Fibromyalgia Thread

[brighteyes]

Hi Katieeldr!

We don't mind. It does suck when you cannot get a diagnosis. Even more important than diagnosis is help with the pain.

My docs all thought I was pushing for a dx but I just wanted some relief from the pain, which finally I got.

I am on amitriptyline for sleep and pain and lyrica for the pain. They both work pretty well. I thought that the ami wasn't working as well and went off it for about a week and cried pretty much the whole week. So I guess it was working.

I hope you find some relief soon and get dr to take you seriously. Swelling could be RA or something else. My left leg retains water so I have been on a water pill for some time. They don't know why

On my bad fibro days I tend to swell, fingers, hands, face, eyes, legs. And I hurt on those days, brain is in a fog too.

Get checked for RA though. Hope you get some help soon.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

They haven't, Laura (and my previous PCP specialized in rheumatology ). One advantage to this practice is, you can get a same day or at worst, next day appointment. Do my hands need to BE swollen for the blood test? My right hand is fine at the moment, and my left is greatly improved even from this morning. Thanks!

Good luck at the doc's today. I hope you start your journey towards real answers and less pain.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

46 here, diagnosed 20 years ago. Having hot flashes, night sweats, and all kinds of craziness, more migraines, pms for longer periods. 3 week periods or none at all for 3 months. It has gotten worse since starting the Savella, so don't know if it is related or not.

Good luck with the phone call. I hate waiting for those.

 

[tiggspring]

kaytieeldr

We have all had issues with Drs. Especially those of us diagnosed before the CDC made it an offical disease 10 or so years ago. Why does she want want you to stop looking? To keep you quiet or because she feels she has made a diagnosis? Either way she should let you take some control of your illness by seeing what is out there. It does sound like fibro to me. I too have alot of swealling in my hands, legs and feet and they all can get wicked cold for no good reason. Have you been checked for lupus, ms, or thyroid problems? Many other issues look like Fibro.

Indiana Rose Lee

It is so great to see you! How has the Job been going? Has it been exhausting or pretty manageable. How have your kids been doing? I know you had alot on your plate the last time you were here!

Tinker'n'Fun

Congrats on writing the letter. I have done that a few times and I find the process exhausting but cathartic. Yes I'm perimenapausal, Cycle changing from exactly 28 to 29-32. Drives me crazy being off. I have also noticed that I have "fibro pms" where my fms/cfds symptoms get much worse around day 12-14 for about a week its really bad and I think "what happened to make it so much worse?" then it dawns on me that it is mid cycle and I think "duh you should remember this by now" because it has been happening with more frequency for about two years now. Got to luv my memory I never had PMS in my life so this is quite a change.

Bright eyes
How things in Canada? Are you feeling a little better? You guys did good in the Olympics.

I'm still feeling fairly good. This 3 weeks of snow with more than 58 inches and all the snow days- 8 and just as many half days is waisting all my energy. Had a few days where I needed to spend a few hours in bed in the late morning after shuttling the kids to school.Which worried me a bit but I tried to focus on the fact I'm so much better than I have been in nearly a year Doing the Pilates every day this week and noticing my back and neck are straightening out. I have been slighty hunched for years it seems so it feels good to sit straight. Only downside is by doing the Pilates I cannot get what I need to do at home, still far behind on cleaning but I'm trying to think of the work out as physical therapy to get me ahead before the next crash. I could use every bit of energy I have cleaning and never get caught up. To do that I would need help 8 hrs a week fo a few months at least and we cant afford that right now soooo taking care of me and not the house. Glad DH is so supportive of this Keep warm everybody!

Sending pain fee vibes and Pixie dust to all

 

[kaytieeldr]

Why does she want want you to stop looking? To keep you quiet or because she feels she has made a diagnosis? Either way she should let you take some control of your illness by seeing what is out there.

