To sleep, perchance to dream and FMS

Ah, that thing so near and dear to us, sleep. Yet in seems when you have FM, it does not seem to matter how many hours you close your eyes, you still wake up feeling like you still have not slept at all.

Now why this happens, the reasons vary and are kinda complex, but short version is, an interruption of the sleep pattern, itself. Normal sleep looks like this:

Stage 1 is a transition state. In this stage, the eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows down.This is a light sleep where you can be easily awakened.

In Stage 2, this is where eye movement stops and the brain waves become slower, with just an occasional burst of rapid brain waves. At this point, the body is preparing to enter deep sleep.

Stage 3
At this point, there are extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves called theta waves. The sleeper is far more difficult to awaken at this point.

Stage 4
Deepest of the four stages. No eye movement or muscle activity occurs during deep sleep. During this stage, the brain produces more delta waves than theta waves. This is the major point the body does regeneration.

Non-REM Sleep
The period of non-REM sleep (NREM) is comprised of Stages 1 through 4 and lasts from 90-130 minutes at a time.

Stage 5 (REM)
“In the REM period (Rapid Eye Movement), breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes move rapidly and limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed.

It is generally thought that REM-associated muscle paralysis is meant to keep the body from acting out the dreams that occur during this intensely cerebral stage.

Heartbeat may increase and muscles may experience occasional muscular twitches. REM usually takes place 90 minutes after falling asleep. The first period of REM typically lasts 10 minutes, with each recurring REM stage lengthening, and the final one lasting an hour. Most vivid dreaming happens during REM.”

Sleep Cycle
The five stages of sleep, occur in cycles. The first cycle, which ends after the first REM stage, usually lasts 100 minutes.
Each subsequent cycle lasts longer, as its respective REM stage extends. A person may complete five cycles in a typical nights sleep.

Now mind you, this is NORMAL sleep, however that tends to happen to us is that during the delta wave point, stages three and four, alpaha or theta waves, intrude, forcing the person back to a nearly awake state.

“Sleep electroencephalograms of patients with fibromyalgia typically show disturbance of non-rapid eye movement (REM) sleep by intrusions of alpha waves and infrequent progression to Stage 3 and Stage 4 sleep. “

So the stages of 3 and 4, the deepest sleep one would normally get, just don’t happen that much for us for one and what we do get is broken up to the point, to where it is nearly useless.

Then of course you have to toss in the idea of Insomnia:

“Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep on a regular basis with no apparent cause; un-refreshing sleep despite the ample opportunity to sleep”

Which doesn’t take the concept nearly far enough. As it fails to mention the fact, that a persons level of tiredness, has nothing whatsoever to do with their ability to get to sleep or stay asleep. We with FM generally do not fall asleep, as most people understand the word, we basically pass out. when the body has just flat run out of any more juice to run on.

Now, if all of those hours we spent awake, were productive time, it would not be so bad, I guess, but it is not. They are hours spent, with a fogged mind, a stumbling body, most often in pain and we could not think a cogent thought, if you paid us to.

Welcome to my world..

BB
Esta

Antidepressants and why they do not work in FMS

Well, finally admitting I am saying to heck with it, on the new meds, the write ups on the dang things are just too scary to contemplate, so I yield, and I am not even gonna go there.

I will just tell doc, they didn’t work and have done, as I am not about to risk the side effects that every single write up I have read on the stuff, explains in rather gory detail.

That might be a bit cowardly of me, but dang it, why, knowingly, put myself through, what by all accounts, will be pure hell ? I just do not see the point.

I will just say, been there, done that, weaned myself off of em already and thanks but no thanks. As to tell her really why I won’t take them, would just make her want to argue the point.

Then perhaps she will give me what I asked for to begin with, a short script of some real sleeping pills, for those days when sleep just will not come for days on end, which is all I wanted. And even if she does not, I am still not taking these.

As the other medications I take every night do a pretty good job of letting me stay asleep, once I get there. It’s just that some nights, I do not get there, at all.

