Thank you very much for your help, Atty. :D

My goodness, I really have no clue where I'd be without you guys to help. Mom will start taking the magnesium first thing tomorrow!

And 100mg is hardly a large dose.
 

I take 250mg each day, without much an appreciable bowel effect--but it does help a lot with cramping and tingling, as I notice very quickly if I run out of them.

Super Stressful Update
 

Another update for today, I finally gave mom her first pill of magnesium. I was really worried to give her any, because we didn't know if she was okay to take magnesium or not. But we started today.

Then an hour or so later her leg seemed to swell up, and I was worried I messed up or something. And then she wanted to eat a frozen pizza, and thought by eating a banana she could offset any problems that arose from it. I thought "maybe it's okay" before when she mentioned it, but when her leg started swelling I said absolutely not. So we had an argument about that, but she had a salad instead eventually. We didn't throw out the pizza, but I really don't think she should have it at all anyway, even though it's turned out she's not diabetic or even prediabetic, her doctor said I think.

And then I also remembered she probably shouldn't even eat too much of foods like bananas, because her lisinopril already causes high potassium. And we don't need more issues on top of everything else.

Today has been incredibly stressful, and both me and mom almost broke down completely, for reasons more than just above. But we're persevering. Or trying to, at least. We're running into financial problems, and trying to fix it by getting mom to go back to work, at least part-time, to make more money. 60% of her pay just isn't gonna cut it for even rent alone. I'm sure she can do it. Even if her memory problems are still here, they're probably not bad enough to make work anything more than a little more difficult than usual. Plus, it'd be good for her. To be able to take her mind off of things, talk to her old coworkers and just...get some semblance of her old life back, y'know? For the entire 2 months we've been going through this, it's just been me, and my mom. Sometimes a relative will stop by, and for almost 2 weeks my aunt came to help us. But other than that, it's just been us. Work will be good for her, I think. I've also heard an active mind can help recovery, too. Just like an active body can help speed up the recovery process.

On that topic, it really has come to my attention how much we've slacked on that front. Mom walked today, but that was it. And right after I promised myself I would get up in the mornings to help. But all morning has been stressful for mom. Shoot, all day really. Way into the night, she's been stressed or in tears. I wanted to wait a little before we exercised for her to be okay, but that time never came. We can't slack on exercise though, especially not now. We haven't even gone up the stairs since PT last came, which I think was Friday. We need to make going up and down stairs a normal thing for mom. That's really good exercise for her.

Doesn't help that she thinks she should just not exercise after PT is done. She made it seem like she didn't even need to exercise, that it wasn't necessary, after PT. But then tonight she used the walker for 6 mins of her 8-minute walk. I wish she would just see that it helps and go through with it sometimes. So much resistance when we both want the same thing for her.

If life wants us to fight for our lives back, then I guess that's what we gotta do. So fight we shall. We're striving for only good things from here on out!

Significantly less stressed midnight update!
 

I went browsing some more on this sight, and again comes Icehouse to the rescue with his personal experiences. :D

I saw he apparently had liver cirrhosis, and I'm starting to think maybe that's what my mom has. It'd explain the swelling, at least. But to hear that even cirrhosis can be managed, it fills me with that same hope for the future that I've been dreading for days now.

Either way, tomorrow morning (or technically today, since it's 3:30 AM almost :p ) marks a brand new day. Mom is going to try going back to work. Not on that day, but she's going to discuss her hours with her boss either that day or the next. Both her and I are a little worried her memory problems will make work difficult, but I'm at least a little confident that won't be permanent, at least as it is right now. I feel like it'll be some time before she's back to herself, but I also feel like the activities will help her a lot in that regard. I'm pretty certain I mentioned it in my previous post mere hours ago, but I have heard that an active mind can help with the recovery process. And as an...accountant? I don't know what kinda job mom has specifically, but she works with numbers a lot. Whatever job she has, I'm sure it'll help her get her mind back to being active again. And she'll be with her people. She'll have something to do other than just sitting at home and either being asleep or feeling miserable, y'know?

