Step Therapy Sucks, and I'm Tired of Being Quiet About It (AWAP Wednesday)

From first hand experience, not having access to appropriate, effective medication when dealing with any acute or chronic illness is cruel and could lead to job loss and homelessness very quickly.  Please watch this video.  

Better Living With Cobalamins

After years of feeling tired I have had a major change in my energy level. Why oh why has it taken me so long to try this..this being Vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 exists in several forms and contains the mineral cobalt , so compounds with vitamin B12 activity are collectively called "cobalamins"[ reference link]. This is truly an amazing transformation for me. I spent the winter battling excessive day time sleepiness. Naps two times a day, were typical, as was going to bed at 8:30 -9:00 pm and sleeping til 7. I would look at my unfinished projects and wonder when I would ever finish them.

My Physician's assistant prescribed Provigil, a very expensive narcolepsy drug that didn't do a damn thing. I was getting more frustrated by each day. Finally, I decided to try 500 mcgs(micrograms) of Vitamin B12. I was already taking B complex supplements but this dose was above the RDA and was taken under the tongue, or sublingually. I noticed more energy immediately. It's been 3 weeks now and I am up to 1000 mcg. The difference has been enough for me to finish some projects like updating my mad cow news articles which I was behind on. It was last April when I updated those articles and I did them all in one night. I am hopeful for the first time in years...and happy and I sure hope this lasts. For some reason my body doesn't absorb this nutrient through my digestive system so it makes me wonder what else I am not absorbing. (perhaps Vitamin D and calcium, as I have osteopena). Vitamin B12 does not have an upper limit on its toxicity so it is safe, too. I know some of my readers can relate to being tired all the time so I just wanted to offer some hope.

Monday's a dog.[via]

Reading is Phundamental

Fibromyalgia, a misunderstood illness, causes much suffering, but with help from two drug companies, a relief of some symptoms may be possible. Yahoo News Link

Opioid narcotics cause hundreds of deaths a year so the FDA wants stricter controls. Yahoo News Link

The Obama's position on medical marijuana looks hopeful. Huffington Post

Reading is Phundamental

Buh Bye George....leave a farewell note for GW. LINK

The results of my blog readability

Movie Reviews

(I'm not too embarrassed by this..hell.. cognitive problems as a result of fibromyalgia and chronic pain have their negative effects. Being a stoner doesn't make me the sharpest tool in the shed anymore either ...as long as I rate above moron..I'm kewl.)

As the daughter of a fallen officer I appreciated this post from Susie...

No, I can’t hate cops. They’re the band-aids we put on the gushing arteries of the human condition. No wonder they get tired. No wonder they’re suspicious. Some of them are greedy and corrupt, but mostly they’re people just trying to do their job.

When one of them dies in the line of duty, attention must be paid.

I miss you Dad..[\sniffle]

[via]

National Invisible Illness Awareness Week is September 14-28, 2008.
"96% of chronic illnesses is invisible"

My "invisible " illnesses include: fibromyalgia, migraines, nail-patella syndrome, and depression.

Is my Fibromyalgia All in My Head?

Hell no!!...

Fibromyalgia often has been misdiagnosed as arthritis or even a psychological issue. Increasingly, though, the scientific knowledge about fibromyalgia is growing, and a new paper from the University of Michigan Health System says there are "overwhelming data" that the condition is real, is characterized by a lower pain threshold and is associated with genetic factors that can make some people more likely to develop fibromyalgia. Science Daily Link

The pain is quite real. I can't stand it when people negate the pain which mostly consists of chronically achey muscles. It's no fun feeling like I have the flu most the time. Today both my hands are feeling achey and hurting a lot and my shoulders and right neck area are extremely stiff, another symptom of fibromyalgia.

