Some non-emergency medical purrs, please

Purrs on the way.

--
Ann
in Connecticut
see my cats at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ann791/sets/
read Sam's blog at http://kittens-3.blogspot.com/
*
*
*
"Daniel Mahoney" wrote in message
news
Nancy has had what sounds to me like fibromyalgia for a bunch of years
now. She has made a couple of half-hearted attempts to find a doc that
might be able to help her. This weekend on our trip to Wisconsin she was
pretty much in agony the entire trip. The pain continued through the day
yesterday, so she finally gave in to my nagging and made an appointment to
see the doctor about it. She goes in tomorrow afternoon.

Her previous attempts have resulted in trying a handful of different
medications, none of which offer much relief. The only one she's found
that works at all is a fairly powerful barbiturate, and she'd really
rather not get dependent on those.

So purrs that she can finally get attention from a medical provider who
knows about fibromyalgia and can offer her some real help would be
appreciated.

Yes, this is a rough time for her. Both of her parents have been having
health issues, her job sucks big time, and now her FM is acting up rather
badly. I know the FM can be exacerbated by the stress - talk about a
vicious circle.

Dan

Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Nancy has had what sounds to me like fibromyalgia for a bunch of years
now. She has made a couple of half-hearted attempts to find a doc that
might be able to help her. This weekend on our trip to Wisconsin she
was pretty much in agony the entire trip. The pain continued through
the day yesterday, so she finally gave in to my nagging and made an
appointment to see the doctor about it. She goes in tomorrow
afternoon.

Dan

Purrs for Nancy to get the right doctr, diagnosis, medicine, etc. ASAP.

Jill

On Aug 12, 2:26�pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Nancy has had what sounds to me like fibromyalgia for a bunch of years
now. She has made a couple of half-hearted attempts to find a doc that
might be able to help her. This weekend on our trip to Wisconsin she
was pretty much in agony the entire trip. The pain continued through
the day yesterday, so she finally gave in to my nagging and made an
appointment to see the doctor about it. She goes in tomorrow
afternoon.

Dan

Purrs for Nancy to get the right doctr, diagnosis, medicine, etc. ASAP.

Jill


=============================================
Spiceypurrs heading West.
Suz&Spicey

Daniel Mahoney wrote:

Yes, this is a rough time for her. Both of her parents have been having
health issues, her job sucks big time, and now her FM is acting up rather
badly. I know the FM can be exacerbated by the stress - talk about a
vicious circle.

Lots of purrs for Nancy.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Nancy has had what sounds to me like fibromyalgia for a bunch of years
now. She has made a couple of half-hearted attempts to find a doc that
might be able to help her. This weekend on our trip to Wisconsin she was
pretty much in agony the entire trip. The pain continued through the day
yesterday, so she finally gave in to my nagging and made an appointment to
see the doctor about it. She goes in tomorrow afternoon.

Her previous attempts have resulted in trying a handful of different
medications, none of which offer much relief. The only one she's found
that works at all is a fairly powerful barbiturate, and she'd really
rather not get dependent on those.

So purrs that she can finally get attention from a medical provider who
knows about fibromyalgia and can offer her some real help would be
appreciated.

Yes, this is a rough time for her. Both of her parents have been having
health issues, her job sucks big time, and now her FM is acting up rather
badly. I know the FM can be exacerbated by the stress - talk about a
vicious circle.

Dan
Purrs on the way for Nancy.

Sam, supervised by Mistletoe

Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Nancy has had what sounds to me like fibromyalgia for a bunch of years
now. She has made a couple of half-hearted attempts to find a doc that
might be able to help her. This weekend on our trip to Wisconsin she was
pretty much in agony the entire trip. The pain continued through the day
yesterday, so she finally gave in to my nagging and made an appointment to
see the doctor about it. She goes in tomorrow afternoon.

Her previous attempts have resulted in trying a handful of different
medications, none of which offer much relief. The only one she's found
that works at all is a fairly powerful barbiturate, and she'd really
rather not get dependent on those.

So purrs that she can finally get attention from a medical provider who
knows about fibromyalgia and can offer her some real help would be
appreciated.

