sorry you got up so early...mouth breathing sucks!
maybe you can take a nap before the super bowl?
Perhaps that is why everyone was so chatty????
sending good wishes your way.
bizi

Kay,

That's a good description of how it works sometimes.

Mari

Bizi, It was mainly people who didn't speak english and elderly folks jamming up the aisles. Maybe they were talking about the Super Bowl, but I doubt it.

I did get a nap in before the game. I slept from about 12:30 to 4 and was able to stay up to watch the whole thing. I'm happy for Manning he got his 2nd ring and can got out on top (I hope he's wise enough to retire now cuz he's done), but he didn't win that game- his defense did.
I felt bad for Cam Newton and the rest of the Panthers. They played such great football all year, but the better team won. Newton is an excellent quarterback though, and he's young. He'll get to the Big Game again. Their owner seems willing to spend the dough to keep the team very competitive.
I do feel vindicated that the Bronco's defense kicked the Pathers' butts just like they did the Patriots' though. Everyone was so hard on Brady after the AFC Championship, but the Pats put 8 more points on the board than the Panthers.

I got the first of the two new pill cutters I ordered. Like most splitters, there's a rubber mat that's designed to prevent the pills from sliding out of position, and a window to check to be sure the pill is aligned properly. It can cut through a 400mg uncoated seroquel horse pill perfectly and very easily, but it's pretty much no good for small pills. They slide out of position too easily even when lined up properly and too much of the pill gets crushed.

I use my PCP's "patient portal" and read my last visit summary. There really never is a summary, but I noticed he added "major depressive disorder" as a diagnosis. I am mad and extremely disappointed in him. He's an excellent PCP and usually he listens to me and doesn't jump to conclusions, but I'm ****** because he went med-blind the last visit and now he thinks I must also be suffering from an erroneous depressive disorder because I'm tired all the time?
But I can think of a couple of things that may have stirred that up in his mind though. He must have forgotten about the s/s attempt and asked about the scar on my neck (how you can forget about that I don't know), and he asked again about reducing the seroquel and I said I couldn't because it also treated the PTSD and intrusive thoughts and he kind of shushed me. Or maybe he felt my desperation to find a medical reason for the fatigue because I want it to be temporary? Maybe to him, all that turned the medical visit into a psych visit once the labs came back clean.

Anyway, I have the appointment with my neurologist today. I forgot to mention almost everything I wanted to on my last visit, so I made myself some notes. Now after the **** with my PCP I have it in my head that my neuro will treat me like just another psych patient, too. If he does, I'll just offer up pdoc. My neurologist has a much better understanding of how meds work on the brain than my PCP does. If he decides that the meds are what have exacerbated the fatigue, I'll accept that. But I absolutely refuse to fall into the psych pile.

good luck with your neuro today.
I hope he is attentive and tells you something to explain your fatigue...
gives you some answer.
((((HUGS))))
bizi

I always call my cab 40 minutes before appointments even though my doctors are all less than 15min away from my house. I'm usually pretty early…

Not today. I called and the dispatcher said it would be an hour before he could get a cab here because of the snow and they're short on drivers.

I didn't even realize it was snowing out yet! The last time I looked was around 11 and we have about an inch and a half out there already.

I called the neuro's office and the secretary's gone right now, so I don't even know if they'll be able to see me today. I'm waiting for a call back.

Hope they can see you Kay.

Donna

were you able to be seen? rescheduled?

bizi

Kay,

Re your PCP:
Our docs disappoint us when they mess up.
We need them to "get" it because the family
members cannot handle and process all the info.
We need every doc to be fully alert and suited up
and ready. Sorry he was lacking.

I hope you feel good about the nuero visit.

You are doing so well
Handling all the business of getting well and staying well.

M

Thank you Mari

I was able to get to my appointment and I wasn't thrown into the psych pile

I already knew it was MS fatigue. And so did he.

I asked if it could have gotten worse more recently because I'm having a true relapse. He said it was hard to say because fatigue and cognitive problems don't correlate well to lesions on MRI (so no MRI- yay!) and he didn't notice much difference on my physical exam. I didn't do well on the cognitive exam. It was close to 2pm.

He thinks the sleep apnea is probably contributing to the fatigue because being 20lbs heavier than my baseline is significant, but he doesn't see the point in ordering a sleep study if I'm probably not going to be compliant with a CPAP (which I wasn't able to do in the past).

He thinks that a number of factors could be exacerbating the fatigue including the meds. He agreed that increasing the synthroid was the right direction to go in given my situation and was happy I increased my Vit. D.

He recommended trying a drug called amantadine at a low dose. It's an antiviral that I've never heard of, but apparently they've been using it to treat MS fatigue for a long time. I read that it's only 20-40% effective in treating moderate MS fatigue, but I usually do more research than I've done thus far. He said it isn't a stimulant, but it's listed as one on some sites and I read that it can cause jitteriness and can cause sleeplessness if taken too late in the day, so I have some concerns that it may trigger an episode…

I'm going to pick it up from the pharmacy Thursday on my way home from my counseling appointment. I want to give it a shot, but I think I should talk to pdoc before I take it. I don't know if I should call her? Or wait until I see her on the 22nd?

I noticed the new jeans I bought are looser on me, so I got on the scale this morning and I've lost about 4lbs since the last time I weighed myself on it… probably 2 weeks ago? I'm guessing the synthroid had something to do with that. I started taking it a week ago, but I've cut down on the devil dogs, too

This new medication sounds promising, just please take it early in the day. I bet your fatuigue also has to do with your sleep apnea. They make different types of cpap devices have you tried other kinds?
crossing my fingers for you!
bizi