On the topic of her memory problems, I wonder if her doctor should have just gotten her a B complex supplement instead of just B1. She's been getting B1 and B12 (though I think only 100mg of B1, which I thiiiink isn't a lot?), but not B6 or any other B vitamin. But maybe she needs the other ones too, y'know? Either way, she has shown improvement. She's still forgetful, but now it's just down to reminding her of things and then she immediately remembers everything that comes with that little reminder, or her forgetting what day it is, which I'm mostly chalking up to her not really having anything to do most of the day. I know I forget what day it is, though not as frequently as mom does sometimes, and I kind of don't do anything outside of taking care of her right now. But even before that, I didn't really do much. I was a NEET before this-- technically still am, just my 'job' now is being an unpaid caretaker for my mom.

We're going to start walking more and exercising more, and I mean it this time. I know she doesn't want to, but it can only do good for her. Keeping both her mind and body active will do wonders. We're going to have some greens with some...turkey, I think it is? IDK what the meat is, but it's reddish on the inside and is like a big ol' drumstick. Anyways, we're having that for dinner later today, since it's technically morning right now. It's good for her supposedly, outside of the sodium from the meat. But I think if we just keep active, eat healthy and stay away from alcohol (almost 3 months sober so far for mum, she hasn't even thought about alcohol once since this whole thing started), in time all things will resolve themselves as I've seen Icehouse say in a few of his posts...wish us luck. I'll keep you guys updated as things happen, maybe if things go swell I'll be able to tell you when I get my first job after mom's recovered enough! :D

(5 AM edit) I am also considering getting mum a Doctor's Best Benfotiamine instead of using the doctor-prescribed thaimine my mom's been on for the past near 2 months now. I also don't even think my mom takes a lot of thiamine right now-- just 1 tablet a day, I think it's 50 or 100mg, even though she was an alcoholic of around 15 years. From what I've seen, that doesn't appear to be enough, but I also am worried about giving her too much. Any suggestions?

Second Wind Update
 

How bizarre is it that the BEST DAY so far was preceded by one of the worst?

Today was great. Mom was up ALL day, she didn't take any naps like she usually did, she was up and moving, she made dinner, but most importantly she was HAPPY.

She graduated PT. She was a little sad to see them go for the last time. Honestly thought about keeping in touch-- she's really enjoyed the company of both of her physical therapists when they came by. But when they came today, she walked up the stairs and went outside to the dumpster to handle some trash (which I usually do, so I'm definitely happy/grateful about it), then came back. And now we're planning to go outside to walk on a normal basis, at least 2 times a day after the stairs, starting tomorrow even. Or well, it would start tomorrow, but the weather says it's supposed to rain for the next few days. We'll settle for the stairs and walk in the living room with the patio shades open until then, at least.

Her doctor got her antidepressants, which is probably why she was in such a great mood today, and honestly? I'm so glad her doctor saw mom needed them. We got so much of our stuff done today. She's really looking forward to just going straight back to work full-time, even. And so am I, it'll be good for her. I don't think it'll be longer before I can trust her to take care of herself again so I can find my own job.

Her leg was much less swollen for most of the morning, but then it started going back up some again tonight. I forgot we had compression socks for her to wear-- probably for this exact reason. So we're going to start having her wear that, probably for maybe an hour at 2-3 times a day or less, and increase it if we need to while she exercises to see if it starts going down. I'm going to believe stalwartly that even the leg swelling will resolve itself as long as mom takes good care of her body through diet and exercise. This doesn't mean I'm going to ignore any new issues as they come up-- far be it from me to do something like that. If something happens, I'll do everything in my power to fix it, if I can't it's up to the doctors. I'm just going to try and stress less about the currently existing issues. Doesn't do anyone any favors. Unless I wanted to start growing gray hair before my 30's. Then I'd be doing myself a big favor. :p

I definitely feel like I haven't done a stellar job caring for mom, but at the end of the day I'm just happy she finally feels good. Like truly good. It makes the progress we've made feel so much better, so much more tangible. I'll get back to you guys as soon as mom finishes talking with her boss to see how her work hours will pan out!

