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March 27, 2014

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chronic pain, Health, personal

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55 Comments

I’m Back!

I suppose it’s time for me to write a new post. I know that it has been a while and that many of you have been worried about me. I am truly sorry for any of you who have worried. My life…mostly my personal life…has been a wreck for a while now. For that reason I needed some time away from blogging to think about things and to process what I’ve been through. I am very sorry, but I still am not ready to touch on that subject in any more detail than I already have.

Health-wise I suppose I have been doing ok. The emotional stress that I have been through has been challenging and has of course taken somewhat of a toll on my physical well-being. However, I suppose that all in all I am doing well. I stopped taking the Lyrica and I am now taking a medication called Gralise which is an extended release version of gabapentin. At first I was worried about side effects since many of you have had trouble taking gabapentin, but so far I have been doing well with it. It is helping much more than the Lyrica and after a month I still haven’t noticed any side effects. I have however been having a lot of trouble with my teeth. I went undiagnosed for a very long time with hypoparathyroidism which broken down in simple terms is an extreme deficiency of Vitamin D. That deficiency causes the body to actually take calcium from the teeth and bones for use elsewhere. I have been on a huge dose of Vitamin D which has helped to regulate the parathyroid gland, but since it went undiagnosed for so long my teeth have really taken a beating.  I have several teeth that have broken off at the gum line and others that are on their way to doing the same.  Although I have medical insurance, I don’t have dental insurance.  So, getting my teeth taken out and dentures made (which makes me sick to have to do at my age) just isn’t on the table right now. The cost is very high and I have more things that I need to worry about right now. The problem with that is that I am in extreme pain from the exposed nerves in my mouth.

I have an appointment with pain management today and I will hopefully be able to explain all of this to them. Hopefully together we can come up with some plan to manage the pain until I can save up the money to have the dental work done.  It’s strange that my mouth hurts more right now than the pain from the adhesions and/or fibro.  I will try to keep writing and let you all know how everything goes, but I am still not ready to write every day.  I do however promise to do my best to not only get back  to writing, but to go back and read everyone’s posts that I have missed out on. I still have them all in my inbox just waiting to be read.  You have all been so supportive of me since I started this blog and I am sorry that I haven’t been around to be equally supportive to all of you.

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55 thoughts on “I’m Back!”

  6. I’m sorry you are going though such a tough time. I’ve been on Gabapentin for almost 2 years now and I have such a hard time with it, and my dr’s refuse to believe me that it is making my life hell. “It stops my tremors” they say… “It makes me feel like I’m rotting away with alzheimer’s at 25!” I say.. “yes but now youhave no reason to complain about being in pain so here take some more ativan”

    Though I am sure you have tried everything.. here is one more tip.. for raw mouth nerves.. try oil pulling with an organic non processed coconut oil. The antibacterial properties and the cleaning will sting a bit but will help ease yoru inflamation!

    Hang in there!

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      • http://coconut-oil-pulling.com/

        Just plain coconut oil (raw unprocessed & organic if you can find it)

        Some people like to melt it first as when it is thick it’s a bit… weird.

        But your mouth will melt it too, and it feels soooo good.

        It’s hard because ON the gabapentin, I can’t think but I can speak lucidly (if I could think of things to say)

        But WITHOUT the gaba- my tremors get worse and one of the main things affected is my speach.. so I can either have thoughts, but not be able to get them out.. or I can have no thoughts.. but can mindlessly chit-chat all day……..

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        • Thank you. I am definitely going to try the coconut oil. I have some that I use as a base for other oils like lavender for baths, so I already have some. Never once crossed my mind to use it on my teeth, but I will once I get home and I’ll let you know how it works.

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  7. I have been worried about you. I’m so glad you are okay. Sorry to hear about your personal life. I am also sorry about your teeth. Some medications are very hard on teeth. Welcome back!

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  8. Oh my goodness….I’m so sorry to hear all this. I was at the doctor’s office and didn’t have my glasses. Hard to read a tiny phone for more than one or two lines. I’m glad you’re back but never stress about posting. I think sometimes it’s good to take a break from all this, and yes I was wondering what happened to you. Welcome back and I hope you get all this sorted out with your teeth. I had to have a gum graft to keep my lower teeth.

