiropractic care that I feel would help. It's just a matter of time before this new health insurance program really makes it worse than it already is...they went up on our deductibles and copays already to the point where we feel we are just paying for "catastrophic" coverage. Well, off to get some things on our list done. This is the first weekend hubby has had off in over a month. He actually had to take it off so we could get caught up around here so I don't want to be on the computer too long....I might lose him to the TV! Hope everyone is staying healthy and happy....I'll try and check back tomorrow.

Boy, this has been the longest I have EVER been away. Nobody was here to post, so neither did I.

Joanne - hope things are better for you now. Sorry you have been so ill. It's a terrible way to lose weight.

Tammy - prayers for you. Hope nothing serious is going on. Please let us know.

Mima - soon time for you to head South. Hope you feel better as well.

Meme - just your usual busy self. Hope you are feeling a bit better.

Kate - sorry that you are having so much trouble with the FM. I am going to start taking a supplement that is supposed to help with joint pain, and FM pain. It is made by a Canadian Naturepath. Should get it next week. If I find it helps I will let you know, and perhaps you will be able to get it as well. My niece has that surgery a couple of years ago and has done fantastically well. She is now nice and slim, and has kept the weight off. She is only 42 so that might have helped, as she has the energy and no chronic pain, to exercise.



The toe surgery went well, but I had to have a pin in the toe for 6 weeks. Thankfully, time goes by quickly, and the pin was removed on Monday. Still can't wear a shoe, however, as my poor toe looks like a sausage!! It will take 3 months for it to return to a normal size. Didn't much like the pin so stayed swollen. Can't work at doing my normal job, but did go back and can do data entry and greeting. I have to wear sandals, but it has gotten quite cool now, so have added the dreaded socks as well - so now I am a socks and sandals gal, all the while wearing scrubs lol

Don't think I will have many kids, if any, here tonight for Halloween. It is a beautiful evening for it - it's not cold, and there is no snow. We did have snow on Monday however, but it was gone by Wednesday. It's that time of year. Only 2 months until Christmas (well by then it will be a thing of the past and it will be New Years Eve), and only 5 months until Spring, so not so bad. They are predicting a cold winter for us, because of El Nina, but it might miss us as well. I guess time will tell. I remember MANY Novembers when it was -30 or better out there, but by Thursday it will be 72F - did I mention it was NOVEMBER!!!!

I hope you are all having a great day.

Hello Everybody.. Glad to see you back Happy.
I had a eye appointment today. As I was expecting I have to have laser on my left eye. They tell me that is done on most patients that have had cataract surgery. My daughter had it done just a few months after her surgery. It has been 5 years for me.
We are still very dry. My grass is gone.. It may turn cool this coming week . Hopefully we will get some rain too.
Kate I hope things get better for you soon.
Mima.. Bring some rain down with you. Have a safe trip.
Tammy. let us know how you are..
Meme. i see you on Facebook often.. Hope you are well.
Have a good week all.
Joanne

Hi guys.Good to hear from all of you. I went to take care of Lily last weekend and she got sick-I got sick and now Brad is sick. Just a cold but Lily ended up with an ear infection. It seems to be in my sinuses-where else.
Winding down here-you can have the rain-it;s pouring buckets and it;s so cold-been that way for over a week.
I am doing so bad eating . Need some sunshine and my little weight group. I have too many nice clothes to change sizes
Nothing exciting to report. Stay healthy. Mima

Hello Everybody.. It seems that every day there is something I have to do.. I guess that keeps me moving.. I had laser on my eyes Tuesday.. I hope to never have that again. My daughter told me it was a piece of cake. They dilated my eyes ,numbed the eyes and in fact made me almost blind for a few hours. They didn't do any of that to her. Of course she went to a eye clinic in N/Fl. I do think I am seeing better now..
I still haven't got back on my bike. I feel guilty about that. My knee has been giving me a problem. I think it is getting better.
I have not done well with my eating either. I did better yesterday. I am trying though. I have gained back a few pounds I lost.. Not good.
We had one day of light rain but none since last week and the weather man says none for at least a week. That will only be 20% so I don't expect we will get any.
It is in the high70's low 80's during the day.. I guess we will have a warmer winter than last year.
Got to get busy.. Have a good day.. Joanne

Good to hear from you Joanne. Glad the laser stuff is OVER, Been busy getting ready but nothing is totally done. Went to see Auntie and the doc is giving her double bp pills and she is not feeling well,She had some fluid in her lungs.
Getting a massage today, That will help my back,
Can't wait to get to FL. Mima

Hello gals...been along time...couldn't get logged in or couldn't get the site to load and just too busy to deal with it. JUst wanted to pop in and say hi...all ok here and still working on house and no furniture yet!!!!! Son #2 got married and is a practicing doc and she is still in residency. Will try to post more often.................

Hi candace-congrats on son getting married, All mine are married now-and we have one new granddaughter. Had so much fun with her yesterday-she claps and bounces-so cute-almost 8 months.
Last day here-going to start putting things in the car. Hi all-Mima

Mima- Be safe coming down.. Although I read post daily ,I have not got anything to say that anyone would want to read.. Life is the same daily.
It is so dry in my area. The weather man teases us with the hope of rain. Supposed to get,maybe, 20% tomorrow. I don't believe it till I see it..
At the present time I feel good. We are planning to go to our daughters for Thanksgiving.. I am looking forward to it. It will be a short 2 day trip. We are going with our son and he has to be home by the weekend.
Glad to see you back Candice.
Have a good week everybody..Joanne