Hey SoulfulYin,

Great to read this good news. She has made good progress. Well done to her and well done to you. Incidentally I would get Benfotiamine, plus a good multi B Vitamin, but you don't need to get a well known brand.

Best wishes,
Atty

Still riding on that second wind
 

Another quick update today: me and mom walked outside for the first time. it was a very short one, we went up the stairs and just out to the parking lot. she wanted to walk halfway, I said okay, then she met me at the recycling bins nearly the entire parking lot's length away. I was so proud of her. The littlest things really do keep me going. I say littlest, but this feels so big. We're excited about walking around the block eventually, too.

She's decided she'll call her boss tomorrow instead to discuss her hours, but she is still thinking about full-time. She's even deciding that maybe she should go into work maybe once a week. She'd carpool with her brother, and there'd be coworkers (who she's really good friends with) that'd keep an eye out for her too. I know she'd be in good hands. And on the topic of work, we can for sure pay this month's rent. Her job paid her for the 2 weeks they missed back in march today. Talk about a lucky break!

Her memory has been steadily improving, too. Long-term had only suffered slightly-- it was mostly short-term memory that she struggled with. But she's been doing better in both regards since that dreadful day on the 2nd of February, almost significantly so in terms of her short-term memory. I trust she'll do well at work, and I won't have much to worry about when she goes in-- she'll be there for maybe 4 hours max, way before she needs to take her gabapentin again. She's excited to go see friends and family again too-- and so am I. I can relax being home alone for once, knowing my mom is safe, happy and in good hands. She's not going to have a lick of alcohol ever again too, she promised me after I asked her not to have any if she went out with her friends, who do drink sometimes. I trust her.

Our tuxedo cat Puddy passed away 2 days ago, I forgot to mention. I didn't want to at the time, because it was just such a depressing time for me and mom. I feel like it was a little too soon, but she was old, sickly and frail. The part that bites the most is she died under my grandma's watch, and not in the comfort of her home, here. :( I really don't want to point fingers, because I know my grandma meant well (even if she lied to us about taking her to the vet) and she's just as sad as we are, I just...I wish she would've been a little more responsible.

Me, my mom and 2 of my cousins who loved Puddy dearly are going to make a collage in her memory. Something to pin on the walls of each of our rooms. I placed her empty food bowl in her little cat tower hide-a-hole that she used to sleep in all the time. I have fond memories of the cat. I know most of her years with us were happy and full of love, even if I haven't been the best owner for her, especially this year.

I almost forgot to mention mom's swollen leg, too-- when I looked at it today, it looked and felt SOOOOO much better. It wasn't as thin as it used to be before this started happening, but there's no doubt about it-- that compression sock really, really helped. And she only had it on for an hour before bed last night. We're going to put it on her now for at least an hour a day until her leg returns to normal, and hopefully the walking and healthier diet will help keep it normal afterwards. And when I say better, I do mean it. It was a lot softer when I squeezed, didn't even really look swollen, and it wasn't shining anymore. All of the markers that normally said swollen leg were either gone or going.

Truly, a very very good day today. And we will keep fighting to keep it this way.

Countless thanks for those here who helped me when I needed it...really couldn't have gotten here without you. Without this entire forum. The past near 3 months have been the worst of my life so far. Several times I wondered if we'd even make it out alive. Now I think it's silly to have had such thoughts.

We got our 2nd chance at life. And I'm not going to waste it sitting on the computer all day anymore. I'll be sure to let you guys know when mom starts her first day back at work. And again when I start mine. Shoot, I might even start doing what Icehouse does, and just check in with everyone on a monthly basis. It's the least I could do after all the help I've gotten from here. Much love to you guys. Hope your days are even better than ours. :D

I'm very sorry to read about your Puddy. That's really sad.

I hope your Mum has been improving and that you're both doing well.

Sorry it took so long for me to reply but I'd been a little sidetracked.

