Sorry I've been MIA

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I've been in a nasty flare and pretty miserable. It's a vicious circle of

pain, fatigue, restlessness, depression, and frustration. They all seem to

feed on one another.

I went to the doctor today and she spent a lot of time with me, without Bob.

I could tell he irritates her because he is so pushy. I explained to her

that he can be very over powering and I'm not like that. I have my own

issues with him (as you all know), BUT I'm the one who is the patient. I

had a whole list of things I needed to talk to her about and we went through

them step by step.

She's been afraid to prescribe certain things (pain meds) for me because of

the problem with the fentanyl. I asked her if fentanyl was a morphine based

med and she said yes. I explained that my Mom had problems with morphine

gradually getting stronger and stronger in her system until it almost killed

her. That made sense to her and she looked at it in a different light. I

told her I don't want to be on drugs, but it was the horrible fibro pain

that got me here to begin with. She wrote me an rx for Vicoden ES and Soma.

thank goodness!

The rash on my head is psoriasis. The solution. Head & Shoulders. She said

if that doesn't work she will have to prescribe something, but give the Head

& Shoulders a try. She saw first hand how bad my short term memory is and

prescribed B-12 injections. She asked me something about my last visit and I

had no clue what she was talking about. she insisted we need to get the B-12

in my system ASAP. Too low B-12 can cause neurological problems. I also

told her how upset I was that my rheumy didn't get back to me about the pain

meds. It was a real good visit. I scheduled a complete physical. pap &

mammo included. She is going to put me into the Women's Cancer Screening

program so that the pap and mammo would be free. She also wants to try me on

Neurontin, but the cost would be too much for me right now. She's going to

apply for the Prescription Assistance program for me to see if we can get it

covered, but once I get disability it will be covered. I told her I had a

date for the disability hearing, but I'm scared. She told me not to worry,

that they will approve me. I told her they already denied me twice! She

said that I've just been a piece of paper to them, but once they see me it

will be different. The emotional stuff with all of that hasn't helped me,

and probably has contributed (or caused) this flare.

I was also having a " girlie " problem. some peeling skin " down there " . She

checked it out and said she didn't find anything, but since I'm prone to

eczema and now psoriasis, it could be that. She said to just keep an eye on

it (strange way of putting it) and to use gentle soap and if it gets worse,

call her.

The doc was also concerned that the Ambien isn't keeping me asleep. She's

going to talk to the prescribing psych nurse and see what they can come up

with. she thinks I need to be on the Amitriptyline. She asked me if it

helped at all with the pain and I didn't think it did when I was on it, but

looking back, I think it did.

Ah, the thyroid and my appetite. she doesn't want to test the thyroid again

just yet because she said I haven't been on the lower dose long enough to

get an accurate reading. Makes sense to me.

There was so much we talked about.

Meds are kicking in and I'll try and get back later. if not, I'll talk to

you guys tomorrow. Psych appt. tomorrow. Hey, at least I get out of the

house.

Tigger (Ruth) in Rhode Island

2/12/02 Lap Proxy RNY

279lbs/220lbs/regain to 250lbs

3/10/05 Open Distal (60 " ) RNY

248 (Just before surgery)

114 (Lowest weight)

118 (Current weight)

140-150 (Goal)

5'5 " (height)

Tigger (Ruth) in Rhode Island

2/12/02 Lap Proxy RNY

279lbs/220lbs/regain to 250lbs

3/10/05 Open Distal (60 " ) RNY

248 (Just before surgery)

114 (Lowest weight)

118 (Current weight)

140-150 (Goal)

5'5 " (height)