The "What's on your mind?" Thread -2017

[Mamanyt1953]

I don't need different food every day

If that makes you crazy, I'm crazy right along with you. I have no issue with eating basically the same thing for days (sometimes weeks) on end. I make myself vary things for the nutrition, not my taste buds!

Had a wonderful day yesterday. A friend breezed in from out of town, so we loaded in her car, headed for the ferry landing, and did a long drive on the Outer Banks. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, and TOTALLY forgot that my new phone has a camera, silly me! I'm glad she came yesterday, which was sunny and reasonably warm (71 degrees, very nice, indeed). Today is dark and rainy and quite chilly, which I love, but not for a drive along a couple of hundred miles of beach!

 

[foxxycat]

@artiesmom yes that's what Jon has. PMR-poly blah blah. yes it's intense pain. He has a VERY high threshold for pain. And when he's sitting hunched over on the couch rubbing his knees/legs for hours then I know it's painful. I still think he needs to cut it out with carbs and sugar but that boat already sailed..and he's not a willing passenger. Although I do notice he's not eating like he used to..he claims he didn't loose appetite but I know better. I can tell by how long left overs last. And he's not eating as much as he should except when people are around-like out to eat because he doesn't want anyone to worry I guess...the other night he ate the entire dish of fish...it was a huge portion. me I only ate 1/3 of it.

 

[Mother Dragon]

Hey ladies what heating blanket do u all like? Jons going to go shopping n get one. What store too?

As far as diabetes I doubt he will get it. The dose is very low. Almost as low as cats are on. But I will keep eye out. I dont care tell him causes weight gain or he will not take it. He thonks 165lb is fat. I outweigh him by a ton and I say hes under weight. 5 foot 10 inches. He used to be 5-11.

I know that the salt is important but he's borderline high. His used to be 140/100 until we stopped fast food and hot dogs etc. It's now 130/85. For his age it's not bad. He wants to walk again but right now still hurts too much.

Margd yes they said inflammation of joints...but I am confused...i thought that was what rheumatoid arthritis is??? I also am confused because his RA factor was off the charts....the doc thinks both are at play. I still think it's left over shingles....someone mentioned shingles nerve pain can last 6 to 1w months post shingles on this site but forget who said it.


.I hate shinglesAnd arthritis​

DO NOT buy the Sunbeam blankets! They are flimsy, slide off the bed, and wear very poorly. We had ours less than two years and the wires have worn through the fabric. We have to replace it. It also quickly got full of large snags (yeah, cats do that. I know, but this was worse than usual.) The house brand Bed Bath & Beyond (Therapedic, I think) is equally flimsy and has stiff wires.

Winchester likes the Biddeford she got. It has high ratings. The only downside is the short (6') power cord. I think I'm going to order the Beautyrest Solid Microlight/Berber Heated Blanket, which is identical to the Woolrich Plush to Berber but $10 cheaper, with free shipping. It has a preheat function, too. It's from Overstock.com

Woolrich Plush to Berber Heated Blanket 7-Color Options | Overstock.com Shopping - The Best Deals on Heated & Electric Blankets

I have the Sunbeam CozyToes/Comfy Toes heated foot warmer. It keeps my feet nice and warm. It has three heats and seems to heat the whole Sleep Number bed after a while when set on High. I love it because my feet are always cold. It can be found at Walmart and other stores and is relatively inexpensive.

Let us know what you get.

Whatever you choose, stay warm.

 

[Margret]

Oh, @segelkatt, that's such good new. I'm so glad things are looking up for Patrick.

Margret

 

[Alicia88]

Yay for little Patrick! My apartment is filled with the aroma of pot roast. I took a nap and woke up to the smell permeating everything. It's a great thing to wake up to. John weighed noon to 5 today so he just came home to it. Usually he works 4 to midnight, but after they accidentally called him in too much and gave him almost 20 hours of overtime on one paycheck, they've been watching his hours more closely. I guess management wasn't happy about paying that much overtime. Here's a solution: hire people who will actually show up so they don't call him every time he has a day off needing someone to work. So, they had to change and cut his hours for today. And we'll be eating very soon. Which makes me happy because the smell is making my mouth water. I adore my crockpot.

