I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Anonymous

Kam - thanks for link re: plastic gas cans. Everybody around me keeps them for lawnmowers, generators. Cool weather, ya mean like when it's 0 degrees. Oh, my. Another thing to put on the list to do before the Big Snow.

Blue - I had to take Flexeril once YEARS ago, back spasms. Remember hallucinating something fierce...it was in combination with something else, just get the shivers thinking of it. Really hope its helping you, along with all the other meds. I made a LIST and posted it on the kitchen cabinet, and checked off when I took the needed med. Helped until it became a habit.

RetiredLibby

Statins .... Ugh. I took Lipitor for cholesterol (220, with slightly elevated LDL). Everything was peachy (except for the plantar fasciitis!) until my liver numbers suddenly tripled and quadrupled. I quit it just as I started tamox, which sent the liver enzymes soaring even higher. After my recurrence and quitting tamox, I also refused to go back to statins, having just gotten liver enzymes nearly back to normal. Then I find out that 220 is only borderline high, and with an HDL of 47 or greater and LDL numbers trending down, I adamantly refuse to take them again. DH's cholesterol is much higher with much worse LDL and not fab HDL. He takes statins but has turned up now with Type 2 diabetes, even though he is only about 15 lbs overweight. I think it is the statins, but our internist says not. I am unconvinced, and we are thinking about it.

bluedahlia

I love Bill Maher!

Sunny, you wouldn't want to be on the drugs I take, if you hallucinate on Flexeril. That's the first question I get asked by my docs. I take Amantadine, Levodopa/carbidopa, clonazepam and pristiq, and those are just for PD. Then there's my thyroid drug, and my dystonia drugs, Flexeril and Gabapentin. And let's not forget Arimidex. I'm surprised my liver still functions!

YramAL

My husband got permanent lung damage from statins. He's a diabetic, and his endrocrinologist likes to keep his cholesterol really low-hence statins. While he was taking them, he was always short of breath and coughing. He was tested for asthma, COPD, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis(really scary), lung cancer, and even tested for neurological issues. All negative, so finally one of his doctors looked up rare statin side effects, and lung damage is one of them. He doesn't take them anymore, but his lungs are much weaker now. Every time he gets a cold, he has the cough for weeks.

Mary

kayfh

one of my smart friends please help:

There was an excellent, disturbing article in Scientific American September 2010 which implicated statins in the onset of dementia. I would think long and hard before I would consider statins for their putative anti cancer side effects. And thank you thank you for raising the issue of red gas cans. We use electricity, but we bequeathed our relatively new gas lawn mower to our daughter and her young family. I sent your link to her. Forewarned is forearmed.

RetiredLibby

Hmmmmm....it may be time to get DH to an endocrinologist for his diabetes. He has no family hx of it AT ALL. One begins to wonder ....

YramAL

HL-my husband's diabetes was before he took statins.

Mary

RetiredLibby

Thanks, Mary. It wouldn't hurt to have him checked out by an endocrinologist, though. We do wonder if the statins caused it - there seems to be a growing body of literature that diabetes might be an SE of statins. Our internist pooh-poohed it, but we are both concerned that there might be a link in his case.

QuinnCat

Wow - if Bill Maher gave $1 million dollars to Obama, who is all about giving the poor healthcare, not cutting their food stamps, increasing the minimum wage, I wonder how much he gave to animal rights groups, since he supposedly gave more to animals than humans (not that that's bad, at all). I think it is only screwed up philosophy that claims man has dominion over animals - hogwash! Speaking of, loved this story I just read about the friendship between a dog and a fox in Norway. Imagine putting your own dog in a cage, it's whole life, then skinning it for it's fur. That's what humans do to foxes and it looks like foxes are a lot like....not that they have to be. They are living graceful beings!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/04/fox-and-hound-fur-industry_n_4386532.html

alexandria58

I have always loved foxes. They are beautiful creatures. I loved the pictures of the fox and the dog friendship, thanks for posting them. I don't understand why people wear fur - and, by the way, check out how they make UGGS as well. It's not pretty. I do wear leather - since those animals are being killed anyway.