It's been a couple weeks, so I figured I'd drop by and talk about what's been goin on!

Mom's memory is still a bit of an issue, and it shows the most when she's working. She talks about how she sometimes gets sidetracked (with her coworkers or otherwise) then forgets what she was doing originally. Sometimes it causes her to be behind on her work. I'm trying to find ways to help her get around that while her memory recovers. I thought about her setting an alarm and naming it after whatever duty she has for that day and just having it go off ever 30-60 minutes to help her stay on-track. At least until she doesn't need it anymore. Y'know, a little bit of brain training. That, and I'm also thinking of just getting her some B Complex. She's getting B1 and B12, but not B6 or any other type of B vitamin, if there are others. I'm just worried if she takes B1 and B Complex that it'll be an issue.

Her memory issues, on the topic of it, has mostly been reduced to sometimes being unable to remember what she was doing originally if caught on a particular task for a while, even if it's related to her original task. If she were able to set alarms for all the things she needed to do or could focus on one task until it was completely done at a time, her memory problems wouldn't exist, likely. Well, there is also still the occasional forgetting how an event happened, but knowing it did happen. Other than that, though, she's been pretty good.

That, too. She has trouble focusing, more than I think she did before. It probably is due to the new kitten we just got. I didn't agree with getting another kitten, especially so soon after the passing of Puddy, among many other reasons not to get a kitten right now. But the kitten helps keep her happy, so I guess it can't be too bad.

Mom's neuropathy is still present (of course-- didn't expect something that takes years to get under control to leave within 3 months), but she's been recovering very well. The stairs aren't so difficult for her anymore-- we walk outside 3-5 times a week, and very rarely we play Ring Fit Adventure. She sits down for it, and I don't push her to go any further than she feels comfortable to. She's been talking about still getting tingling sensations and sometimes feelings of tightness, but I think that won't be gone or significantly less frequent until the end of the year, at least.

On the topic of her neuropathy, I'm wondering how long it'll be before we can wean her off of gabapentin. Gabapentin seems to bring with it more problems than it's really worth. I see some of its side effects include causing mood swings and even forgetfulness-- which I feel is attributing at least slightly to mom's current memory issues. I'm not doctor, though. I just feel like as soon as we're able to get her off of gabapentin, things will be muuuuch better for us.

Thank you. Puddy's passing hit mom really, really hard. She fell into a really bad slump for a few days, even. And the gabapentin's side effects definitely did not help with her mood.

Other than that, I feel she's been improving gradually as always. Some days it's harder to see it, and others it feels clear as day.

That's quite alright, we all have our own lives to live. I'm glad to hear from you again, though! :)

Hey SoulfulYin,

Thanks for the update. Thanks for sharing.

In terms of your mum's B vitamin regimen I think Benfotiamine ( B1) with a meal and B12 with water and then a B complex at another time of the day with water would work well.

I chose personally never to take Gabapentin or anything similar so can't comment on its side effects or its efficacy.

Your mum's memory loss is a concern. I wonder if this will help ...

1. Candle
2. Swan
3. Breasts
4. Nose
5. Hook
6.Golf Club
7. Cliff
8. Shapely woman
9. Microphone
10.Laurel and Hardy

You might think I've lost it, and you wouldn't be the first person, but these are memory pegs. We can remember a lot more if use visualization and the idea is that we link anything we need to remember to our memory pegs. So 1 is the shape of a candle, 2 is the shape of a swan. These are easy to recall memory pegs and we can form funny pictures in our mind to recall stuff, even your daily diary. So for example if we want to recall the last 10 Oscar winning films.

1. Nomadland. I can form the image of an old Arabian night in a turban in a desert ( a nomad) sitting on a flying magic carpet, beneath the magic carpet is a giant candle - the memory peg.

2. Parasite. A swan swimming on a lake being attacked by a giant insect

3. Green Book. You can think of your own one for this.

4. The Shape of Water . Think of a nose as a tap or faucet hot water through the right nostril cold through the left.

The point is to be creative and its so easy and fun to do that you can rediscover confidence in your memory pretty much instantly. The key is to think in pictures. This stimulates connectivity between neurons in the brain so is healing too and neuroprotective too.

