Dawg Tired

I read that too, I always start the day with a big cup of coffee. It does seem to help.

My lowest was 38. My dad, however, has me beat - his lowest was *22*! Yes, he got a pacemaker. I told him that the EP should give our family a group discount! Both of my parents have pacers, I have one and both of my sisters have arrythmias.

My sleep study showed I got to sleep in 9 minutes but I had about 30 min of REM sleep and around 400 awakenings. I get aggrivated because I will go right to sleep around 10pm then wake up around midnight - and usually can't get back to sleep. I hate that!!

I had the same "skin burning" problem. Of course, you can't see it - omly feel it. Mine lasted for about 3 months at first. I was told by all the doctors that I was crazy. It finally got better, I still have flare-ups though. Hang in there - it will get better with time.

I did fail the "drunk tests". And I couldn't smell the wintergreen they were trying to get me to identify - finally the nurse showed me the bottle. When I got the dictation from this visit the doctor had documented that my sense of smell was within normal limits. What a crock!

I used to work for a group of neurologists. I kept passing all of the neuro tests just fine - and they would tell me it was all in my head. One of them, however, discovered I had OH and sent me for a TTT.

I get tremors. Sometimes I can't hold onto the phone reciever. We got 2 phones with headsets. That is the most aggravating tremors. I also get tremors in my legs and can't walk. They certainly aren't like seizures but I used to be concerned that it might be an early stage of Parkinson's; lucky for me the docs at Vandy were able to rule that out.

Oh, Nina - I gave up and moved 1200 miles away from him. I obviously wasn't getting anywhere there. Much better care here! And I'm now only a day's drive from Vandy. My attorney is dealing with the LTD co/Dr-who-only-wanted-money. BTW, the company I used to work for has now dropped this LTD company. They told them that if they weren't going to pay their disabled workers then they really weren't a "benefit" they could offer to their employees!

I got a pacemaker a year ago. I had a + TTT; but the Dr said I was getting the pacemaker because on my Holter my HR dropped into the 20's at night. The site hurts! Everytime I complain about it I am told I am lying. I can no longer sleep on my left side. I still have just as many pre-sync spells, and the doctor who put it in told my LTD company that I am fine to go back to work - I have recieved "treatment" for the NCS. If I had to do over again I would do without. BTW - I never saw the EP who put it in - only his nurse practitioner. I tried to make an appointment to see him and they told me I wasn't one of his patients! I have posted inquires on NDRF looking for anyone with NCS who was helped with a pacemaker and got no responses, looking elsewhere the only anecdotal cases I have found where anyone with syncope was helped with a pacer was on the sites of the pacer manufactures - and those patients were in their 70's.

Mitch, welcome aboard - we are here for you too!

I worked for a wonderful company; they placed me on intermittent medical leave when it became apparent I could not work full-time and they were wonderful about letting me go lie down and put my feet up whenever I needed to. But the day came when I could not sit upright for more than 20 minutes at a time and I told my boss I think this is my last day. She called my husband to come get me and she walked me out to the car to make sure I made it ok. That was the last day I worked. I applied the next week for SSDI and it took them a year to do an initial denial. Now I have a lawyer and it will probably be around the 2-year mark before my case comes up for a hearing. In the meantime, I have a sister who has been kind enough to pay our rent for several months, and our church has been very helpful. Here in Missouri, we qualify for food stamps and Medicaid. Our landlord has been kind enough to sell us a house we can pay off in five years - at payments that are much less than rent! He knows that several people from our church will help us do the fixing. My husband had a head injury 14 years ago and at the time his family simply refused to let him consider SSDI. Then he became functional enough to work for a few years. I have been supporting both of us since we have been married. Now the problem with him is that since the accident was more than 1 year ago the government can't understand why he hasn't applied before. We had a similar problem with the state when we applied for Medicaid. I was accepted immediately; he was turned down. When we appealed his the judge at that hearing understood immediately and they backdated his Medicaid.

I am really angry with my attorney. They promised to help with paperwork. But everytime I get some and ask for help they tell us that they don't DO that. Oh well!

I think my problems are cyclical like that. I always have a fear that some important test will be done when I am having a "good day" and they will find nothing. This happened to me when I went to Vandy. I was having some good days and my BP wouldn't drop for anything! Then they couldn't get a vein to do a TTT. Sleep... Comes and goes. Tearose - glad you survived your ordeal, you probably gave the people who saw you afterward something to talk about. Glad you got the glue out of your hair. The first time I went the tech was a really HOT guy - (see, I'm not TOO old!) After that it was always women. Oh well!

briarrose - Montana REALLY ***** for health care. I moved from there almost a year ago. I am a nurse and I couldn't even find a doctor to tell me anything except 1) anxiety, 2) ALL women "my age" (43) had these problems. After they put in a pacemaker and I was still having the same problem my EP told my LTD company that I was fine to go back to work. I'm still fighting to get back my benefits - it's been over a year now.

I have had 2 of them. One in 2000 and the other last June. They stick electrodes on your head - don't worry - the glue comes out easliy, and on your legs, chest and on your face. It isn't as bad as it sounds. If you need to get up during the night to potty you just let them know, they can unplug the electrodes and you just carry them with you. Wear something comfortable. The first one they decided I had obstructive sleep apnea. I had a septoplasty and turbinectomy. It didn't seem to help a whole lot. But on a lighter note they sent home a sheet of instructions home with me. One of them said that since I seem to need more sleep maybe I should try to sleep 10 hours a day. DUH! If I can't sleep 8 hours a day what made them think I could sleep 10?? This second one, last June just showed I still have OSA. This time they tried a C-PAP machine. I couldn't tolerate it. It gave me a certain type of headache that they said happens to about 3 percent of people. it was because the C-PAP raised my intracranial pressure. Good luck! It isn't bad or scary.

