How to post up photo's?
February 5, 2009 2:03am
Sheesh, this hardly qualifies for a "Call For Help" title but yup, I need some help from some computer wise folks. Not sure where to post …
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Leolady56 
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About Me
Leolady56
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About Me
I am a single/divorced housewife. I have 3 grown adult children - all grew up to be solid, decent citizens of this world. My own life had some enormous, painful challenges I have had to face leaving me struggling day to day with insomnia and depression problems. Right now, I spend 24/7 taking care of my 88 year old mother. (My father died in August of 2008.) It's not an easy task at the best of times as she is starting to deteriorate mentally as well but I try to do the best I can. Hobby side? I LOVE to write and read - it's my one big escape, I love to see good movies or reality shows on TV. I love to take long nature walks when possible - love to swim (when able to) but for now, simply tackling life day by day.
I am a single/divorced housewife. I have 3 grown adult children - all grew up to be solid, decent citizens of this world. My own life had some enormous, painful challenges I have had to face leaving me struggling day to day with insomnia and depression problems. Right now, I spend 24/7 taking care of my 88 year old mother. (My father died in August of 2008.) It's not an easy task at the best of times as she is starting to deteriorate mentally as well but I try to do the best I can. Hobby side? I
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Recent Activity
Recently:
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1 discussion post, 1 hug received
Thursday
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Leolady56 wrote a discussion post in the Caring For Aging Parents support group: I think *I* am the one who needs the A/Depressant. 2:20am
Reading through the long list of experiences which folks have who are taking care of their elderly parents…
November 12
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Leolady56 gave LaurieD55 flowers 5:41am
A bunch of cyber flowers for a good friend. Wish they could have been real ones but until I learn how…
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Leolady56 gave waynewhite a ray of sunshine 5:19am
Just sending a bit of South African sunshine your way. I can only imagine that the heart break period…
August 14
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Leolady56 turned 53 12:00am
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Journal
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Hugbook
Flower
Just read your discussion post....I'll pray for you, and your mom. *Hugs*
Sabrina-
Hug
Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed Canada... we call it Gods country. it's so great here. BIG, BIG hugs to you. Hope you will come back sometime and enjoy more.
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Hug
Thank you so much for your message,it means so much to me at a time like this. When is this hurt going to go away? Thanks again,
Wayne 
Ray of Sunshine
thank youu!!
=)-
Superhero Status
hey =)
this means alot to me!
and thanks alot!
but im reaally suffering and i dont knw what to do?
i live in new zealand now =( and i do miss home
now its 9th october 2am and i cant go to bed!
i cant sleep and i feel like crying i dont know why =(
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Photos
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Support Groups
Close GERD & Heartburn
I have had major GERD issues for a couple of years. Spent three years climbing from a starting dose of the P.P.I drug, Pantoloc to where I was taking 120mg's daily! Spent a small fortune being scoped from below, from above - had a liver biopsy - you name it, the internist and gastro specialist sent me for the necessary tests. No one could tell me why I had suddenly developed hyper acidity.
Treatments
- Antacids Somewhat Helpful
- Xantax - helps when the pain suddenly becomes out of control......the pain does come back though as soon as the effects of the Xantax wears off
- Avoid Certain Foods / Chemicals Working / Worked
- I try to as balanced a diet as possible - ie, as few acid producing foods as possible and *many* alkalysing foods
- Dietary Modification Working / Worked
- Diet, which I changed after having read the paper back The Acid Alkaline Food Guide by Dr Susan E.Brown and Larry Tarvieri seems to have helped me come down from ridiculous doses of 120mg's of Pantoloc to zero. P.P.I. drugs, irrespective of the brand name have *horrible* side-effects for me personally.
- Domperidone Somewhat Helpful
- Honestly cannot say, I just started this at my Dr's insistence as it apparently stops the food from climbing back up the oesophagus....... I am going nuts, not sure what still works or does not work only I am always in pain!
