One Step at a Time April

[SKendall]

Ne, my dr said Effexor withdrawal is the worst. Did you experience that? Also, I have nothing good to say about Pristiq!

Hi Mama, glad the weekend is here for you, as well as for everyone.

[paulywogg]

NE,my doc gave me effexor awhile back,opened the bottle and seen the 4 foot long side effects sheet and shit canned it! This last time she gave me wellbutrin,uh think I'll pass on that too,she thinks cuz I drink coffee and smoke that my dopamine's low,meh,dunno

[Lizann]

Hey guys. Back in the day I was taking Zoloft and it made a world of difference. I weaned myself off slowly and did great. Was off AD for about ten years and just recently (last year) went on 10 mg of lexapro. The aniexty is so much better. I am down to 5 mg and honestly never noticed any difference in my drinking desires. For me it doesn't seem to effect my desire to or not to drink.

Anyway, seems like you're all doing ok. Erin had a car accident yesterday. Thank God she's fine. Her car was side swiped by an on coming car trying to avoid hitting a car in front of him. Idiot! She will take it for an estimate and repair tomorrow. Other than that were doing ok here. Long day at work and like mama, I'm exhausted. I promise to post more tomorrow. It's going to be a busy weekend. Loved the Walton's goodnight! You guys made me laugh!

[SKendall]

Lizz, I'm glad Erin is okay. Both of my kids were t-boned, luckily they were driving a jeep Cherokee and it flipped both times.

Ne, are you feeling any better about things? I started typing retorts 3 x today and realized it's not worth my time. Better not to read at all.

Pauly, there was an article in the NYT a while ago by a doctor who told the public what the big pharma did to promote this drug. Basically, it's an old drug with a couple of tweaks. The old drug became off-patent so this Effexor was created. In order to promote it docs were offered free trips, cash prizes, cars, boats depending on their sales volume. I know my son has been offered the same kinds of gifts from chemo suppliers.

The pharma folks had a big convention about Effexor and leases for a private plane were offered. It caused the author/doctor to have an ethical twinge when he was now offering Effexor for these reasons instead of the ones he knew and trusted.

Unfortunately the public have become the guinea pigs because testing in the U.S. is so expensive. Probably TMI (lol).

Does anyone have any plans for the weekend? It's raining here so curling up with my kindle works for me.

[aihfl]

Hello everyone, I've had a crazy past couple of weeks and just haven't felt the motivation to post updates here, but I've been hitting at least one AA meeting a day, most days two and just came up on 30 days yesterday. I would be past 90 had it not been for my mid-March binge, but I came out of it with a resolve never to go back to a detox or rehab ever again. And while my ex-wife and I have not ironed out all of our issues, at least we are being civil to each other and are speaking again.

I'm also happy to report that I have another significant other in the works. We've been out a couple of times and this past Thursday it was confirmed that the attraction is mutual. She has a background in psychology and social work and is currently a caseworker for autistic children, so she must have the patience of a saint. A welcome change after the last two control freaks.

I'm just going along a day at a time trying to make the best of everything. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

[Rusty]

CONGRATULATIONS, aihfl, on 31 DAYS AF!!!!!!!:thumbsup::welldone:. I am so happy for you, and proud. Your life has already gotten way happier in just a month...you and your ex are civil, and you have someone special in your life! You are right, if she works with autistic kids, she DOES have the patience of a saint. What a wonderful woman! So glad you are making the most of your AF time. I am about 4 hrs. behind in my day as I slept in this morning so I better get going. So glad to see you posting here. We have missed you!!!

[aihfl]

Oh, I almost forgot, if there are any other members of the "tribe," out there, Happy Passover! (No wine at this Seder, only grape juice since most of us there have had drug/alcohol abuse issues)

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[SKendall]

aifl, great to see you and you come with such good news! Good job in no drinking. New relationship and getting along with the ex. So many control issues end in divorce. Glad you're back.