I don't know. It turns out I couldn't get an appointment until Tuesday, but it's with a different practitioner in the same office and I was told the first won't know I'm switching... and I will be going in with a WRITTEN LIST and not leaving until everything is addressed. I just hate to complain, it's how I was brought up. I mean, it was fine to complain about little things you could control, but not about personal things.

My other big concern - which, sensibly, I know it's not - is scleroderma. My brother had it, so I know the signs, and while I know I don't have them, it's my big fear. So I guess part of my problem is concentrating too much on the wrong thing and not myself considering other possibilities.

 

[tiggspring]

I don't know. It turns out I couldn't get an appointment until Tuesday, but it's with a different practitioner in the same office and I was told the first won't know I'm switching... and I will be going in with a WRITTEN LIST and not leaving until everything is addressed. I just hate to complain, it's how I was brought up. I mean, it was fine to complain about little things you could control, but not about personal things.

My other big concern - which, sensibly, I know it's not - is scleroderma. My brother had it, so I know the signs, and while I know I don't have them, it's my big fear. So I guess part of my problem is concentrating too much on the wrong thing and not myself considering other possibilities.

A list is a very good idea. I always have 2 lists one I hand to the Dr to put in my chart and one I keep so we can go over it together and I don't forget anything. FMS has made my memory awful and I often go off on a tangent the second I get asked a question because I cant keep what I wanted to say in my head if I'm asked a different question. Don t think of it as complaining but as reporting. I grew up in RI and DH in MA and as you know old Yankees never complain and never stop moving. Unfortunately those two things make FMS much harder to deal with. I honestly think that if I had stopped working so hard and complained more effectively sooner I would have not become totally disabled.

You may want to check out the Fibromyalgia support groups in Ma to get a list of Drs. Even if you don't want to go to meetings you may be able to get a contact person who could help you find a decent Dr. I had a great Dr in Providence but she moved to California 5 years ago. she was the head of infectious diseases at Brown. She not only diagnosed me but she found out I had Toxoplasmosis! I've been treated but I have a chronicly high titer. They cant explain why . You may also want to look a lyme disease. As you know it is quite bad up there and can cause all these symptoms as well. Take care.

 

[brighteyes]

About the stopping working so hard earlier being helpful, I am not sure about that. About 4 or 5 years ago now (I forget when my symptoms first started) I would have sworn up and down I had RA or some type of arthritis. My first specialist told me I had carpal tunnel b/c after pressing on my nerve for a long time I finally felt a tingle in one of my fingers even though my nerve conduction study was fine.

Anyhow, what I am getting at here is at that time I worked at the Urgent Care Clinic and one of the dr. who believe in fibro examined me. Although at the time, it was only my fingers, hands, wrists, shoulders, mainly my arms and hands that hurt the most. He did tell me at the time, that did not mean it wasn't fibro. Just that because I stood on my feet from 8 am till 6 pm that was probly keeping the pain away there cause I was active.

And boy was I active, I used to show patients to their rooms. And I walked pretty fast cause I had to come back and get the next patient, had to keep all the rooms filled all the time so the drs would not get mad. Sometimes I would walk so fast around the corner that patients would lose me and I would turn around and they weren't there. lol I would have to go back and get them again. lol

As SOON as I started school and started sitting most of the day, my symptoms progressed to the rest of my body year by year I got more pain and more stiffness.

When I saw that Dr. last year he said probably cause I wasn't used to moving around anymore is why I got worse. And now if I stand all day, and I drive home, I am so stiff I can barely get out of the car.

I am still daydreaming about being in the hot hot weather. I keep pricing out disney trips, even though I have no job lined up yet for when I am done school And running out of money as we speak. So ya DAYDREAMING, doing LOTS of it.

 

[brighteyes]

Ahhh I am soo stressed out with school, only 8 more weeks to go and so much work, I don't see how it is possible.