 

[margd]

Margd yes they said inflammation of joints...but I am confused...i thought that was what rheumatoid arthritis is??? I also am confused because his RA factor was off the charts....the doc thinks both are at play. I still think it's left over shingles....someone mentioned shingles nerve pain can last 6 to 1w months post shingles on this site but forget who said it.

From what I understand, trying to distinguish PMR and RA is not an easy proposition because they share so many characteristics. I've gone over some articles and papers and I've read in several places (as you did) that joint inflammation is associated with RA while muscle inflammation tends to be a feature of PMR but every article then goes on to describe all of the exceptions to this rule. Also, it seems that PMR and late onset RA often exist simultaneously so it is quite possible that Jon is dealing with both, although I really hope not. PMR apparently often goes away within 1 to 5 years when treated with low levels of corticosteroids like prednisone. I can't tell if it goes away even without the prednisone but the main thing is that it goes away and RA doesn't. So...many vibes and crossed toes and fingers that it isn't RA.


As far as shingles goes, check out this WebMD article - it's really helpful. Shingles Pain: What's Your Risk? If this article is correct, shingles pain is restricted to the nerve affected by the reactivated virus so you wouldn't expect it to affect the entire body. This is true even when someone comes down with postherpetic neuralagia which is pain that persists after the shingles rash is gone. You're right that it can last for months (even years) and be intensely painful but if Jon is suffering with that, on top of everything else, the pain would show up close to where the shingles rash appeared. Again, many vibes and crossed fingers and toes that he at least has been spared this nastiness.

 

[Alicia88]

You only get shingles if you've previously had chicken pox, right?
Interesting story: My body seems to want nothing to do with chicken pox. When i was a kid, my mom tried really hard to get me to catch it. This was back when chicken pox parties were still a thing. I never did. While I was married to my ex husband, I had full coverage health insurance since he was a Marine. I was in for a check up and they decided to give me the chicken pox vaccine. Ok, sure. A couple years later, blood tests showed no immunity. So, they vaccinated me again. About 4ish years later, here I am pregnant and the doctor runs the typical blood tests. I'm still showing no immunity. It's like my body just flushes the virus without doing anything with it. It wants nothing whatsoever to do with chicken pox. She's gonna vaccinate me a third time after little man is born, but I doubt it will take. Maybe 3rd time is charm? Haha
So, I'm weird. It's fun, though.

 

[LTS3]

Leroy was awfully fussy when I got home from work today I puzzled over it for a few seconds the I understood why... the smoke detector low battery chirp went off againIt probably has been going off for awhile, annoying Leroy. Yes, I had changed the battery just 3 days ago too I popped in a brand new battery I bought 2 days ago to quiet the damn thing. The package of the new battery came with a battery power check thingy so I tested it on the "old" battery and it still had more than 50% power left. So the battery itself isn't dead. The whole detector unit is probably just going wonky because it's over 10 years old.

The new ones I bought haven't been shipped yet. I hope I don't have to keep changing batteries and dealing with low battery chirps until I receive them

 

[Alicia88]

Vent time! I put in the effort to make a delicious roast - granted, cooking a roast doesn't take much work, but still - and then a few bites in, the heartburn flares up so bad, I can't stand it! My doctor prescribed new prilosec to take once a day. I took it earlier. And she also gave me zantac. I took one of those, too. And the heartburn is still so bad, i can't bear to continue eating. No wonder i can't gain any weight! Shouldn't I get to eat what I cook? And it's not spicy in any sense of the word. The doctor said my heartburn is bad because I'm such a naturally small person and the uterus and baby and all that takes up a lot of room and forces the stomach acid into my esophagus because there's nowhere else for it to go. Makes sense, but it's driving me batty! I'm gonna drink some milk and hopefully that will settle it down a bit so I can try to eat some more later. I managed to eat what I would consider a child's portion. I won't starve. But it's really good and I want more! I think this child is going to kill me.
K, vent over.

 

[margd]

You only get shingles if you've previously had chicken pox, right?

I don't know about "only" - there is always bound to be an exception somewhere. But yes, I think that's generally the case, that you only get shingles if you've previously had chicken pox. They're caused by the same virus with chicken pox being the initial presentation and shingles being the secondary presentation if the virus gets reactivated. What might happen, if someone has never had chicken pox is that they might come down with it later in life, when symptoms tend to be more severe.

