A TIME TO REFLECT AND GIVE THANKS....

It once again has been a few days since I was last able to post. We have been having quite a bit of rain and that almost always increases my level of pain. Even now I’m finding it hard to find a comfortable position while posting.The dreaded fibro fog is ever-present and makes it very hard to focus….so I may ramble back and forth… but I hope the auto-proofreading program will save my backside…lol… we shall see.  So with all my down time I got bored of looking for faces in the plaster on the ceiling and started thinking about the up coming holidays and reflected on all that I am thankful for in my life. First and for most I’m thankful for my children. They may be grown but, they are always going to be my children and I still worry about them. I recently could have lost my oldest as he was held hostage at gun point for over an hour by a bank robber. He works for a bank and they still haven’t found the man and his accomplices. He still has police protection a round the clock. I am very grateful to still have him safe and sound. My youngest will most likely be deployed to Afghanistan after he completes his training. I am grateful he is still here. So many will have to make it through this holiday season with out the ones they love. No mater what is going on in my life I will always remember what I do have when others are doing with out. Now let me look a little more at the things I’m thankful for….. this very minute ever so thankful for my craftmatic adjustable bed WITH the built-in massage…..oooh soooo thankful! Also for being able to find others who know what it is like living with chronic illness. I’m indeed grateful for all my extended family with whom I no longer associate, as I am now the black sheep since I won’t let them run my life….. yes I’m grateful. Now I have nice stress free peaceful holidays. I share my holidays with my children and friends! People that I like and who may not have family or not able to get home to their families and would other wise be alone this Thanksgiving. What a novel thought! Now, don’t get me wrong I do love my extended family…. I just don’t like a few of them very much and the ones I do….. I call and talk with them later when all the others go back home…lol…. which leads me to something else….. interstate highways and better gas prices and high airfare costs. Why you might ask? Well, them out-of-state extended family needs to drive and that eats into the length of time they stay and I can call and talk to the ones I like even sooner. I use to start cooking a day ahead of time…. well really just cooked around the clock for a day or two. Then due to my fibro cut back on some of the made from scratch foods and breads/deserts. Then changed to buying a cooked turkey and made from scratch other foods again. BUT now I’m grateful for Piccadilly Restaurants because they make home-made Thanksgiving dinner….. fully cooked turkey and all the trimmings! Yes we all do miss my home cooking {I’m not shy…lol… I am a darn good cook and will pass down my recipes} but are able to enjoy our meal all the more since I’m not in so much pain due to over doing it just to fix a meal. After all it’s not really the food…. it’s the “meal”… the breaking of bread together… THAT’S what Thanksgiving is all about….. being grateful. Taking time to reflect on all we have and the very fact that here in the US we have the freedom to make choices about the path we take …… now that is something for which I am grateful! May you and yours be blessed with joy, peace and health as you travel your own path. Take time to reflect on your blessing and find comfort in your heart and soul until our paths cross again…… Lila

PS: NOW ALL YOU SPOONERS OUT THERE…. DON’T OVER DO IT AND PUT YOURSELF INTO AGONY… “DELEGATE” IS THE KEY TO HOLIDAY SURVIVAL! SO PACE YOURSELF IT HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN….LOL… :}

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG…” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITHOUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE BLOG AT WORDPRESS http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com

[Via http://lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com]

Better Than Medical Marijuana

Facts

For generations in China, the herb known as jiaogulan has also been referred to as xiancao the ‘immortality herb.’ There is much truth to this honorary name, as is demonstrated by the recent discovery of longevity pockets in the small southern provinces of Guangxi and Guizhou where jiaogulan is used regularly as a tonic. In some of these remote mountain villages, an extraordinary number of people were found to be living very long lives in robust good health, with many reported to be living well beyond 100!

Jiaogulan is in current clinical use in Asia for the treatment, prevention or management of an astounding 54 diseases, conditions, and syndromes. No other herb has demonstrated such versatility in its applications.

In China, jiaogulan is believed to slow down the aging process, and it is said that those who drink it daily look younger than their years. Scientific studies have shown that jiaogulan’s exceptionally high antioxidant power is responsible for this effect.

Jiaogulan has been shown to have a similar effect to drugs such as Viagra® by helping to relax arteries to increase blood flow. Leading scientists have stated that jiaogulan may work far better in this regard than arginine or any other natural sexual enhancement supplement. The mechanism of action nitric oxide release is also of great benefit to the cardiovascular system, and it has a profound effect on fighting inflammation as well.

Jiaogulan is the premier member of an elite class of plants called adaptogens. These rare herbs help the body to adapt to all forms of stress and imbalance. Chinese scientists have found that jiaogulan exerts a unique two-way action on the central nervous system, calming the nerves when they are irritated and gently energizing them when they are depressed.