I have told her over and over, do not give me antidepressants, as study after study ( not to mention my own experiences ) has proved repeatedly, they do NOT work for the larger majority of us and just make other issues we already have in plenty, worse.

The reason for this, is simple really. For the people such medications where created for, their nerual net has issues, across the board as a rule. Therefore, the meds stand a much better chance of dealing with their problems. However, we with FM, the nerual net, is only half trashed, as the rest of it, works just fine.

Now, you bring in the antidepressants which might do the job on those brain areas that do have issues, but.. big but here, they turn right around and mess up areas, that do not need any help. Areas that work, or did, until you introduce something that will attempt to fix, what is not broken. The results, or lack thereof, speak for themselves.

More soon…

BB

Esta

Fix it unitl it’s broken, SSRI medications and FMS

Computers can be downright hateful. It seems that every time you update one thing, you wind up having to update others, as they are now incompatible. As not all updates, are an improvement. Like the drug companies, and their so called, improvements to medications.

Now, that is not to say they should not make new drugs or improve on ones they have, as they certainly should. However … If you have something that works the way it is, dang it, leave it alone !

Always looking for “new and improved” on the drug market, which, as anyone with half a brain knows, that generally means, a whole boatload of new side effects.

Example: It is not enough to have drugs that are SSRI’s anymore, no, now we have ones that also mess with norepinephrine, so they are SSNRI’s.. it’s called just new ways, to mess with your head, literally. The main chemicals  in our heads are:

• Amino acids: glutamate,^[2] aspartate, D-serine, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine
• Monoamines and other biogenic amines: dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (noradrenaline; NE, NA), epinephrine (adrenaline), histamine, serotonin (SE, 5-HT)
• Others: acetylcholine (ACh), adenosine, anandamide, nitric oxide

Example of a new medication, my doctor wants me to try, for sleep called an (SARI)  Now, given my sleep issues and the fact that this medication also raises your blood pressure, which mine is too low, and it is highly sedative, I can see the idea behind this.

Still have not tried the things though, been sitting on it for weeks. Now, why do you ask ?  Well, I have spent a great deal of time, checking it out first, as I do for any new medication, and take a look at what just a short write up, on them, looks like…

“Due to the short half-life of trazodone, if a dose is taken at night, mCPP ( meaning by mouth) would be present in the body during the following day, causing symptoms such as anorexia (behavioral symptoms), anxiety, hypolocomotion, headache, and depression”. .. and as if that were not enough.. then you get.. this

“A person who abruptly stops taking trazodone, even in doses as low as 25 mg (common for use as a sleep aid for people with anxiety disorders), may experience adverse mental reactions such as emotional instability, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts.” and of course the list of side effects, is as long as your arm

Meaning that if I find that it doesn’t work for sleep, I can’t even just stop taking the dang things, but have to wean off of them. Scary to say the least, as with this one in particular, the need to wean off slowly, tops the chart compared to other SSRI’s  as the body can literally, go crazy if you don’t wean off of them.

But, given as I have done far too many days of late, where I do not sleep until the sun is high in the sky, I may just have to give them a try. But I will not put up with a mess of side effects and or the next day hangover, for long if that turns out to be the case.

I have been on just about every type of antidepressant, there is, with little or no benefit I might add. I have yet to see any real reports on where their most recent efforts in that regard, are any better than the old ones.

So by weeks end, I plan to give it a try, and I will be very very critical of the results, as in, if I don’t drop off to sleep like a rock and stay there until morning and wake up feeling like a human being, they are getting cut in half, then 1/4’s, then dropped entirely. If they are able to be cut down at all, as some medications, are not.

In which case, it will be a rushed call to my doctor to phone in a lower dose script, so I can wean off the things.

Oh and I have to mention at this point, that the one thing pointed out on the medication, the make you sleepy effect, which is what it is being given to me for, tends to wear off, in pretty short order. In which case, it means it might work for a few weeks and then stop working for what I am taking it for, at all.