- Ginger Not Working
- Have no idea. I buy a fresh stick of ginger, grate it finely and keep it in airtight containers and twice a day, add it to a healthy smoothy. Have no idea whether it is making a difference
- Prilosec Somewhat Helpful
- This works reasonable well initially but one thing the manufacturers don't warn you about is that it LEECHES calcium out of all the bones in your body! I started having severe wrist, ankle,knee and hip problems and I am only 52. My Gynae (thank goodness) sent me for a total bone scan to measure up against other bone scans he likes to do with all his patients every year or so and I had lost a dramatic amount of bone loss - exactly 7 months since my last bone scan and since having started the Topomax. I spent a full week-end on the internet researching this and finally found a number of medical sites who warn that all the P.P.I. drugs carrry a very definite risk of losing bone. Osteoporosis here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Protonix Somewhat Helpful
- Interenist put me onto 20 mgs of Pantol - this seemed to help for about a month or so, then had to ramp up to 40 mg's and right now and taking an equivalent (for price reasons only) of 120 mg's of Topzole. Would LOVE to stop it as I have read of the most nasty side-effects such as weaking bones etc but the pain is still too severe...
- Raising Bed Position Considering
- Can't honestly say. Have my bed raised at the head end, sleep on 3 pillows but the hyper acidity is still there....going on for two full years now - going on 3.
Close Families & Friends Affected By Suicide
Been through *Many* varied trauma's in my life and hope that through trial and error and observing life very closely, I have gained some valuable insights for myself and hopefully others....
Treatments
- Talking Working / Worked
- Talking is one of the most therapeutic ways of letting off painful, trapped in steam. Even if what the other persons opinions or advice might be, what they say might one day, when the time is right resonate with you.....The only side effects are that this person and you come from two totally different ways of thinking which is also okay -just part company and keep on seeking another soul mate chat pal....
- Writing Working / Worked
- Writing is a wonderful way of talking to yourself (via journaling) but I think that penpalling or talking via intenet or snail mail to someone in the same predicament helps to make those feelings open and transparent so that you are both free to exchange ideas
Open Caring For Aging Parents
52 year old single lady. I have taken care of my two elderly parents for close on 10 years or so...My dad passed away in August and my mother who used to be hugely independent and always so busy cleaning, cooking, etc, etc to the point that no one felt comfortable visiting there as we always felt in the way - she now seems to just sit around, has little do, does not see the *point* in doing much and would like nothing better than to go out 24/7. Not easy to find wheelchairs at the malls....
Open Depression
Type: Clinical (Major) DepressionHave been through an incredibly traumatic childhood and many very painful challenges later on in life so am still constantly aware of the fact that I still need to deal with a lot of the 'fall out' of what took place during the past 52 years. I have not had a good track record with medications, in fact became *horribly* addicted to anti-anxiety and sleeping meds and have found that walking, reading, writing to friends, staying active and trying to steer my own body and mind along works best
Treatments
- Celexa Not Working
- Cipramil did not work....felt as if I had zero feelings left, no happiness, no sadness - just zoned out.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Working / Worked
- Have read countless books on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and always try to incorporate that into my daily life as well.....
- Effexor Not Working
- Effexor made me feel angry, extremely wired up and ready to wring anyone's neck who came near me!
- Elavil Not Working
- Wow, was prescribed Elavil at an incredibly low dose of only 20 mg's to help with severe TMJ (Temporal Mandibular pain.) I took it because the jaw pain was so bad that I was desperate for some relief. At the time I had been moderately depressed for the past 6/7 months - was kind of coping with life as best I could but from the time I started this med the world just turned the ugliest, nastiest *black* dark and ominous color imaginable! I piled on weight as well overnight!
- Lexapro Not Working
- Lexapro dulled my brain so much that I could happily sit in the corner of the couch from morning right through the night till the next morning.....Had a constant feeling that bugs were crawling all over my skin.....
- Meditation Working / Worked
- Absolutely, definitely *works* for me. During times of extreme stress when I am *terribly* down, I might battle to meditate as well or long as I can when my moods are better but I definitely count this as one of the tools in my "depression first aid kit."
- Prozac Not Working
- Ha, each time through MANY years, when thinking maybe it's time to try a new psychiatrist, everyone of them seems to think it's a great idea to kick start me with Prozac or one of it's generics and even though I tell the doctors it makes me SO wired up that I feel as if I am plugged into the wall socket and feel AWFUL on it, they always insist I give it a try. Now if this is all they offer me, I simply don't fill the script...