With all this stress I am spending more and more time on the disney website pricing out trips. It is sooo hard not to book a trip. But unitl I get a job, I don't feel it's wise. But then again, I never was a wise girl.

I just keep thinking with my income tax and a little bit more I can squeeze a short trip in for not so much money. lol That's if I go in the summer. But I don't want to go so soon, cause I want to lose weight so I can have an easier time.

Ahhh, can you tell the two sides of my brain are fighting each other? This is what I am going through on a daily basis.

 

[tiggspring]

Ahhh I am soo stressed out with school, only 8 more weeks to go and so much work, I don't see how it is possible.

With all this stress I am spending more and more time on the disney website pricing out trips. It is sooo hard not to book a trip. But unitl I get a job, I don't feel it's wise. But then again, I never was a wise girl.

I just keep thinking with my income tax and a little bit more I can squeeze a short trip in for not so much money. lol That's if I go in the summer. But I don't want to go so soon, cause I want to lose weight so I can have an easier time.

Ahhh, can you tell the two sides of my brain are fighting each other? This is what I am going through on a daily basis.

Just to make your job of being a good girl harder they have extended they 25%-45% off deal to dates in June.. This is your last semester isnt it? Maybe a severe case of Senioritus?


If it is any consolation DH has been home most of the last three weeks because of the snow..lucky us he can work from home and stay safe and he is Majorly stressed about getting his papers done in time. Maybe the cabin fever of now 70 inches of snow in 3 weeks is to blame but the dates seem so close. Of course our trip to Disney seems years away..the bill for it feels like its right around the corner. Isn't funny how our sense of time changes depending on what we are thinking about?

I agree the second I stop I hurt more so moving is a good thing. But by moving too much the exhaustion and migraines hit me big time. Those two things especially in combination put me in bed for weeks!

What i was realy referring to is the New England pace of life There is a very special workaholic culture in New England. It is not unusual for a person on salary for 40hr week to work 70 because it is expected to get the job done. No extra pay or kudos just expected. Most people get "breaks" but punch out and return to eat at their desk etc then punch back in . DH has had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to his new boss who is so generous with his use of time. Sometimes we feel guilty or worry if his job it ok when he takes a day off. All ptsd from NE. PA is much more relaxed and sane in what they expect from their workers. The puritan work ethic is alive and well in RI and MA and make a balanced life impossible.So what I meant was if she has a second or third job, works tons of unpaid overtime or is working full time while going to school full time she might want to slow down. If I hadn't worked two jobs while restarting school Maybe I would not have become as disabled as I am. But in New England with many families you do not ask for help unless its an emergency otherwise you are expected to not whine and suck it up. Very different in the mid west and from what I hear in Canada too.

PS you can blame it on my family since they came over on the Mayflower. All my fault,

 

[brighteyes]

Just to make your job of being a good girl harder they have extended they 25%-45% off deal to dates in June.. This is your last semester isnt it? Maybe a severe case of Senioritus?


If it is any consolation DH has been home most of the last three weeks because of the snow..lucky us he can work from home and stay safe and he is Majorly stressed about getting his papers done in time. Maybe the cabin fever of now 70 inches of snow in 3 weeks is to blame but the dates seem so close. Of course our trip to Disney seems years away..the bill for it feels like its right around the corner. Isn't funny how our sense of time changes depending on what we are thinking about?

I agree the second I stop I hurt more so moving is a good thing. But by moving too much the exhaustion and migraines hit me big time. Those two things especially in combination put me in bed for weeks!

What i was realy referring to is the New England pace of life There is a very special workaholic culture in New England. It is not unusual for a person on salary for 40hr week to work 70 because it is expected to get the job done. No extra pay or kudos just expected. Most people get "breaks" but punch out and return to eat at their desk etc then punch back in . DH has had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to his new boss who is so generous with his use of time. Sometimes we feel guilty or worry if his job it ok when he takes a day off. All ptsd from NE. PA is much more relaxed and sane in what they expect from their workers. The puritan work ethic is alive and well in RI and MA and make a balanced life impossible.So what I meant was if she has a second or third job, works tons of unpaid overtime or is working full time while going to school full time she might want to slow down. If I hadn't worked two jobs while restarting school Maybe I would not have become as disabled as I am. But in New England with many families you do not ask for help unless its an emergency otherwise you are expected to not whine and suck it up. Very different in the mid west and from what I hear in Canada too.

