OT - VERY "Private" Stuff/Rant

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"Joani Humphrey" wrote in message
...
On Mar 2, 11:53 am, "CatNipped"
wrote:
"Jofirey" wrote in message


* I weigh only 109 pounds right now - a lot of that weight loss has
been muscle fiber, but I just barely have the stamina to walk
around during the day and lately I've been sleeping, day or night,
any time that I'm not physically doing something else. I can't
even open the top of a water bottle - I'm too weak and it hurts my
right arm too much.

Hugs,

CatNipped


When you can't do something, you need to learn to ask for and accept
help. Its amazing just how sweet most people can be given a chance.

For years now, when I buy a bottle of water or soda at the store,
after I pay for it I tell the clerk, my hands don't work so good and
ask them to loosen the top. They always do, and nearly always smile
and say something encouraging at the same time.

I'm only just starting to get used to how helpful everyone is when
there is a problem because I can't hear. Everyone but Charlie that
is. He has more trouble accepting it than I do by far. My ear
doctor says he is the absolutely worst she has ever seen. Still not
going to trade him in. He's good at other things. (He does laundry,
cleans, shops, and will even cook if hell is about to freeze over)

He was raised with a disabled sister and learned early on that she
wanted and needed to do things for herself. But he really doesn't
get that I can't hear better if I really, really try.

You mentioned a long time ago that you use a lot of artificial
sweetner. Are you still doing that? It could be having a bad effect
on your digestive system and with your weight so low it sure isn't
necessary.

Jo

On Mar 2, 5:16*pm, Jack Campin - bogus address
wrote:
[re CatNipped]

You mentioned a long time ago that you use a lot of artificial
sweetner. *Are you still doing that? *It could be having a bad effect
on your digestive system and with your weight so low it sure isn't
necessary.

If the sweetener is aspartame, it could also be affecting the pain
receptors and worsening depression. *Try doing without it for a few
weeks. *(I am not one of the "aspartame is a global catastrophe"
brigade, but there is a substantial minority of people who are much
better off without it).

I knew aspartame was icky, though I've never researched it. I get a
bad
headache every time I ingest something with aspartame, so I avoid it.
I
started having a round of headaches last summer, then read on the
label
that Crystal Light powdered drink has....aspartame.

Sherry

hopitus wrote:
Ditto the newest revelation derived of "stevia" heavily
marketed by "organic" stores. Bad abdomen pains and worse.

Stevia gave me bladder spasms. REALLY bad....because the doctor
thought I had a bladder infection and I was drinking a bunch of
cranberry juice to help clear it. Sweetened with...stevia.

Some months later I found out it had the same effect on a friend
of mine. I'm willing to bet it has that effect on a lot of people.

Those abdomen pains may be similar.

Deborah
slave to the semi-magnificent seven

--

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the
most shocking and inhumane."-Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Mar 2, 5:16 pm, Jack Campin - bogus address
wrote:
[re CatNipped]

You mentioned a long time ago that you use a lot of artificial
sweetner. Are you still doing that? It could be having a bad effect
on your digestive system and with your weight so low it sure isn't
necessary.

If the sweetener is aspartame, it could also be affecting the pain
receptors and worsening depression. Try doing without it for a few
weeks. (I am not one of the "aspartame is a global catastrophe"
brigade, but there is a substantial minority of people who are much
better off without it).

I knew aspartame was icky, though I've never researched it. I get a
bad
headache every time I ingest something with aspartame, so I avoid it.
I
started having a round of headaches last summer, then read on the
label
that Crystal Light powdered drink has....aspartame.

Sherry

=====================

How does a person *avoid* aspartame now-a-days? It's in *EVERYTHING" -
unless you can live on pure water, you're going to get aspartame from
*something*. My doctors all say the aspartame is not the cause - if
anything the gastric problems are from the Aleve's and Advil's I take (but I
can't take the pain when I don't take them - yeah the doctor should give me
more morphine or fentanyl (those don't cause barely *any* side effects when
you're titrated up to the correct dosage and *stick* to your prescribed
dosage - and there's really no "cap" to that dosage since they are both
naturally occurring in the body in different forms , but they're not going
to do that because of the DEA, so I supplement those with 2 Tramadols, 2
Benedryls, two Advil and an Aleve thee times a day with the Morphine - the
Fentanyl is a patch that stay's on all the time.