I am not trying to ill wish the medication, I hope it works, I really do, but I have been disappointed far too many times with such things, to  allow that small hope, to get any bigger.

As well as, needless to say, I have NO desire to make how I already feel, worse ! I told her I do NOT want anything that is going to mess with my brain, but in this case, did she listen ?

And if they fail, and I will be honest and say that I expect that they will, as I have yet to see even one, of any kind of this sort of mediation, work. At least, not for long, so when they do fail, right away, or a few weeks from now … then perhaps she will give me what I asked for to begin with, which are some real sleeping pills, for the times when I get like this, and I cannot sleep, at all.

More soon..

BB

Esta

Update to this: The SSNRI’s were a no go total bust, as expected….. but, quite by accident, we found a combo that works pretty well. I had what I thought to be a rash, rather nasty one ( turns out it was bug bites ). So, Doc ordered me up some Visteral, some beta blockers, a muscle relaxant and finally added a real sleeping pill, Ambien. And lo and behold for the first time in more years than I care to count, I am getting some real sleep.

Nothing makes me GO to sleep ( nothing would, short of something strong enough to knock over a Bull Moose ) but, with this combo, taken once I do lay it down, I am sleeping for 6-8 hrs, without all the wake up every hr or so. We  recently had to up a few of them to slightly stronger, as over the past year or so, their effect has waned a bit but, doc had no problem doing that for me and so for now… still getting some real sleep and it has improved my FM over all… it makes an interesting footnote to the idea that lack of real sleep is in fact our  worst enemy.

Memory issues and FMS, why the system fails

Well, I have a stack of a “To do ” list…again. It seems I no more than clear my desk and a dozen more show up. It is on the same order of when you kill one fly, 10 more show up for his funeral ! 🙂 But behind it all, is memory.

Web work to do, Doctors to call, specialists to call, the good old fashioned social services screw up, to where I need to call to find out what the heck happened sorta deal. Call my mechanic to find out, okay, when are you going to be done with my car ? 

And again, all of this seems to pile up on the weekend, when as far as calls go, I cannot do a thing, about it ! This does not even take into account, any day to day tasks, that might need doing, that I need to remember.

Anyway, whats my point here ? The “To do” list goad, the one that seems like a nasty boss, standing over our shoulder… with a stick. Now, should we feel that way about it ? Of course not, but do we ? Rather often yeah, we do.

Now just about everybody does this, getting a bit stressed about remembering things, but we with FM, in particular. For one simple reason … Memory issues.

Let me put it this way, our short term memory can be so bad, that if we cannot do, whatever it is, right now, then the pressure is on. As now we have to try and figure out a way, to make sure we DO it, when the time for being able to do it, shows up and HOPE we do not manage to forget about it entirely, in the meantime.

My desk is always littered with post it notes, or full pages, if it is detailed. Reminders on my computer that pop up and go hey.. have you done this yet ? Telling the brain, over and over, so that it has even half a chance, of being retained.

Now, what gives us this problem is pretty simple. It is two fold, as short term memory is all but gone. It is gone for the fact that the synapses that process information, are being interfered with.

The pre fontal cortex, the part of our brain that is responsible for short term memory, is rather busy  most of the time. Doing what ? Trying to handle pain it is assumed, as when you take care of the pain, the lobe is not always so active, and the person then retains things, better. They have tested and proved this, using brain scans both before, and after administering pain medications. Then testing recall.

But, even if we do manage to get it into long term memory, there is problem there too, which is tied to sleep issues, as things basically gell in the mind, as we sleep. Whatever was processed during the day, gets “filed” away at night, while we sleep.

And since we do not sleep well,  and have disrupted sleep, we do not “file” things properly, so we have issues trying to retrieve recently stored information. It normally takes a jog to the memory, or some kind of association, in order to find the information, at all.