Over the last several months I have been experimenting with cutting wheat out of my diet and I am feeling better. It is rumored that fibromyalgia might be a wheat allergy in some...or contribute to symptoms of the digestive track, nasal congestion and acne, fatigue, headaches a series of conditions that demonstrate differently in each individual. It's not easy to elininate wheat from my diet but I am adapting. Whenever I get lazy and have wheat I usually have a nasal congestion problem and a sore throat.

The easiest way I have found to see if wheat might be causing some health problems is a 3 day rotation diet. Eat wheat and then eliminate it completely for 3 whole days. Then indulge in wheat and see how you feel the next day. Increased congestion, stuffed ears, headache? Do this several times over a course of a couple months and see if you notice anything different.

Immunesupport.com is the best resource, I have found, for fibromyalgia information.

Song in My Head: If I Had a Hammer

When War Is the Best Medicine

By Bill Frist
Sunday, March 16, 2003

Physicians and policymakers have an imperative duty to help keep people healthy and alive. In doing so, preventive care is always preferable to the treatment of avoidable disease. Understanding the causes of disease and death enables prevention. Physicians and policymakers must gather and evaluate critical information to meet our obligation to protect humanity by preventing illness and death.

This has got to be the worst written piece of crap I have seen all year. Mr. Bill's arguments have as many holes in it as a piece of cheesecloth. This is the introduction and I am seething with rage.

First, comparing preventative health care, like Pap smears and immunizations, to war and bombs is ludicrous.

Excuse me while I hurl.

That's better.

Second, if the role of Doctor's is to prevent and research diseases, how come my insurance will not cover Fibromyalgia and my rare genetic illness; 2 illnesses that I am afflicted with.

Thirdly, if the role of a doctor is to prevent, treat and reserch illnesses why are you in politics? How come we don't have universal health care?

If I took all the medicine I have prescribed to me (Effexor, Elavil, Trazadone, Bextra, Phosomax, Xalatan, vicaden I would be sedated enough to buy into this crap. Better yet, I will flush all these meds and roll a joint and contemplate a world w/out war.

Need medical care in Oregon?....Commit a Crime!!


My snarkette skills have noticed the left thinking bloggers don't talk much about issues regarding the disabled....um Alter abled. Thanks to Jim C. of Rittenhouse Review to publish our discourse recently. Here is my fragmented letter. (it was a fibromyalgia day).

To: The Rittenhouse Review
From: Annie
Date: March 6, 2003

Yes, in response to your recent question, disabled Americans face discrimination daily, and they have one hell of a case to prove when they do.

I have permanently dislocated joints. My past employers did not want to spend a dime extra to accommodate me, unless I complained and mentioned the provisions of the Americans with Discrimination Act.

I have had to specifically ask for "anti-fatigue" rubber mats to stand on in laboratories where I have worked. I once worked as a federal contractor in an office that would not provide me with a chair needed for my degenerated disks, and I was assigned to work in a cold hallway. But it was a job -- with health benefits. How many choices do I have?

And I have been cursed and glared at often as I park in disabled parking spaces. Although I am disabled, it doesn't appear that way to the casual observer, in part because I'm not in a wheelchair. All too often at my last job I would find culprits in the disabled parking spaces, and management did nothing after three complaints. I had to quit.

I have had to quit jobs that would not accommodate my needs. But try proving their lack of cooperation with their employees' needs, let alone their lack of compliance with ADA. Most employees will tolerate their bosses' discriminatory attitudes so as not to "stir the pot." Besides, one doesn't receive unemployment benefits when one quits a job.

The disabled don't get many breaks in the real world. And I find it quite telling that we live in a nation where the only people to have guaranteed medical service are prisoners. Try being a disabled woman in Oregon, which I've begun calling the "Mississippi of the West."

This is definitely a silent form of discrimination. It's hard for disabled people even to tell their employers they are disabled, a reluctance I have experienced in the past, though thankfully I still have the right of privacy.

Thanks for bringing up this discussion.

Signed,
Annie
Hood River, Ore.