Disability Hearing Scheduled

My attorney’s office called the other day to let me know that my disability hearing has been scheduled for March 18th.  Previously, I had been denied twice.  Seems like most people go through the same thing nowadays. Anyway, now I am going to have my case heard in court before an Administrative Law Judge. My attorney assures me that we have a 95%+ chance of winning, so I’m cautiously optimistic. On the other hand, I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket, so I must keep a Plan B in the back of my mind just in case.

If I do win, I’ll get a hefty amount in back pay, which would be a nice windfall for my sweet Weed and me. Right off the top, $5,000 would go to the attorney, but that would still leave us with a nice nest egg to use as a down payment on a home.

My Experience with Klonopin Withdrawal

I have been withdrawing from Klonopin for the past several months. I’ve been on it for less than a year, and the maximum dosage I ever took was 1 mg. My psych nurse practitioner instructed me to halve my dosage every few weeks until I was down to .25 mg. After that, I was to take .25 mg every other day for a week or so and then stop.

I am currently at point where I’ve taken .25 mg every other day for a week and, boy, am I ever tired all the time. I don’t know if this is a side effect of klonopin withdrawal or just a flare-up of chronic fatigue syndrome. Other than fatigue, I’m having no adverse effects from the klonopin withdrawal.  We’ll see what happens when I stop taking the drug. If anyone knows what the half-life of Klonopin is, please leave me a comment. Thanks.

I’m losing weight!

I’m proud to announce that I have lost a total of 8 pounds since January 1st. While this isn’t an overwhelming weight loss, I am pleased with my progress thus far.

Wheat Challenge

After Day 23 of my gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free way of eating, I decided it was time to do a wheat challenge. The basic idea of a challenge is to eat a quantity of the food you’re testing and then watch for both immediate and delayed reactions.

At various times during the day, I ate several slices of pizza made with a white flour crust. Immediately after eating the pizza, I had the sensation of being drugged. I became very fatigued and sleepy. This reaction lasted for several hours after ingesting the last slice.

Wheat is obviously one of many gluten-containing grains, which also include barley, oats, rye, spelt, and kamut. Since I haven’t yet challenged any other grains, I can’t be sure if I am sensitive to wheat, in particular, or to gluten-containing grains, in general. Judging from the way I felt when I tested wheat, I’m not anxious to challenge other gluten-containing grains anytime soon.

Dairy Challenge

After Day 21 of my gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free way of eating, I decided it was time to do a dairy challenge. The basic idea of a challenge is to eat a quantity of the food you’re testing and then watch for both immediate and delayed reactions.  Because I am lactose intolerant, I opted for cheese instead of milk.

At various times during the day, I ate a fair amount of cottage cheese and hard cheese. There was no immediate adverse reaction, nor did I notice any delayed reaction within the next two days. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that I am not allergic to cheeses.

Even though I didn’t react to cheese, I plan to omit this food from my diet inasmuch as possible for other health reasons. However, I’m not going to worry about eating a little bit of cheese now and then.

Gluten Free – Day 19

Well, this is day 19 of my gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free experiment and I dare say I have begun to notice some positive changes. For one thing, the gas and bloating are virtually gone.  And, I have more energy.

It’s hard to say whether the increase in energy is due to my new way of eating or to the decrease in Abilify. My psychiatric nurse practitioner told me that Abilify tends to be energizing at lower doses, and I suppose 15 mg could be considered a lower dose.

Boy, after reading in the news this week that Abilify (as well as other atypical antipsychotics like Zyprexa) have recently been found to be associated with sudden cardiac arrest, I can’t get off the stuff soon enough. I’m still going to taper as directed by my nurse practitioner, though. I expect her to  reduce my dose to 10 mg on February 25th, and then to 5 mg 6 weeks after that.  I hope to be off Abilify altogether in 16 weeks or less. Then we can start tapering the Lamictal next.

Trial of Milnacipran (Savella™) in Combination with Pregabalin (Lyrica™) for Treatment of Fibromyalgia

Forest Laboratories is conducting a trial of Savella added to Lyrica for treatment of fibromyalgia. Read more about this study here.

Hundreds of male and female fibromyalgia patients, ages 18 to 70, will be recruited soon at 58 U.S. sites for participation in a major 11-week trial of two differently-acting prescription drugs taken in combination.

Read the rest of the article here.

FDA Approves Milnacipran for Fibromyalgia

A lot of people are prescribed Cymbalta to help with the pain of fibromyalgia even though they’ve never suffered from depression. I personally take it for both fibromyalgia and depression. Cymbalta, like milnacipran, is an SNRI. SNRI’s are known for particularly unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. I’m not looking forward to tapering off Cymbalta, and I’m certainly not going to let anyone talk me into takaing milnacipran for fibromyalgia.

Forest Laboratories and Cypress Bioscience announced January 14 that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved milnacipran (Savella), a dual serotonin- and norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), for the management of fibromyalgia.

Read the rest of the article here.

Study Shows Fibromyalgia Patients Have More Perceived Stress

Anna Satalino, Ph.D. at Walden University conducted a study regarding personality traits, perceived stress, and coping styles in patients with Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD) and fibromyalgia (FM).

The purpose of this study was to examine personality traits, perceived stress, and coping styles in patients with CLD and FM and to assess whether common patterns exist. The biopsychosocial model provides the theoretical basis of this study as it models the important interaction between the mind and body. Using a quasi-experimental design, 105 women with CLD or FM and 31 healthy women completed a demographics survey, the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Brief COPE, and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). It was hypothesized that both CLD and FM groups would report significantly higher levels of perceived stress (PSS), neuroticism and conscientiousness  (NEO- FFI), difficulty identifying feelings (TAS-20), behavioral disengagement, self-distraction, and self-blame (COPE) than the controls. Tukey post hoc findings supported hypothesized relationships among perceived stress and negative emotions relating to neuroticism, difficulty identifying feelings, and coping methods such as behavioral disengagement and self distraction in those with CLD and FM. Social change implications of this study include providing a better understanding of the mind-body connection in CLD and FM, more favorable treatment outcomes, and improved quality of life. These findings demonstrate the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to disease.

Source: FMOnline

Making Some Adjustments

Much to my dismay, the news wasn’t good when I stepped on the scale yesterday. After nearly two weeks on my gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free diet,  I had regained two of the five pounds I’d lost last week. Oh, dear. After giving up all my favorite things (cakes, pies, cookies, ice cream, and bread), I expected the weight to start falling off. But it’s not. So where did I go wrong?

Well, one thing that clearly needs adjusting is my attitude. Until now, I’ve been thinking of this as a “diet” that requires me to “give up” certain foods.  But this is not deprivation, folks.  It’s a lifestyle. It’s the way I want to eat for the rest of my life, not just to get skinny but to be healthy. In time, I might want to eliminate other foods, like red meat, for example. Eliminating a food for health reasons should not be regarded as giving something up. Instead, I want everything I put in my mouth to be a choice. From now on, I will say that  I am choosing not to ingest gluten, dairy, sugar, or caffeine. In other words, I am taking care of my body by feeding it properly.

So, what about being up two pounds? It’s  not the end of the world. I just need to make some adjustments in my portion sizes and keep doing what I’m doing.