Liter8ure

Open Urinary Incontinence

I do not really consider myself to have Urinary Incontinence.. I have Primary Nighttime Enuresis which is a bedwetting condition caused by a defect in the pituitary gland.. that does spill over into the daytime and cause problems. I also have Interstitial Cystitis which also causes problems since its a bladder disease. Info and such is in the other support group information sections.. but I am a fountain of information on this subject if you need to talk to someone. :o)

Open Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

My lovely new GI specialist has diagnosed me as having Functional Abdominal Pain Syndrome, Gastroparesis, and Rumination Syndrome. If anyone wants detail about what those are please send me a message.. there isn't enough space here to type it all out.. or you can go read my journal. I believe its on there.

Treatments

Asacol Not Working

This helped a little bit for a very short three months. Then it just stopped helping.

Asacol Not Working

Avoid Certain Foods / Chemicals Working / Worked

I have a VERY strict diet. It's too complicated to list because it deals with IBS and my bladder disease. If you want to know what it is, send me a message and I'll give you my diet details.

Bentyl Working / Worked

I take six pills a day. It seems to help a little with my issues.

Chamomile Working / Worked

Chamomile and Vanilla help calm my throat and stomach.

Colace Not Working

Makes me violently sick to my stomach.. think of the vomiting scene from the Exorcist.. its a lot like that.

Flagyl Not Working

I have been given Flagyl on several occasions and I never noticed any difference. I might as well have been swallowing sugar pills.

Miralax Not Working

Again.. the violent vomiting.

Nexium Working / Worked

My esophagus is seriously damaged. It doesn't really help with the kind of pain I have, but it is repairing the deterioration of my throat.

Peppermint Not Working

Peppermint has a calming effect sometimes. It makes my inerds feel cool and relaxed, even when they are not.

Prednisone Working / Worked

I do not have a prescription for this and I do not recommend selfmedicating.. but having a Crohns patient for a father makes it easy to get a hold of. I only take it when the swelling and the pain make me feel as if my body is ripping apart.. its a last resort.. and I also let all of my doctors know that I am taking this at times and my father monitors my taking of it very closely. So if you do self medicate.. do it the right way please!

Probiotics Not Working

Never noticed any difference or side effects.

Promethazine Working / Worked

For normal nausea.. works great and I get a nice nap out of it

Psyllium Not Working

Again.. violent vomitting.

Remeron Not Working

DEVIL DRUG! Well.. at least for me :o). It did not help at all and that constant hunger made my symptoms worse. Plus there is the fact that it can make you turn into a psycho.. yeah.. not the drug for me.

Zelnorm Working / Worked

This worked so well for me up until the FDA pulled it. Thanks for that.

Zofran Working / Worked

This is for my Rumination syndrome.. which is my unexplained violent and uncontrollable vomiting. I do not take it daily only as needed. So far it seems to nip that in the bud.

Open Chronic Pain

I've been in chronic pain my entire life. It really began to become unbearable over the last two years. I've tried so many treatments to relieve the pain, but nothing ever seems to work very well.

Treatments

Cymbalta Not Working

It helped a little, but I started having massive hallucinations and black-outs.

Heat Working / Worked

Heat helps sometimes, whether it's a heating pad or a warm bath. It doesn't do a whole lot for the pain, but it helps me be more comfortable.

Hydrocodone Working / Worked

They all took away a little bit of the pain, but again I was having hallucinations and black-outs.

Lidoderm Not Working

Lyrica Not Working

It helped enough to justify taking it until I started gaining massive amounts of weight. I stopped taking the pills and lost twenty pounds in two weeks. And once I was off of it my pain was not any different.. meaning the lyrica had stopped working.

Meditation Working / Worked

Meditating and stretching help me to relax and breathe through the pain.

Mobic Not Working

Did nothing for me, but I know a lot of people who are helped by it.

Morphine Working / Worked

Morphine helps, but that isn't something any doctor around me is going to prescribe. They give it to me before testing and procedures.

Naproxen Not Working

I've taken Naproxen for gymnastic injuries and built up a tolerance for it, so it doesn't work for me anymore.

Nerve Blocks Not Working

This was very helpful with the pelvic pain until it started causing problems with my heart. My veins are unusually close together, and they had problems inserting the needles. The actually poked through an entire vein and caused my heart to stop. Two shots of epinephrine helped it start beating again, but I am forever turned off by the nerve block.

Oxycodone Not Working

Didn't work and gave me black-outs.

Physical Therapy Not Working

It made my pain so much worse, and caused a massive increase in my bed-wetting.. and caused massive bladder bleeding.

TENS Not Working

HATE that. Doesn't work, and it is so painful.

Talking Working / Worked

I really make sure I talk to my family members and friends about what is going on with my health and my pain levels. I doesnt make the pain any easier to deal with but it does make the entire load a lot more comfortable to bear when you have a support system behind you that is trying to understand.. and the only way they can understand is if you have the patience needed to talk to people about it.

Support Groups Working / Worked

Same as the talking. It helps to see how other people deal with the same issues as you.

Open Military Families

I recently married an Air Force combat medic. When he is deployed, his deployment time will be for a year. I'm still trying to learn what it means to be a military wife.