PS you can blame it on my family since they came over on the Mayflower. All my fault,

I agree with what you are saying. Sorry, I misunderstood what you were referring to. Obviously because I was reading everyone's post too fast and just skimming - always in a rush. lol

I do not know how the work ethic here compares to the US. I think we are a little more laid back. However, I know some people who are true workaholics 24/7. Like my Dad, which is why he makes the big bucks!

Yes, I think I have a very severe case of senioritis!! I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know they extended the specials. And hoping for a good discount at Christmas. When I went before there was a public code for something close to 40% off! I want that again.

Just to show you how seriously out of this world my daydreams are, I have been checking prices for a delux!! LOL It would be nice to be on a monorail resort And then I worry what if I miss POP. We really love POP, but then I think it would be nice to have a sandy beach with a hammock. IM SO CONFUSED. So what do you think - a week at POP and two days at Beach Club??? Ah back to disney website (OOPS) I mean homework

 

[brighteyes]

So what I meant was if she has a second or third job, works tons of unpaid overtime or is working full time while going to school full time she might want to slow down. If I hadn't worked two jobs while restarting school :

OMG ITA with this as well. My first two years in college I worked pt at the same time. I have learned that finally this year I am not working while I am in school. AND I love it, I have time to have a rest if I need to on the weekend. I find it much less stressful and easier to have the time and energy to manage my fibro without working.

And the first year I went to school I went downhill VERY fast because I worked and did school. I regret it, the $$ I made during the year was not worth what it did to my health.

So yes, we have to take timeto care for ourselves or we will pay for it dearly. Just like when we crash when we come home for Disney, or while we are still there. But hey, that IS worth it. LOL If I'm sick, I would still be glad I am at Disney. Even though I was stuck in the hotel room for a few days.

 

[EDuke98080]

Hi All,

I just wanted to catch up - I havn't had any extra energy lately! My cat had surgery and I was up around the clock for a few days and have not been feeling well since then.

Tinker N Fun - I am 45 and been miserable with change symptoms too. Sometimes I have night sweats, my cycle goess from 7 weeks to 3 and the PMS is horrible (ask my DH!). Since it all got wacky last Septmeber I have also had relentless heart palpitations, spent a month on a moiniter and go for a stress test and echo tomorrow. It took my Dr. months to get me an appointment with a cardiologist! I realy liked him and he said "Wow you are having a ton of palpitations from this moniter result." He also asked me if they vary with my cycle and I said you know I noticed that they are alot more frequent before my periods start. He said they have noticed this with women and I should be able to predict when it will start by the increase in my heart symptoms. Is that wierd or what? Not looking forward to the stress test as I am afraid I will not be able to sustain it very long and then I won't be able to walk for the rest of the week.

OOps gotta go ` catch up with everyone soon!

~Erika

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

 

[jfegan]

just spent 3 daysreading the whole thread and then tried to post and my computer got crazy and I hit it...so I walked away. Restarted it (because I hurt it when I hit it) and I am trying again.

I'm Jenn. I'm 41 and I was diagnosed 15 year ago. I am not taking any meds except Ibuprofen, a multi, super B complex, and fish oil. As long as my sleep patterns are good I am in pretty good shape. Not pain free, but not keeping me down. I have a doctor's appt for Monday and want to know if anyone has primarily had the brain fog as their main complaint at any given time.

When I was diagnosed I was classic. Pain, fatigue, headaches, sleep day and trouble falling asleep at night, pressure points (which was the 'determining factor), and (a strange symptom)sensitivity to smells and light.

