New bookcases!

I ordered some new bookcases and they arrived today. They are the type you have to put together yourself.

The sad thing is, I couldn't do it. I've put together other bookcases, desks, cupboards, etc with no problem, but today? No. I had even taken 3 Tylenol before attempting to start the first but the pain was bad.

My son came downstairs to help and just standing there holding a board was so painful.

So tomorrow, I'm nipping out and buying a power screwdriver, that should help with the painful wrists.

Not a good day

Sitting out in the sun usually is good for my arthritis but today sitting out, it turned out to be one of the most painful days I've had in a long time.

Sitting out on the chair I moved an inch, I could hear and feel my neck crack and then the pain started. :( Despite taking painkillers every 4 hours I really hurt. Just sitting has me in pain.

I hate the thought of going to bed. It will be more painful than just sitting.

Sunny England

Can't believe that we've had a few days of sun and warmth and meanwhile my family in New Jersey have rain and wind. They say that we should expect frost by the end of the week.

From the library I took out a diabetes diet cookbook written by a well know chef here in England, Antony Worrall Thompson. I was so surprised to see the high amount of carbs per serving in most of the recipes and so I emailed him telling him that.

I received an email back from him today. He said that DiabetesUK gave his recipes the nod of approval as well as several nutritionists.

I feel that DiabetesUK and the American Diabetes Association both give wrong information about food choices and suggest too high carb foods. I could never eat the things that they suggest.

I'm going to have to take the book out again from the library so I am armed when I write back to him.

Beautiful Day

Since I knew I was going to be picked up at 7 this morning I was up and down all night. Saturday is the only day that I can stay in bed later than 7:30 because I don't have to start a thread on another board but I needed to get a few things.

So I went food shopping, came home, put things away and then started reading the newspapers and reading the boards on another site and my emails.

By 11:30 after Saturday Kitchen I went outside to sit in the wonderful sunshine. Okay so I fell asleep. l blame that on me, *shamefaced* finishing the Peeps my sister bought me when I was in the states. That's what put me to sleep due to high blood sugar.

The weird thing is though, I came in after waking up, and tested and I was 5.4 or 97 for the Americans reading this. I cannot remember the last time my blood sugar was that low. I was mentally happy dancing.

I tried some Dreamfields pasta for the first time but couldn't get a true reading because I had a few slices of garlic bread, a rare treat. But the pasta was nice unlike some stuff I had when low carb pasta came out.

Tomorrow night I start a market reseach project. I have to keep by my bedside a survey so first thing in the morning I can write how I slept during the night. I have to do this for 4 days, writing it down and the transfering it to an email, and then they will send me a hot chocolate drink to have befroe bed.

Then again write down how I slept for the 4 nights. For this I get £15 or almost $30! Not bad.

ibs and me

I've been reading others' posts and thought I'd tell my story of ibs and me.

ibs wasn't called that when I was diagnosed. It was mucosa colitis.

I was in nursing school in Philly when I started to feel sick. I never had a funny tummy so this was strange. School was hard. We were guinea pigs for the school since we were the first year that was going to have a BA after our names besides R.N.

The school put us in with pre med and dental students at Temple University. They loved us because we brought the grading curve down so low that you couldn't fail.

In high school I had chemistry and biology so i felt sorry for the girls who hadn't.

We sometimes ate in the hospital staff canteen and I think that that was the start of it. I got food poisoning. All I remember of that night was clutching my stomach and waiting for the elevator. The housemother wasn't very concerned so I suffered that night.

I believe that that bout and the pressure of nursing school gave me ibs.

I went home at Christmas, told my parents, and then saw the family doctor who ordered tests. I won't go into them. :)

During this time I had the worse stomach pains and was throwing up dried blood.

So I was diagnosed with muscus colitis. I was given Donnatal and Librax.

I wasn't given any specific diet, just to stay away from foods that might cause a bout.

The problem with that was, my trigger foods changed. Milk was okay then it wasn't. Water caused problems too when I was suffering.

Through the years it came and go due to stress and eating foods that triggered the bouts.

I still get bouts and am now on Colofac. I've tried peppermint capsules but I kept burping peppermint.

For nausea, which for years I just accepted as part of the whole thing, I now, when needed take Motilium. My gp says to take them only when really needed because too many of them can cause liver damage.

I now have arthritis and have been given paracedomol, which is like Tylenol in the states, with codeine. This sometimes triggers a bout of ibs. My gp won't give me anything stronger because of the ibs.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in May 2004. I was given Metformin. Oh boy. For healthy people they might get a slight side effect of runnng to the loo. For those with ibs, well, my son kept his Gameboy in the downstairs toilet and my scores for Tetris really improved. This went on for 3-4 months but it has settled down.

Another problem came up and that was unexpected bouts of diarrhea. One minute I was fine, the next oops. It is very embarassing when you are walking around a store or in town. Thankfully I belong to the ibs group bulletin board and they helped me.

http://www.ibsgroup.org/

I hope this might help someone else realise that they are not alone. And that they can ask me questions, which hopefully I can answer or set them on the path to the right answer.

To walk or not to walk

It may be getting warmer here but the sun does not like coming out. With the warmer weather and the prospect of rain I am in for more pain this week.
Warm and wet weather does not go with my arthritis. :(
Mentally I want to go and walk but my body is saying, whoa, wait a minute.I don't go out. My pedometer is still in my handbag and I keep forgetting to put it on.
Tomorrow, I promise I will put it on.

*sigh*

Well, I have a case of rampant ibs. After 'talking' to others on the ibs board I've realised that the chest twinges is from the ibs. After I get them I feel sick and very ibsy.

I had to go to fill my prescriptions so I dropped them off and then walked to a department store, looking for a couple of tops. I love their kitchen stuff. I ended up with 1 top to wear in the garden, socks for DS, candles, and 3 new bowls.

Walked back to the chemist and got my meds and then got the bus back home. Talk about being tired.

I managed to make 2 meals for me, today and tomorrow and was in pain and exhausted. Took a nap amongst the newspapers with the cat on my lap. When I woke I felt better and started my DS' dinner. Now I feel okayish.

I have to remember that Spring is the worse time for my arthritis.

My new yoga dvd came today. Can't wait to watch it and hopefully be able to try to do the poses.

No insulin

I've seen the diabetes nurse and she says that I am still producing insulin so she wants me to up my oral meds. I wonder how my gp is going to react?

It's Campbell's birthday and he's 12. And yes he's the cat.

My son has an audition for The X Factor which is similar to the American Idol program. This happens towards the end of the month so this should be interesting. He has to sing for the producers and if he is picked then in front of, yes, Simon Cowell.