I just know that I can't eat anymore, my stomach and esophagus feel like
they're on fire or like I'm swallowing ground up glass. And it's weird
because I'm having a hard time caring - it's like I'm resigned to my fate
and will welcome death when it comes (and it feels like it may be coming
soon, and that's OK with me).

Hugs,

CatNipped

"CatNipped" wrote:

But Ben and I had this "tacit" agreement that he *did* have a job to
do -
an essential job to do - I need him as a care-taker.

This may come over as harsh but isn't meant to be.

He's not just a care taker. He's not living his life to handle your needs
and get free food and lodging. If he feels his self worth is taking care of
you, he's gonna walk.

Look from the reverse angle. Society stilll looks a bit 'down' on the stay
at home Mom and it gets worse once all kids are in school.

It's OK to have a man who stays home and handles the chores while you make
the money. I _live_ that life, but how you approach it is with total
respect for what they give you. Never 'I need him as a care-taker'. He's
more than that. If you however phrase things so he feels like 'just a
housewife' then while even women object to that, men have no relevance and
object more strongly. It's like a slam on their manhood.

Never do the mistake of kicking a guy in the balls emotionally, even if you
are walking out the door as you do it. It's just not right. Calling him
your 'caretaker' as his only relevance kicks him in the essential anatomy
heart-wise.

The problem is that, every time Ben has taken a job he feels like
that's
*ALL* that is required of him. Every other part of our lives then has
to
be taken care of by me - even if I'm still working full-time. I just
can't do that this time.

Work *with* him then.

I sit my butt on the cold bathroom floor and clean the toilets. I do this
because I am just stiff enough in the spine that it's easier. Don, *hates*
cleaning toilets so this one is mine.

The money I bring home is 'ours'. Don asked once and I goggled what to
would cost to have someone outside do what he was doing. It was higher than
my income at the time. I did a check as he asked. Net pay would be about
40K for him if you added it all up and contracted it up.

In a twist on roles, it can be hard for a woman to adjust to being the wage
earner, but it is in reality no different than an earlier pattern when women
'worked at home'. It's now the male on the other side who needs care to
know they haven't been emasculated by situtuation.

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Mar 2, 5:16 pm, Jack Campin - bogus address
wrote:
[re CatNipped]

You mentioned a long time ago that you use a lot of artificial
sweetner. Are you still doing that? It could be having a bad effect
on your digestive system and with your weight so low it sure isn't
necessary.

If the sweetener is aspartame, it could also be affecting the pain
receptors and worsening depression. Try doing without it for a few
weeks. (I am not one of the "aspartame is a global catastrophe"
brigade, but there is a substantial minority of people who are much
better off without it).

I knew aspartame was icky, though I've never researched it. I get a
bad
headache every time I ingest something with aspartame, so I avoid it.
I
started having a round of headaches last summer, then read on the
label
that Crystal Light powdered drink has....aspartame.

Sherry

=====================

How does a person *avoid* aspartame now-a-days? It's in *EVERYTHING" -
unless you can live on pure water, you're going to get aspartame from
*something*.
Hugs,

CatNipped


I don't eat any type of added sweetener, except on those rare occasions when
I eat at restaurants or with friends. There really isn't any way of
completely avoiding it at those times. I use almost exclusively fresh food
when I cook at home, and the only thing I drink really *is* water. If I buy
any frozen veggies, I check carefully to make sure there is nothing added.

I started this five years ago (almost six years now), when I was diagnosed
with diabetes. The change in my health and how I feel was amazing--for the
better.

MaryL

"cshenk" wrote in message
...
"CatNipped" wrote:

But Ben and I had this "tacit" agreement that he *did* have a job to
do -
an essential job to do - I need him as a care-taker.

This may come over as harsh but isn't meant to be.

He's not just a care taker. He's not living his life to handle your needs
and get free food and lodging. If he feels his self worth is taking care
of you, he's gonna walk.



