((((Kay))))

here is something for you.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nEJcCPqhAK...se-bouquet.jpg

~ waves ~

I'm hanging in there, despite medical issues, but I've been battling depression since Dec.
I saw the pdoc last week and told her about the cymbalta and told her I'd had enough of the depression. She added a little zoloft at night- 25mg for 2 weeks, then 50mg.
I'm very leery of antidepressants since they tend to induce mania (and I've had plenty of that) but I'm on 200mg of lamictal and 300mg lithium in the am, 450mg in the pm and the zoloft dose is so small... but I'm still crossing my fingers.

My hip is feeling a little better, so I'm going back and forth on whether or not I'm going through with the MRI.
I'll talk to my PCP about it when I see him on Friday...

It's a follow up. I've been having near fainting spells when I'm standing up... everything starts to fade to black and I have to sit down fast, then lay down. I've missed 3 appointments because of it. The NP I saw just ran some bloodwork (my pdoc got it so I know it was all normal). I have a history with this tho. and think it's probably the same thing. Fortunately I haven't passed out. I drink 3 liters of water a day and eat well.

I saw the neurologist. I don't have to have another MRI until Sept. She's just going to follow me over time (woo-hoo!) She agrees with my decision to stay off any of the MS meds for now. Neither of us is convinced they will work. She says the bowel incontinence happens, usually infrequently. Most of the treatments are invasive and she doesn't think it's needed now. But I have to see a urologist.

So, I think that's about it.

Thank you all for your support! I hope you are all well.

Kay

Thank you for the update kay.
I am sorry for your near fainting spells that must be scarey. You have so much on your plate, bless you.
(((((HUGS))))
bizi

hello Oh Kay
 

I sure understand your frustration. The debt thing alone is enough to send a person into panic mode. I face loosing my home as well. So I do know what some of the financial problems can be like. You have more on your plate than you should. I wonder if you could talk to someone just for yourself. sometimes there are womens centers located in towns. They can give council without charge in many cases. I wish your husband would be in a better frame of mind for you. It is hard to be around someone who is raging at the world. He can't cope and that is why he is acting out. I have had a few fits myself, and it usually is over finances on top of health issues. I did get help however, and talk to a psych often. I know this has helped me cope better than I did. I also come back here as often as I can to get good support from those on line. I wish there was something I could say to ease your way. It does help to vent. tap back at me anytime and I will listen. ginnie

Hi, Kay,

It is good to hear from you. I hope the Zoloft helps.

Keep taking care.

M

Hope things get better for you. I'm in a similar situation with medical bills, I'm only 21 :(

hello there
 

Dear Kay

hi there. i am so sorry about the fainting spells... how scary. :( and i can appreciate the simple nuisance aspect in terms of appointment planning etc. more important perhaps though is i really hope you don't hurt yourself. :o :hug::hug::hug:

glad the hip is feeling better. go with your gut on the MRI as to whether you think you need it.

nice to hear you have a neuro finally who is on the same page as you. :)

i hope the Zoloft helps with the depression. That is a good, slow titration plan, so hopefully plenty of time to catch emerging hypomanic sx and d/c.

Lamictal should help potentiate antidepressant effects, and it should also help prevent rapid cycling. (That, as well as net manic switches, can sometimes be preciptated by the AD's.) R/C is what is starting to happen to me on Zoloft - i no longer have access to Lamictal. :( And i am still below baseline... i.e. depressive sx even at the "peaks" of the cycling. arghh. but i am doing much better than i was, so i can't complain.

I hope your husband is able to come around to find a way of coping that is not alcohol... meanwhile i am glad to know he does not turn his outbursts on you. You have my continuing best wishes on finding ways to manage the ongoing financial issues also.

You always amaze me at how together you sound. Then, i turn around and worry about times you perhaps do not feel so together inside. i send you many warm thoughts and extra hugs :hug::hug::hug: for those times. I do think of you often. Please know you are remembered and cared about here, even when you aren't posting.

Sending many caring thoughts :circlelove: and (((:heartthrob: hugs :heartthrob:)))

~ waves ~

Jme, I'm sorry you're having to deal with such hefty medical bills at 21. I'm 31 now, mine didn't start until 2008. Most hospitals will allow you to pay very small amounts (ie/ $5-10 a mo.). Here in Mass. privately practicing docs can refuse to see you unless you pay off all or most of your balance.

