Dawg Tired

YAY!!! What a relief! I hope my LTD company (Jefferson Pilot) is part of UNUM.

The chicken house is about 100 feet behind the house. My son put a chair beside their fence so I can sit and watch them peck. I find it soothing!

I think I'm on my way back up. I made it out to church yesterday but I still haven't made it back down to the chicken house. But still, I appreciate the baby steps!

I have the same problems with focusing; I have also developed dry eyes since the onset of the NMS. Every night I use a saline eye gel and during the day I use Thera-Tears. The opthamologist told me that eye problems are common among people with autonomic problems.

Actually, tearose...Ernie IS a woman!

I've had 2 studies in 2 different facilities and the experiences varied widely... Except for the gunk part! Neither of the places where I went had a shower; the second one didn't even have a private restroom in my room but there were only 2 rooms in that unit. The first one did bring me breakfast around 5:30 or 6 am. The second one gave me a cafeteria pass for my husband and I both. I had to spend a second night in the second facility to try a C-PAP and about 4am we all decided that it wasn't going to work so I came home. Yes, Ernie, I believe taking something to eat would be a good idea. I took a bedtime snack with me and was glad I did.

I know what put me here. I cleaned out the chicken house. It was only about a 15 minute job but it was a beautiful day and I knew bad weather was coming. But I had to sit and rest before I could get back to the house. That was with Hubby doing all the shoveling and carrying. Oh well, I know my chickens are snuggled down in clean straw - at least they're happy. I am enjoying Constant Comment tea and snuggling Hector the cat. Hope we all dig out of the pit soon! (Does that make us PitSisters or something??)

Yeah, the first PCP I went to sent me to a neurologist. They both told me it was purely psychosomatic... My current PCP told me that this goes along with fibro.

Thanks to all of you who send good wishes. This site and all of you are such a blessing to me. I know that all of us are going through such an incredibly difficult time that any good news is appreciated by all of us.

At last! I initially applied Sept 16, 2002 and had my ALJ hearing the end of August this year. I got my letter of a "Fully favorable decision" today. I expect it will still be some months before we see money but at least this is a step in the right direction. My husband had his hearing in March, got his determination in August and we are STILL waiting for his money to start. My decision cited sick sinus syndrome status post pacemaker placement, obesity, and sleep apnea. So many of us are fighting this fight and I just wanted all of you to know that you just gotta keep fighting!

Our kitty is Hector. Yes, he runs the house... But he's not, uh, as GRACEFUL as we all think a cat should be. He sometimes backs up and falls off the bed and so forth. Hubby says thats because he sleeps too close to me and it rubs off! (wonder which of us is catching the klutz flu and which is giving it??)

All I can do is echo the previous posts - appeal, appeal, appeal. I am now waiting for a decision from the Administrative Law judge. I had my hearing August 31. My husband had his hearing March 19 and didn't get a decision until August 6. He still has not recieved any money but at least we know something is coming. You MUST keep going on this - otherwise you will end up having to start the process all over again at a later time.

Now THAT was a smart solution!

I think most of us, at one time or another, has had the SOB issue (among others) put down to anxiety. I have concluded that the main source of anxiety in this whole thing is... DOCTORS!! It is frustrating when we spend days at a time panting, and are told there is nothing wrong with us, and all the while we feel starved for oxygen. Let one of these doctors feel the suffocation we do. In my case - and I know i'm not alone - something as simple as rolling over in bed will leave me panting for air. While I was still able to work I would be sitting at my desk and suddenly some of my co-workers would appear. It seems I would become short of breath and start panting; they were worried about me!

I will not get one this year. last year I planned to but I was going to wait until later in the year. Well, I got the flu in November. The year before I got the shot at work (I was a nurse) and got the flu in March. That is when I learned that the vaccine is only good for 8-12 weeks! It was funny... I went into work not feeling well, took my temp - it was 102. When the doctor came to work he swabbed my nose (NOT a pleasant experience!) and the lab called back 30 minutes later with a positive result. The doctor sent me home with a flu shot for my hubby and a 2-week supply of amantadine for him. It takes 2 weeks for the flu shot to build your antibodies so the amantadine was to take care of him until then.