Three decades of scientific research have suggested 54 powerful reasons to drink a jiaogulan tonic every day:

Get saponin power!

Find balance with the premier adaptogen.

Protect yourself from stress.

Protect your vital organs.

Balance hormone levels.

Help normalize cortisol levels.

Protect against side effects of corticosteroids.

Fight chronic fatigue.

Protect against adrenal fatigue.

Increase your antioxidant protection.

Decrease free-radical damage.

Extend your life.

Look younger.

Protect against senility.

Protect vital cell membranes.

Increase cellular energy levels.

Protect your brain.

Improve your mental health without drugs.

Increase stamina and endurance.

Feel more alert.

Get better sleep.

Restore youthful mental function.

Improve your memory.

Improve athletic performance.

Fight pain.

Maintain electrolyte balance.

Enhance libido and sexual function.

Reduce blood sugar levels and manage diabetes.

Increase insulin sensitivity.

Achieve your ideal weight.

Lower your cholesterol.

Improve your blood lipids.

Protect against arterial plaque (atherosclerosis).

Strengthen your heart.

Normalize your blood pressure.

Prevent heart attacks.

Prevent dangerous blood clots.

Protect against stroke.

Prevent cancer.

Inhibit tumor and cancer cell growth.

Kill active cancer cells.

Protect your DNA.

Enhance overall immunity.

Strengthen your resistance.

Protect your immune system during chemotherapy or radiation.

Protect against toxic side effects of drugs and chemicals.

Fight inflammation and arthritis.

Protect against stomach ulcers.

Protect against gallstones.

Improve digestive function.

Treat liver damage and hepatitis.

Detoxify your body.

Prevent and treat chronic bronchitis.

Get other wide-ranging benefits.

Please visit http://JiaogulanSite.Info for more information and ordering

[Via http://gojicash.wordpress.com]

Flupirtine: New Help for Fibromyalgia, FTD?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought a small quantity of flupirtine tablets from Germany. I wanted to see if it would help some of my pain that my usual opiates (fentanyl, methadone, hydromorphone) do not touch.  One type of intractable pain resembles Fibromyalgia (FM), an all-over achy pain, particularly deep in the joints, that comes and goes.  When it comes, it stays for hours or sometimes days.  It never just starts and then goes away.  I don’t know if it’s actually FM, or just another facet of my RSD.

Flupirtine maleate is a centrally acting, non-opioid analgesic that has been available in Europe for years.  It was used for lower back pain and post-surgical pain, and then for pain, generally.

Here’s the really important thing.  It also has CNS neuroprotective properties.   This is leading to its possible use for treating CNS neurodegenerative syndromes such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, including cognition in CJD.  It might be useful for FTD treatment, too.  Flupirtine is currently undergoing FDA trials for treating Fibromyalgia.  It is also known in Europe as Katadolon and Trancolong.  It is not available in the USA, as it is not FDA approved.

Typical dosage for adults is 100mg three or four times a day, half that for children.  I’m not sure about long-term use or side-effects, yet.  Most of the information is hidden behind registration walls, and I haven’t had time to do all the registrations.

Here is what happened with my first dose:

• 3:00 pm — fibromyalgia-like pain starts
• 3:25 pm — took 100mg flupirtine by mouth
• 4:45 pm — I realize the fibromyalgia-like pain is gone
• 4:55 pm — bad headache in upper right forehead
• 5:30 pm — took 1500mg acetaminophen and a short nap, and the headache’s gone

I think the headache is a side-effect of the flupirtine.  The location is exactly where I get a headache and feel electric sensations when I have flare-ups of FTD symptoms.  I doubt that’s a coincidence.  And headaches were reported as side-effects in a good article on flupirtine’s half-life for young, elderly, and renally-impaired patients.

PS.

I got the flupirtine from goldpharma.com, an internet pharmacy in Germany.  You have to fill out a brief medical history for a doctor to review to get the prescription.  The process was very fast, it only took a few minutes from submitting the history to get the prescription, and they shipped it the next day.  We got it in about a week.  The flupirtine came in 400mg tablets, so Selchietracker got a pill cutter, cut the tablets in half and then cut those halves in half to get the 100mg individual doses.  He thought it was kind of neat that the box of “Trancolong” also had the name in braille.  Geek.

[Via http://iamdying.net]

Our Supreme Fixer

“Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” (Jer. 17:14NIV)

It’s raining leaves. Swirls of color drifting to the ground. Part of me enjoys this changing of the guard, this changing of the seasons. Part of me wants to take Elmer’s glue and paste everything back in place to hold off the coming winter.