( Some days I swear I want to find the person inside my head, whose job it is to file things, and fire em ! )

But the bottom line is, the normal routing of desired thing to remember, to short term memory, to long term memory, to retrieval of that memory, doesn’t work reliably anymore. I say reliably, as some days, we seem to have no problem at all, but on others ?? Forget it ! And I mean that, quite literally.

So, what does this tend to do to us ? Anything that cannot be done, right now, almost sets the mind into a state of near panic, if the matter is important. Which of course, does not help matters, one little bit. As now we are stressed as well, which can further impair our memory.

A real nasty state of affairs, anyway you look at it. As the ONLY part of that, we are in control over, is not letting the need to remember, stress us out.

The rest, is pretty much out of our hands, until and unless the medical profession, finally comes up with pain killers that work well for us that we can take on a regular basis, without turning  us into zombies and/or ones that impairs our memory, even further.

Right along with sleeping medications, that allow us to get normal rest. Not just get eight hours in a night mind you, but have normal cycles and sleep patterns, so that things can get “filed” correctly.

Then maybe, just maybe, we might get our memory … back.

More soon….

BB

Esta

External stress, overload and FMS

I feel beat, busted and generally, infuriated, and trying hard to just, chill out. As I know full well, I am not helping myself here. But, let’s face it, sometimes life hands us things, that would piss off the Good Humor man ! Today was one of those days. We with FM, do not deal with overload, very well. That said, and more on it further down, a peek into my day. Pardon me while I vent a moment.

My car has been acting up pretty bad and I put it in the shop. Now some 6 mts ago, I had the front tires replaced, and a new ( to me anyway) rim put on, as the old one was bent.( With the pot holes we have here in Texas, no surprise ) But anyway, so replaced rim, that should have been the end of it, right ?

No such luck. When my mechanic got into the front end work a few days ago, he found that half the spindles the lug nuts go on, were broken ( including one they had recently replaced) and that both rims, were broken. Not only that, he found that the rim I had replaced, was the wrong size for my car.

Now, understand, I was back in that tire shop, no less than 5 times after getting the rim, as the tire would not hold air and the slight shake in the front, that started when they put it on, just got worse over time. Which they insisted, was not their doing, and had nothing to do with their parts.

My car man, who does all my car work ( but does not do tires ) is such a blessing, as he went out of his way, and took time out of a very busy shop, and came with me, to confront the person who sold me this rim. He even had his people, come to my house and get me.

He did his best, with his fellow shop owner and long story short, he was NOT impressed with the other shop owners behavior. I will not say what he really said, but let’s just say it was rude, and let it go at that. I could not follow it all, as they all spoke Spanish. But I know in general, what was being said.

So now, the entire front end tie rod ends, have to be replaced. Which I cannot lay at the tire stores door, as much as I would like to, As I was told of this problem, some time ago.

I am real suspicious of the fact that it started to “show “problems AFTER they got their hands on it, but cannot stay for certain, they created them. But their error’s did not help matters, and accelerated it into a major problem, long before it needed to be, that I can say, and have it be a fact I can be positive of.

Their error’s were A: the rim was the wrong size for the car, as I said. And the man who took it on and off, umpteen times, really loves his air wrench, as in grind, every time he put it back on. This despite me telling him over and over, don’t DO that. Not to mention, I have my doubts on how well he can use a tire machine, as if you do it wrong, you can mess up a perfectly good rim.

Now, as if all of this were not enough, the owner of the tire shop, seemed bound and determined to try and sell me a set of brand new rims, for a $100.00 bucks no less ( credit on the old used rim and normal price on the other new one ) I told him no way, I could not afford that.

( Not to mention, those used rims they all sell, are pure profit, as they cost them zero, as they are traded in when someone buys new rims, so he had already made money on it from me. Then had the gall to act like he was being generous, in that he would “credit” me the money I already paid him. In short, he was giving me almost nothing with that deal, he was just trying to make another $65 bucks off of me. The grand total of his so called discount ? $ 15.00 bucks ! )

To my mind, he owed me both rims, and the price of the spindles, at the very least. As the rim on the other side, should not have broken, and likely would not have, if not for his man’s mistake of putting one on the other side, that was the wrong size, making the whole thing, shake.

