MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
Comments
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Agree. That is how I feel with both my FM and my chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN.) It's frustrating.
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I take 1200mg x 3 times a day of Gabapentin plus paracetamol/codeine tablets, with straight codeine on bad days. It doesn't do anything other than take the edge off things, though if I miss a dose of the gabepentin I feel unwell so maybe I would feel worse if I wasn't on it?
My GP tried to get me referred back to the pain clinic a couple of years after my first encounter with them and they refused to see me again. I was pretty gutted as it feels like I have nowhere to turn. I don't understand why nothing can be done either. I don't seem to have any other choice but to try and carry on as best I can given that it is a life long condition. It definitely has progressed over the years and there will come a time when I am going to be very limited in what I can do, so I'm trying to not let it define my thinking or choices any sooner than I have to.
Could have done without cancer too
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SuzyBlue: Codeine is not really the best pain med. Would your GP be willing to give you hydrocodone or oxycodone? In the US. hydrocodone is only available with paracetamol (Tylenol) but oxycodone is available either with it or without it. (brand names: Lortab or Vicodin for the hydrocodone. Percocet for the oxycodone with paracetamol) I think it would be worth asking for a change of med.Also your body gets physically dependent on gabapentin, so if you miss a dose, you might be feeling a bit of withdrawal,, or it could be the pain kicking in more. Hard to say. If you ever decide to get off of gabapentin, you would need to wean down, do not stop suddenly. There is also a related drug called Lyrica (pregabalin) that could possibly work better for you. It is quite expensive and in the US, many insurances won't pay for it for that reason. But it could be another option for you to try if your GP is willing to prescribe it for you. My rheumy wanted me to take Lyrica for my nerve pain, but my insurance wouldn't pay for it. He gave me samples but I found it didn't really help me. He kept insisting that it would, but I asked for a trial of gabapentin since my insurance would pay for it, and I found it helped me more than the Lyrica. But different meds help different people,, that's why there are so many of them.
Don't change both meds at the same time. I would change out the codeine for either hydrocodone or oxycodone first, if your GP is willing to prescribe it.
Really sucks that the pain clinic won't see you again. That is so wrong to allow people to live in pain.
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Hi everyone, I am in need of some smart advice from you ladies, I apologize that it is totally off topic but here it goes. I have a 41 year old sister, I love her because she is my sister, she has 12 year old twin girls, they are awesome and we get along great but my sister lost her cleaning accounts back in January of this year because she argues with everyone, if you tell her that something needs cleaning that she missed, she gets mad and tells you that she isn't going to fix it. She refuses to get a regular job, you know the one where you actually have to show up at a certain time, stay for 8 hours and get an actual paycheck, she keeps saying that something will come up, she refuses to work for less than $15.00 an hour and she has no business experience. She has been trying to sell Real Estate and she has her license but after she shows someone a house, they never contact her again. She used to work as a "dancer" years ago and thinks that she can wear skin tight clothes, be loud, show her boobs off and some rich guy will come and take care of her. She has dated at least 7 guys in the past 10 months, she starts arguments with her daughters and she tells them about her men troubles, etc. She had one job for about a month where she said that she was sexually harassed and quit. She is late on all her payments including her car and rent, she is on the verge of eviction. I do NOT want her living with me, my nieces, I would gladly allow them to live with me, but my sister would drive me nuts, she constantly looks at herself in the mirror, says how fat she is, applies makeup on top of makeup, etc and I know that she will not help pay for anything, how could she, she doesn't work! I'm doing radiation now, I work 50 hours a week and I'm tired when I get home after work, I don't want to put up with her drama. She will ask me how I'm doing, I start to talk and then she turns the subject onto herself every single time. How should I handle this without drama????
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6doggies, Restraining order?
I'm joking. Here's my real answer: Over the course of your lives, you have no doubt fallen into a pattern of behavior with your sister. Now, you are going to need nerves of steel to make a break from that pattern. She will not like it. She will try and get you back into the status quo pattern, and there could be some attempted manipulation. But you know all of this in advance and all you can do is prepare yourself mentally for it. Set a limit as to what you are willing to do with/for her, let her know what that limit is, and then be firm and stick to it. She might try to bring the drama, but don't take the bait.
She sounds like she would be a real emotional drain on anybody. You cannot afford that right now. Your energy and emotions are depleted. Go stand in front of a mirror and practice this phrase, "I'm sorry, I just can''t help you with that right now." Feel free to use that on whomever, not just the sister.
BTW, don't worry if her house is not as clean as yours. You don't live in it. Unless it becomes unclean to the degree that the Health Dept. needs to get involved, then don't make that your business. She should be helping you, offering to help around your house so you can get in a bit of extra rest because radiation can be exhausting as your body is working so hard to heal from it---but this is not a perfect world, so sometimes you get stuck with siblings that are a mess and you get cancer too.