RL - good luck on getting your DH to an endocrinologist. I also would be suspicious of the statins.

So, I decided to try a new diet plan. In the past few days, I've read a couple of articles on intermittent low carb diets or intermittent fasting, citing that they both work to lower blood sugar and weight better than conventional diets.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/08/news/la-heb-low-carb-diet-20111208

Seriously, I cannot do fasting without the risk of going bonkers and eating the table - yes, the actual wood- so I decided to try two days a week to eat low carb - and normal the rest of the week. It's supposed to help lower the risk for diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer's - my dad has the diabetes and the Alzheimer's, I've had the cancer - and I want to get rid of about ten pounds. My problem - I eat almost no red meat. So yesterday was my first day - ate two eggs for breakfast, egg white salad for lunch, walnuts and plain humus on a plate for a snack. By the time we got to dinner, chicken with mole sauce, I was so hungry I was eying the wood table after all - but it was probably full of carbs. After the chicken, broccoli, and salad, I still wanted more to eat. I just kept repeating to myself that I could eat normally the next morning, but it was still really hard. I'm giving it two weeks. Maybe. If it doesn't get easier, the hell with it.

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

gardengumby

Sandy, a few years ago hubby and I went on a diet to reduce our allergens.  It was developed by a doctor here in the NW.  It was called the caveman diet but was different from the caveman diet I've seen on the internet over the last couple years.  Anyway for meat you could eat lamb or turkey or fish. No salmon. No dairy. I can't remember about eggs.  No legumes. No grains.  No sugar.  No citus, apples or pears.  No potatoes or tomatoes.  no chocolate, no alcohol.  Everything else you could eat as much of as you wanted.  We stayed on it for 6 months. It was difficult at first but I've never felt as good in my whole life.

I keep saying I'm going back on it, but haven't done so yet.  For one thing I won't do it alone.  I cannot cook one way for me and another way for hubby.  Makes it too hard not to cheat.

crazy4carrots

Oh my, GG, what COULD you eat on that diet? It pretty much eliminates all the things I crave! Fortunately, I'm allergy-free.

Sandy, my niece went on that diet for a month and lost 15 lbs. However, as a very busy insurance executive, she said she spent all her free time in the kitchen preparing food (and she loves to cook, but this was too much).

alexandria58

GG - I may be able to do low-carb two days a week, but the diet you described sounds impossible, especially since chicken and turkey are pretty much the only meat I eat. I practically live on humus, beans, salad and fruit. And chocolate? I eat Trader joe's dark chocolate like it's going out of style. But that sounds like an allergy elimination diet rather than the Paleo or low carb.

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

I'd love to go on a protein diet, but since protein blocks my meds from working, I can't. Usually have carbs during the day and protein for dinner, which puts me in the "off" state for the rest of the day.

IllinoisLady

IllinoisLady

Hmmm, eating.  Should be a job because it would be such a darn enjoyable one.  I have lost about 22 pounds in the last 6 months.  Not doing anything special, but getting more fruit in the mix and being careful of portion sizes and not using creamer more than once in a day in my coffee.  I love that York International creamer.  Not a big meat eater but lean toward more chicken, turkey and an occasional pork chop.  I also increased my exercise quite a bit and that makes a big difference in weight issues for me.  Also.....lots of water.

Hoping my report comes in the mail today.....the trick will be getting down to the bottom of our lane to get the mail.

Jackie

IllinoisLady

Just saw this and had a huge, huge laugh.

crazy4carrots

Hmmmm...another kind of food -- for thought:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/05/why-obamacare-could-help-the-democrats-in-2014.html

IllinoisLady

bluedahlia

Street Art: This tribute to Michael can be found in Quebec, Canada.

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

I have a hare on my head!

IllinoisLady

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/12/05/cornelius-kelly-fox-obamacare-baby/   Seems like Cornelius Kelly wanted his 15 secs. and knew how to get it.  Pretty pathetic, but then what can you really expect from Faux News. 

Jackie

Love the dog pics totally.