Ginnie, I'm sorry for your financial problems, too. Mortgage companies are supposed to work with consumers, but I had no luck. I was unable to work and had to wait for disability for a year. I jumped through hoops to no avail and we were forced into a short sale in 2010. We had a 2 story condo and it wasn't really safe for me anyway- I kept on falling up/down the stairs. We're in a 1st story apt. now.

I am pretty isolated. Once I started to decline, my friends started to drop off one by one... funny because most of them were nurses, nursing students, and CNAs. I think it's partially because people don't want to be reminded that they're also vulnerable.
Over the last 6 months (at LEAST) my best and really only close friend left has started to push away. She's a nurse and told me a couple of months ago that she spoke to her councilor about me... and the councilor said that my friend needed to stop trying to fix me and maybe I just needed someone to listen. I listen to her PLENTY.
I guess that didn't help because I sent her multiple texts and left a couple of messages over 2 months that have gone unanswered. I've brought up the drifting apart thing before and she always tells me how busy she is, but always has all these stories about all the things she's been doing outside of work. I called her on her birthday and left a message, and she called me back the following day. She talked for 15 minutes uninterrupted.
I broke off her topic. She denied getting ANY of my texts or messages and blamed her phone. She asked me how I was feeling and I told her that I didn't feel comfortable sharing any of that with her, since she obviously can't handle it. I told her that she has drifted away, etc. Had it actually been her birthday, I never would have gotten into any of this. I never raised my voice- I only do that when I'm manic.
When I was in high school and my mother was dying, most of my friends abandoned me. After she died, it was, "I'm so sorry about your mother. Do you want to do X on Friday?" Well, this time around, the MS isn't going away- it's just going to get worse. The BP won't vanish either.
I love her and I may understand why, but this relationship has only been causing me pain. I'm tired of crying over this. In my experience, she will only drift further. I really just want to tell her to F* off and maybe call me when she can accept me as I am. That way, I can take control... you're not ditching me- I'm ditching you.

My husband has been drinking a LOT. The 1st time we had a talk, he cut back. Then after a short period, he ramped up again. Larger quantities, more days of the week. I mentioned it again on Thursday and he got VERY angry, but only had a few on Saturday. Sunday he finished the small bottle of vodka I keep for an occasional bloody mary. But nothing since (fingers crossed).
I get into our lack of sex life another time.
----

Waves, The pdoc offered up the low-dose zoloft or an increase in the lamictal. I let her choose. She was concerned because I already have a lot of mood stabilizers on board. I'd balk at anything other than a low dose.
This depressive episode is rare and going on 3 months. I tend towards mania- lots of mania. I'd rather be depressed than manic, but both have obvious draw backs.

As far as the spells are concerned, I was doing alright until this morning. I was smart enough not to get into the shower until the evening when I was feeling better. I see my PCP Friday morning.

I'm still not settled on the hip MRI. I'm in pain, but it's not severe. I'm going to let my PCP make the call since I'm notorious for my inability to make decisions. He'll probably have me go tho.

I am wearing my new glasses. It's an adjustment- little headache because they're stronger, getting used to the new look, etc.

Thank you to everyone again for your support,
Kay

Again, you have alot on your plate.
I am sorry about this friend of yours.
It is hard letting go of the past relationship, how things used to be but we change and so do our friends. Keep the lines open if that is what you want to do. Maybe let go of trying to control the out come and just go with the flow???? I don't know that is a hard call. I have ended a friendship not nicely before when I saw that we had changed, grew apart. It was unpleasant.
hugs to you tonight
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi

Hello OhKay
 

Friends do leave you sometimes when a person gets sick. The real friends in your life stay. It sorts through them pretty quick when a person faces real touble, pain and hardship. This site won't abandon you thats for sure.
I do have legal aid in the works to help me with my financial crisis. My home is in a trust which is a huge complication. They are looking for a pro-bono lawyer to help me. It will turn out OK in the end.
I hope you are alright today. I also am keeping your husband in my prayers, so he doesn't drink. that doesn't help you at all!. My folks drank, and it only made my life worse. I am here anytime to listen to you. You do have new friends right here. ginnie:hug: