Changing from one medication to another....why so difficult, why?

Well I'll get right to the point of this update - medication withdrawl...specifically the withdrawl effects of discontinuing Effexor

I saw my Dr the other day and after some discussion he decided we should change my medication - so I'm completely going off of the Effexor (Venlafaxine is the generic one I've been on) and moving to another medication that is actually specifically for treating Fibromyalgia. The new one is called Savella. I made the name of it a clickable link to info about it for those of you who are curious and will want to look it up :)

Effexor is actually a Depression medication that in high doses has been known to help with the symptoms of Fibro - after telling my Dr that I didn't feel it was helping either way he decided to try this new one. Honestly until the effects of coming off the Effexor are done, I don't think I'll know if the new one is working.

Although I knew I would experience withdrawl symptoms, as I've tried to discontinue Effexor in the past, I think it's time to try to ride this out and see if this new medication will make any difference for me. Unfortunately the two can't be taken together, so I had to completely stop the effexor instead of a gradual decrease which is what is really recommended to come off the drug - although in the past, the gradual decrease still gave me the same withdrawl symptoms so I don't suppose it really matters much if I still have to deal with the withdrawls symptoms that don't seem to be less on the gradual decrease of the medication.

For anyone who has never had to deal with such a thing, the best way to describe it is a form of dizziness which also causes a nausea feeling - kind of like electrical sensations and dizziness combined - brain shivers or the sensation that your brain is moving around in your head or faster than your head from side to side. However you describe it, it's miserable for lack of better words.

So today is the 3rd day of dealing with it and I'm hoping, no I'm praying that an end is in sight - I really don't have any idea how long it is suppose to last and have read it could last anywhere from a short length of time to an extended period of time - I can't do extended so I'm hoping for short.

I will be calling in this week to set up the sleep study I've been putting off for a while now - I just found out last week, and I didn't realize, that initially I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 1997 - so a new sleep study is definitely needed in order to determine if the apnea has stayed the same or gotten worse - if I were a betting person I would bet it's gotten significantly worse as my chronic fatigue has gotten significantly worse over the years - a common problem for those who suffer from sleep apnea is also extreme chronic fatigue due to the lack of restful, reguvenating sleep on a daily basis (even though I sleep a min of 8 hrs a day!)........so we'll see - really right now I have little faith in the medical professionals or their solutions to all the various problems I am currently dealing with, have dealt with and will, I'm sure continue to deal with in the future. I've been putting it off as we can't really afford the test (it's a whole insurance deductible issue for us) but basically we pay full pop until the individual deductible is met - so we're just biting the bullet - if this is possibly one thing that can make a huge difference in how I feel it's time, it's been time to just get it done. On the flip side of the insurance, once the deductible is met they pay 100% for all medical needs - so I guess it's a given and take kind of thing....

Until next time - stay well and please, if your Dr ever suggests EFFEXOR for you, find out if there is something else that has very little to no withdrawls so when it's time for you to stop taking the medication you won't have to deal with the electric dizziness of stopping it...seriously, if I knew then what I know now, I would of opted for a different medication entirely!

So tired....of being tired! It's really just depressing

I'm still researching and looking for that "magic" that is going to help me feel like a living human but to no avail I still haven't found it. Some days are better than others but overall, everyday I feel like I'm dragging my butt around. I have no energy AT ALL which in turn means I have no motivation or interest in doing much because my body just wants to rest or better yet SLEEP! Although I don't sleep during the day because I do try to be "normal" but I definitely don't feel like I think the next person does.

Honestly I expected that by now I would be feeling like a million bucks! Not the case and it's depressing. With all the dietary changes I've made and the addition of several vitamins you would think it would make a difference - not so much, at least not yet. So this of course is not helping me really believe in all the natural eating, juicing and vitamin taking that everyone raves about being "so good for you"....onward I go though.....I will say that I do think the juicing has helped me not get sick but think it's just going to take much longer for me to really feel or see the benefits of it all. I have fallen off the wagon on exercising so I do need to pick that back up and see if that is the missing element - although I'm so tired the last thing I want to do is do jumping jacks, push ups or lift a weight....ugh, just the thought of it makes me even more tired!

On a good note, I've lost a total of 7 lbs since January and am happy with that. I would like to lose another 15 as that's where I was before I got sick last August. I was happy with my weight and size and will be thrilled when I get back there.

Today I went to the vitamin cottage and got a new vitamin to add to my list - Acetyl-L Carnitine - apparently this particular supplement should help "significantly" with my fatigue issues - so we'll see. Eventually I would think I'll stumble upon something that will make all the difference. I hope!

The kids went to the dentist today - looks like we'll be seeing an orthodontist soon for Taylor - she has a baby tooth that is hanging on and her adult molar is pushing it to the side - essentially she has 2 teeth growing in one spot so that needs to be dealt with and we think she'll need some additional work for her teeth to straighten them out. She also has a cavity that needs filling.

Ryan - has 2 cavities to get filled - fun times ahead!

I went to my endocrinologist on Monday to get my thyroid check - she seems to think everything is just fine - I asked her to check my levels as I am concerned about my significant hair loss and weight gain/difficulty losing weight - so she drew some blood and I am waiting on those results - she said the last 2 times she checked my thyroid levels were perfect. Hard to believe with all those nodules living in there but it's hard to argue with the blood tests - I am thinking about getting a 2nd opinion though.....

I am still considering finding a homeopathic Dr to work with to see if they can't provide some natural remedies for my health issues - all I want is to feel good - not even great, just good!

Well, that's it for today's update - everything is pretty much status quo...no major updates to share at this time.........

I'm still here, still fighing wtih my chronic illnessES.......still

It seems like things get better then worse then better then worse - I wonder when I'll just be better!?!?! Earlier in the year I was super hopeful that I was onto getting myself better but a recent bout of extreme fatigue has just sent me back to ground zero!

It's been a bit over a month since I last updated. At that time I had been doing some pre-spring cleaning and it was great - I had some energy to get that done and felt ok overall. Since then things have taken a drastic change.

My father in law passed away on 2/14.....that ended up taking us to California to help make arrangements and be with my mother in law for that week. That also took me off course with my exercise and juicing......once we returned we got consumed with final planning for my business convention which was only 3 wks out.

I've been juicing the Dr Oz Green stuff mainly because it has the items in it that I was primarily juicing, it tastes good and is easy to purchase those ingredients to have on hand. They aren't expensive which is another plus of that particular drink. I've gone away from the fruits mainly because of the sugars in them and have just stuck with that one.

Fast forward a few weeks - we went to New Orleans over the week of 3/9 and enjoyed some time away for my annual business convention with Slumber Parties and had a great time. As usual the time there is full of tons of activities, very little sleep, a lot of walking, dancing, eating of various Cajun foods and of course the hurricanes and hand grenades! It was a great time for all!

While there I felt ok - tired but attributed it to the lack of sleep and late nights out. Upon returning home I felt ok, but ended up feeling as if my chronic fatigue symptoms really flared up towards the end of the first week home. I couldn't get enough sleep to save my life. I am sure the trip to New Orleans is the root of that flare up - it has to be the reason that my energy sank to level 0 and I couldn't get out of bed for days.

As I write today I am feeling OK - I did a party last night so I'm a bit tired from that but feeling a little better than I have, in regards to energy, than I have in the last couple weeks.

I have an appointment this week with my Endocrinologist to check my thyroid nodules - every 6 months I get those checked. I still believe that my thyroid is not functioning regardless of what she says - I'm not sure what to do though - if the blood work says all my hormone levels are "within normal range" and everything appears to be ok - how do you argue with that? I do however wish to dig deeper into these nodules and somehow figure out if they have taken over the function of my thyroid, secreting hormones and "faking out" the blood tests - I'm sure that's a possibility......or maybe I'm just reaching for something - hell I don't know.

