Wonderful Web-site Fibromyalgia.

As I have posted in the past, I spend alot of time researching Fibromyalgia (FM) it's origin, symptoms, treatments and any other information I can find to try to help myself as well as post what I can on here to hopefully help others and raise awareness of how "Real" this illness is.

http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/ is a wonderful sight for inforation ranging from "What is Fibromyalgia" to "Common Myths and Mis-conceptions about Fibromyalgia" and everything in between.

This site covers topics that are specific to different people, such as "Men with FM", "Pregnancy with FM" "Children with FM" and many other topics.

It is thorough, clear, concise, and informative.  Please check it out. You may find answers to some questions you may have been afraid to ask.

Soft Hugs to All
Laurie D.

Fibromyalgia research. Fibro-fog has been proven and growth hormones and fibro

Seems that studies have confirmed that changes in the brain of fibro sufferers not only affect perception of pain, but also memory! Fibro fog has now been PROVEN!


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18819988?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

Also, growth hormone in people with fibro are at lower levels then they should be. Results of treating fibro patients with growth hormones had great results (though I can't find the link now).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9458218

Family Get-together.

Hi everyone,
I had a family get-together to go to today that was a "command performance" as my mother would put it. At first I was dreading this day. I was so afraid I was going to be sick or in alot of pain. My mother has a hard time dealing with my illness, and so does some of my family. They feel I am doing this for attention. When I asked my mother how I managed to fake the MRI's that also showed degenerative joint disease, degenerative spinal disease, herniated and bulging discs in my cervical and lumbar spine, and the blood work that found Epstein-Barr, hepatitis-C, lyme's disease, or the sleep studies that showed Sleep Apnea and Restless leg syndrome. All of this, not to mention the fact that she is the one that suggested I see someone about possibly having fibromyalgia, it just started a big fight. This was a few weeks ago. So you can see why I was not looking forward to today. Especially after she called me, and told me I have to come "bouncing" in to my neices house and to be "peppy" and "perky" no matter how I feel, it just put more pressure on me.
It helped to talk to my sister, and we laughed about the possibility of me EVER being "peppy and perky". As a teenager I took dark, and miserable to a new level. These "Goth" kids can't even hold a candle to how miserable I was. Which is why we were laughing. This really helped to make me feel more comfortable about today.
Anyway, I did have a really bad migraine this morning, but I took something early and it went away. The first one this week that actually went away. We went to my neices house, and we sat around the livingroom and talked and laughed. and had a good time. My mother insisted that I had to sit upstairs with her and the other girls of the family, so I missed an awesome Eagles Football game. Apparently my Eagles had a phenominal game. I guess missing the game is a small price to pay to make my mother happy. She was really happy when we were driving home that it was a good day.
I have to thank God for today. I haven't felt good for several days now. And for me to feel good today, of all days. Is a miracle. It just goes to show that God does for us what we can't do for ourselves.
Another thing that was nice about today. My neice made everything that my grandmother used to make. Her homemade "meat pie" with extra sauce on the side to pour over it, and a dish that I can't remember the name, but I love, is Fried onions, with noodle dumplings, and some cheese all fried together until it is slightly browned. Needless to say, nothing was really healthy or good for you, which expains the intense heartburn that I have right  now. Thank God for Maalox!! We also had shrimp and crabdip that my sister made. Oh my God was that good. Then of course the table full of deserts, especially the chocolate pudding pie. I think that is what finally did me in.
All in all, we had a good day. I haven't been able to say that for a while, and it feels good. Oh, I don't want to forget to mention I got to see both of my daughters today as well. I don't get to see them as often as I would like to, so any chance I get to spend with them is a blessing for me.
And, of course I had to hand out AVON brochures to everyone. If I can't count on my family to help me get this started, who can I count on. Right.
I hope you all had a good day, if not I  pray you will have one soon.
Soft Hugs to All.
Laurie D.

Tremendous Flare Day.