Yes, this is a rough time for her. Both of her parents have been having
health issues, her job sucks big time, and now her FM is acting up rather
badly. I know the FM can be exacerbated by the stress - talk about a
vicious circle.

Dan

Purrs for Nancy. I understand how difficult this must be. I hope she
can get the help she needs. I pretty much told my regular dr. (who was
great; I miss him) I thought I had FM and wanted a dr. who knew what
they were doing in that area, and there was an FM expert in the system.
I used to be afraid of asking doctors things, but I've gotten to the
point where I go "I need this. Uh-uh; I am not going to do that.
Excuse me, how many times have I told you AFTERNOON appointments ONLY!
And so on.

Probably CatNipped and Annie will jump in here, too (if they haven't
already; it's a hazard reading posts in order!) to help with suggestions
of what to ask her doctor. Mine has put me on Neurontin, and titrated
the dosage over two-week periods. We'll see how it does.

Best of luck!

Ginger-lyn

Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Nancy has had what sounds to me like fibromyalgia for a bunch of years
now. snip
Dan


Adrian wrote:
Lots of purrs on the way for Nancy.


Lots of purrs for Nancy,
Polonca and Soncek

"Ginger-lyn" wrote in message
...
Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Nancy has had what sounds to me like fibromyalgia for a bunch of years
now. She has made a couple of half-hearted attempts to find a doc that
might be able to help her. This weekend on our trip to Wisconsin she was
pretty much in agony the entire trip. The pain continued through the day
yesterday, so she finally gave in to my nagging and made an appointment
to
see the doctor about it. She goes in tomorrow afternoon.

Her previous attempts have resulted in trying a handful of different
medications, none of which offer much relief. The only one she's found
that works at all is a fairly powerful barbiturate, and she'd really
rather not get dependent on those.

So purrs that she can finally get attention from a medical provider who
knows about fibromyalgia and can offer her some real help would be
appreciated.

Yes, this is a rough time for her. Both of her parents have been having
health issues, her job sucks big time, and now her FM is acting up rather
badly. I know the FM can be exacerbated by the stress - talk about a
vicious circle.

Dan

Purrs for Nancy. I understand how difficult this must be. I hope she can
get the help she needs. I pretty much told my regular dr. (who was great;
I miss him) I thought I had FM and wanted a dr. who knew what they were
doing in that area, and there was an FM expert in the system. I used to be
afraid of asking doctors things, but I've gotten to the point where I go
"I need this. Uh-uh; I am not going to do that. Excuse me, how many times
have I told you AFTERNOON appointments ONLY! And so on.

Probably CatNipped and Annie will jump in here, too (if they haven't
already; it's a hazard reading posts in order!) to help with suggestions
of what to ask her doctor. Mine has put me on Neurontin, and titrated the
dosage over two-week periods. We'll see how it does.

GL, are you finding that the Neurontin is helping at all? It didn't do a
thing for me (and I'm not sure, but I think Annie tried it also with no
results). If anything, the pain seemed *worse* when I was on it. If it
doesn't help you, I would strongly advise you to ask your doctor to wean you
off of it. It has some pretty hairy side-effects: "seizures, fever, chills,
body aches, flu symptoms, swelling of your ankles or feet, confusion, rapid
back and forth movement of your eyes, tremor, easy bruising, dizziness,
drowsiness, weakness, tired feeling, lack of coordination, blurred vision,
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea, constipation,
dry mouth, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, headache, sleep problems
(insomnia), unusual dreams, acne, mild skin rash". "Insomnia" is the one
that always gets me since insomnia is a major problem for people with FMS.
And I said "wean off" because there are even worse effects from withdrawal
from Neurontin.

I'm really surprised that he put you on Neurontin at all since they started
using a similar drug that is more targeted to FMS, Lyrica. However the side
effects of Lyrica: "muscle pain, weakness, or tenderness (especially if you
also have a fever and feel tired), easy bruising or bleeding, swelling in
your hands or feet, rapid weight gain, dizziness or drowsiness, anxiety,
blurred vision, loss of balance or coordination, problems with memory or
concentration, dry mouth, skin rash or itching, constipation, stomach pain,
increased appetite, joint or muscle pain" are much the same because I
believe it's essentially the same medication just give a different name to
prescribe it specifically for FMS. The side effect that gets me on this one
is "muscle pain"! HELLO! We're trying to get RID of muscle pain!!