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  9. Welcome back! I’m sorry to hear about the personal issues and the misery your teeth are causing you. I hope your pain management team can figure something out to make you more comfortable.

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    • Thanks Trisha. Pain management was a bust. Just refilled the meds I was already taking, but they were very understanding. They’re hoping that it resolves itself (the teeth thing) on it’s own like it usually does.

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  10. I figured you were taking a respite.

    The trial procedure for spinal cord stim is back on, for April 14th. There had been a huge miscommunication and it was largely the fault of the office staff. Had to deal with them again today trying to get them to refill some lidocane cream. Mostly right now muscle relaxants are doing the best because I’ve had terrible problems with cramps and tonic spasms (I call it the “hippy hippy shake”).

    I was on gabapentin for psych medication– it was suggested to me for pain management but I really don’t want to go back to it because I had horrible side effects. It was all part of a “spellbound” zombified period.

    Glad to see you back– I hope your dental issues get sorted soon. I do understand the problems with lack of dental insurance.

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    • Jak, I am so glad to hear that things are back on track for the stimulator. I wish you all the best of luck with it. “Hippie hippie shake” LOL! I know what you mean. That is the only side effect that I’ve noticed is that my hands shake more than they usually do, but I can handle that. I have been really lucky not to get the brain fog that most people get with Gaba.

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  11. So glad to see you back my dear friend. sorry, I didn’t get to skype with you yesterday, but when I got home after my afternoon appointment, I was greeted at the door by my adorable little Xander and he wanted to hang with Ma, as he calls me. by the time I hung out with him for a few hours I was beat. Was awake until 2:00 a.m. this morning and didn’t wake up until 1:15 p.m. this afternoon, was only awake for a short time and went back to sleep. I was then greeted, again, by little Mr. Xander knocking on Ma’s bedroom door, so he and Rachel came in and hung out with me for a few hours. I’m just beat and my stomach is killing me, my eye is driving me mad and feels strained, and then well, you know, there’s all the other stuff. I’ll be at my mom’s for the weekend, but she doesn’t have wireless internet, so I’ll be away for a few days, but i hope I can catch you early next week. You know I’m thinking about you and I hope things start to get “better” for you. You’re a very strong woman and you can get through this, like you always do. I know it’s not easy. You know I’m always here for you, girl. I love and miss you tons. Hopefully, Monday or Tuesday we can Skype. Sorry it didn’t work out yesterday or today. Try to have a “good” weekend, my dear friend. Take care. So glad to see you back.
    Peace, love, and hugs,
    Wild Thang

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    • Don’t you worry about a thing! I’ll be here whenever you’re ready. Besides, who wouldn’t want to spend time with that precious baby face!?! I have Monday and Tuesday clear. I hope you have a good time at your mom’s. I miss you, girl, but don’t feel bad. We’ll talk when we need to…just like always 😉

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      • Thanks for understanding, girl. That’s what I like about you, we understand each other so well. Just glad you are feeling “better.” Glad you’re back and I’m looking forward to talking to you next week. Behave yourself and have a “good” weekend, my dear friend. I miss you so much, but we will get back on track with our skyping, right?
        HUGS,
        Wild Thang:)

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        • Absolutely we will. It’s just been hard having to watch what I say in the evenings. But that’s ok, you Skype me whenever. It can all hold. I’m going to visit my sister for a few days the second week of April and I can tell you everything then if I have to. Either way, it’s not like we have a hard time trying to think of things to say lol!