I just wish someone, somewhere would help me feel 100% human again - I feel like I've somewhat "checked out" on life at this point. Especially when I spend an entire day of my life in my bed sleeping because I just can't wake up. That's how I spent this past Thursday......after I got my kids off to school which was a task in itself, I went back to bed and slept the rest of that day......woke up a few times but couldn't keep my eyes open. It's really sad and makes me sad that I'm missing life because of this chronic fatigue I'm suffering from - in fact I'm tearing up just writing about it because I feel like there is nothing I can do about it.......right or wrong, that's how I'm feeling right now. I need to keep searching but honestly I think I've done all the research I can on my own - I just keep finding the same things I've already read about.....is there really no more help out there?

When I think about living out the rest of my life struggling with this extreme fatigue it makes me sad because it's hard to fight it...along with being completely unfunctional at times there are also body aches/pains to deal with as well. Someone who doesn't have issues with fatigue/pain can't even imagine what it's like to always feel like you have been up for 24hrs straight, everyday - even though you have made sure you got 8hrs sleep, eat right, get your vitamins in and exercise - I'm telling you, it's terrible and I wouldn't wish this kind of illness on anyone anywhere.......

Sorry for the "downer" but this is where I am suppose to write how I feel, and there you have it........I'm just in a bad place right now with my fatigue and struggling to trust western medicine after all this time I've gone and nothing real dramatic has changed with my health. At times I feel like nothing is ever going to change - but something has to change........I know there is someone out there that can help.

There is actually a clinic here in Denver that deals with Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia however they are not "insurance approved" because the treatment methods they use are more holistic than medicinal and have not been "proven" to be eligible to be included in insurance plans. Upon checking into it they informed me that treatment is $500 a month which pretty much stopped me in my tracks there. After looking into them I really feel they might have some answers for me BUT we definitely don't have an extra $500 a month to put towards that. I'm tired of being in the hole with our medical bills so that is the last thing we need is to put ourselves more in the hole in that area. It's really a catch 22 because I think a more holistic approach is what will help me but the expense of it stops me - crazy.......

Well, I guess that's it for now.....I am thinking of doing a whole body cleanse starting this week to see if that doesn't help me in some way......honestly I think I will do ANYTHING at this point to just feel better, have just a little energy and see the light at the end of what has turned into a very long dark tunnel I'm in....

Until next time!

It's feels good to accomplish something

Even if that something is just the pantry getting cleaned out and straightened up! I know it might be something small but it's done finally and I can mark that off my list! I've been avoiding it but this afternoon I was trying to get something and a few things fell out on me - that frustrated me enough at that point that I just started rearranging things, tossing things and before you knew it, it was done! I'm glad that's over with!

Once again, there were things in there dating back to 2008...at least I didn't find things dating back to 1996 like I did with the medicine cabinet!! Sheesh - I'm beginning to wonder if we have a problem with getting rid of things!

Here is a picture of the "before"

And here it is "after"

I know, we have a lot of stuff in there, it doesn't look that much different really in the pictures but believe it or not I had a full trash bag of things I tossed out! At least now everything is visible and I can see what we do have instead of not really knowing exactly what is in there.

I had a bit more energy today so I've been really busy doing laundry, straightening the house and doing some general cleaning.....we may need to leave to California as my father in law is in the hospital with congestive heart failure. We think he'll end up being OK but we really feel we should go see the family and offer our support to my mother in law who is really just a wreck with this whole thing. So we'll see, we aren't sure just yet what we are going to do.

That's it for now - just a quick update so I wouldn't forget to update everyone on my progress with those areas I had mentioned I needed to purge - until next time!

Frustrated with my Chronic Fatigue

So today brings me some frustration as I sit here completely exhausted. Why? Because I have chronic fatigue that isn't being treated appropriately. Now I know the next question some of you are asking is "well Gerri, why aren't you treating this condition?" And I do have an answer.....it's a financial reason. You see, my insurance is one that doesn't cover anything until the deductible is met - so that means we pay 100% out of pocket until then - the deductible is $3000 per person.....the sleep study I need to take is right around $3000. So I face a huge medical bill to treat this OR wait it out until we meet the deductible over the course of this year....it's hard to think of having a huge medical bill arrive on our doorstep but on the flip side it's hard to continue on with this chronic illness without the treatment needed.