As I told Dan, the medication I found most effective for FMS was the Ambien
(for good sleep) and the Flexeril for muscle pain (and they make you drowsy
too). Flexeril has some hairy side effects listed too, but they don't
involve changing your brain chemistry - I just have a particular dread of
that since I ended up in the ER after 3 weeks of "DTs" from stopping the
Neurontin.

Anyway, just be sure to be your own advocate with your doctor - as you said,
speak up if something isn't working for you and demand he try something else
that might!

Chin Skritches,

CatNipped



Best of luck!

Ginger-lyn

"hopitus" wrote in message
...
On Aug 19, 12:50 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
Purrs for Nancy. I understand how difficult this must be. I hope she
can
get the help she needs. I pretty much told my regular dr. (who was
great;
I miss him) I thought I had FM and wanted a dr. who knew what they were
doing in that area, and there was an FM expert in the system. I used to
be
afraid of asking doctors things, but I've gotten to the point where I
go
"I need this. Uh-uh; I am not going to do that. Excuse me, how many
times
have I told you AFTERNOON appointments ONLY! And so on.
Probably CatNipped and Annie will jump in here, too (if they haven't
already; it's a hazard reading posts in order!) to help with
suggestions
of what to ask her doctor. Mine has put me on Neurontin, and titrated
the
dosage over two-week periods. We'll see how it does.

GL, are you finding that the Neurontin is helping at all? It didn't do a
thing for me (and I'm not sure, but I think Annie tried it also with no
results). If anything, the pain seemed *worse* when I was on it. If it
doesn't help you, I would strongly advise you to ask your doctor to wean
you
off of it. It has some pretty hairy side-effects: "seizures, fever,
chills,
body aches, flu symptoms, swelling of your ankles or feet, confusion,
rapid
back and forth movement of your eyes, tremor, easy bruising, dizziness,
drowsiness, weakness, tired feeling, lack of coordination, blurred
vision,
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea, constipation,
dry mouth, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, headache, sleep problems
(insomnia), unusual dreams, acne, mild skin rash". "Insomnia" is the one
that always gets me since insomnia is a major problem for people with
FMS.
And I said "wean off" because there are even worse effects from
withdrawal
from Neurontin.
I'm really surprised that he put you on Neurontin at all since they
started
using a similar drug that is more targeted to FMS, Lyrica. However the
side
effects of Lyrica: "muscle pain, weakness, or tenderness (especially if
you
also have a fever and feel tired), easy bruising or bleeding, swelling in
your hands or feet, rapid weight gain, dizziness or drowsiness, anxiety,
blurred vision, loss of balance or coordination, problems with memory or
concentration, dry mouth, skin rash or itching, constipation, stomach
pain,
increased appetite, joint or muscle pain" are much the same because I
believe it's essentially the same medication just give a different name
to
prescribe it specifically for FMS. The side effect that gets me on this
one
is "muscle pain"! HELLO! We're trying to get RID of muscle pain!!
As I told Dan, the medication I found most effective for FMS was the
Ambien
(for good sleep) and the Flexeril for muscle pain (and they make you
drowsy
too). Flexeril has some hairy side effects listed too, but they don't
involve changing your brain chemistry - I just have a particular dread of
that since I ended up in the ER after 3 weeks of "DTs" from stopping the
Neurontin.
Anyway, just be sure to be your own advocate with your doctor - as you
said,
speak up if something isn't working for you and demand he try something
else
that might!
Chin Skritches,
CatNipped
I have a bone to pick....because I care, remember. My good friends in
FL who
have fibro take many drugs, which none of which really make their pain
*go
away completely* but here's what worries me re you all....they never
drive.
They both endure the common side effect of "drowsiness, dizziness"
listed
in the PDRs of the two drugs you mention (not the one starting with
"N").
and "Npped, my friend, what about "drowsiness, dizziness" do you
consider
*not* "changing your brain chemistry"? This from the non-nurse xray
tech.