I use these techniques all the time to recall things and it really helps me. It's worth giving it a try. You can learn and memorize stuff together.

Best wishes,

Atty

It's certainly true--
 

--that one of the more common side effects of gabapentin is trouble with memory, and overall slowing of neural function (which, as an antiepileptic, is why it is often used for neuropathy in the first place; it helps to calm runaway or inappropriate neural signaling out of proportion to actual stimuli).

And that side effect may be hard to distinguish from memory issues that existed before it was taken, and may exacerbate them.

If you do think about weaning off gabapentin, though, go very, VERY slowly. Often, dropping it 100mg/week is cited, to give the body time to adjust the up-regulatory effects that using these medications tend to produce, and to prevent rebound neural pain or even the possibility of seizures (the body tends to try to increase neural signaling in response to the medication's dampening effect, so removing it all at once can lead to runaway signaling).

Really? Memory issues is a more common side effect of gabapentin? I heard on a site or two that it was more rare...but it'd explain a bit, honestly. Makes the idea of weaning off of it all the more enticing. Of course, we probably want to wait for her to be absolutely certain before we start weaning off. Just to be safe, at least. Or...maybe we could talk to her doctor eventually, and if we go for weaning off, we'll know if she's ready or not by her 2nd or 3rd week of it, and then we can slowly increase it back up if she isn't. Either way, hearing that memory problems is a more common side effect is kind of relieving. Yet, I know it'd be irresponsible to bet that all of my mom's memory issues are now just linked to this medicine that she's only been on for a little over 3 months. Either way, we'll both know for sure when we can finally get her off of it. Mom has said she has a hard time seeing a future where she's not on gabapentin. Given how well she's been recovering, I doubt that she won't be ready to start weaning off of it by next year at least.

I'm pretty certain her memory problems existed before she started taking it, so it probably wouldn't be farfetched to say that they probably are being exacerbated now. But even with that, she has been recovering well enough for me to notice. So that's kind of good news!

Thank you so much, Atticus. We'll definitely look into this 'memory peg' thing!

End of May update
 

Hey again, everyone! Things are moving along pretty alright. Mum's shoulder still hurts, but that's been a thing for months I'm pretty sure (I also don't know if I've ever even brought up her shoulder pain). We never really went anywhere to get it checked-- I'm not sure why we're waiting. It's not really a big issue for mom apparently, otherwise I think we would've. She doesn't bring it up often, and her arm seems to be able to move fine. It just hurts when she does it sometimes.

We're probably going to have to call her doctor tomorrow and try and figure out a plan on how to wean mom off of the gabapentin, if this is her last refill. Maybe get her some amitriptyline in case she still needs medication for her neuropathy until we can get her to a point where she doesn't need it anymore. We've still got a whole maybe ~3 weeks worth of pills left, but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared is all.

Mom's memory is, as always, improving gradually. Hard to tell she even has memory problems some days, which brings the biggest of smiles on my face.

We walked further than our usual distance, today! It wasn't an impressive distance-- maybe a block or so at best, really, but still. Glad mom did it. She even went up the bumpy hill in the parking lot without any help, usually she needs help for that. Good progress today, I'd say.

Her leg started to swell a teensy bit once more tonight, but she had forgotten to take her daily medications until like 8PM so that's probably why. She has lisinopril and amlodipine, both for something with her blood pressure (which has been normal for a while now, when it normally wasn't even with them both). Regardless, if her leg is still swollen tomorrow we'll put that compression sock back on her and she should be right as rain. Her leg wasn't shining or anything, and it still felt soft to the touch, plus it was only a little bigger than her other leg, so it's probably not much to worry about.

