Re: Emergency Room

[Guest guest]

Hi Bethann,

They have to take people with transplants first in any ER. There are way too many germs that can easily be caught and because transplants have to be taken care of in special way, we could die from being contaminated and because we take immunosupresants we can't fight them. I was in a room with a child who had pneumonia the next day I was so sick I ended up going into the hospital and honestly I was in the same room for maybe 10 minutes. They want to make sure our livers are well cared for.

gayle trans/6-99 ^oo^

galye@...

[Guest guest]

Thanks Gayle!

Bethanne

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Those symptoms, ie shortness of breath, pulsing sensations in the head,

dizziness, lightheadedness, pounding and/or erratic heart rate are all

consistent

with anxiety though there could be something worse involved. You could also

pitch in hyperventillation, pinpoint pupils, cold clammy sweats, shaking,

parasthesieas, butterflies in the stomach, gas and diarrhea on and on. We as a

group

are much more inclined toward these kinds of symptoms. I may be the worst of

us all. I've read few who were bold enough to advance an opinion as to

whether the emotional disturbance causes the symptoms of the disease or that the

disease causes emotional disturbance, regardless, most of us would do well to

learn to relax.

I recently returned from a mixed business/pleasure trip. I did some hard

work and went through a lot of pain for many days. I was afraid that I had set

my knees and shoulders off again, they talked a lot, and would suffer another 2

years of agony. Surprisingly I returned to reasonably normal. I must mention

that I depleted my stock of vioxx during that time. The point I want to make

with this story is that for 2 weeks I was " out of my zone " I didnt watch 3

hours daily of news analysis programs, I wasnt concerned with whether the city

was gonna fine me again over the missing vinyl siding from a fire next door at

that house on 10th etc. I went about my work in the day and relaxed with

friends during the night. Though I was pushing it on 4-5 hours of sleep a night

and was doing a lot of physical work in the heat which I am ill conditioned

for, I came back in better shape than when I left? So why the improvement?

Change in attitude, emotional status. Even if for only a short time it was

enough for me to believe there is more to the influence of negative emotion on

this disease than what I could have admitted a few years ago. I have had

sporadic symptoms of anxiety, in fact some of the worst declines in my health

related to psoriasis have been at times of stress and uncertainty. Everyone

has

stressful events in their life. If you didnt you wouldnt be living. Could it

be that we dwell on stressful events more than others? Show of hands, how

many of us exhibit perfectionist tendencies? I had done a paint job and was

sorely disappointed and apologetic about the quality of the finished job. The

guy I was working for had bought a wagner power painter and it was a peice of

junk. It did ok for thin bodied stain out in the open (fence) anyway it

oversprayed really bad and made a big mess. In passing I overheard a telephone

conversation between the guy I was doing the painting for and our mutual friend.

The homeowner said " It looks fine, he sure takes things personally. " It was

about an hour and a half drive back to where I was staying so I had plenty of

time to once again dwell on that eavesdropped conversation. I dwelled on the

fact that there were problems with the paint job. I will dwell on that drop

of paint on the concrete that nobody else will ever notice. I will kick myself

for who knows how long with " I shoulda " and " What if I woulda " To heck with

it! It is in Topeka KS, I got paid for it, done deal. While on the matter

of deciding what is worthy of being worried over, to heck with all that Oriely

talks about. I cant fix it so any thought I expend considering his topics is

just added stress and anxiety.

It is hard to not worry over a condition which uses pain as a constant

reminder that something is wrong however the worry is part of what is causing

the

hormonal imbalance which perpetuates and worsens the condition. So my advice

is; as soon as you get the chance to get " out of your zone " for a little

while go for it, and leave all that anxiety and the flakes in your armchair at

home. And for God's sake dont watch the news! Orin

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/30/03 12:20:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

lschroe3@... writes:

> Keep those notes coming in if you have any shortness of breath problems,

> please. I am still searching for a cause!!

> in Poulsbo, WA.

>

>

I have tried to send a reply 3 times, so hopefully you don't get this 3

times. But I had the exact same trouble 2 years a go. Needless to say there

was

turmoil at home so the ER docs blew it off as stress. Come to find out it was

due to taking MTX for so long since it can effect your kidneys and cause HTN.