So, he finds yet another used rim and replaces the one I bought, for free as he said, which it was not, as I had already paid for it,( which I will have to keep a sharp eye on, as I no longer trust them ) and then has the nerve to tell me, that “sorry, don’t have another one for the other side, but you can still have the deal on two new ones for $100.00”

He told me this, after my car man left, as that was not how I understood things, while my car man was still there. So he was trying hard to cover his own mistakes,  and to make sure I never came back in again with rim problems. I can appreciate that from his point of view, but to try and make a profit on me, again, besides ? Can you say, rip off ? !

Now by this time, I am ready to spit nails. As this man, whose employee, totally messed up with the first rim I bought, aggravated, if not outright caused the front end problem ( to the tune of $300.00 + for repairs ) and then he DARES try and get me to pay for new rims !

No offer to even pay for the broken spindles, no offer for even token help with the price of the damages done. Never mind the fact that me running around with the tires in that condition, they could have literally, flow off the car, at any time, risking my life and anyone around me.

Which, if I wanted to press the matter, might be a good case for a lawsuit. I thank all the Gods for watching over my little car, that such an event, did not happen,

Well, by this time I had had enough of dealing with this man. I said to him, put the old one back on, I am leaving and you will never see my face again, while inside I am thinking ( insert many nasty words here ) and left, for a tire shop across the street I had dealt with before.

They remembered me and even gave me a good deal on a decent rim and made very sure it fit right, before they put it on. They even balanced it and all, for free for me. Thank the Gods for “Good” business persons 🙂  as I really needed that just then.

What this has done to my FM:

Now mind you, this was after getting almost nothing for sleep the day before, and a very busy day ( see my last post before this one, for details on why )  so I am wiped, flared, and felt like general crap, as soon as I opened my eyes this morning. It is over 105 degrees out there to boot, and I am having to deal with all of this!

I feel like they put ME under the car and used my head for the tire jack. Home now and feeling a little better, re hydrated, some pain killers taken and telling them to “hurry up”. But my point is, not to just tell you of a dreadful day, but to point out just how easy it is, to get into a major overload with FM, just in day to day living.

As these things happen. It’s hardly the first unethical business I have ever run across and I will take the proper steps, report them to the BBB, things like that, but the stress my body was already under for lack of sleep, spent all day at the clinic getting tests done etc the day before, now being combined with major emotional stress, and a body that was trying, desperately, to adapt to heat that is the highest yet, this summer. I am in a massive flare.

We with FM, just cannot deal with too many stressful things, at once. I was already stressed over having to put yet more money in the car, in the first place.

Our bodies, are already under massive body stress, on any given day of the week. Then I made the mistake, and I will admit it was a mistake, to let the Tire shop man, upset me.

What does emotional stress do to us ?:

Taking  just the body effects, they look like this…

Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain

Gritting, grinding teeth

Stuttering or stammering

Tremors, trembling of lips, hands

Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms

Light headedness, faintness, dizziness

Frequent blushing, sweating

Cold or sweaty hands, feet

Dry mouth, problems swallowing

Frequent colds, infections, herpes sores

Rashes, itching, hives, “goose bumps”

Unexplained “allergy”attacks

Heartburn, stomach pain, nausea

Excess belching, flatulence

Constipation, diarrhea

Difficulty breathing, sighing   

Chest pain, palpitations

Frequent urination

Increased anger, frustration, hostility

Depression, frequent or wild mood swing

And that is just some of them. So no, we can ill afford, to allow external events, stress us out, no matter what the provocation is. Now, do we all do this ? Sure, but realize what it will do to yourself, and back up and back off, as soon as you get your wits about you, and you will fare better, over all.

More soon..

BB

Esta

Dehydration and FMS

Well, I was able to get up, just shortly after the alarm went off, unfortunately, it’s Sunday ! Oh well, can’t win em all. Able to get some work done too ( Money is always good) The heat however, is trying to murder me and my plants, all at the same time.