I am having a horrible day. I have been in a flare since yesterday. Of course, with everything I have going on, I have only had a little time to rest. Not only has the fibro gotten to me, but the CFS is really bad. I was talking to my son this morning, and while I was talking to him I was also eating a couple of cookies. I was actually falling asleep while I was talking and eating. He knew right away that I had been pushing myself. He said "Mom, your not pacing yourself again are you?... You know you can't push yourself like this, so today, since I am home, I am going to make sure you rest." He's 17, and such a good kid. Both of my boys are really good about noticing when I am having a flare or just a bad day. My girls are grown and don't live here, so they are not as in tune as the boys are.
I was up and down all night (Again) in alot of pain, and spent most of the day in pain and extremely tired. I had an appointment today to go get my flu shot and to get an EKG, so I had to push myself to get up and get dressed to go to the doctor.
Just an FYI for anyone who is taking methadone for pain on a regular basis, you need to get regular EKG's to make sure the methadone is not having an effect on your heart, It shows up on the "bands" on the EKG and if the "bands" start to widen, the doctor needs to taper you off of methadone and try something else. I never knew this until I started seeing my current pain management specialist. He insists that I keep up with my EKG's. Todays was normal, as they have been.
On the way home from the doctor, I fell asleep in the car. I had planned on going right back to sleep when I got home, but that wasn't going to happen. I am getting agravated again with my husband. He has been leaving his mess around, and if I don't clean it up, it never gets cleaned up. I had to come home and clean up the kitchen, and pick up his dirty clothes that he left on the bathroom floor. (He thinks the floor is his personal hamper). We addressed this issue a few weeks ago with our therapist, and true to his nature, he was really good for about 2 weeks, and then he fell right back into his old habits again. I have been keeping a log of what, when, and who does things around the house to take with us to therapy next time.
I wanted to make sure I popped in here to post tonite. I don't want to go to long without posting.
I also need to figure out how to link this blog to the blog on my AVON web-site. I'm not sure how to do it, but I will eventually figure it out.
I think that is all I can really type right now. I'm sorry. I want to try to get a post on here about CFS and other problems that come with fibro. But, lately, I've been too tired or in too much pain to do so.
I'm sorry.
Soft Hugs to All,
Laurie D.

Over extending myself AGAIN.

I have a really bad habit of pushing myself and over-extending myself on days that I feel OK. Then, I pay for it later. Well, I'm paying for it. My son is really getting on me today about learning to pace myself. He is such a good kid, he really does his best to get me to sit down and pace myself, but at the same time try to get in some light exercise.
Yesterday, I had an afternoon appointment with an Avon representative. She was coming to my house, so of course I wanted to make sure everything was in order. That part was easy enough, until my husband decided it would be a good day to do some laundry. I wanted to kill him. My washer is in my kitchen, so we have to seperate the clothes on the living room floor. When I came out of the shower and saw piles of laundry on the floor I flipped my lid. He promised me he would get it all cleaned back up before she got here, and he did. But, I had to go nuts and try to help him get as much of it out of the way as possible.
The meeting went really well, My husband and I decided to start an Avon business to bring in some extra money. The bills are coming in before we get the paychecks these days. Hopefully this will help us a little.
Today, I was really tired and all I wanted to do was sleep, and I also woke up with a lot of pain. I took a short nap, but then I had to go on-line and get the Avon web-site all set up. It took alot more work than I thought it would. I also took my oldest son to a job interview today. I should say I went with him and sat in the car. He only has a learners permit, so he needs a lisenced driver to go with him. I also had to maintain the regular household chores.
Put all this together, and I am one big wreck. My entire body aches as well as my head. I feel exhausted and just want to sleep. I can't go to bed until 10 PM, after my husband gets up and leaves for work.
I also wanted to make sure I popped in here to post something since I didn't get on yesterday.
Hopefully, I will have something positive or of some interest to post soon.
Soft Hugs to All.
Laurie D.

Great web-site for support.

I was directed to this web-site by a member of the National Fibromyalgia Associations discussion board on FaceBook. I thought it was a great place for information and support.

It is Dear Marylin.com....When you need a shoulder to cry on.

You will find the "letter of the week" at:
http://www.angelfire.com/blues2/marylin/low/html

From here, you can go to the home page to check out the entire site.

I hope you can find some helpful information there.

Soft Hugs to All.
Laurie D.

Irritability

I am not sure what is going on with me today. I feel irritable for no reason. I don't just mean a little cranky, but down right "I want to punch something" irritable. Nothing unusual is going on that could have triggered it. My oldest son is away for the weekend (coming home tonite), my younger son has been out back most of the day at the neighbors house. My husband has been down for 2 days with "flu like" symptoms, so he has been doing alot of sleeping most of the day. I haven't gotten any nasty phone calls or letters. Nothing that I can figure out that would make me feel this way.
It's driving me crazy. I finally took a Xanax to help me calm down, but it still hasn't helped me. I took it over 45 minutes ago. It should have helped by now.
I had surgery about 5 years ago to stop my menstrual cycle, and I haven't had PMS symptoms in years. It's a nice warm, sunny day, not too hot, not too cold, just a very nice day. With that said, I haven't had much pain today. So it's not pain that is setting it off.
I would appreciate any feedback from anyone about this. If you have experienced symptoms like this, please let me know. Please tell me what you do to stop feeling this way.
Soft Hugs to All
Laurie D.