Well, you have to consider what it *takes* to get me drowsy and how very
short-lived that reaction is in me. I take my last Flexeril and Ambien at
2AM and by 6AM I am *SO* wide awake that I annoy DH no end! I've gone 5
days without sleeping *without* the drugs, so even with them it's hard to
make me sleepy. In order to get drowsy, even *with* the drugs, I have to be
in a *completely* darkened, *completely* quiet enclosed room, *by myself*
(even having someone else lie quietly in bed beside me is too much
distraction for my fevered brain)! I've driven from New Orleans to Orlando
in one straight shot and didn't even close my eyes in the passenger seat.
I've never had an accident, or even a close call, so I think my driving is
OK.

I have arthritis pain - nothing odd considering - but am very lucky to
have not
only a high pain tolerance level but a cast-iron stomach....so I take
frequent
but not too many for "recommended" NSAIDS (ibuprofen & derivatives)
and
Tylenol Arthritis as well (which can literally fry your liver if
overconsumed) but
would not expect other, more normal-pain-feeling women to go without
some
thing stronger, especially for fibro. I drive and though this frequent
activity is
no way as taxing as it was in south FL, would really not like to run
around
"drowsy* or *dizzy* while doing so....

http://www.drugs.com/flexeril.html
http://www.drugs.com/ambien.html

I am not concerned with "habit-forming" - you gotta do what you gotta
do re
that side-effect, which would not cause an MVA (motor vehicle accident
in ER
talk) but as the directions edict goes, FGS see if you get either of
the two "D"
side effects before popping one and hauling off in your car, ok?
Would not have posted or researched this if I didn't care.....


Oh no, I would *NEVER* pop one and then drive. I take the Ambien and
Flexeril at 10PM when I'm already in bed (not a second before), I take the
second at 2AM - by 6AM they've both been metabolized (something my body
tends to do quickly - it's not just my brain that runs on over-drive). I
don't take anything at all during the day.

Chin Skritches,

CatNipped

"hopitus" wrote in message
...
On Aug 19, 2:19 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
"hopitus" wrote in message

...



On Aug 19, 12:50 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
Purrs for Nancy. I understand how difficult this must be. I hope
she
can
get the help she needs. I pretty much told my regular dr. (who was
great;
I miss him) I thought I had FM and wanted a dr. who knew what they
were
doing in that area, and there was an FM expert in the system. I used
to
be
afraid of asking doctors things, but I've gotten to the point where
I
go
"I need this. Uh-uh; I am not going to do that. Excuse me, how many
times
have I told you AFTERNOON appointments ONLY! And so on.
Probably CatNipped and Annie will jump in here, too (if they haven't
already; it's a hazard reading posts in order!) to help with
suggestions
of what to ask her doctor. Mine has put me on Neurontin, and
titrated
the
dosage over two-week periods. We'll see how it does.

GL, are you finding that the Neurontin is helping at all? It didn't
do a
thing for me (and I'm not sure, but I think Annie tried it also with
no
results). If anything, the pain seemed *worse* when I was on it. If
it
doesn't help you, I would strongly advise you to ask your doctor to
wean
you
off of it. It has some pretty hairy side-effects: "seizures, fever,
chills,
body aches, flu symptoms, swelling of your ankles or feet, confusion,
rapid
back and forth movement of your eyes, tremor, easy bruising,
dizziness,
drowsiness, weakness, tired feeling, lack of coordination, blurred
vision,
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea,
constipation,
dry mouth, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, headache, sleep problems
(insomnia), unusual dreams, acne, mild skin rash". "Insomnia" is the
one
that always gets me since insomnia is a major problem for people with
FMS.
And I said "wean off" because there are even worse effects from
withdrawal
from Neurontin.
I'm really surprised that he put you on Neurontin at all since they
started
using a similar drug that is more targeted to FMS, Lyrica. However
the
side
effects of Lyrica: "muscle pain, weakness, or tenderness (especially
if
you
also have a fever and feel tired), easy bruising or bleeding, swelling
in
your hands or feet, rapid weight gain, dizziness or drowsiness,
anxiety,
blurred vision, loss of balance or coordination, problems with memory
or
concentration, dry mouth, skin rash or itching, constipation, stomach
pain,
increased appetite, joint or muscle pain" are much the same because I
believe it's essentially the same medication just give a different
name
to
prescribe it specifically for FMS. The side effect that gets me on
this
one
is "muscle pain"! HELLO! We're trying to get RID of muscle pain!!
As I told Dan, the medication I found most effective for FMS was the
Ambien
(for good sleep) and the Flexeril for muscle pain (and they make you
drowsy
too). Flexeril has some hairy side effects listed too, but they don't
involve changing your brain chemistry - I just have a particular dread
of
that since I ended up in the ER after 3 weeks of "DTs" from stopping
the
Neurontin.
Anyway, just be sure to be your own advocate with your doctor - as you
said,
speak up if something isn't working for you and demand he try
something
else
that might!
Chin Skritches,
CatNipped
I have a bone to pick....because I care, remember. My good friends in
FL who
have fibro take many drugs, which none of which really make their pain
*go
away completely* but here's what worries me re you all....they never
drive.
They both endure the common side effect of "drowsiness, dizziness"
listed
in the PDRs of the two drugs you mention (not the one starting with
"N").
and "Npped, my friend, what about "drowsiness, dizziness" do you
consider
*not* "changing your brain chemistry"? This from the non-nurse xray
tech.