I’ve been wanting to fix a lot of things lately. Not just the toilet that overflowed yesterday, but myself. Like the falling leaves, my body has been on a downward motion recently. More fatigue and more pain.

Thankfully, we have a Savior who understands. He came to fix us. Not necessarily to heal our physical bodies, although He does do that sometimes. He came to save us from ourselves, from sin, to reconcile us to Himself.

When I want the healing that just doesn’t come, I am reminded that in the most important way, I am healed. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). I get not just a re-do, but a fresh beginning, with Him. I am spiritually healed.

He is our supreme fixer. No matter the season you are going through, He has a plan and a purpose for your life. He will take the falling parts of your life and mold them into a glorious tapestry. Some parts healed, others not.

Give it all to Him today. Let Him heal your brokenness.

Prayer: Father God, take our broken bodies and heal them according to what is best for Your glory and not our own. Give us the strength to hold up and thrive under great burdens. Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dana Kennedy is a survivor, encourager, wife and mother. She writes a devotional column for Glory and Strength e-magazine. Dana lives with postural orthostatic tachycardia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. Her dream is to spread God’s hope through her life and words. She and her family make their home in Liberty, Missouri. Please contact Dana at dtearosee@earthlink.net

The Forgotten

Note: This post is NOT about gay men. This is one of my “deeper” posts so it’s longer. Read in sessions, but please read the entire post, because it’s a very important social issue that greatly affects me.

As a child, I always thought gay men were funny. My favorite movie was Too Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1995). I didn’t understand why men would dress as women, but at age 9 I figured it was just a comedic part as clowns dress up at birthday parties. Little did I know that it represented a lifestyle. Fast forward to age 18 and you’ll find an Atlanta college student dating a DL brother who was a tad wobbly, and threw what I like to call “bitch fits,” but was still my world. After we broke up, I heard rumors he was hangin tight with the OUT and proud but I defended him (even though I wouldn’t be surprised). Five years later he came out to me. Surprise Surprise. I wasn’t shocked a bit. We became BFF’s.

Yea, I know that sounds super odd but our relationship was very pure. No sex, No fondling, No french kisses. I guess those shoulda been signs right?! Either way it worked itself out. During our BFF tenure, I saw inside the world of a gay man. A world where men become depressed because they constantly pray, asking God to “take away the gay.” Other men feel the urges, but aren’t ready to confront it so they sneak around like that Kill Bill chick watching her prey. The last bunch makes a conscious decision to own it. They are OUT and proud.

The funny think about people is, we want them to act how we think they should act. Homosexual simply means that you want to find love in a same sex relationship. Nothing more. Yet, if a homosexual black man who still acts like a MAN is OUT and proud….we don’t accept it in our minds. Those type of men don’t even come to mind when we think “gay.” When we vote on issues affecting homosexuals we do so with images of men with tiny shorts, smiles, and jazz hands flying through our heads.

[i promise this post isn't about gay men but i need to build it properly]

When any sort of legislature is passed that positively affects the LBGT community, it is done with….well images of Richard Simmons on a rope swing. Yet, if any legislature that blocks civil rights of the LBGT community it seems to be done with images of the Too Wong Foo pose in mind.

Never do we picture a John McCain type when we picture members of the LGBT community. In fact, people say: “Why can’t [they] be discreet. Why do [they] have to be so vocal? I’m not against gays, but Why can’t they be like that quiet gay couple down the street who keep to themselves and don’t go prancing around?”

It is apparent human nature to discriminate against only that which we can see AND makes us uncomfortable. Thus, it is the product of human nature to pass legislature revolving around those who fit the description of the apparent group being discriminated against (i.e the Richard Simmons & Too Wong Foo’s of the world). As a result, a percentage of the group being discriminated against, yet not belonging to the APPARENT group being discriminating against end up being discriminated against twice. Now that’s some bubble gum bullshit.

Let me put it into context for you: On the same night, two houses, each inhabited by a member of the LGT community, is vandalized. Both homes receive a paintball beating, are teepee’d, egged, and get hate messages spray painted on their garage doors. The only differing factor is the lifestyle of the household member.

Household #1 consists of two “Fraiser” like men. They are refined, love to attend operas, and host wine tasting parties. Household #2 is made up of 3 friends: A flamboyant male hair stylist, a female impersonator, and a stereotypical stud.

• Which incident takes precedence on the 10 o’clock news?
• Which household will generate the most press and will provoke more raw emotion?
• Which family unit will generate a twitter trend topic?
• Which story will the women on The View spend more time discussing?
• Whose picture will get shown?

HOUSEHOLD #2….duhhh!!

What do you see?