Three kids later, I am ASHM, but I'm not very good at it. I can't acomplish tasks most days and the reasons aren't physical but mental. I feel like my head is a pinball machine and that I am the ball and each hit is a thought. It takes everything I have some times to stay focused (even in this moment...I'm thinking about laundry, bedtime, Sunday school tomorrow, the list goes on.)

Last year was my last really bad flare up, while I was taking wellbutrin (it messed with my sleep, but I lost weight and it increased my... never mind) I added ambien and stayed on for a few months. I am 'self diagnosed' SAD but the doc likes to tell me I have PMDD. I definitely fluctuate with my hormones, but each month is different. I never know what to expect.

anyway, if anyone has any help on the 'fog' if you will during periods of 'good times' would be much appreciated.

I had lots more to say as I read all 39 pages, but I will make some additional posts...if I can remember

 

[jfegan]

About a hundred pages back someone asked about shoes. Two years ago I bought a pair of 'fit flops'. $50 flip flops, my DH thought I had lost my mind. they were supposed to 'exercise' your legs when you walked (that's why I wanted them) when I first started to wear them my legs would be tired and noodle like at the end of the day, but I started to love these shoes to the point where I would change my clothes just to where them. I wore them all but one day when we went to Disney for a week. I like my crocs too. This may not be enough support for some, especially with orthotics in shoes, but I thought I would share.

 

[jfegan]

As I was reading some of the personal accounts of swelling in the face, hands, etc. it made me think of my sister in law who has hereditary angiodema. I know I know we all have enough to think about, but it is auto immune related and rare (or under diagnosed), but I felt I should share.

 

[tiggspring]

just spent 3 daysreading the whole thread and then tried to post and my computer got crazy and I hit it...so I walked away. Restarted it (because I hurt it when I hit it) and I am trying again.

I'm Jenn. I'm 41 and I was diagnosed 15 year ago. I am not taking any meds except Ibuprofen, a multi, super B complex, and fish oil. As long as my sleep patterns are good I am in pretty good shape. Not pain free, but not keeping me down. I have a doctor's appt for Monday and want to know if anyone has primarily had the brain fog as their main complaint at any given time.

When I was diagnosed I was classic. Pain, fatigue, headaches, sleep day and trouble falling asleep at night, pressure points (which was the 'determining factor), and (a strange symptom)sensitivity to smells and light.

Three kids later, I am ASHM, but I'm not very good at it. I can't acomplish tasks most days and the reasons aren't physical but mental. I feel like my head is a pinball machine and that I am the ball and each hit is a thought. It takes everything I have some times to stay focused (even in this moment...I'm thinking about laundry, bedtime, Sunday school tomorrow, the list goes on.)

Last year was my last really bad flare up, while I was taking wellbutrin (it messed with my sleep, but I lost weight and it increased my... never mind) I added ambien and stayed on for a few months. I am 'self diagnosed' SAD but the doc likes to tell me I have PMDD. I definitely fluctuate with my hormones, but each month is different. I never know what to expect.

anyway, if anyone has any help on the 'fog' if you will during periods of 'good times' would be much appreciated.

I had lots more to say as I read all 39 pages, but I will make some additional posts...if I can remember

jfeganwelcome:


You and I have alot in common I'm 42 DD11 DS 8 DD5 15 yrs with Fibro/CFIDS and yes brain fog is one of my most disabling symptoms. It was the reason my Dr put me out of work 14 yrs ago. I would be driving and forget where I was going and just drive in circles. My last day of work I could not remember how to fill out my time sheet yet I was beginning a MSW. Each pregnancy I gained some knowledge as to how to manage my FMS since I would go into a significant remission each time then about 6 months out I would drop off a cliff and it would come back I tried 20+ medication before I realized meds just make me worse. I lived in a total fog for more than 2 years leaving the house only once every month or so due to fatigue and brain fog. I found my body is sensitive to meds, chemicals etc so like you I now use suppliments.

