Good Moanin' HealingWell V65

 Yally...Sweetie, I'm so sorry to read that you are having such a difficult time and I know where you are right now.  Back when I was on the Plaquenil, I would think, I don't need this stuff, I feel fine! and then would I find out differently, just like a couple of weeks back, I thought maybe I didn't need 8 pills of MTX, how about 4 instead? well let me tell you that didn't work out so well, and then left me with 4 at the end of my prescription and by this weekend, I was in so much pain between the lack of MTX, no Plaquenil, and I was lazy in taking my Enbrel (2 days late) I really got myself into quite a painful bind.  Took the 8 MTX and how amazing the next day all that horrid joint pain was gone The reality that I need 8 pills of MTX, plus shots, and now the Arava just to function is depressing.

Sending you gentle hugs, we all understand here what you are going through.  Someone posted something about depression and arthritis here on the board somewhere, and yes, I think it does make us depressed! Chronic pain wears on us after awhile, and unless you have something like this it is difficult to understand.

We are here for you Yally.

Jody...Yes, I'm so proud that he is my son, what a wonderful human being he is We were in the store the other day near our house and the kids walk there quite often, and I'm at the check out counter when the clerk asks me if the boy with me is my son, and I say yes, and she starts telling me how much she likes him, and what a great kid he is, and the he is always so nice and polite when he comes into the store. 

As for the pain, I do feel better this week, but we changed insurance companies and now I have to argue with them about the Enbrel, and Arava, so we will see how that turns out.

Raven...Your camping trip sounded amazing! I really wanted to go camping this summer but we just never got around to it, and now the weather has turned cold here.  Girls!! I have a daughter who will be 12 in Feb, and much different than boys! Do your girls chatter constantly? My daughter never stops talking, I pick her up from school, she is talking, and we have a 40 minute drive home, and when we pull into the driveway...she is still talking

Bear, Ducky and Boo, where are you? Hope all is well.

I forgot to add - congrats on the 16 pounds Raven! That is awesome! I'm right here rooting for you since I'm going thru the same struggles! I do have a question for you, in your opinion - do you think a 93 glucose reading for a fasting blood test is high? I think that is, especially for fasting. I know it is in the normal range...but it seems like it should be lower. Especially since 2 weeks prior I had a non-fasting test that came back at 82.

Mom - maybe talk to your doctor about switching meds for your migraines? There are quite a few out there. I read that some of the beta-blockers (the high blood pressure medicine they've given me) is also used for migraines as well. However, I was reading that some may cause joint problems as well (oh joy!)

Mom, 160 is pretty high. I (used to) have a naturally low BP (until this year). But, when I had a reaction to that first BP med, it was 163/101. I was a mess. I'm also very short (though very wide - working on that one). You might want to talk to you doctor about that BP reading as well. Though, in my case, the high BP was causing the anxiety and panic attacks. Those were NOT fun!

That is so funny about your daughter and the pantry. I've got one back at ya on that - my daughter created "BB" (bebe) when she was 18 months old who was her reflection in the mirror. She'd spend time in the bathroom talking to BB regularly for years! I believe BB was originally "baby" - we used to have a mirrored wall unit for our bedroom set. After my son was born, she was in our bed with me and my son. She crawled to the mirror and saw herself and her new brother in the reflection....and said "bebe" Something clicked, and from then on, when she looked in the mirror, it was "bebe"   Her shadow became "Wendy" - another good friend.

Ahhh, 104...that's where I was before all heck broke loose in my feet, later my body.   That's my ultimate goal....well, at this point anything under 109 will make me happy! But, alas, I have over 70 pounds left to loose to get there.

My cholesterol is high as well, I do (did) eat a lot of animal protein. This is the hardest part of being on the diet, as I feel better when I have slightly higher protein diet than what they usually recommend. Now they say the beta blockers increase cholesterol as well! UGH. Can I not get a break?

As for your BP, keep tabs on it....I asked everytime I was in a doctor's office and was told, 'Oh, just keep an eye on it...it's not TOO bad" but, had I done my research on HP bp or was told that 'yes it is high, you need to do something about it" maybe I would have avoided the horrors of the last 6 weeks.  Who knows. Maybe not if it really was the Arava causing it. There is definite improvement since I stopped taking it. My point is, I was dismissed when I noticed the change in numbers and didn't think to do anything about it. Don't make the same mistake.

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How is it Plaquenil is helping some of you loose weight? I've never noticed that before unless it's helping me now after all these years.

Wow, 98/60 was making you that dizzy? Was exasperated by the illness? My cardiologist did say if mine dropped 90/60 or lower that was too low and stop my meds until I normalized. My 'normal' prior all this used to be about 106/67. But I guess that is considerably higher than 98/60. Do they have meds for people who have low BP?

Good point with the folic acid and mthx. My doc had me taking a bcomplex daily PLUS additional folic acid. Also, she said drink NO LESS than 64 ounces of water a day, preferably more when on mthx and many of these other meds.

It's almost Friday! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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