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what Elimar said. You do NOT need that stress and drama in your life. I understand that you would want to help your nieces, but you cannot do that right now. You must take care of yourself right now. Expect drama,, sadly it seems it will come along. Take a deep breath and keep repeating what Elimar said. I'm sorry I can't help you with that right now.0 -
Wow 6doggies, you have to wonder how siblings can turn out so differently! Putting boundaries in place even before they are necessary is probably the best way of protecting yourself when the s*** hits the fan, as it seems it inevitably will.
I will ask my GP about the medications you mention, Glennie19, next time I go to see her. I think we end up with a lot of generic brand medications through our subsidized pharmaceutical system here but sometimes they will subsidize others if the GP requests it
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YIPPEE!!! 30,000 posts & 1000 pages, all at once!!!
6doggies, I agree with all the above. I am sure it will be hard but it needs to be done.
Still having a party here on Saturday, right?
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6 doggies--oh, my, what a situation your sister has gotten herself into!I agree with the others--"I'm sorry, I cannot help you with that right now."And drama will be inevitable, I'm afraid.Perhaps you can trigger the drama and get if over with by suggesting your sister contact DHS or Child Protective Services to find out about putting the girls in foster care if she gets evicted?Nah, probably too inflammatory.But do stick to your guns on this.
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Off topic...Mammogram is clear, good for another year!!!!
Getting ready for Saturday's party.....
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Loral...THAT is never off topic! Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, when did they let you go to yearly, was it at two years? That's when I got off the 6 mo. program.
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Right from the get go, I never was scheduled for 6 month mammograms. I still see my MO every 3 months for blood, and have a chest x-ray every 6 months. I guess all Doc's do things differently. I think he worries about metastasis and was real concerned when I needed my hip replacement. Praying for an all clear daily...
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Loral: YAY!!!! Extra good reason to party!!SuzyBlue: Lyrica is not available as generic yet,, but the other meds are. Hopefully your GP will be willing to let you try them.
OT: a grip about littering. I hate litterbugs. I especially hate litterbugs who throw food out of their cars, cuz my dog finds it and wants to eat it. Today there were PANCAKES in the road. Who throws pancakes out of the car??? I managed to pick up 2 of them but the 3rd was really squashed. And my dog just wants to stand in the middle of the road and try to eat the remaining one. Had to drag her off the road. Ugh.
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Thank you ladies for the sound advice, I'm going to stand my ground and do as you suggest, by telling her that I can't help her out right now.
Loral, that is awesome regarding your mammogram!! When I had a mammogram the day before I started radiation, it came back stating that there is an area of concern, etc, my RO received the results right after they were done and told me that everything was fine but from here forward, my mammogram results would always say that there is an area of concern because of my lumpectomy, do you have that too?
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MinusTwo, I have been doing the Claritin, I'm sure it helps with the bone pain. It's funny, I can deal with the pain, the Fibro and Autoimmune helped teach me that. The other side effects are worse. I had intestinal issuses and they want a sample, well as soon as they want one I haven't gone! I have taken Miralax daily and also a stool softener. It's been 8 days!
glenni, I can eat fine now, that is if I feel like eating. My taste buds definitely have been affected by this chemo. It seems so different from the first one. I even have to give my husband my ice cream because it's too sweet and I can't eat it. So unfair!
elimar, I don't know what to tell you about sweetners. I don't drink soda, but if I need the carbonation I drink regular soda. I think the artificial sweetners are bad for at least one of my conditions. At home I use brown sugar or honey. You can try Xylital, I've used that before and it does not have a funny after taste. I hope this helps.
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KJSUN: has it been 8 days since you've gone poo? Yikes, that is a really long time. I would be concerned about that, and suggest you contact your doctor to see if you should take stronger laxatives, or be checked out for an intestinal obstruction. Once you get your system back on track, I would suggest eating prunes every day or having a small glass of prune juice to keep things moving along.
Sucks about changing taste buds,,,, Booo on not enjoying the ice cream.
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I am taking magnesium to help with constipation, but I was just also reading in a book of medical mysteries, this woman was chewing sugar free gum with sorbitol, too much gum, like more than 8 sticks a day, who's bowels had become much too loose, until she stopped chewing the gum. I am going to try that, if I need to next time!
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KJSUN - glennie is right - 8 days is too long. In addition to Colace as a softener, I used Senecot-D, but you should check w/your doc first. Now I have 3 prunes if it's more than 3 days. The link for the constipation thread below has lots of good information.
https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/6/topic/7...