It’s not rocket science. This is the symbol that typically denotes an area is reserved for the physically handicapped or disabled. You already knew that though. Our brains have been conditioned to associate a wheelchair with being disabled. Not just when looking for a good parking spot, but also when looking at people. A physically disabled person is someone in a wheelchair, with a cane or is missing a body part. A mentally disabled person is a person that has mental retardation or down syndrome. Pretty easy to spot.

Then there’s me.

I have fibromyalgia (www.fmaware.org). I am physically disabled, but not visibly disabled. While I may not require the same accommodations as a visibly disabled individual, by law, it is still required that you accommodate me in some way shape or form. So what’s the problem….

You tell me.

This disconnect seems to be based on the concept of truth. Since many of my symptoms are not visible and are not predictable as to when or on what level they will affect me, I am left with the burden of proof that they actually exist. Suddenly I’m fighting an invisible war where no one has the balls to come out and say…your lying. Instead I am told: “We cannot accommodate you because….”

• Your symptoms are vague
• Your symptoms are varied and are disconnected
• I don’t understand what symptom x has to do with symptom y
• We need more details on exactly when and how you are affected

To put this into context, the people telling me these things are my school, Rockhurst University located at 1100 Rockhurst Rd, Kansas City, MO 64110(feel free to send letters of protest and/or outrage). I apologize that I was not struck with a simpler syndrome. I am truly sorry I inconvenienced the university by picking the most complicated illness from the list of sicknesses I was presented with. Apparently, I must have arrived late and all the good stuff was already gone. Straight Bullshit.

I find it amusing and highly perplexing that people with no medical training (PhD) are placed in a position of power to discredit those with at least 10 years of medical training and another couple of decades of medical practice under their belts (M.D.) Straight Bullshit.

I refuse to let anyone tell me that this situation would play out the exact same way if I was visibly disabled. Straight Bullshit.

If you could see that I was visibly in severe pain, my absences would be excused (instead of “explained”). I would get the accommodations I require. In essence, they would know what to do with me. Instead they don’t and they choose not to figure it out. Rockhurst University seems to find it easier to suggest I attend another school. One that is “Less traditional.”—an online university. They even went as far as to offer me information about this new school. This means they would rather loose an excellent student who will turn into a great alumni, just because they refuse to accommodate an illness they have never seen. Straight bullshit.

This is discrimination in its purest, yet least recognizable form. I am discriminated against because the laws protecting those with disabilities were not written with me in mind. I am the forgotten. In LBGT terms, I am the quiet gay couple that keeps to themselves, but still cannot marry and will not cause an outpouring of outrage if I am discriminated against. They are just as gay as I am disabled. They chose to be gay the same day you chose to be straight. I chose to be disabled the same day you chose to be born healthy. Yet we are two groups who are ignored simply because we aren’t OUT and proud. We are not the apparent group, therefore we have trouble getting people to bestow upon us the same attention as they do the visible group.

Where does this leave me?

If I am to receive my share of my due rights, I must fit the mold of a disabled person. I must whip out my leopard cane, strap a back brace on, and turn into a Flamboyantly Disabled Individual. Regardless of whether or not I actually need these flamboyant accessories, It seems I’ve got to take notes from the Richard Simmons of the world and be Flamingly Disabled. Maybe then…..they’ll notice me.

I am the forgotten.

Intro

I am Catherine, or catherinexcatastrophe (my other blog is catherinexcatastrophe.wordpress.com).  This is my wellness blog, where I’ll log all my health and well-being findings for you to ponder and maybe try out.

I care a lot about my health, but, like most of us, I don’t have the time to run miles every day or prepare fresh-cooked meals ALL THE TIME.  I’m a student looking for a “quick fix.”

Besides a student, I’m a singer, actress, and avid biker (among other things, such as activist, mediator, and go-to-man).  With my busy schedule, I figure I need to be healthy, right?  Easier said than done.

I’m embarking on a journey to better my health, one step at a time, which you can read about in my blog.  I’ll address a ton of topics, such as dyslexia and other learning disorders; Irlen’s syndrome (scotopic sensitivity); depression; anxiety; and other phsychological disorders; fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue; diet: what’s the best?; insomnia; autism; headaches; and more.

To start, I’d like to take a poll.  Please select whichever BEST describes you–it will help me a lot if you do this!

View This Poll
polling

Fit to Fat and Back Again or...

…How I lost My Mind and Decided to Reinvent Myself as a Fitness Instructor at the Age of 50 While Recovering From Fibromyalgia!

I find myself at the far end of middle age in nearly the worst shape of my life after having been sedentary for a couple of years. Pretty embarrassing, given I’ve been athletic and active for more than a couple of decades. This is a painfully honest look at how I got here, where I think I’m going, and where I eventually end up. It’s going to be an adventure, I hope you’ll come along for the ride!