This is an excellent point (and so is the rest of your message, even though
I snipped it to reduce the length). I thought it was truly demeaning when I
read that he is needed as a "care taker." I was my mother's sole caregiver
for five years and was forced to place her in a nursing home only when she
became completely bedridden. That was something I *wanted* to do, but I
still continued to work full-time. It would have been a tremendous loss to
me if I had been forced to be nothing except a caretaker/housekeeper. It
seems to me that Ben and Lori could use part of his new income to hire a
housekeeper to come in once a week and possibly even hire a driver. That
would be far better than expecting him to give up his life to care for her.

MaryL

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...

I just know that I can't eat anymore, my stomach and esophagus feel like
they're on fire or like I'm swallowing ground up glass. And it's weird
because I'm having a hard time caring - it's like I'm resigned to my fate
and will welcome death when it comes (and it feels like it may be coming
soon, and that's OK with me).


You may have stomatitis and esophagitis (sp?) There are meds to relieve the
pain.

CatNipped wrote:
... so I supplement those with 2 Tramadols, 2
Benedryls, two Advil and an Aleve thee times a day with the Morphine - the
Fentanyl is a patch that stay's on all the time.

I just know that I can't eat anymore, my stomach and esophagus feel like
they're on fire or like I'm swallowing ground up glass.

And no wonder, with 2 ibuprofen and 1 naproxen 3 times a day...
both of those chew up the insides of stomachs something fierce.
You probably have a lot of ulceration in the esophagus, stomach
and possibly into the small intestine...ow.

(You may already know this, and your doctor may already know, but
as I understand it, they shouldn't be taken together...very
similar actions as anti-inflammatories and both hammer the
kidneys pretty badly.)

(pets Lori gently and sets the cats to purring for her; knows
about chronic high levels of pain, I does, and sympathizes greatly)

I would encourage you to try stuff like Ensure to help. And take
the meds with food to reduce the damage it does. Banana, slice of
bread and butter or bread and peanut butter...something
moderately carb-y and substantial to buffer the destruction.

Deborah

--

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the
most shocking and inhumane."-Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Mar 2, 8:13*pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
"Sherry" wrote in message

...
On Mar 2, 5:16 pm, Jack Campin - bogus wrote:
[re CatNipped]

You mentioned a long time ago that you use a lot of artificial
sweetner. Are you still doing that? It could be having a bad effect
on your digestive system and with your weight so low it sure isn't
necessary.

If the sweetener is aspartame, it could also be affecting the pain
receptors and worsening depression. Try doing without it for a few
weeks. (I am not one of the "aspartame is a global catastrophe"
brigade, but there is a substantial minority of people who are much
better off without it).

I knew aspartame was icky, though I've never researched it. I get a
bad
headache every time I ingest something with aspartame, so I avoid it.
I
started having a round of headaches last summer, then read on the
label
that Crystal Light powdered drink has....aspartame.

Sherry

=====================

How does a person *avoid* aspartame now-a-days? *It's in *EVERYTHING" -
unless you can live on pure water, you're going to get aspartame from
*something*. *My doctors all say the aspartame is not the cause

It may not be a cause, but it certainly can be a contributor. I know
as I have experienced firsthand what aspartame can do. It exacerbated
depression and there were days when I could not get out of bed. As a
fibromyalgia sufferer, it also exacerbated the pain and stiffness I
experience. Long ago I, quite by accident, came across some
information about aspartame and how harmful it is, and I decided to
try life without it. It was very easy and the difference in how I felt
made it clear that aspartame is a product I should not ingest, ever.
It is on the labels so it's not hard to spot. I have done fine using
stevia and saccharine as substitutes in limited amounts and an
occasional diet soda that is sweetened with Splenda (diet rite cherry
cola is awesome.)
It sounds as though you are using excessive amounts of this product,
and I have no doubt that if you avoided it completely for a few weeks
you would find you feel a whole lot better.

A quote from http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm
spells out quite well why you should be avoiding this:

*****Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions
to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are
very serious including seizures and death.(1) A few of the 90
different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by
aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea,
numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue,
irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss,
heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred
speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects
of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or
worsened by ingesting of aspartame2) Brain tumors, multiple
sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson's disease,
alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects,
fibromyalgia, and diabetes.

Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine,
and methanol. The book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing," by
James and Phyllis Balch, lists aspartame under the category of
"chemical poison." As you shall see, that is exactly what it is.****


You need to stop the aspartame.