Sue, you sound a whole lot like me. I have the "wavy" dizzy but also the "spinny" dizzy. Here is a good "dizzy" website: http://www.opt.pacificu.edu/ce/catalog/COP...7282/Dizzy.html My husband, too has thought I died in my sleep! I will wake up with him actually holding a mirror under my nose to check and see if I am still breathing! I have sleep apnea so most of the time I snore - guess it scares him when I don't. I have left arm/shoulder numbness and I go numb from the waist down on my left side if I lay on my back. Confusion... Oh boy! I have days when I can't tell you what my name is. Luckily my Hubby understands it is a "brain fog" day and goes with it. Yeah, my sx's hit me like a ton of bricks. I have times when I just plop on the floor in a store - I act like I am examining the botton shelf. Vision. Well, I have days when I am sensitive to all light and days when I can't see to read or write. I also seem to be losing a lot of my fine motor skills. Personality change? Hmm... probably the illness has changed me. I now look at things differently. I'm sure I went through a "mourning" period when I said goodbye to my old life. I have had to readjust my definition of normal. But now I have learned to like the new me - haven't really decided if new is improved or not. But I am different.

Hey, Louby, I went ahead and dyed my hair blonde too! I also thought it more appropriate! Gayla

1. Gayla 2. 45 3. NCS 4. 43 5. Missouri Ozarks 6. Bedridden. Dizziness, nausea, pre-syncope, blackouts, brain fog, blurred vision, weakness. EXHAUSTION! I never before knew anyone could be this tired. I feel like I can't lie flat enough on the matress to rest. Days when I can't tell you my name or address. I quit driving 2 years ago. I woke up one morning and didn't know where I was, who I was, or who my husband was. I have days when I can't watch/listen to TV because it is too much stimuli. (That might be a GOOD thing! LOL) 7. I can sit on a barstool in front of the stove and cook for short periods of time. I can read instead of using books on tape. 8. Florinef, Midodrine, Wellbutrin 9. Phenergan, Xanax

Thank you, I truly appreciate the silver lining in this cloud!

Due to my LTD insurance cutting me off last year we have had no income. Well, except for the $50 a week my hubbie gets for preaching. He has a hearing later this month for his SSDI and my hearing isn't even scheduled yet. LTD - well, my lawyer has now filed a second appeal. Our landlord - who has been very gracious - has offered us a house he can't sell or rent. It is a fixer-upper. He is going to sell it to us for $15,000 and we can make small payments until we get back pay on our disability. We are so blessed to have friends among the church people who can do the work for us and have needed materials stashed here and there. But I get so aggravated at our disability system that has put us in this situation of having to move. I feel so bad about needing so much help for the simplest things - not to mention what the stress of moving is doing to me. Thank God for Xanax! But last night I was in such pain, and so hyperstimulated that after 2 Vicodin and .5 Xanax I was still wide awake and hurting. I didn't sleep more than 2 hours all night. Thanks for listening to my rant - but at least there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! If you visit my website you can see the house. http://gayla.greatnurse.net/

I have noticed for years that the full moon affects me. I have horrible insomnia anyway and it gets worse during the full moon. My sisters are the same. I can remember as a small child my dad was the same. He raised me by himself and we would go for walks and look at the stars since we were both awake.

I'm SO happy for you! I think all of us have been through the frustration and when one of us finds help we do a collective YAAY! In the meantime, get lots of rest until April - like you have a choice! haha

I am blonde/blue eyes/fair complexion. All my life I can look back and see symptoms - hindsight IS 20/20! But the first time I felt something was wrong I went to the doctor and he told me I had a virus - and would be okay in about 10 days. That was 2 years ago. My great-grandmother had symptoms that sound exactly like mine and she was just considered "in delicate health". She died at 53. Both of my parents have pacemakers due to arrythmias, both of my sisters are on meds for arrythmias. I have had a pacemaker for a year and have had no improvement. At the time I was dx with the virus I was walking 2 miles a day, working full-time+ and going to college at night - carrying a full class load. When my TTT was + I thought I would find answers - it didn't happen. I don't know what I would have done different in the last couple years, but I am sure glad I have such a wonderful support system in my hubbie and here on this board!

It's a POWER SURGE! But... I haven't yet figured out where the ENERGY from the power surge goes...

Well, I was working for an insurance company - yes - it was medical insurance - and I had not been diagnosed but it was common knlwledge through the company that I was having real problems. People had found me lying in stairwells, bathrooms, hallways, and sometimes dozing over my computer. It had been deemed okay for me to go lie down in a secluded spot of the department where I could elevate my feet. They even had a phone installed in this out-of-the-way area. One day the President (yes, of the United States) was visiting town and was going to tour several small businesses. As I was lying in my "cubbyhole" a Secret Service agent popped around the corner and stopped short; then SLOWLY backed out. I guess they were just doing a "previsit" or something. I hope I wasn't the reason the President didn't come see the company. I wondered if they wrote a report or if they were talking to their wrist radios - "Don't come here - employees are laying down on the job! Not much productivity here!"