Eight LONG Years!

Most of you probably already know that I clean houses for a living. I have cut back a lot recently due to my health and am now only cleaning two houses a week~compared to 5-6 a week. Cutting back has helped some but I honestly think I need a change. I went to physical therapy yesterday and my regular Dr. today and they BOTH suggested a change in my career! The therapist said she thinks I have the worst job for my health! The Dr. suggested maybe going back to school or finding an easier job. I have been cleaning for eight years as of next week and my body is DONE!

The problem is, I don't know where to go from here. I have spent the last 20 years raising children and being self-employed either babysitting or cleaning. The last 'real' job I had was at a bank right before I started cleaning. So, I don't have a lot (or any) experience with all the computer stuff I might need to get a good part time job. Another problem is that I can make more money in less time by cleaning than I could make working part time somewhere. I like being my own boss and making my own schedule. What I DON'T like is what it does to my body!

I am certified to teach yoga, but that is not really an option until I get my chronic myofascial pain under control. It is improving, but not to the point that I would feel comfortable teaching yoga. I guess I really need to pray about what to do. Do I be patient and wait to be able to teach yoga, or do I look for a part time job doing who knows what? Have any of you ever gone back to work after years of not working~for someone else that is? I would love to hear your thoughts:)


In other news, I am back on Savella. I had said before that I was NOT going to take it again, but after talking with my Dr., I have decided to give it one more shot. He assured me that the weak feeling should go away, but it may take a month or two. So, no more Naltrexone~which means I can take pain meds. when needed:)

Hope you are all well! I have been blog reading some, but just haven't been much in the computer mood lately:) Thanks for stopping by!

HOORAY!!!!!

What's all the excitement about? Well, my son FINALLY got a car!! Do you know what this means? Let me just paint the picture for you. He is 18 and in college classes 5 days a week and two nights a week. He has a girlfriend that lives about 30 minutes from our house and she doesn't have a car either. I work two days a week and have physical therapy usually two days a week, not to mention grocery shopping etc. So, you can imagine how tricky it has been to get my son where he needs to be at the same time I need to be somewhere. Talk about stressful! I am excited beyond belief that this stress has been lifted off of me!

My kids don't seem to understand that even driving around here and there can be exhausting for someone like me. Like, they REALLY don't get it. I know it has been hard for them to understand why I have such a hard time doing certain things or being on the go all the time. Now, I will be able to be home more instead of going out every single day~woohoo!! There is also the fact that sometimes I would let my son take my car but then that meant if I did NEED to go somewhere, I couldn't. So happy that the problem is solved and he can take his own car to school, work and dating:)

As a follow up to my post yesterday, I have decided to stay on naltrexone, at least until I can talk to my Dr. again. I am trying 5-HTP again and praying that I will feel the benefits from that. No more Savella! I took one dose yesterday morning, but none after that and I can already tell a difference in how weak I was feeling. I didn't sleep well at all last night though, but at least I don't have to run my son everywhere!:) Did I mention that I'm excited about that?!

By the way, sorry I'm not too on top of putting pictures in my post, but I decided when I started this blog that I would not let picureless post keep me from blogging if I felt like blogging:) Have a great day!

Oh, I Forgot About That!

I know it's been a while since I have posted, but I wanted to talk a bit about being on Naltrexone vs. Savella. I have been on Naltrexone for barely over a month and the main difference I can tell is having a bit more energy. While that is a VERY good thing, it hasn't helped with pain at all. My Dr. said it could take a couple of months before we will know if it is going to work for me. The HUGE downfall to being on Naltrexone is that while being on it, I can't take any kind of pain meds. I can take things like Aleve, but that honestly does NOTHING for my pain. There have been many times over this last month that I would have given my left arm for some strong drugs! Not really, but you get the idea:)

Another downfall to being on Naltrexone is that is does NOTHING for depression. People who are not chronically ill may not understand this, but hurting pretty much all the time and being tired all the time can get pretty depressing! I realized the other day that I was tempted to voluntarily drive my car into a concrete wall! I know~NOT a good way to be thinking! I thought at least I could just lay in a hospital bed and be pumped full of morhine~oh, but wait, I couldn't do that because morphine and Naltrexone would not mix!! Then on top of being hurt, depressed and lying in a hospital bed, I would also be puking my guts up. I decided that was not a good option:) I don't really want to drive into a concrete wall, but I DO want some relief from pain and depression!