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          • I understand and I prefer to skype during the day, too, because then everyone’s home and in and out of my room at night. Too many distractions. I’m supposed to be taking a nap right now. Doing a great job aren’t I? I have to get up at 4:00 a.m. in the morning to go volunteer. I’m going to be helping a friend of mine that feeds the poor the last Saturday of every month. I don’t know what the hell I’ve gotten myself into. 4:00 a.m. Lord! I better get to sleep soon. So, I’m not going to my mom’s until tomorrow after I get back from that little adventure. LOL can you picture me down in the hood feeding the poor? Now, when I say hood, that’s not a racist thing. It’s a poor area where all races exist. Don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. In fact, my friend that I’m going to help is African American, so no I am not a racist at all. LOL So glad you’re going to go spend some time with your sister. That will be so good for you to just get out of there for a bit. And, no we are never at a loss of words when it comes to talking! LOL I’ll talk to you on Monday or Tuesday. Have a “good” weekend.:)

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          • Knock it off, girl. You do NOT. And, even if you did, I don’t care about that. I care about YOU. When I say the hood, I’m talking about the very worst part of town, like drive by shootings, maybe I’ll get lucky and get shot. BOOM, DONE! LOL

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          • You’re awful. That my dear would be a tragedy! You would never believe the conversation we were having over breakfast. Somehow the subject of Dr. Kivorkian (is that how you spell it?) came up and whether or not putting someone out of their misery was ethical or not. Yeah, I know…really interesting conversations around here.

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          • Just being serious. No tragedy. Yes, that’s how I spell Dr. Kivorkian, now, I don’t know how everyone else spells it, but who cares. Yes, I think putting someone out of their misery is ethical. Think about it. We don’t make animals suffer, do we? NO. why should we make humans suffer until they take their last breath, naturally. I wrote a post about this one time. We treat animals better than we treat humans. Now, don’t get me wrong, being the animal lover that I am, I don’t like to see animals suffer, either.

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          • Yep. Suffering is suffering and I’m just about sick of suffering. Just sayin……………………. If it were a legal option, I would seriously consider it on many days. Just the way I feel about it, especially today. I didn’t make it down to the hood or to my mom’s because, guess why? That’s right, I’m SUFFERING! Hope your day was a good one.

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          • Yeah, she said maybe she could come see me tomorrow. I slept until 6:30 p.m. tonight. It’s gonna be a long, long night. Dan’s gone fishing on his annual fishing trip with the guys from work. I could get into all kinds of trouble tonight. LOL just sayin……………. you know Wild Thang!
            Glad you had an okay day. Hope tomorrow is the same for you.:)

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  12. So sorry to hear about your troubles. I was amazed to hear about the Vit D deficiency as your teeth. I was diagnosed with severe Vit D deficiency many years ago and simple put on a supplement – it was as though my teeth didn’t count, but at least I know now. More expenses coming up 😦
    Glad your back an “ok”
    Blessings
    Susan x

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    • I suppose it depends on how long you were deficient in Vitamin D. I started having trouble with my teeth shortly after I had gastric bypass surgery which was in 2001. I was just told to take a multivitamin. I was diagnosed with the hypoparathyroidism in 2012 I think. I ended up having to go to an endocrinologist. He was the one that found it. In order to keep my levels normal I take 5,000 iu one day and 10,000 iu the next, alternating each day. I believe a normal multivitamin only contains anywhere from 800-1,000 iu. That’s a big difference in what I actually needed. So the best I can figure, this was a problem that went for a decade without being noticed. Hopefully they caught yours quickly and you don’t have the same problems from it I do. I’m trying to get in with a rheumatologist to see if they will check out my bone density and check for arthritis. If this has happened to my teeth, I’m scared of what has happened to my bones as a result as well.

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      • Ouch – that’s something I hadn’t thought of… OMG – does it never end? I really am not sure how much more of this I can handle. I’m not a Lymie now but the results of the test rear so many ugly heads.
        Good luck with the bone densitometry.
        Susan x

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  16. Awwww Joy! Sorry to hear of the dental issues, that must be total misery. I’ve been gone awhile too, I just posted tonight for the first time in a long time. I hope things work out so you can get your teeth out soon. Hugs xoxo

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  17. I’m sending you all my love, and I’ll pray for you! I hope you’re getting better…When you feel down remember how awesome of a blogger you are! You’re encouragements when I first started blogging helped more than you can imagine, I will forever be grateful to have you in my virtual family. Kisses!

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