- Psychotherapy Somewhat Helpful
- For those times in my life when I had the money to see a therapist, it certainly helped to talk to some of them (some I just did not 'click with' but that's life.) But it is just too expensive for me as I have no health insurance....
- Support from Friends & Family Working / Worked
- I think for any seriously depressed person, being surrounded (even if only in thought if they live far away) is the fact that we know we are not alone. A post card - a phone call - an email - just those little acts to remind one that someone genuinely cares how you feel and that you will make it 'over the mountains' is top of the list!
Open Trigeminal Neuralgia
Two years or so I needed to have a number of *very* ancient fillings taken out and replaced and during one of those sittings, as the dentist injected the Novocaine, I felt a really sharp pain shoot into my jaw bone, up into the nose area around my eyes and I had a sudden excrutiating pain in my left ear! I mentioned it to him when I could and he said he had probably done a nerve- says this happens quite commonly and I must just give it a day or so to calm down.
Treatments
- Elavil Somewhat Helpful
- While I can say that the Elavil Imipramine? dose of 10 to 20 ms at night seemed to help calm down the TMJ pain after I had been on this med for two weeks or so I seem to have horrible sideeffects to any class of antidepressants which Elavil is so due to the sideeffects I stopped the medication.
Open Insomnia
As long as I can remember I had insomnia issues, even as a child and through the years, every Dr, Psychiatrist, Neurologist I went to prescribed one or other benzo to help me sleep. HUGE mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over time you need more and more to help you sleep and when you reach tolerance level, coming off these benzo's is total HELL!
Treatments
- Ativan Somewhat Helpful
- Worked for a while but soon needed more and more....was then changed to a different benzo....
- Counting Sheep Not Working
- For true insomniac's - counting sheep is a joke!
- Dalmane Working / Worked
- Worked till I hit tolerance level - then was changed to a different benzo.....
- Halcion Working / Worked
- Worked, but some fears emerged about Halcion after I had used it for a few years so my Dr changed me to a different sleeping pill....
- Restoril Working / Worked
- Worked for a while till i hit tolerance, was then changed to a different benzo yet again....
Open Anxiety
52 year old 'child' of sexual molestation - don't think I have ever recovered from how that changed my character and trust in people. Anxiety as been one of my biggest issues!!!!!! But one thing I know for sure now is that taking anti-anxiety pills is NOT the answer - they are simply a plaster and when one day you have to remove that plaster, your anxiety will be back far, FAR worse!
Treatments
- Acupuncture Not Working
- Atarax Working / Worked
- Worked until it also stopped working and I now have major allergy problems and skin weals on and off.
- Ativan Working / Worked
- Worked till I hit the ceiling and no dose would still keep me calm ='s I was addicted to the drugs :-(
- Breathing Exercises Somewhat Helpful
- Helps for minor anxiety, does nothing for major anxiety
- Klonopin Not Working
- The worst pill the scholarly Dr could have put me on after he had already tried Ativan, Xanax, etc. I thought I was going totally NUTS and had to spend the night in hospital = given an anti-dote for K, My brain felt totally messed up for weeks!
- Paxil Not Working
- Tried it - it may me way too wired so after two weeks stopped it.
- Remeron Too Soon to Tell
- The last psychiatrist and neurologist has suggested a course of Remeron, the only med I have not tried. I have filled the script but am TERRIFIED to try it......
- Valium Working / Worked
- Yes, took it simply to help wean me off all the other truck list of anti-anxiety pills as it is supposed to be the gentlest way to get your brain through the withdrawal of drugs which it did do but a warning - it makes you SUPER. DROP DEAD DEPRESSED!!!!!!!!!
- Xanax Working / Worked
- Worked for about half an hour - one hour tops and then I went out of my mind needing more so quit taking that too....
Open Loneliness
53 year old lady - grown, adult children all flown the nest years ago, I would LOVE to meet some online pen-pals of round about the same age as I am - anywhere - no toy boys please :-)