Now, something that did worry me. She called me into her room a while ago to tell me she had noticed she was drooling a little. This is the first time that's happened, I think. She does have heartburn/acid reflux and she hadn't taken her pill for it until about 2.5 hours ago or so (since that pill's part of her daily medications), and she was eating a bit of grilled food from the barbecue we went to on sunday. I figured it'd be okay to let her have some, since we've been doing alright with keeping her on healthier food and such. It wasn't deep fried or anything, and my grandma even made some food specifically for my mom to be able to eat, the same she makes for her diabetic mother, so it'd be easier on her body. I want to believe it was just from her acid reflux if only to prevent myself from stressing out from another possible medical complication rearing its ugly head, just when we were doing so well for the past few weeks. It was only a bit of drool. She seemed to notice it right away, and it happened while she was eating. Nothing else was wrong. She talked normally, her face was not drooping at all, her speech wasn't slurred, she wasn't tired or fatigued, literally nothing else was wrong. Just some drool that snuck up on her while she was eating, it seemed. I would hope it merely was just a result of her eating some good food-- she does have problems with eating too fast, too. We haven't had barbecue in...well, probably before the pandemic even, really. It's been a while. Grandma cooks really good food.

...But, if it's something else, if anyone has any idea what that is or suggestions...well, better safe than sorry, right? I need to have an idea of what to do in case things start lining up and it seems more and more like something is wrong. I mean, I hate the possibility, but I can't let anything else happen to my mom while I'm caring for her.

On a semi-related note, I really hate this trend of something that could be potentially very scary happening in the dead of night. No clinics to call, nobody to really seek counsel from. Our only option is the hospital, which, I guess isn't really bad, especially if it turns out we need it, but...well, ambulance rides cost like 1k. Mom just started making actual money again at work-- we can't have another bill we need to pay off tacked on, especially if it turns out she's actually alright.

Hi SoulfulYin and it's great to hear that your mum is doing as well as she is at the moment.

Hypersalivation can be caused by a number of conditions.

I wonder if one of her medications is the cause. Make sure she's drinking a good amount of water and not getting dehydrated if it's really bad.

Hopefully that resolves soon, but certainly worth talking to her doctor when she goes next.

I understand your worry about having something go wrong at night. It's not good for you to get caught up in the "what-ifs" although it's totally understandable and I do it myself!! take care there.

Mid-June Update
 

So I just wanna say, things have been going pretty smoothly! We've been walking every morning around half a block, but today we started yoga! Well, I started yoga. She was initially okay with trying yoga in the morning, but I understand if she's still waking up her body and all that. Mum has agreed to doing yoga after work though, and honestly I'm okay with her doing as much as she's comfortable with right now. 'Cause man, yoga's rough. :D

She used to do it every day in the morning back when I was a kid and we lived in Florida. We're getting back into that groove. We're also going to try and talk to her doctor today about her gabapentin, she's got maybe 10 days left on the 300mg pills, and if it turns out it's not time to lower the dosage yet then we have maybe another 10 days of the 100mg, since she's on 900mg a day right now.

Really hoping after 3 months she can stand the neuropathy without medications, which I'm sure is just wishful thinking. But I'd be just as elated if she can work just fine on a lower gabapentin dosage or a different medication. This is my biggest issue that I'm stressing over now, honestly. Mom's been improving very steadily, and that's honestly all I could ask for. Maybe before her birthday in September we'll reach a level reminiscent of our old 'normal'. :)

Speaking of birthdays, mine is on the 27th this month! Yay me! :D Hope everyone else is doing good!

Quick question!
 

I know I posted already that things have been going smoothly, but there is an issue I'd like to ask about...

Does anybody know anything that could help concentration? My mother's recently been worried about work, because sometimes she just can't focus. She says she feels like it's been getting harder than before, even. I'm not so sure that's true, but the difficulty concentrating I understand and see. She says sometimes she'll miss things at work or just not be able to get anything done, and we can't keep going on like that. So if anyone's able to help with that, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Before, I remember flaxseed being mentioned-- I'm pretty sure that helps, right? Should we get some of that?

brain foods
 

Flax seed is good for memory.

oily fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, berries, green vegetables etc.

I'm vegetarian and don't eat oily fish (any fish) so don't get omega-3 fatty acids that way.