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Wow. I don't know how I got through my first BC without all of you. I didn't know anything and just went through all of it blindly. I guess I was lucky it did go smoothly. This one sure is different. I just have to get through this one too.
6doggies and vanessa99 - Thanks for the feedback! I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one that has had those muscle spasms. I even took Tramadol but it didn't help. I'm going to talk with the MO on Monday to find out what we can do about it.
6doggies - I have a sister that has major issues also, she is what people call an energy vampire. They just suck all the life out of you. I'm sorry your nieces have to be around a difficult situation. I hope things work out okay.
SuzyBlue - I'm sorry you are dealing with so much pain. Did you ask your insurance company if they covered Lyrica? Mine always has. If not you can try contacting the manufacturer, they often have a program to help people that can't afford their meds.
Well, it's getting late. Time for bed. Sleep well everyone!
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YEAH for Loral!
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Interesting, click on the graphs for more detail....
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jce/2014/469251/
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Loral, Somewhat interesting...mainly substantiating the survival rates already in effect, but it did show a benefit for HER2+ women having hormonal positive as well, even just a bit, even if it was just PR+. Still on the grim side for those Triple Negs. ALL of the subtypes still have the very best chance of survival when it is caught in Stage I. This fact leads me to believe that early detection, through education and through early detection methods, is where the focus should be, to save lives...until we discover prevention.
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Yay for clear mammo, Loral. Happy happy dance!
6doggies, yes stand your ground. I find by just repeating the phrase (you have picked out) over and over, not engaging in back and forth verbal assaults works to get their attention. Good luck!
Suzy, that sucks about the pain. I use tramadol and then I only take a half so I can still function, like drive a car and do the little bit of work I do in a day.
So I had my MO appt. this morning, she understood about my not wanting to continue with the tamoxifen. But then dismissed the idea of a natural aromatase inhibitor. She said I could discontinue the med as long as I was willing to live with the chance of a recurrence. She wouldn't need to see me so often, just once a year. Then she did a physical exam and said she didn't like a couple of places in my good boob. So make sure I keep my mammo appt. in Dec. She then made some comment about me taking my QOL now. I kinda left there feeling unsettled. I got the feeling she's miffed at me. She said I gotta exercise everyday strenuously rain or shine. She used the phrase "at your age" about the Tami causing my cramping in the uterus area. Said it was unlikely the meds fault. I feel like I need a hug and someone to say everything's gonna be alright. Oh yeah, there's a song about that. It's gonna be my theme song thru dec.
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Mac, wait a minute here. You are stage 1? No nodes? Your onc is right that there is no natural AI.She is also right about the exercise being a good idea. But how big is your risk of recurrence over the next 10 years? Did she tell you? Tamoxifen cuts that risk in half, which is great and everything, but it is kind of taking a crumb, cutting it in two and saying "yay! TWO crumbs."
Don't get me wrong. I still think you are probably better off with the tamox, but if you really can't deal with it, I am not sure it is all that dire either. As long as you exercise
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Mac, Please take a look at the link that Loral posted, the charts in that abstract. What Momine just wrote echoes the findings therein, although I do think the chart assumes that patient will follow standard of care which at that time would have been five years of Tamox.
I, myself, did three years of Tamox. (with a Dx like yours) and I am happy to live with the slight risk that presents. But no matter what rules any of us follows there is always A CHANCE OF RECURRENCE. No one is exempt from that.
So, keep your Dec. appt., and think how much happier you will be when a clean mammo proves that doctor wrong about the spots she didn't like. Maybe she was just showing concern, but with that odd QOL comment and the vibe she was giving off, maybe her ego was getting in the way. I don't like when the pomped up doctors try to make the little wayward patients squirm. Face it, doctors are human; they can be passive aggressive too. (I don't know if you remember, but a couple years ago, I went to an accupuncturist for some pain and gave him three tries to make even the tiniest bit of improvement. At the end of the third visit, after I told him I would not be returning because I had no improvement whatsoever, he casually mentioned I should get checked for ALS because he saw some early signs. What a pile of horse poo. I made sure not to step in it.)
Now jump into the shower and wash all that negative stank off of you and give yourself a BIG HUG from all of us here.
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Thanks Eli and Momine.
My MO has always said I have a low risk of recurrence, but has never given me numbers. I think she was doing a passive/aggressive thing. And I am going to enjoy my quality of life, so there. Now I have a whole year to check out for a new MO. I like my BS and her NP a lot better and that is who I see right after my mammogram. I am feeling better now, I know this decision is the best one for me at this time.
So now, lets see if I can figure out how to post party food from this new tablet.
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This is a test.
couple of minutes early. 0 -
Those green olives with the pimentos are BLEECH!
Here's a sandwich!
And here's the "chips":
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LOL!
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Good Morning!!!
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