Now I continue to have thinking problems when I'm tired so I have to rest, even sleep before I drive. I have to keep driving under 15 miles from home or have someone who can pick me up, someplace I can stop or someone with me so if I get a migraine or Fibro fog I can get home before it hits or have an alternative way to get home. luckily I have found warning signs so I know when its coming. I cannot drive in significant traffic like we had in New England it is just to tiering and the fog rolls in . This Meant I did not drive for nearly 10 years and only the past five have we lived somewhere that I rarely deal with traffic and Shopping etc is 5-8 miles from home.

Last week I had a good day and thought I would help my DD girls scout troop sort the cookies. It took me about 15 minutes to realize that instead of giving the order I was working say 12 boxes of thin mints, I was setting aside 12 cases. Needless to say I had alot of cookies on my side of the room. I kept doing it too mixing up boxes with cases. Now granted a case is a box but ....everybody laughed they all know me and my brain by now but this kind of thing happens all the time. I have to be very careful not to leave the stove on, space heaters on etc. There are times when I will not use the stove unless DH is home because I will forget to shut it off or turn the wrong burner on etc. It usually happens one of two ways. Either it gets really quiet up there in my head and I know all my pistons aren't firring or it seems like everything is coming at me at once and I cannot keep a thought in my head. I will walk around saying think think think..like Winnie the pooh to keep the thought in place and to warn the kids not to talk to me until I find whatever it is I'm looking for or try to write it down. The good thing is unlike Alzheimers I know when its happening and have some strategies to deal with it.

I would say my symptoms are dibilitaing in the following order

1 fatigue 2 brain fog 3 migraines 4 pain 5 other

I have found ways to "ignore" and medicate for the pain and the migraines even on days when they rate a 7 or above. I have yet to find a way to combat the fatigue or brain fog. When this old car runs out of gas it just wont run. I have to stop. Maybe for ten minutes, maybe an hour, maybe a week. Every day is an adventure . Hope this helps

Hi everyone. Hope you all are doing well. I've had some really good days mixed in with some days in bed. Trying really hard to get somethings done. So either I'm been too sick to post or too busy.

Sending Pain free vibes and Pixie dust to all

 

[brighteyes]

just spent 3 daysreading the whole thread and then tried to post and my computer got crazy and I hit it...so I walked away. Restarted it (because I hurt it when I hit it) and I am trying again.

I'm Jenn. I'm 41 and I was diagnosed 15 year ago. I am not taking any meds except Ibuprofen, a multi, super B complex, and fish oil. As long as my sleep patterns are good I am in pretty good shape. Not pain free, but not keeping me down. I have a doctor's appt for Monday and want to know if anyone has primarily had the brain fog as their main complaint at any given time.

When I was diagnosed I was classic. Pain, fatigue, headaches, sleep day and trouble falling asleep at night, pressure points (which was the 'determining factor), and (a strange symptom)sensitivity to smells and light.

Three kids later, I am ASHM, but I'm not very good at it. I can't acomplish tasks most days and the reasons aren't physical but mental. I feel like my head is a pinball machine and that I am the ball and each hit is a thought. It takes everything I have some times to stay focused (even in this moment...I'm thinking about laundry, bedtime, Sunday school tomorrow, the list goes on.)

Last year was my last really bad flare up, while I was taking wellbutrin (it messed with my sleep, but I lost weight and it increased my... never mind) I added ambien and stayed on for a few months. I am 'self diagnosed' SAD but the doc likes to tell me I have PMDD. I definitely fluctuate with my hormones, but each month is different. I never know what to expect.

anyway, if anyone has any help on the 'fog' if you will during periods of 'good times' would be much appreciated.

