Chronic Pain Today

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Salmonella and the new Pistachio recall

So you remember the peanut recall and we seem to be on the starting line of a pistachio recall. So just what is Salmonella and what is all the real news? No rumors or speculation here, read about the latest nut recalls and get informed on what is happening today in the ATL.

The Last Peanut Butter Recall

The Georgia Nut Company recalls Pistachios

FDA Alert: Pistachio Salmonella Identified

Ms Kaylor’s “Complete Article Writers Package”

I bought Annalise Kaylor’s Ebook today

I’m only 11 pages into the first ebook (I got THREE Ebooks from her) and I have already wanted to slap myself three times. Many times I’ve started a paragraph thinking “Oh I knew this/already do this” and then she’ll finish the paragraph and I will go “dang, I am only doing this half way”. She has shown me what I never could understand about SEO.

I’m going to pimp it for a moment and say, this ebook set is going to be a godsend to me as I write for Suite 101, Ehow, Associated Content,  and other sites. I can already breathe a bit easier that March is going to really be a banner month for me because of these tricks I’ve already learned. I can’t even imagine the cash that this one time payment for her Ebooks is going to net me.

Thanks Annalise for a great ebook;)

Tina @ Water Gardens

Click here to visit Annalise Kaylor’s Website

Slow and Steady…Win the Race

In today’s hustle and bustle, we are tempted to over extend ourselves and our bodies. There is always one more thing that we need to do, and not enough hours in the day to do them. Many times this means we will get up early, stay up late, and keep pushing to get things done even when we are too tired or already aching. While I’m super guilty of this as well, I can tell you that it will never matter how clean your house is or how “productive” your day was, if you are laying in the hospital or worse from it. You have to take care of you first. The dishes can wait, they’ll not be upset to sit in the sink another day. Your significant other will not stop loving you if you don’t dust today. (Least he/she shouldn’t;) )

Take care of you this weekend lovely readers and remember that you can only do so much. Don’t expect super human efforts from a mere mortal.

How often for a Med Change?

Do you stay on the same medication on the same dose for years, or do you do a body workup once a year and see how you are reacting to the medication? Talk with your doctor and see if you need to get a yearly workup to make sure that your medications are working, working correctly, and don’t need to be altered. There are those people that stay on the same meds and the same dose their entire symptomatic lives. However through that time they are going to age, they may lose weight or gain it, many things can alter your meds ability to work. You may need a lesser dose or an increase. Make sure that if you are having any change in your life with your body chemistry or just in basic aging and weight gain/loss that you tell your doctor about it and make sure that your meds are going to be giving you the same response that you need them too.

Chronically Pained

How many (show of hands) really realise how badly stress and “bad days in general” can really perk your chronic pain? If you are one of the many that really takes stress difficult, you’ll need to find some destressing techniques. Learn some breathing exercises, stretch your entire body (especially the neck and shoulders, where stress and tension seem to gather), drink water (yes it will help), and perhaps get to cracking on some yoga or some meditation. You need a happy place, whether it is a real place or just a corner in your mind that you will go retreat to. Find it, get in touch with it, and learn to visit frequently.

Dear gentle readers, I started this blog with the intentions of helping and spreading some word about chronic pain and the people who suffer from it. I’ve learned though as more and more clients have leaned on me to work (which I love and I’m not complaining) that some jobs are going to have to go. This was a labor of love, and I was getting enough to make it worth it. But now I’ve some big clients that want to pay me nicely to do their work and some things are going to have to go. Sadly this blog is one of the things that will have to go.

If I’ve referred you to today, I hope you stay and connect and love it as I have. I know I have referred many, even though I don’t see you much. It isn’t a total goodbye. When I hear something I just have to pass on I will post it, and I will pop in to give you updates. Just expect them weekly instead of daily;)

Be well gentle readers

Pill to erase bad memories?