I had mentioned previously that the sleep apnea treatment is using a machine at night but in order to get to that point I need the sleep study. So I feel stuck between a rock and a hard spot - deal with my chronic fatigue as I always have or just get the sleep study and deal with the bill later. Being that I still have bills from meeting our deductible last year it's hard to add to those bills....I just have to decide which is harder - dealing with being exhausted all the time or dealing with the medical bills.

I think I just answered my own question with the last statement. I know as soon as I get the right treatment for my fatigue issues I will feel like a new person and have more energy to do the things I NEED to do and become an active member of this family and life again.

It's been over 2 mo now that I've been eating better, juicing and making healthy choices for what I put into my body and the fatigue is not getting better or worse - it's just there, regular and steady - something I deal with as best I can! I go to bed at night by 9 or 10pm the latest and sleep until 6:30am - so it's not lack of sleep - it's lack of GOOD RESTFUL SLEEP. Which is because of the sleep apnea. It's a really hard disorder to explain and understand, but living with it I can tell you it's very difficult to live life when so tired all the time.

I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and just get it done - once on my way to better/refreshing sleep I'm sure everything else will work out. No sense in treating part of my health issues if the other half isn't being addressed and treated.

That's it for today - just had to work out my frustration which in the end has brought me to the answer of what I need to do ...... I hope you are all well!

It's taken some time but I'm seeing results

I'm so excited today!! Why? Because I noticed that I have stopped losing wads of hair when I wash my hair and run my hands through it! This is a huge plus as that tells me that all the changes I've made in my lifestyle are making their impact in and outside of my body!

You see, I've been losing large amounts of hair for a while now - nobody seems to know why, medications - maybe......diet - maybe.....Chronic Illness - maybe...probably! Either way, today is the first day I've seen a noticable impact that the changes I've made are working - no hair in drain today, no hair on my hands after putting product in.....it actually made me stop in my tracks to take notice!!

Hair loss of course is normal, but the amount I have been use to losing has been more than normal - maybe this means I'll start seeing my thick hair again! Either way I'm thrilled that it appears to be done coming out in huge clumps......

My fatigue is still somewhat of an issue however I have noticed that I'm not as tired as I historically have been - and I'm completely off the medication I've been on for well over 4 yrs now that was specifically prescribed to help me with energy.....everything is headed in the right direction, it's just taking time as one would expect.

That's about all I have to share today - just wanted to post real quick about this significant change in my body! Along with that I've lost 6lbs and am continuing to juice daily.......

Holy pharmacy!

So I finally cleaned out the "medicine cabinet" in the kitchen. I didn't realize just how many things we have accumulated (and kept) over the years! I'm embarrassed to admit it but, there were prescriptions and over the counter items that expired as far back as 1998 - OMG! Glenn made the comment that when it comes to medicines it's hard to get rid of them because they cost so much - I guess so!

Although that is somewhat embarrassing, I'm happy to say out of 3 very full grocery bags of medications I was able to eliminate 2 of those bags and it's now down to a very manageable amount of things that we'll keep on hand such as cold medicines, allergy medicines, indigestion/gas/constipation and our daily supplements. I threw away all expired items as well as any meds that I'm no longer taking, no matter how many were left. As you'll see in the following picture, the cabinet we typically keep our "meds" in was a bit out of control and had overflown to the counter top:

Here I am with the pile getting ready to sort through....................

Now, I'm happy to say that the lowest level is just our daily supplements and medications and on the higher levels those other items we use as we need for colds, allergies or GI issues. It didn't take too long to sort through the massive pile as a lot of the items were expired and/or no longer being used:

The counter is cleared of any overflow and it feels nice to open the cabinet and not have anything fall out onto the counter or teetering on the edge of falling. It also feels nice to have some "control" over that cabinet again as well as cross another item off my "to do" list for the month of January.

Next big clean out project - THE PANTRY..........it's out of control too and other than the kids lunch snacks I have no idea what is really in there!!