With your history of not getting chicken pox or immunity to it via vaccines, you would make a very interesting research subject. Do you know if other members of your family show the same effect? I wonder if it's genetic? Anyway, it's very interesting.

Update on Patrick: finally heard from Katie, she is trying to get somebody for either this Saturday or the one after in Bakersfield, from there he would go to Fresno and from there to Tracy. It's all done by volunteers. I can do Bakersfield on a weekend, it will take about 2 1/2 hours one way. Patrick travels well, once the carrier is in the car he never makes a sound, but the carrier being carried around upsets him, probably feels like an earthquake to him. The carrier I have for him is big enough to accommodate a small litter box, it was meant for air travel and I got it from someone who did use it for that, she travelled a lot and took her cat with her.
Now that I have at least a name of the new mom I feel much better, just knowing there is an end to Patrick's uncertain status and that he is welcome where he is going.

Hooray! This is wonderful news!

eroy was awfully fussy when I got home from work today I puzzled over it for a few seconds the I understood why... the smoke detector low battery chirp went off againIt probably has been going off for awhile, annoying Leroy.

I would be fussy, too. In fact, I would be tempted to pull the thing out of the ceiling and throw it out the window. But I guess changing the batteries is the better option, especially since the night the smoke detector spent outside on the ground would be the very night that I had a fire.

Vent time! I put in the effort to make a delicious roast - granted, cooking a roast doesn't take much work, but still - and then a few bites in, the heartburn flares up so bad, I can't stand it! My doctor prescribed new prilosec to take once a day. I took it earlier. And she also gave me zantac. I took one of those, too. And the heartburn is still so bad, i can't bear to continue eating. No wonder i can't gain any weight! Shouldn't I get to eat what I cook? And it's not spicy in any sense of the word. The doctor said my heartburn is bad because I'm such a naturally small person and the uterus and baby and all that takes up a lot of room and forces the stomach acid into my esophagus because there's nowhere else for it to go. Makes sense, but it's driving me batty! I'm gonna drink some milk and hopefully that will settle it down a bit so I can try to eat some more later. I managed to eat what I would consider a child's portion. I won't starve. But it's really good and I want more! I think this child is going to kill me.
K, vent over.

 

[Alicia88]

My grandmother has never had chicken pox or the vaccine. She cared for multiple children while they were sick with it, but never caught it, including my mother who had it when she was just a baby and one of my sisters. The other sister got the vaccine. Since she's never bothered to get the vaccine, no idea if it would work on her or not.

 

[Willowy]

Leroy was awfully fussy when I got home from work today I puzzled over it for a few seconds the I understood why... the smoke detector low battery chirp went off again

Ugh, one of my dogs goes absolutely batty when the smoke detector chirps. She shakes and hides and drools. Once the one in the basement was chirping and I couldn't even hear it, and she was acting like that for 3 days before I figured it out. It must be a very painful frequency for dogs and cats :/.

 

[LTS3]

It's a very high pitched chirp that goes off every minute or so The mice are unbothered by the chirps and their hearing is pretty sensitive, too. I'm tempted to just turn off the smoke detectors from the circuit breaker panel but with my luck, a fire or high CO2 levels will happen.

 

[Mother Dragon]

DO NOT buy the Sunbeam blankets! They are flimsy, slide off the bed, and wear very poorly. We had ours less than two years and the wires have worn through the fabric. We have to replace it. It also quickly got full of large snags (yeah, cats do that. I know, but this was worse than usual.) The house brand Bed Bath & Beyond (Therapedic, I think) is equally flimsy and has stiff wires.

Winchester likes the Biddeford she got. It has high ratings. The only downside is the short (6') power cord. I think I'm going to order the Beautyrest Solid Microlight/Berber Heated Blanket, which is identical to the Woolrich Plush to Berber but $10 cheaper, with free shipping. It has a preheat function, too. It's from Overstock.com

Woolrich Plush to Berber Heated Blanket 7-Color Options | Overstock.com Shopping - The Best Deals on Heated & Electric Blankets

I have the Sunbeam CozyToes/Comfy Toes heated foot warmer. It keeps my feet nice and warm. It has three heats and seems to heat the whole Sleep Number bed after a while when set on High. I love it because my feet are always cold. It can be found at Walmart and other stores and is relatively inexpensive.

