Hi All,

Please note that TENS machines must NOT be used by people with Epilepsy, certain Heart Conditions or Pacemakers.

Dave.

It says that right on the packaging. But it's a good point to say again.

Mel

Melody,
It's why I had to stop - heart attack in '08. The same goes for the electropulse 'Ab-belts' and the like.

Dave.

Hi Melody,
Thanks for the video!

Like Alan, I have difficulty feeling some of these types of sensations. My limitations in feeling these are due to neuropathies.
My failure to feel the sensation does not mean the modality is not doing whatever it is meant to do.

For instance, when applying topicals with menthol, camphor, etc, other people will tell me certain formulations give them very strong sensations for hours. I feel no sensation. Yet, some formulations still work on deeper pain even though I feel no immediate sensation (on my skin).

I enjoy your posts very much!

With Gratitude,
DejaVu

Hi there.

Thanks so much for the kind words. As if Alan didn't have enough to deal with, one of his crowns fell out this morning. So Monday, we shall go to the dentist (I posted a link to what it looks like) on the Dentistry forum. Thank god for these forums. It's always good to check in and see what the latest is. I don't post too much because Alan takes up a great deal of my time but that's what being a wife is. I'll tell you one thing. Thank god we have separate beds. Because of his neuropathy he is ALWAYS jerking his feet. He resembles a person with Parkinson. I asked him "Are YOU doing that, or does your leg do it by itself":? His response was "Have you ever had your hand fall asleep on you and then you shake it to make it stop?" I said 'Oh, yes, I remember years ago, when I must have compressed a nerve someone in my wrist or my hand and it was buzzing and I shook it awake and it all stopped". Alan said 'that's why I do it'. So....I got my answer

But he's in another bed across the room and sometimes in the middle of the night I see him shaking his legs and even in his sleep he gets no peace.

Someone better legalize the drug laws in NY so that he will have access to what he needs to have access to. That's all I can say

Thanks again, Melody

Oh, wow, my heart goes out to both of you.

I do know some of what it's like to deal with multiple conditions. It's very trying. I deal with sensorimotor axonal polyneuropathy (neuropathy affects both sensory and motor nerves), and Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), and a neuromuscular condition- "myotonia." (Also several other diagnoses; yet, these three are more than enough to mention.)

I usually end up moving to a different bedroom. I am often in pain, in severe spasm, jerking limbs -- esp. spastic feet/ankles in the night. If my feet get cool at all, they go into severe spasms. I am forever readjusting sheets, positions, pillows, getting more medication and/or putting on more topical lotion for added relief.
Our sleep schedules can be very different.

My DH (dear husband) is so helpful and compassionate. I am very lucky!
At the same time, he has a very demanding job and he needs his sleep.

I have somewhat of an idea of what it might be like for you and Alan.

Oh, darn, who needs a dental emergency on top of all else?

My best to you and to Alan!

Warmly,
DejaVu

Oh, believe me I hear you about muscle spasms. I used to get them in the middle of the night, going down the inside of my thigh. Drove me NUTS. And don't ask me how I learned how to stop it. With me it's all about stressors. So, for whatever reason, I knew one was coming and I said out loud "you know what you have to do". And I carefully stretched out my left leg (carefully and SLOWLY) and just waited. The muscle relaxed. After the first few times I always had a heating pad nearby (one of those that shuts itself off in 30 minutes). That ALWAYS relaxes the muscles. I also (if I remember) keep a bar of soap under my sheet between the sheet and the mattress. Don't ask, just google this. It works. Something about the soap interacting with the muscles, I can't remember but it does work. We talk about this all the time at the Neuropathy meeting because they all keep a bar of Ivory soap under their sheets.

I also know that magnesium helps with muscle spasms. So sometimes I soak my feet in Epsom Salt before I go to bed. So far, lately, I've been lucky. But I'll tell you what really got me to go crazy. years and years ago, (probably about 20 to 22 years ago, I thought I had a bladder infection. My symptoms were consistent with those of a bladder infection except I had no burning and I could pee just fine. But the urge, the urge was always there. I went to countless urologists and gyns and they took all the tests and I was fine. But I had this FEELING for over 4 years (this was also the time my son was driving us crazy). Never thought it was connected.

So one day my primary care guy felt so bad for me he prescribed SOMA. I will never forget that day. I never even took it. I had put it on the top of the toilet tank (I was taking a shower) and the plan was to take one pill and try and go to bed. See, stuff like this one never forgets. I stared at the bottle of Soma, I got in the shower (nice hot water) and all of a sudden my whole body relaxed. It was like a miracle. I will NEVER forget that. I never had to take a pill and that urge never came back. Sometimes I get **** spasms. That's a real bitc*. All I have to do is put a heating pad under my butt and in five minutes flat it goes away. Don't get them any more. Maybe once or twice a year if that. My body must react to stress by going all spasming. Annoying as you know what.

Sometimes early in the morning when I awake, my foot starts to spasm and I know exactly what to do. I get up slowly, put my weight on that foot, stretch it down and I'm just fine. Doesn't happen often, just once in a while. But those spasms really are painful. So I feel for you.

You take care,

Melody