I cannot seem to keep either them, or me, hydrated. Dehydration is a serious issue for anyone, and most certainly, for us with FM. Which in my case, also plays merry hell with my Neurally Mediated Hypotension. Dehydration makes everything we have, worse, for example:

 NMH =Neurally Mediated Hypotension

A higher tendency to depression

Excess body weight ( while that sounds odd, as you would expect the reverse, but it is true. )

High blood pressure

Fatigue

Low back and neck pain 

Higher body temperature over all ( which of course doesn’t help us at all )

and of course, headaches

Dehydration also depletes the neurotransmitter serotonin. Reduced serotonin, as we all know, means insomnia, increased pain and sometimes depression, as well as most of the other “goodies” that go along with FM are also increased, so needless to say, lack of fluids is a bad idea, for any of us.

They say you can tell how bad someones FM is, by the size of their drinking glass. Well given mine is a 32 oz that is literally never empty, I guess that tells you how bad off I am 🙂 And I live with a lip balm within reach at all times. If I don’t have one in constant use, the lips crack and bleed, in short order.

Now, what I did find out, is that in my case it’s the vasovagal response ( Which the short version in English means, our BP is supposed to go up when we stand, mine doesn’t, it goes down as heart gets the wrong message, and you either get dizzy or pass out, for lack of blood flow to the brain ) that is responsible for my NMH, ( which is the name given to a disorder of the above vasovagal response ) and  it is part of the problem.

As it not only makes for low fluid in the mouth, eyes, skin,( as is common  in FM alone )  it also means the inner body cavities do not have the full amounts of fluid they need. Meaning  my innards, instead of sliding over each other, as they should, are more likely to drag and even stick at times.

This might explain why I get the dreaded ” pin in the Voodo doll” pains from time to time. Now as I said, the glass is never empty, but how the body handles the fluids, is just as important as getting enough of them, which means, the gut has to process them, correctly. Mine doesn’t. As I have rampant IBS. So it is compromised, from the start.

So tossing down more drink and hope I can keep up with it, in our hot, humid Texas Summer.

More soon…

BB

Esta

Un-Refreshing sleep and FMS

Well, yet another day I had planned to be up, and yep, I turned off the alarm ..again, and went right back to sleep. It is so strange, that at night, when I am so tired I can barely see, I cannot sleep, but during the day, when I need to be up to do things, it seems that all my body wants to do, is sleep !

Now, if I felt like I had gotten much rest, that would be one thing, but that is almost never the case. Un-Refreshing sleep they call it. That is SUCH a tame word, for what is basically a train wreak every night.

Now the reasons for this are pretty simple, sleep comes in 5 stages, and we tend to skip right through several of em. The deep Delta stage in particular. This is the one where the body rebuilds. Which is likely why our body systems are always in such a mess.

In fact we spend a lot of time at stage one, where you are basically, just dozing. We get a lot of REM sleep, which is a good thing, otherwise we would go noisily mad, in short order. REM sleep is when you dream. Now why this happens, is well known, neurochemicals of which we either lack, or have too much of, Serotonin being the heavy hitter.

Now, the problem with Serotonin, is that is has so many jobs to do, but in our case the one it gets called on for the most, is pain control. Which means, if you do not control the pain, the body uses up its store of Serotonin pretty quickly, leaving little to none, for sleep. We do not really fall asleep, we pass out, when the body just cannot go on anymore.

There is much more on this on my FM site

Too tired to write more, so more soon…

BB

Esta

 

Sleep issues and FMS

I did an ” up all night” bit again last night, not that I wanted to, I even went to bed a bit early ( early for me that is) and no go until about 4 hours later, which means I was up for over 18 hours, which is two more than normal. Now the aggravating thing is, I was tired, but even with my usual meds, nothing would shut down, but did the toss and turn in the bed, until I said to heck with it, and got up again.

