Good Evening Brian!
It was 88 degrees here today and super humid, but rained on and off all day. I'm still having the nerve pain tonight. I increased my dose of Lyrica and then tonight took half of a Hydrocodone....it's taking the edge off the pain some. What medication is given to you for nerve pain? Lyrica sure doesn't seem to do much for me......but then again maybe I'd be in much worse pain with out it......ugh!!!! Roxie

I have never understood the metric system. And I don't know how long it has been in use in the USA. I still use, pounds, pints, quarts, inches, feet.

I don't know meters. Like when a person is so many meters tall. I only know I'm 5 feet 6 and one half inches tall. How many meters am I??? lol

And you had to change from pounds and pence to dollars and cents??

I can only imagine what would happen if they did that to us here.

That reminds me of yet another funny story. I was 26 years old and working on a telethon in NYC. I worked on the One to One Telethon with Geraldo Rivera and an arthritis telethon. It was while I was working on that one that I met a gorgeous guy who invited me out to dinner. I told him I could not go but he said "hey, you have to eat don't you". so who was I to resist this 6 feet 5 inch gorgeous guy from South Africa. He owned a game preserve and he was a doctor. I will never forget him.

So he says: "pick out a restaurant" and I chose Chinese food. So after we ate, we went up to the register to pay and he opens his wallet and he says to me "Melody, how do you know what you are paying?" and I said "what??" Now he had a wallet filled with money so I didn't understand what he was talking about. Then when he said: "But everything is green, the one dollar bill, the 5 dollar bill, the 10 dollar bill, the 20 dollar bill, everything is green, how do you know what you are paying?? " I never laughed so hard in all my life. I took a $20 bill out of his wallet, and said 'here" to the guy behind the register.

Then I asked my date "what do you use for money in South Africa"?? and he said "Oh, everything is a different color, the 10 dollars, the 20 dollars. All different colors. But everything here is GREEN!!! Most confusing"

After I stopped laughing, as he was taking me back to the telethon, he says to me in this most prestigious South African accent: "Melody, do you know what they have on the Teleeee here in your country??" "They have this smashing tv show called MAGILLA GORILLA". That's exactly what he said and I remember it like it was yesterday.

I went back to the telethon, and he went home to South Africa.

Ah!!! the memories!!

mel

Brian, I'm from Nebraska.....We have snow for 6 months out of the year...believe me, I've seen enough snow for the both of us! LOL I love living in Houston now....no snow, no scooping your sidewalks, no having to plug your car in so it'll stay warm and you can start it the next morning in the freezing cold weather! BURRR!!!!! I hope I never see snow again! Besides....it kills my arthritis! Roxie

Hi Roxie, i am pretty good these days mine they have healed a lot, but what worked well for me was Tramadol slow release- 200 mg x 2 a day, my doc used to give me another 100 mg of tramadol, so when it was real bad i was taking 300 mg x 2 per day, [every 12 hours] the limit in OZ and the US is suppose be 400 mg a day, but i suppose its still up to the doctor and also 25 mg Endep in the morning and 100 mg at night.
I was given the short active Tramadol at first but i found the slow release much more better than the others.
What i liked about Tramadol was it didn't give me any brain fog like some of the others like Neurotin, oxycontin etc.but we all react differantly to meds, what may help one person may not help another, its a trial and error sort of thing and sometimes some meds need time to work the best.
so good luck,
Brian :)

Mel, a mate of mine who has to know his metric measurements for his job told me its real easy, he said just think that 1 metre is equall to just on 40 inches, so that i understand, but the millimetres, centemetres are to confusing for me, so i am sticking to the inches , feet and yards, most places that sell wood have dual tapes anyway with metric and inches on the other side, its ok for the younger ones they were taught all that metric stuff at school, but not the ones around my age.
Great story at the restaurant, but our notes are differant colors as well. :D
all the best
Brian :)

Roxie, i have wondered how do people get their cars going in those snowy conditions, i suppose the water pipes in the cars would turn to ice over night too, it would really test out the batteries i suppose.

Brian, We actually have to bring the batteries inside on very cold nights! Putting a heater in the car keeps the water in the radiator warm so it doesn't freeze. It's hard working living in Nebraska.....and other cold areas.
I will ask my dr. about Tramadol slow release. I've been on the Lyrica for 6 weeks now and it just doesn't cover the pain. I ended up taking an extra Lyrica tonight along with half a Hydrocodone. It's helped some. I hope I can sleep tonight! Roxie

Gezz, really Roxie, that would be hard living, i suppose if your car starts up ok then you would have to contend with the icy roads as well which i know are not fun, wheel chains and all that gear.
If you do get Tramadol off your neuro, i hope it works well for you, i found it really helpful, the strength of it can make a big differance too.
all the best
Brian :)

Sometimes on the news they have a 'Pain Index'. I believe it has to do with barometric pressure. I get muddled up with it all, but I believe it has to do with low fronts moving in, and less to do with temperature. However, if you do have a condition such as Raynauds, temperature would apply as well. My geographical area always seem to have a significant pain index, lol...I can't find the 'right' place to live...and I am getting to old to move..again...and would likely end up in a third world country due to my budget. (I never figured out what a 'third world' country really meant, but I figure a place with 'cheap real estate' and social unrest, which would likely be bad for my 'nerves.)

Often times, we don't correlate a 'delayed' pain reaction to something we 'did' 48 hours prior, but the inflammation cycle in some people is quite delayed....I know mine is about 36 hours after exertion. If I over do, I can quite predictably end up in the ER, with severe migranous, totally upper body, and projectile vomitting...go figure. On the other hand, I have some pain that never, ever goes away, regardless of weather or activity.

See if you can find info on the pain index.

I wish we would get some of your rain. It seems to be going north over us to Canada...eventually it all goes downstream again, however that isn't helping my tomato plants now.

I am globally anhidrotic, and we are averaging 10 degrees higher than usual and in drought conditions, dominated by high pressure....and, I still hurt. Not to mention, we don't have our central air in yet....just a room air conditioner, which is proving a challenge...just put in yesterday, when I caved. Hubby warned me last fall, but NOOOOO, I wanted the new light fixtures instead.

Some things defy logic, and for me, the more I think about it...the worse it gets.

Be careful taking extra Lyrica. It isn't a prn drug for pain, unless doc says you can take extra....it could result in overdose or in rebound pain when it wears off. Talk to doc, there might be something else he/she can give you for breakthru pain.

Hope you feel better soon.

for cycleops....
 

Hi cycleops:

Try www.intellicast.com for pain index for this country. It is quite accurate for me.

Shirley H.