I also ran a normal low BP of 90/60 and all of a sudden I had HTN, That is

chronic illness induced HTN and my BP was going as high as 140/115. My

Nephrologist recently started me on a new HTN drug that actually is good for the

kidneys called Atacand 150 mg. MTX can interfere with kidney function and I

think

that is a relatively unknown side effect. We all worry about or liver, but if

you do future research you see that it can impair your kidneys. This is my

experience and I hope it might help you. If you have any more questions feel

free to E-mail me personally.

, NC

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/1/03 12:35:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time, orinok@...

writes:

> Those symptoms, ie shortness of breath, pulsing sensations in the head,

> dizziness, lightheadedness, pounding and/or erratic heart rate are all

> consistent

> with anxiety though there could be something worse involved. You could also

> pitch in hyperventilation, pinpoint pupils, cold clammy sweats, shaking,

> parasthesieas, butterflies in the stomach, gas and diarrhea on and on. We

> as a group

> are much more inclined toward these kinds of symptoms

Orin,

You are right. I forgot to include in my response (since I had to send it 3

times) that the doctors also tried to brush it off to stress and high pain

levels. And it is certainly true that high and uncontrolled pain levels will

elevate our BP. Sometimes just getting the pain managed will decrease your BP

and

of course level out your heart rate. Point well stated!

[Guest guest]

What a great way to look at life!!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/1/03 5:28:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

softsweetfemme@... writes:

> Perhaps you’ll see a homeless person on the street whom inspires you to go

> further in life than they did or maybe you are

> supposed to be an inspiration to someone else.

Sherrie,

Your story was so beautiful and inspiring. You touched me. I have been very

down and depressed this past week. I am recuperating from major back surgery

in May and am not allowed to take anything for my PA or lupus right now and

am in a flare. The neuro suggests that taking Enbrel, MTX, or Bextra will

impede the fusion and the placement of titanium rods from taking. So it is

going

to be a long ride until November when I can begin them again. But, your story

reminded me that I should be counting my blessings because I could certainly

be worse off! Thank you!

[Guest guest]

- how

> many of us exhibit perfectionist tendencies?

Hi Orin,

Good Paint Job. When I was growing up I was such a little

perfectionist it was disgusting. For some reason my parents thought

this an admirable trait and encouraged it. I used to think I had to

get 100% on every paper and test.(no wonder the kids thought I was

wierd) Ifeel like I have let go of a lot of that due to my PA-no way

to be a perfectionist now. I just noticed I spelled a word wrong

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

I have had a tremendous amount of stress in the last 6 months-maybe a

delayed flare??? I can't always tell a direct relationship.

Sometimes flares seem to come out of nowhere-sometimes I go thru a

stressful time (my MOm's death) with no flares at all. Doesn't seem

to be easy to get a handle on-of course that doesn't bother me now

that I am no longer a perfectionist:)

Marti

[Guest guest]

> - how

> > many of us exhibit perfectionist tendencies?

>

> Hi Orin,

>

> Good Paint Job.

Hi Again Orin,

Here's one on PA and worry. After I posted to you I worried my first

sentence would sound rude when I really meant it in a nice way. Sorry

if it sounded rude. You know, the upside of perfectionism is that

you care about your work and doing a good job. I live in an

apartment complex and usually count on three visits from maintenance

to get something fixed properly. Now that I have accepted that it is

less stressful for me but it sure would be refreshing to run into

someone who cares about doing the job well.

Best Wishres,

Marti

[Guest guest]

Hi Orin,

Perfectionism? YEESSSS! It drives me. But it's also

required in my work. Every time I give our director a

draft of meeting minutes, he CORRECTS them with a red

pen! One time he couldn't find anything to CORRECT so

he told me I got an A!

Perfectionism? I used to try to keep my home looking

like a model - picture perfect. Now that I am banned

from vacuuming and don't have the energy for

obsessive-compulsive cleaning, my son and his friends

feel more comfortable now that our home is more like

theirs. Sometimes we learn the hard way, but it's hard

to give up something that's a part of you