Brown Recluse Story #1: My sister was bitten about 4 years ago by one of these spiders. The first doctor told her it was nothing to worry about. The next day it looked infected to her so she went to the ER. She was given some antibiotics and sent home. 3 days later it was looking much worse so she went to see the nursing instructor at the school where she was teaching. That lady took one look at it and called a "real" doctor. She spent 8 days in the hospital (her HMO would only cover 1!), had hyperbaric treatments for 6 weeks after that, then had to have the area sugrically excised. The doctor told her that a skinny woman would have been in trouble. She said at least she got a tummy tuck out of it but she still has neuro problems. Brown Recluse Story #2: My husband and I were packing to move so he brought a bunch of boxes in from the storage shed. We had argued months before about these boxes since I knew that Brown Recluse spiders like to hide in them and I wasnted them BURNED! Anyway, he carried them in and was packing some things when - guess what - a BR ran out and bit him n the leg! By the time I carefully captured the spider he was in a world of hurt so I took him to the urgent care. The nurse practitioner there listened rather skeptically to the story then went and got a book. She looked up Brown Recluse, loked at the spider in the jar and told me it wasn't the same thing. I told her that she was looking at a picture of a female and the spider I had here is a male - it was smaller and a bit darker but had the "violin" on its back. She refused to do anything. Told Hubby to put an ice pack n the swollen area on his leg. We left there and went to another facility of the same urgent care where there happened to be a doctor on duty that I knew. We got treatment. UUUUURRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I don't know if this is it or not. When I was at Vanderbilt they did autonomic testing. They put an automatic BP cuff on me and checked it while I did varius things like: blowing against resistance - that one was blowing through the end of a syringe without a needle on it; another one was measuring my BP while I was having a response t pain - for that one they put my hand in a bowl of icy water. They had a couple of others but I can't remember what they were.

I think most of us have been diagnosed by electrophysiologists. Not all of us but probably the vast majority of us. The neurologist - and a couple of cardiologists I have been to had tld me it was all in my head and it was just stress... ALL women my age have these problems... It was all anxiety... I was depressed... I needed to get more exercise ( I was walking 2 miles a day when I got sick!)... I needed to lose weight... You get the picture!

Hayley, I know how you feel. I went through a period where I was completely bedridden for over 3 months. I thought I had achieved a great victory the day I managed to get out of bed and walk "all the way" to the living room. I had to give away my goldfish because I was unable to make it to the kitchen to feed them - never mind cleaning the tank! One of my friends had to come to our house twice a week to help me bathe. I couldn't watch TV or listen to the radio because it wore me out and I couldn't read because my eyes would not focus. All I could do is sleep. My husband had to wake me up to eat - and that REALLY wore me out! Gradually I regained my ability to get up and around. I am still a far cry from the workaholic I was but I have it better now. I have been fighting for my disability for over 2 years now - you just have to hang in there and don't give up. Don't worry about whining - all of us here have done it! (especially me!)

I can't take anything except 1/2 of a .25 mg Xanax at night and Naproxen. Occasionally I take Vicodin for a migraine. The only thing I do on a regular basis is 2 cups of coffee every morning. I tried switching to decaf but after 2-3 weeks I was so sluggish and exhausted I could barely move.

I couldn't tolerate Midodrine or Florinef so I don't take any meds. But I have tremors in my hands and have trouble in general grasping things.

Bubble bath!? BAD BAD BAD for bladder infections! By the way - don't use AZO or any of the other OTC treatments before going to pee in a cup at the doctor's office - they will seriously mess up test results! (but OH how that hurts!) My sister-in-law; who is a physician's assistant. was visiting us a few years ago and I noticed she kept running to the bathroom. I asked her if she had a UTI. She said she didn't know; what does it feel like? I told her and she said that must be her problem. She went to the urgent care and sure enough, that was it. She is now very sympathetic to her female patients with these problems.

I haven't had a loop recorder but I think it is like having a pacemaker put in.

A couple of times - when I've had the migraine from h**l and nothing else has worked I have had luck with a very warm rice bag on my forehead. Had to re-heat several times but it worked. Hubby, on the other hand, usually has more luck with cold packs. Good luck getting it to leave!!

Thanks for the answers. I use a progesterone cream and estradiol. The only other meds I take are an occasional Xanax and Vicodin. My doctor had some blood drawn Thursday so hopefully I will find out something!