If I did eat fish, I'd eat a lot of it and not buy supplements. Same with eggs, but don't eat eggs.

Exercise is great because it gets the blood flowing and stirs up those happy hormones.

I eat oats for breakfast. Made with water. Not the instant type oats, the rolled oats. I sprinkle with some ground flax seed and lots of blueberries. Fresh blueberries are extremely expensive in my climate here so I always have snap frozen ones in the freezer.

I prefer to get a lot of nutients via food rather than in capsules. Some supplements are very expensive here compared to the US. Ground flax seed is inexpensive. Can buy flax seeds and grind them yourself. Ground would be more easily digested.

As far as I know and I may be wrong, the oil is better for you than the seeds.

Happy Birthday for the 27th. Mine is 3 days later, so Yay us! :Birthday: Have a great day.

Hello again & Happy New Year!
 

It's been a very long time since I posted an update on how my mom's been doing. I didn't know if it was appropriate to make a whole new thread or not, so I apologize if this isn't the correct way to do it, but there's been quite a few things that've happened since I last posted anything:

1. Mom has been off of Gabapentin for several months now. When we were first weaning her off of it, she definitely didn't enjoy that. But she held strong. Now it's been maybe ~4 or so months since she last had any Gabapentin. She's been suffering none of the effects of her peripheral neuropathy in maybe a little under that time. So thank the stars above for that!

2. We got a treadmill recently, and starting this weekend we'll be using it every Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday to keep up our walking habits, especially since it's been really chilly this year. Just now the temperature is -15 F! So walking outside isn't really a good idea right now.

3. She's been off of alcohol for almost an entire year now! She technically started about the 13th or so of February, and she hasn't had a drop since. Once we officially reach that date, I'll be keeping close track of the days from then. We haven't really celebrated this yet, but I plan to surprise her on her 'sober anniversary'.

4. And now for the bad: the other major problem we were dealing with, her memory, is still stubbornly persisting. It's mostly just same-day stuff that she occasionally struggles to recall correctly, though. She's aware they've happened, just not entirely certain of the way they happened. To be fair, she hasn't had any Methyl B12 or Benfotiamine for several months now, I think maybe ~5 months was the last time she had any? We sort of just ran out & forgot to buy more on Amazon...she's still on the B1 her doctor has given her, though. She also swapped jobs a few weeks ago, which the change in scenery & coworkers probably doesn't help with her memory issue. It's still a bookkeeping job, though. Just with a different company now. Her doctor even told her not to swap jobs sometime early on last year, maybe in May or June, apparently-- though I never heard that. Maybe if I had, I could've convinced her to reconsider. She still does her job excellently when her memory works. She even told me yesterday how well she did her job-- there was much more work than usual & she got it all done on the same day. The issue is when it doesn't, nobody but her really understands why, despite her telling her new coworkers of her cognitive disorder...

Hi, it sounds as if your mum is much improved and doing really well in many areas. Good idea to get that B12 back on the schedule. Any chance she can do the same work from home?

p.s. hope you are well too. :)

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(gosh, I just noticed an error in the post I wrote before you. I said "don't eat eggs". My grammar on the net is terrible lately. I keep leaving words out of sentences. I meant to say "I don't eat eggs". Everyone should eat eggs really, they're very good for you. Choline and all that. I don't eat them these days for other reasons.)

She is! And I don't think so, this job requires her to go in for work. Her old one didn't except for like Friday & sometimes Thursday. I also think looking for a new job is she's doing now actually. It's just obnoxious-- nobody knows how to act like an adult in these professional jobs that all seem to require so much previous experience & all these prerequisites, based on the stories I hear from my mom about this one coworker in particular as well as a couple coworkers from her previous job. If her first boss hadn't been so nasty to her in the first place this whole issue wouldn't even exist for us right now. I can't imagine the thought processes of these people when they go out of their way to make life harder for my mom.

I'm pretty good, but I'll be a lot better when my mom can find a job where she won't have to be so stressed all the time.