It seems so sci fi but there are now studies underway to make Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind reality. Would you want to erase your bad memories if you could? or, like Jim Carrey in the movie, would you soon realise that to erase the bad ends up erasing the good that was associated with the bad as well? I saw this news bulletin and thought it was the most interesting thing in health news this week, a way to erase the pain and bad that can be lingering in a person.

To learn more about the drug that scientist are testing, you’ll need to read up on the study and how they came to incorporate spiders, scientists, the fear factor gene, and a little hypertension pill into this really interesting discovery that is bound to get even more attention the more that they study it.

Help for the uninsured Diabetics

There are some places and plans where you can get free diabetic supplies and insulin. Diabetics that are not insured have the worst time trying to stay on top of the ever mounting bills associated with diabetes. Insulin can be very expensive, add that with the lancets and monitors, strips, medications, and other aspects of the medical conditions and there are times when diabetics do not take the proper care of themselves simply because they can’t afford the out of pocket expense. There are some ways to get free insulin and there are some programs that are effective for that. If you are an uninsured diabetic I urge you to check out these programs. Plus there are ads for products that can help, should you be interested.

Also, in association of this post:

Do You Know the Proper Ways to Dispose of Insulin Needles and Lancets? You can’t just toss them into the bin like we used to before we knew better. There are special ways that you’ll need to know about disposal, ways that will keep you and others safer. These are medical waste items, even though it takes place in your home and you’ll need to treat it as such. Find out and stay informed on that.

Time without Patience

The early week dip in blood sugar has has lingering effects on me. Not only was it the first time that I’ve actually went down from being so faint, but it has lasted in residual effects throughout the week. I don’t know what the deal is, but its really staying with me. I’ve had a cough and congestion, so perhaps I’m just low immune at the moment and that is helping the faintness and lack of energy stay in there.

Today I wanted to talk about medicine, your actual medicine intake. There are many that I know that take several dozen pills a day for their chronic pain. Some IC patients alone I’ve totalled seeing 30 pills a day. You really need to monitor this because when you’ve so many to take with so many different restrictions, you can get confused. I recommend getting a pill organizer and use a piece of white tape to write (with a sharpie) the time that the pill below needs to be taken. This can be kept around and just filled once a week with the pills you’ll need. That way you’ll not need to wonder, is this the one with food, is this one twice a day or every 12 hours (because there IS a difference).

Learn about your meds, be on top of things. Medication should never be a passive thing.

Keeping Busy Through it All

Well I’m still struggling with the after affects of having that LBS (low blood sugar) incident. I’m still weak, a bit light headed, and nauseous. Plus having to eat every two hours is something I’m not quite used to yet. So to try to take my mind off how I feel, I’m plunging myself in work.

I highly recommend the out of sight out of mind method, I’ve been busy, too busy usually to figure out that I still feel really bad and am so tired. I’ve new projects. You can check them out at Suite 101’s Water Gardens and a few other spots lately. I’ve received plenty of product tests and review items that I need to get cracking on. Plus that guitar isn’t going to play itself. These items I put as a “hafta” do thing, so I don’t put it off and after a bit, hours have past and I’m realising that I’m going to make it through the day.

Tired and cranky? Don’t bask in it, keep busy find more to do and eventually the day will end and perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Stay focused and lovely dear readers

Tina

Beautiful Irony..

The Day before yesterday I blogged about fibro sufferers checking their blood sugar and the link that they have to hypoglycemia issues.

Yesterday I was rushed to the clinic with fainting and LBS (low blood sugar or hypoglycemia). I spent all day dizzy and faint, nauseous and jittery, trying to bring it up and keep it up. Today I am just having the after effects of the really bad day of yesterday. It usually takes me another 24 hours after the bad day before I’m feeling better.

So what am I doing now?? Well other than ducking tornado warnings, I’m monitoring my blood sugar and making sure I eat some carbs every two hours, yes thats right Every Two Hours. It sounds like a dream to munch all day under doctor’s orders, but its really not.

