Laureen,

I understand the fear of decreasing the meds. I think I've had so much else going on that I don't think about it as much as I otherwise would, so maybe that's good. I still occasionally worry about chewing something hard. One way to look at it for you might be that the worse that could happen if you have some pain would be that you would have to stop decreasing and increase a little. (Have I said this before?) When you started you were on a whole lot more medication and still had a lot of pain. You are doing so much better than that now. Still I hope you can get entirely off the meds.

Despite what my internist said about my throat not being red on Wednesday, Thanksgiving day I awoke will all the symptoms of a cold. I was blowing, sneezing, and coughing constantly for the next 2 days (then using antibacterial gel on my hands each time in hopes that I would put germs on any household surfaces and give anyone else a cold). When I got home I bought a "Neti Pot" and started irritating my nasal passages. I love it, and it has eliminated most of the blowing, sneezing and coughing. I still feel congested way up in my head, but my nose is clear and feels clean.

Glad to hear your hernia repair went well. I sure hope his does. He has had a rough year with his cancer surgery in January and then a fistula. And then me being out of commission. I hope if you daughter has a cold it will be mild!