Yeah, this is Gina, the happy go lucky, goddess, and I don't much care for holidays. Haven't seen my son in 5 years. We found out he had Aspergers disorder after he left home. Imagine raising a child for 20 years, sending him to college on a full scholargship and he graduates with a degree in web design and then he crashes and burns.

Now he lives 3000miles away, is on all kinds of meds and is happy as a clam just staying on his computer and going into Second Life. He has no motivation, no ambition and if you spoke to him, the sad part about this is HE SOUNDS JUST FINE. No inflection in his voice, no down in the dumps attitude. He just wants to live the way he does.

Very very hard on me and Alan and holidays are not fun. Even if we had the bucks to go and visit, Alan doesn't drive, and even if we did, my son would give us maybe one or two hours of his time. The rest is as he puts it "his tv time, his computer time, and we would be on our own".

So I'm not going to take every last penny out of the bank, fly across the nation and be stuck in a motel room for a week.

Not fair, is it but that's whats happened. My family never asks about him. Seems they don't like to hear about mental health issues. Nothing I can do. I visit him in Second Life and we go flying together through the worlds. Not something I envisioned but believe me, it's what I have to do to maintain an ongoing communication with my son. Aspergers is very tough on a mother.

Sorry to be so maudlin, but sometimes I have to vent!!!

Anyway, some interesting conversation with the guy across the street who has neuropathy. He is a diabetic and he was diagnosed with neuropathy at the same time he was diagnosed as a diabetic.

He used to go to another state for light treatments on his hands. But they stopped working. He is on no meds. His diabetes has always been under control since he got diagnosed.

So just now I walk over to him and I said "Nick, guess what, I've got neuropathy in my toes, they buzzed a little three days ago" I had been diagnosed with this about 6 months ago but the tips were just numb. All of a sudden three days ago when the weather went nuts outside, they were buzzing (ever so slightly), nothing to make me nuts.

so Nick says: "Oh guess where I have neuropathy now?, in my lower back!"

I said "how do you get neuropathy in your lower back and how do they know that it's neuropathy"? He said "Remember all those months ago when I had trouble walking (he's 76). ??? I said "yeah, they sent you for a stress test and you passed". And he goes, right!!! So he still had problems with his lower back and walking so he went back to his doctor who ordered an open MRI of his lower back. They found nerve damage in his lower spine. The doctor told him "I'm sending you for physical therapy and that might control the pain". I asked Nick :"are you on neurontin or lyrica, because you do have treatment options" he said "no, I'm not on anything right now and my back is killing me (He was raking leaves in front of his house).

He said "If it's not one thing, it's another thing".

Oh well.


Oh this morning, Alan got up fast and got a little dizzy. I took his pressure with the wrist cuff thing and it was 120/70. I do not trust the wrist cuff thing.
the doctor had told him that if this happened don't take the altace that morning, so he didn't. He felt fine after breakfast, had his lunch and a protein shake, and now he is at the gym doing his Rocky thing. He knows to rehydrate.

So this neuropathy does present itself in various ways, doesn't it???

mel

So this neuropathy does present itself in various ways, doesn't it???

mel

You ain't heard nothin', yet !!
Oh, you kid!

Edit:
Mel,
I don't really want to be a sourpuss.
PN is an adventure, not one I'd have chosen - but an enlightenment that is (or can be) life altering, if it becomes a 24/7 pain issue. Hope that it will not progress (take that methylcobalamin B12- Now!!) and stays a tinglin' and slightly numb in the tips of the tippy toes. It can be no more threateneing than that- and is, for many. They just haven't the motivation to find these boards until things progress much farther and its a real issue. You've know us for a long time because of Alan, now its time to put all that to use for yourself.
B-12, sublingual Methyl- 1000-5000 mcgs/day
CoQ10
ALA
Folic Acid
and anything else you have learned.
Maybe later, you'll need an Rx- but maybe you won't.

Stay well, and tell Alan we're rooting for him in the gym.
And you just may be a 'tummy tuck' away from a Gina Lolabrigida (remember her?) body. Alan will have to keep a watch on you.

Oh yeah. Folic Acid.
going to go and buy some now.

I take b-12 (the right kind) every single morning.
haven't taken the co-q yet.
will buy that too.

What the heck is ALA. Looked it up on yahoo and it says American Library
Association or American Legal Association. Now I know you're not referring to that!!!!!

jeez. getting to look like Gina is going to cost me a fortune in these supplements.

Ah, but if it gets me her body!!!!


mm mm mm

mel

You dont know how much I look foward do reading your stories every day, they make me laugh and smile. I have Chronic Inflamitory Demylating Polyneuropathy ( a form of PN). Im pretty much homebound and pretty new here, I was on BT for a long time and still am ,but mainly on chat.

Thank you for making me laugh, it makes me feel better.

Dana

Alpha Lipoic Acid (in 300mg or 600mg capsules)
Used in Europe for years in treating PN (especially early stages)
Some say its acidic to the tummy-tum-tum, but I've never had any problems.
I take 600 in the a.m. Some say 300 a.m. / 300 p.m., others say 600 a.m. / 600 p.m., some say 600 once a day, some say........
just take 600mgs a day for about 6 months and see what happens.
(cheaper at iherb than at the drug stores or health food stores- much cheaper)
My neuro says......" ...can't hurt !!"
(and he's the head of the dept of Neurology at Johns Hopkins)

It should help, and can halt progression......some say......!!

I knew that, good old Alpha Lipoic Acid.

Getting some tomorrow, along with folic acid.

I'll be broke but I'll be healthy!!!!!

melody

I'm glad I can make you smile.

PN is no walk in the park. And humor does help at times.

So I hope you are having "not such a bad PN day".

Be well.

Mel (soon to be Gina Lolabridgida..... god, is she still alive?)

lowers blood sugar... be sure to monitor that!