So I’m ESPECIALLY warning everyone with fibro, please talk to your doctor to see if you are at risk for this. See if you can track your blood sugar for a week or so, or just during one of your “bad days” to see if there is a link. There was for me, and now I’m going to have to relearn a lifestyle so that I can do better in keeping my sugar levels up.

Be healthy and happy dear readers

Fibro Sufferers: Have you checked your Blood Sugar Today?

Did you know how closely having fibromyalgia and having hypoglycemia are linked? I didn’t for years until I began to have it. Hypoglycemia is a low blood sugar, this can result in fatigue, irritability, dizziness, the fog that is associated with fibro, also anxiety and other symptoms. Checking your blood sugar regularly should be foremost on your mind, especially after a big carby meal. A hypoglycemic body is going to over produce insulin and will tank your blood sugar numbers resulting in the symptoms that will really wreck havoc with your fibro.

If you have fibro and your doctor hasn’t said anything to you about hypoglycemia, bring it up to them. Tell them you’d like to test your blood sugar for a month or so and log it in a manual to be looked over. And also remember, just because you don’t have hypoglycemia in January, doesn’t mean you won’t have it come that December. Keep a diligent eye on you and how you are feeling, and remember the cost of the test strips are covered under insurance usually. I made sure the doc wrote my script out for the ones that I could get the cheapest, and its been a real godsend to me ever since.

Be well and happy and healthy dear readers

Slow Starts…

I’ve been lax in blogging for a week or more. I’ve not been very “with it” due to fibro fog and the lovely hypoglycemia hitting me hard lately. I’m sore, I’m tired, and I’m just not stringing sentences together very well. But I wanted to bring up a point. Through this I’m pushed myself to do something. I was frustrated when my spelling tanked, when punctuation was a chore, and when my fingers just didn’t want to type what my head was saying. I erased a lot. I took breaks, a lot. And I was frustrated to the core, well….. a lot.

Stick with it, even when you want to just curl up with a blanket and stop functioning till it gets better. Pushing through it can show you that with perserverance you can still do things. There is no can’t, it is just a “can with difficulty” which beats can’t’s arse every day;)

I hope that you and yours are having a good day, with as little pain as possible. Its cold, and spring is still a distant horizon. But we will get through this gray sky and this bitter cold together.

All is Better Again

work is coming along well, flowing good again, back in the groove all is well. Most of the aches and pains are getting better, and the medical stuff is sorting itself out into a better groove.  On the Karma/Wellbeing front: I got a snazzy new guitar and I just love it. Same person that is doing the work and the teaching of this old dog a new trick has a RC blog on today too, so go by and check him out.

 My chiropractor came back and I saw him yesterday. Did a good adjustment and a little bit of soft tissue work on the pressure points, and although I’m sore today from it, I know that I’ll get weeks of relief from it.

Stress is still an issue, I’m caught between worrying too much about some things and worrying too little about others. Never seem to be that lovely middle ground in there. But hopefully soon.

I hope that all my readers are well and happy. Don’t forget to leave me a comment and just tell me hi;)

Phantom Pain and Chronic Pain

On PodNova there is a very good podcast on Phantom Pains: Treatment and Relief of Chronic Pain. Many times we know what is causing out pain, sometimes we don’t but we can still see the area or know its there. For those that are suffering from chronic pain because of phantoms it is a different story. Too many times, a patient will lose a limb and there will still be pain. They are looking into the effects of a possible phantom organ link as well (where an organ causing pain prior to surgery is removed and yet can continue to pump out pain responses even after removal).

 I can understand the phantom organ aspect. I had my gallbladder removed two Februarys ago and there are times when I swear that is still the pain that I’m feeling. It is a very surreal state to be in, but then I tell myself that its only psychosomatic and that I’m not really feeling it since it isn’t even there. Little comfort but its all I have to go on at the moment.

Do you or someone you know have phantom pains, either limb or organ? I’d love to hear about it, please post in the comment section if you do. And have a happy and healthy, pain free day dear readers.