Well, you have to consider what it *takes* to get me drowsy and how very
short-lived that reaction is in me. I take my last Flexeril and Ambien
at
2AM and by 6AM I am *SO* wide awake that I annoy DH no end! I've gone 5
days without sleeping *without* the drugs, so even with them it's hard to
make me sleepy. In order to get drowsy, even *with* the drugs, I have to
be
in a *completely* darkened, *completely* quiet enclosed room, *by myself*
(even having someone else lie quietly in bed beside me is too much
distraction for my fevered brain)! I've driven from New Orleans to
Orlando
in one straight shot and didn't even close my eyes in the passenger seat.
I've never had an accident, or even a close call, so I think my driving
is
OK.



I have arthritis pain - nothing odd considering - but am very lucky to
have not
only a high pain tolerance level but a cast-iron stomach....so I take
frequent
but not too many for "recommended" NSAIDS (ibuprofen & derivatives)
and
Tylenol Arthritis as well (which can literally fry your liver if
overconsumed) but
would not expect other, more normal-pain-feeling women to go without
some
thing stronger, especially for fibro. I drive and though this frequent
activity is
no way as taxing as it was in south FL, would really not like to run
around
"drowsy* or *dizzy* while doing so....

http://www.drugs.com/flexeril.html
http://www.drugs.com/ambien.html

I am not concerned with "habit-forming" - you gotta do what you gotta
do re
that side-effect, which would not cause an MVA (motor vehicle accident
in ER
talk) but as the directions edict goes, FGS see if you get either of
the two "D"
side effects before popping one and hauling off in your car, ok?
Would not have posted or researched this if I didn't care.....

Oh no, I would *NEVER* pop one and then drive. I take the Ambien and
Flexeril at 10PM when I'm already in bed (not a second before), I take
the
second at 2AM - by 6AM they've both been metabolized (something my body
tends to do quickly - it's not just my brain that runs on over-drive). I
don't take anything at all during the day.

Chin Skritches,

CatNipped

That is a good thing....your fast metabolism. My friends have to
medicate
themselves with the pain meds 24/7. Sometimes ipain is so bad they
can't
go to work, thus the federal "can't-be-fired-for-taking-sick-leave"
clause in
their official status. I feel so sorry for them. It is an ordeal for
them to fly,
even though they can afford it. TSA gives them the business re their
Rx
drugs they have to have in carryone or purse, not to mention plane
seat
stiffness/confinement doing a # on their illness.

Well, it's not so much any merit on my part as much as it is just necessity.
My salary is just big enough to keep me from getting SSDI and not big enough
to pay off any bills until about 10 years after I'm dead! I have no
recourse but to go to work every day and my job offers only so many "PTO"
days - no exceptions. I just "do what I gotta do" is all. We have to pay
our mortgage and put food on the table and Sears says we have to pay them
too! ; So in order to work (and drive to work) I can't take pills so I
just deal with the pain as best I can.

Chin Skritches,

CatNipped