After having terribly wrong thinking, I decided maybe I better go back on the Savella. At least it would help with the depression and I could take pain meds. when I need them (after going off Naltrexone). I started Savella back on Friday, but there is something I forgot about when taking it. Yeah, it makes me a little sick at first, but I can handle that.What I can't handle is how weak I feel. I had completely forgotten that I felt like this when I was on it before! I'm talking weak to the point that when I get out of the shower, I have to sit on the toilet seat just to catch my breath and not feel like I'm gonna pass out! I'm talking weak to the point that walking from one end of the house to the other is exhausting~ and I have a small house! I am always tired, but this is a different kind of tired and it only got worse the longer I was on the Savella. How could I have forgotten that?! Well, probably because I was never sure if it was the Savella causing it. I just chalked it up as normal Chronic Fatigue but after being off of it and then starting it back, I now know it is the Savella.

Now what? I think I'm between a rock and a hard place! Now I'm thinking maybe I should just give the Naltrexone more time. But what about the depression? I don't know. I really don't like the idea of trying yet another medication. I have used 5-HTP for depression in the past and may give that another shot. In the meantime, I will continue to do my best to trust God. There have been a lot of things in my life that I have not understood and this is one of them, but I WILL keep going to God! He is my only hope of any kind of peace in the midst of my circumstances. I NEED HIM!! Sometimes I feel like He is right in front of me, but I'm having trouble 'seeing' Him. This is when I have to choose to simply trust:)

The Longest Dr. Visit of my Life!

I have been meaning to post an update of my latest Dr. appointment and just haven't had time to sit down and do it! Anyway, last Monday I went to a new Dr. for my fibromyalgia and some other health issues that I have been struggling with for a LONG time. I went with a dear friend from my church, who also has fibro. I spent the night at her house the night before because it was a 2-1/2 hour drive and we had to be there by 8:30. We packed our food for the day and headed out bright and EARLY that morning~and it was COLD! I don't like early or cold:)

The first thing they did when I got there was take blood. Then they let me eat my breakfast~yay! I had the most complete physical I have ever had in my life! After the physical exam, we spent the rest of the day (literally!) talking about the best course of action for me. I have never had a Dr. that asked so many questions and spent so long explaining things. As we were talking, he would sometimes just stop and THINK! Most Dr.s spend about 10 minutes with you and then hand you a prescription and send you on your way. Don't get me wrong, I still really like my regular Dr. and he DOES take time to listen to me, but most Dr.s I have been to are not like that.

Anyway, this new Dr. put a LOT of thought into what would be best for me. I also liked him because he is an MD but he also does alternative therapies. He tries to keep things as natural as possible and I appreciate that:)

So, here's the scoop~
1~He changed my hormones that I was on. I had been on Vagifem for a while without much (if any) success and he changed me to a natural Estriol cream. Estriol is the safest of the three types of estrogen. I was using the Vagifem 3 nights a week and now I am using Estriol twice a day! I have had SERIOUS female issues for the last 2 yrs. and 4 months and he is hoping this will help. He also has me using a natural progesterone cream twice a day. Then, a couple of days ago, he called to tell me that my testosterone is low for my age so now I am waiting to get that shipped to me. He uses a pharmacy in Alabama for all hormones because he feels like the quality is best from them. I am just so happy that all these hormones are bio-identical/natural:)

2~He changed my diet! Oh boy, that one is HARD! I am gluten free, dairy free, completely sugar free (not even stevia for a while), grain free and low-oxalate! Talk about a little overwhelmed! He also wants me to only eat every 5 hours. I thought that would be really hard, but as long as I eat like he told me too, I am very satisfied. He stressed to NOT eat a low fat diet and to make sure I get adequate protein for my weight. He also stressed the importance of eating good clean meat~like grass fed etc. Good thing we have deer meat in the freezer. You can't get much cleaner than that:) I am going to start blogging at Living Free again just to have a place to share my meals/ideas etc. on such a restricted diet. Hope you'll come on over and visit me there too!

3~He changed me from Savella to low dose Naltrexone. I am totally off of the Savella now and just started the Naltrexone last night. You can read up on low dose Naltrexone here. I am also taking several vitamins/supplements and probiotics. I thought it was interesting that he said that you can't truly be healthy unless you have a healthy gut! I haven't had a healthy gut for years, but I feel like we are on the right track. I feel good about changing medicine because I feel like if he is willing to prescribe a 'drug', then he must feel it is pretty safe. I have read some testimonies from people who have tried Naltrexone and had good results so I am hopeful:)

I know this was a really long update, so I'll close now:) I will still be posting here about health stuff, but will also be posting at my old blog about yummy food stuff! My friend and I laugh because we can't ever talk to each other without talking about FOOD at some point:) Living Free is a place where I can do that too.

Hope you are all having a blessed week!