Soon I will try the new meds doc gave me, alone, just to see what they do or don’t do with regard to sleep. The other new meds for the infection, should be well out of my system now. ( although I am likely to need more as the infection they were given to treat, is already coming back ) So, since the body is being particularly a pain about letting me sleep, it will be a good test for them.

To sleep, perchance to dream, such a simple thing, right ? Something most of us take for granted every night of our lives, to just lay down and get some real, restful, regenerative sleep.

Now, I know all the reasons why this happens to those of us with FM, but knowing all that, on nights like last night, does not help me get to sleep, one bit.

It does help me not be too dang irritated about it. After all, why be upset with a body, that is lacking in the very chemistry it needs, in order for me to sleep. The body wants to rest, even more than I do 🙂 It is not its fault, that it lacks the proper tools, to get the job done.

So tonight I will take the plunge and try the new medication, and see how it goes. Wish me luck.

More soon…..

BB

Esta

Memory issues, general frustrations and FMS

Memory issues and general frustrations. Still fighting the fight with Medicaid, the most recent, they didn’t bother to send me my card this month…again! A bewildering array of phone numbers to call, only to be told, that no you need to talk to X about that. Sigh … ( with a few choice words tossed in for good measure )

Playing phone tag with workers, having to leave a message and hope, I get a call back, taking prescriptions down to medical supply places, only to be told that they need other forms, which no one, not even the social services worker who approved them all, knew about.

I have literally an entire folder full of notes, lists of numbers, that get scratched out and changed dang near every time I call them. Now, you are talking to a woman with Memory issues. Yet my husband watched me do all this and brought up a valid point, a bit of positive in this mire of negative. In that due to having to do all this, and keep track of it all, is basically, forcing my memory, to work. Now it doesn’t work for everything.

I mean last night I “lost” my cigarette case,( moved it, forgot I had moved it, then could not remember WHERE I moved it )  but for this other stuff, the “important” stuff, with enough post it notes and messages all over my desk, I was able to remember to make the calls I needed to make.

I recall a study done by the military, on sleep deprivation, and what they found is the solider could handle the big things, it was all the little stuff, they would forget. But I think it’s more than that, as those studies were done, under total sleep deprivation, as in none at all.

I think that just perhaps, our memories are not as full of holes, as they sometimes seem, but it comes down to a matter, of how important, is the item we have to remember. It is like we do not have room enough, for the little stuff. Just a theory, but I intend to follow it up and see if I can find out just how much fact there is, to such an issue and moreover, is there anything I can do, to improve it.

More soon..

BB

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Tired of being a vampire and FMS

Well, another dreadful night of up till dawn, I swear some days, I feel like a vampire ! Now, if I had their healing ability, that would not be such a bad thing, but I don’t and it sucks ! No pun intended  🙂

I am still holding off on the new meds the doctor gave me for sleep, as I want this secondary infection to go away, first. I finished the last of the antibiotics, yesterday and the ear still feels weird. Like it’s stuffed full of cotton, but it at least doesn’t hurt. The drug is supposed to keep working for some 6 to 10 days, after you stop taking them, so we will see. I want to at least have the majority of it out of my system, before I try the new ones. 

A word to the wise, if your doctor gives you more than one new medication, try them one at a time, as if you have side effects and you have taken more than one, you will not know which one of them.. is to blame.

I still have my doubts on the  antidepressant, for sleep. The Gods know how many of them, I have tried for that. As overall, they tend to make problems we already have, worse and  for most, don’t even work, at least I have not seen one yet that will work for more than a short period of time.

But I am willing to give the new one a go, but unless it majorly helps, and does not make everything a lot worse, it will go in the bottom drawer, which is where I keep all the stuff, that didn’t make the cut of being useful. 

I wait until I have a sack full of them, then take them to pharmacy, for proper disposal. Our water system has so many drugs in it, from how many we have flushed down the commode,  they can literally measure it, so always take any unused drugs back to the pharmacy, and let them dispose of them. And unfortunately, for those of us with FM, that drawer almost always has some failure, in it.

More soon….

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