[mama bear]

Nice pic aihfl! All this time I thought you were a woman!!! Duh....I am so blonde sometimes!
I slept in too Rusty and then cleaned house. It's date night and we will probably go to our cheap seafood restaurant and have a cigar later.
Pauly - NE is right. Do not read the side effects list. And don't do Dr Google!!
I am glad you woke up smiing Ne.
Lizz - I am glad Erin is ok. How scary for her.
Hey to you too AG and go for you on your sober time!!
Really not much else to report. Just work and home. Rinse and repeat.
My boss is coming to town next week. He's a delightful person, but it will be a longer week with him here. That's ok.
Hugs to you Nora and SK.

[aihfl]

On my lunch break today, I got a new furry friend. I found an older dachshund (I've always been partial to the breed) being fostered through a pet rescue organization here in Orlando. Her name is Petunia. My ex-wife kept both of our dachshunds, so I'm happy to have a buddy. Petunia is between 8 and 9, and she's got a smooth red dapple coat. She's very low key for a wiener dog (haven't even heard her bark yet) and a real sweetheart.

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[NoraC]

Happy Passover aihfl. I didn't realize that it was that time.

You are a cutie and so is Petunia. Seriously though - you are a handsome man and you look HAPPY. Isn't that a great feeling? Petunia looks like such a sweetie. I'm glad that you found each other.

[NoraC]

I woke up with a broken blood vessel in my other eye this morning. I remember when it happened. I rubbed my eye during the night and thought ouch that hurts. Then fell back asleep. I came out to the living room this morning and hubby took a look at me and OH MY GOSH. Ha, ha

Been sort of lazy, down this week. Nothing wrong in the least but maybe a little stressed? Who knows. Maybe just lazy. :smiles:
Had planned on sleeping in this morning but that didn't work. So hubby & I ran to Wal-Mart for a few groceries. Just been doing a little bit of nothing ever since. A few dishes, straightened a few things, a little laundry, a little reading. Mom & I did play a game of yahtzee and that was fun. I just tell her which ones to leave down and which ones to roll again. Works great. She is trying to play games on her kindle fire and I'm trying to find good ones that won't confuse her by popping up with ads or offers to buy things.

Mama - great to see you. Have a fun date night. Hope next week goes ok. I can't believe that she's pregnant again!

[NoraC]

I had a terrible time with withdrawls from effexor. NEVER AGAIN.

Liz - so sorry about Erin's accident. But, thank God, she is ok.

Ne - I am so glad that you woke up with a smile. Big difference. I am surprised at what a big difference in the drinking that you have experienced since you stopped that antidepressant. I guess I might shave my legs too. But, I'm still deciding. LOL

SK - are you noticing any improvement with the physical therapy?

[NoraC]

Rusty - how are you doing? How is the pain? Are you being scheduled for an MRI?
I was thinking of you quite a bit this week because we had another audit on Friday. A design audit. So, things have been extremely tense at work. LOL

[NoraC]

Pauly - I borrowed a book from my friend - Dead Doctors Don't Lie by Dr Joel D Wallach and Dr Ma Lan. She said that it has great natural treatments for things.
I don't know anything at all about them or this book. I have not tried anything in it yet. I just wanted to share this with you....

Anxiety (panic attacks) affect women twice as frequently as men. When one examines the total hormone biorhythm charts of women, this fact cannon be a surprise. The base cause can be either a food allergy reaction (i.e. corn, cow's milk, etc.) or a severe reactive hypoglycemic reaction often referred to as a "crash and burn" curve because the down slope on the glucose curve is almost vertical. Concurrent PMS can make this a very perplexing situation. Do a pulse test to eliminate allergies and a six-hour GTT**.
Treatment should include avoidance of caffeine and sugar in all forms (fruit, juices, processed sugar, candy, etc.). Take chromium and vanadium 200-300 mcg/day, B6 100 mg t.i.d., B3 450 mg t.i.d. as time-release tablets, B1, B2 and B5 at the rate of 50 mg t.i.d., L-tryptophan 10 grams t.i.d., calcium 2000 mg/day, and magnesium at 800 mg/day. Betaine HCl 100-250 t.i.d. before meals and herbs including valerian (Valerian officinalis) can be of value.

**GTT = glucose tolerance test
***t.i.d. = 3 times a day