Let us know what you get.

Whatever you choose, stay warm.

I just ordered the Beautyrest version of the Woolrich from Overstock.com. They have 10% off right now, so since I ordered a king size, I saved almost $15! And free shipping by the 17th, probably much sooner.

Beautyrest Solid Microlight/Berber Heated Blanket | Overstock.com Shopping - The Best Deals on Heated & Electric Blankets

 

[Willowy]

Hmm, my Sunbeam heated blanket seems to be holding up pretty well, but it is only a year old. We'll see how it lasts but for that price I guess I wouldn't be too broken up if it only lasted 2 years. It doesn't slide off my bed either but I'm not exactly Good Housekeeping material so maybe it would if I tried to make it, lol. That Beautyrest one does look nice.

 

[Margret]

So, I'm weird. It's fun, though.

You're in good company; I think we're all a little weird here. Um, depending on definitions.

Regarding the heartburn, you may want to try a little bit of baking soda mixed with water. Not too much, since you still need stomach acid to digest your food, but just a bit. If that doesn't do it, increase the dosage slowly until you find a level that works for you.

Margret

 

[Mother Dragon]

Hmm, my Sunbeam heated blanket seems to be holding up pretty well, but it is only a year old. We'll see how it lasts but for that price I guess I wouldn't be too broken up if it only lasted 2 years. It doesn't slide off my bed either but I'm not exactly Good Housekeeping material so maybe it would if I tried to make it, lol. That Beautyrest one does look nice.

Our Sunbeam is the ultra-plush king size one. We got it at WalMart. It's very lightweight but not all that warm by itself. We have trouble with one of the controls. If we have so much as a power blink it quits. We have to unplug it from the wall and re-plug it before it'll work again. We finally put it on the UPS with the bed. We got in January 2015. It might have a warranty, but we have no idea where the ticket is.

I hope the new one isn't too warm for my other half. He's half penguin.

I wonder what happened to the ones with zoned heat so the foot part was warmer than the top? They were just right.

Our bed doesn't get made, either. We're retired so we nap whenever we please. It doesn't make sense to make and unmake the bed fifteen times a day.

Good luck with your blanket!

 

[kashmir64]

Vent time! I put in the effort to make a delicious roast - granted, cooking a roast doesn't take much work, but still - and then a few bites in, the heartburn flares up so bad, I can't stand it! My doctor prescribed new prilosec to take once a day. I took it earlier. And she also gave me zantac. I took one of those, too. And the heartburn is still so bad, i can't bear to continue eating. No wonder i can't gain any weight! Shouldn't I get to eat what I cook? And it's not spicy in any sense of the word. The doctor said my heartburn is bad because I'm such a naturally small person and the uterus and baby and all that takes up a lot of room and forces the stomach acid into my esophagus because there's nowhere else for it to go. Makes sense, but it's driving me batty! I'm gonna drink some milk and hopefully that will settle it down a bit so I can try to eat some more later. I managed to eat what I would consider a child's portion. I won't starve. But it's really good and I want more! I think this child is going to kill me.
K, vent over.

There is an old wives tale that says the more hair the child has, the more heartburn you have.

I doubt this is true...but, mine was so bad that I had a straw in a bottle of Mylanta, and my son was born with a full head of hair.

 

[foxxycat]

hope your heartburn goes away..what a pain in the butt.

Well I have my first injury...trying to be a smart and stay on the white line on bike and the pavement drops off like 5" and of course tire went along side it and I had to stabilize myself=out comes left ankle and catch myself-get back on and keep peddling...it's a tad sore right now so ice and bandage and advil..It will be fine..I just think it's funny how I hopped off my bike just like I trained myself to do many years ago. Here's to no knee scraps. It's a very slow country road and not much traffic. I stay off busy roads. Too many morons texting and driving or smoking weed and texting...

I honestly had no pain peddling back-I was 13 minutes into my ride..it's about 31 minutes total...so for now what a moron I am. And got a text from Jon-no cat food-there was some-got to get some kibble at tractor supply after work. and a quick stop at drug store. Can I go home? Please??!!

 

[dahli6]

I feel like an afternoon nap but where am I supposed to sleep?