I had lots more to say as I read all 39 pages, but I will make some additional posts...if I can remember

I have no suggestions for how to deal with the fog Apparently I have been having it for a long time and never knew what it was. The days I am foggiest, are the days I wake up swollen.

I am full time in college and am so stressed out and have a bad memory. Luckily my courses seem like common sense so I don't have to study that much. I used to think on those days that I was o/d on meds even though I take the same dosage I always took. I just figured some days it affected me and some days not. lol

Then my friend enlightened me on what fibro fog was. I was in class the other week and raised my hand three times to answer a question and each time the teacher called on me (all 3 times) I went blank. Finally, the fourth time she looked at me and said "No, I'm not gonna chance it, I think it's gone out of your head already."

I still get the swelling of the face, however lately my symptom has been larger areas of my skin burning. Last night I was at school till 10 and every five minutes had to check the whole left side of my face from my forehead to my chin, just burning and painful like I had a big rash or chemical on my skin. But there was nothing there. I used to only get tiny tiny spots for a min or so - a few times in a row - then nothing.

Iread your message on the angiodema, I will look into it, but do you have to be swollen all the time? I am only sometimes as mentioned above?

But I still haven't been checked out for my gallbladder which I was supposed to do a long time ago.

I hope you find answers - but you for sure will find support here. These gals are great.

 

[tiggspring]

Hi All,

I just wanted to catch up - I havn't had any extra energy lately! My cat had surgery and I was up around the clock for a few days and have not been feeling well since then.

Tinker N Fun - I am 45 and been miserable with change symptoms too. Sometimes I have night sweats, my cycle goess from 7 weeks to 3 and the PMS is horrible (ask my DH!). Since it all got wacky last Septmeber I have also had relentless heart palpitations, spent a month on a moiniter and go for a stress test and echo tomorrow. It took my Dr. months to get me an appointment with a cardiologist! I realy liked him and he said "Wow you are having a ton of palpitations from this moniter result." He also asked me if they vary with my cycle and I said you know I noticed that they are alot more frequent before my periods start. He said they have noticed this with women and I should be able to predict when it will start by the increase in my heart symptoms. Is that wierd or what? Not looking forward to the stress test as I am afraid I will not be able to sustain it very long and then I won't be able to walk for the rest of the week.

OOps gotta go ` catch up with everyone soon!

~Erika

How did the tests go? Are you feeling any better?
I had all sorts of heart problems two years ago. Out of nowhere my heart starting to skip every 4th beat. Palpitations etc. Had Ekg, Echo cardiogram and month of monitoring we all agrees that a stress test probably wasnt a good idea. They told me it was ok and I would just have to live with it. Then after nine months it was just gone It has been 18 months since I had a skip. They cant tell me why but I hated feeling my heart stop like that Maybe yours will just go away too. I also get chest muscle tightness which makes me feel like I'm having trouble with my heart but it is just muscle spasm. I've had this for 15 yrs now but it took 2 years to figure it out. I take ativan for the spasms and it helps some.

I've lost 27 bls since I began to feel better . Once I saw I lost 10 lbs for no reason I started a combo of the flat belly diet and a detox diet which helped me lose 17 lbs. I do better with no caffee or carbs but man is it hard to stick to I've been doing my Pilates machine most days but it does mean I have to give up some housework because I cannot do two loads of laundry, two loads of dishes and Pilates for 20 minutes even with DD foling and DS empting dishwasher . So I'm still using paper almost exclusively. I'm justifying it by considering the Pilates physical therapy. I really hope it helps hold off a big crash. Im hoping to be around 185 by our May trip (same weight as last year). This time hopefully I won"t crash and go up to 215 again. I also finally found somone who will come in and do laundry etc sporadicly as we need it and have cash. DH may have another side job so I'm hoping to get some help in a few weeks. After a very long 9 months things are looking up a bit. still need to rest an hour or so a day but I'm getting things done!!!

Sending pain free vibes and pixie dust to all