I also started my diet today and have gone the entire day so far without a Pepsi. I've usually had a couple by now. I forgot and ate the hershey's kiss the salon gave me before I thought about the fact that I shouldn't eat it, but other than that I've done what I'm supposed to. That means I should wake up tomorrow 20 pounds lighter right?? GRIN

Richard - I too am in the middle of changing my Lyrica dose. I was taking 75mg in the morning and at night. I am now going to 50mg in the morning and 100mg at night. Same amount per day but a little different distribution.

Vicky - Got the list. Thanks a BUNCH!! I will integrate that into the South Beach and see how it goes. I'm excited to see what happens.

Finally have a tiny bit of snow. Missed the storm here, but the wind has put me into a flare.

DANA, welcome to the Wall! Probably the best thing you can do for the exhaustion is take the highest level of antidepressant you can tolerate. I like the Cymbalta because it also addresses epinephrine. Now, if we take away all the restrictions you gave us (and we have them too!), the next best thing to do is quit your job, hire a caretaker for your husband and give your teenager away. But we understand. Got a call for a job yesterday, but just the thought of “M-F, 9:00 to Noon” made my want to cry. I’m going to rest unemployed for as long as I can and assume something with a flexible schedule will show up. I understand how Barb does it. The hours in the vehicle are easier than at a computer. I was working both jobs 3 years ago, and I’d rather go back to driver than processor. Especially if there’s somebody else with a brain in the vehicle to either do the driving or make up for the fog! HUGS to all.

Just a little update for anyone interested, I had a Physical Monday. My Dr. says I am at a higher risk for Diabeties now, my Glucose, Serum panel came in @ 113 normals are between 65-99. My Trgliycerides were higfh @ 276, normal is 0-149, my VLDL Cholesterol was high @ 55, when normals are supposed to be between 5-40. My Dr. is Starting me on Metforman 500mg per day to help control my sugars, he also wants me to excercise and diet, cut down on sugar intake. He wants me to take Lyrica 100mg 1 @ night & 1 pill 2x per day then work up to 3xper day. I really hatge taking pills but I will fallow his instructions. He also wants me to go for a heart stress test, because I have been having some chest pains. In addition he ordered me a vission test. I also wanted to let you all know that I am doing a bit beter with my CPAP therapy, thanks to the fact that Monday I bought my Heated Humidifier for my CPAP Machine. I will have to experiment with it, because it is puting out too much humidity now. I wil keep you al posted on my progress.
I hope I have not bored you with this detailed post. Keep your spirits up and Genlt Hugs from me. Richard in Tucson..

Allison and Bernadette - I am hooked on Wife Swap and Trading Spouses too. Some of the swaps they make are pretty crazy. Vegetarian swaps with the people who kill crocidiles (sp) was a fight waiting to happen.

Bernadette - I personally would go for the regular sugar, but cut it down a tad. I've been trying to use cinnamon instead whenever I can. Not the same but it helps. It works pretty good on oatmeal and even in my tea. Of course you have to remember that I always have bad reactions to fake sugars so that is the main reason for my decision.

Dana - Welcome to the board. I too am fighting the fatigue. My doctor and I have worked and gotten the pain level down quite a bit but I still fight fatigue. The main thing we are working on now is trying to make sure that I can go to sleep and get a GOOD 8 hours. One of the problems we with fibro have is that our quality of sleep is not always so good. We have had many discussions on here about sleep and the consensus seems to be that getting a sleep study done is definitely worth doing. Ask your doctor to refer you to a sleep specialist and go from there. I personally have had one done and am going in for a second one now that I am on Fibro meds to see what has or has not changed. I am trying really hard to go to bed at the same time every night. I go to bed about an hour before I want to go to sleep in order to have some wind down time. On some nights, when I know I can definitely get 8 hours of sleep in, I take Lunesta, which is a sleeping pill. At this point I am planning on using the Lunesta to get my sleeping habits set up, then I am going to quit taking it altogether and see if having a habit set up will take care of some of the problem. I also have Restless Leg Syndrome so I may start taking Requip to deal with that, as it also interupts sleep. Hope this helps.

July - Talk to your pharmicist about your situation. I've heard that there is paperwork they can help you fill out that may help you get your medications at a reduced rate or possibly even free. Your doctor may also have that paperwork. The Montel Williams show also talks about something called Partnership for Prescription Assistance. The number is 1-888-4PPANOW if you want to check that out.

July,I don't know what kind of driving job you had,but I can assure you this one is NOT a piece of cake. We run long hard miles,fight idiot drivers and D.O.T. inspections,are sometimes forced to pee in a test cup(at any time the law requests it)throw heavy tarps,chains and binders and run in every kind of weather. I'll trade the computer with you for a week. :)

Richard,maybe your chest pain is coming from stress from the work you think you are not getting done on your house. You are a hard worker and I bet you stress easy when you can't get done what you feel you should.

We are sitting in Temple,Ga. right now,but will be loading in Birmingham,Al. for California in the morning,so it might be a couple of days before I get back. Take care of yourselves. Gentle hugs to all.

I agree, JAIME, I’d bet money there’s something more going on with you and I can’t wait until you see the rheumy. (I like that nickname, I don’t care what the dictionary says!) I’ve corresponded with lots of Fibro people and only seen one as bad off as you. She finally went on disability with a “non-specific sleep disorder” and got it first try. I know your mind isn’t ready for that, but your body seems to be. (She was lots better after disability went through; less stress, I think.)

Oh, KAYSEE, I hate this for you! Doctors! If we could just weed out the lower half of the class, you know? PLEASE rest all you can. BARB, I didn’t drive a truck, just a van, courier for banks and pharmaceuticals. It was a lot of lifting, but a lot of “in and out” of the vehicle, which helped. Plus cranking the music and not being hovered over by a boss. But I quit when I started getting too fatigued behind the wheel, and I’m glad I did, because the fog soon followed. I still think I’d like to drive your truck. Pick me up your next time through! LOL.

DANA, it sounds to me like you have an excellent regime. I can’t think of anything more helpful except aggressive rest therapy (ART), which no one who works can practice, and most who don’t can’t either! Thanks for offering to share your knowledge. We’ll take it! HUGS to all.

Didn't do so well on the diet yesterday but got up and went to the gym today. That's two days this week so far. I want to go again on Saturday. I'm wondering if I'm trying to do too much at once. I'm thinking about using this week as my reintroduction to the gym and cutting down on the Pepsi, then dumping the Pepsi completely next week while I start a food journal. Then start hardcore dieting the next week. Seems like it takes so much time to eat right, exercise, blah blah blah.

Kaysee, Is there anyone else that can help you at all? I know it has to be tough trying to figure out how to do everything you want to do for your dad without completely giving up your own health. My thoughts are with you.

Richard, Is your doctor going to send you to a dietician? Mine is sending me next week to get a pre-diabetes/hypoglycemia diet. My sugar levels are up but are still quite a ways from diabetes so the doctor would like to keep them from getting there.

July, The Lunesta is helping. I actually went to sleep last night without it and slept for a little over 7 hours all by myself. Felt halfway decent when I woke up this morning too. Found out the hard way last week that they are dead serious about that "don't take these unless you can dedicate a full 8 hours to sleep" thing. Bummer that your doctor won't prescribe them for you. Mine gave me 30 of them with no refill for now. I'm hoping to make them last at least 2 months on the routine I'm on with them. After that I'm hoping that it will just be an occasional thing. Who knows. Did you tell your doc that sleep is addictive too? Grin. I got turned down on that thing too. Did you do it online? If so, you can look at the information and if you are close maybe you can call them directly and see if you can talk them into it. There was one of them that I'm thinking about calling directly.

Dana, do you have any information on how the perscription help programs work or what things are available to those who are having a hard time paying for all of their medications?

DEB, yes, I filled out applications for Prescription Partnership online, but then I had to print them out because they needed doctor's signature and license number, etc. So her office sent them in, and even called me a number of times about them.

I went and got some Cymbalta. It was just too miserable to be without; I missed having energy. I'm sure the budget will work itself out. HUGS to all.

I miss you all, mylife as busy as I usually am, is @ times very lonely. I have very few friends, and they are working. Today I have several bills to pay starting with my auto Insurance, don't quite know how to do this because money is so tight. I also have to get copies of blue prints for my structural engineer, for the Floor trusses that my deck is attached to. I have finally found someone to help me with this delema in my life. I hope you all are doing well & having less pain & fatigue. I am slowly getting to the point that I am getting better sleep thanks to my CPAP Machine.
I wish everyone here a wonderful pain free weekend. Gentle hugs, until I can post again, probably on Monday morning. From Richard in Tucson...

Been a rough week, now a snowstorm. Yikes, hate snow. My friends are over with their kids, helping us get the house cleaned up. I don't know what I would do without them. They are so special to me. From what we heard we supposed to get anywhere from 8- 15 inches of snow. Needless to say I hurt all over my body. My left arm is a mess from all the IVs I have had to get with going to the ER, been there 3 times in the last week. I'm so tired of being in so much pain.

The snow here is so beautiful, it's absolutely worth feeling like all my bones are going to crack! We took lots of pictures; I'll try to download them. It feels like we're hundreds of miles away from everyone and everything, and I love it.

BERNADETTE, I really don't think LINDA would come back. I e-mail her every day. She's not mad, I think just staying "out of the way." For the record, I understand that she and JAIME correspond frequently too, so that came out well. HUGS to all.