Advice for Better Living Archives

I am a nurse, so everyone (family and friends) has always turned to me for advice and help. I have some family members that won't take an aspirin without asking me first. I have enough on my own plate right now, multiple surgeries, a hell of a flare, teenager problems, etc. How can I get the message to these people that I am not the free clinic and I have more of my own problems than I can handle without them adding theirs?

Having oral problems due to the medication I take, I have tried mouth washes and even brushing my tongue, to try and get rid of this fowl coating, has anyone else got this type of problem? and if so can you suggest ideas to get rid of it .

Yick! Medicine Mouth! HELP!

The answer was for myself was acidophilus.
You can buy this in a capsule form from a pharmacy or health food outlet.
Also yogurt with acidophilis and bifidis also helps.
I had oral thrush due to mtx and prednisolone therapy.
After a couple of weeks it cleared up.
As long as I stick to this regieme. No white furry tongue occurs
-rosie.

This may sound stupid, 'cause my guess is you've already tried it, but
have you had any suggestions from your Rheu to use oral Nystatin <sp?>? Tastes like poop, it's for babies with thrush. You don't swallow it, just swish it around in your mouth and then <I think> wait a couple of minutes before you spit it out.

This has helped me, but I've only had your problem once.

Good Luck!
Laura

I am dealing with some severe pain right now. Walking is very difficult, as is standing. I have small children and that means lots of holiday preparation. How will I ever get my shopping done, house decorated, cookies baked? HELP! 

Hello, I know what you are going through. I have RA, Fibromyalgia, Bursitis, Gout, Reynaud's Syndrome and Frieburg's Disease. But mostly I have 5 kids from 3 to 15, a dog, two cats and a husband that is deployed. How to get through the holidays! #1 remember Jesus is the reason for the season! Everything else is hype. I have found several things that help and make it so much easier. 
Decorate a little bit at a time. I pulled out my rolling desk chair and rolled around the tree as the kids helped decorate. Sometimes less is more. For holiday lights, since my husband is gone, I bought some of those large suction cups with the hooks for wreaths. I hung them on the windows and bought light up snowflakes and hung on the hooks. Even down here in the deep south I have snowflakes falling now!
For shopping I go to Amazon.com a lot. They have toys, clothes, books, movies, electronics, etc.--you don't have to have a credit card. You can process your order and they will give you the information to send in a check. Time may be getting limited to do this but they do take credit cards too, including debit cards and I have had no problem with security. Delivered to my door. For wrapping I just use gift bags.
For holiday baking sometimes instant is good too! For homemade candy-I buy a huge candy cane, put in ziploc bag and break with a hammer. Then I melt white almond bark, pour broken candy cane in pan, stir and pour out on wax paper. This is delicious and pretty. I just break into pieces and wrap in pretty plastic wrap. Quick bread mixes are so easy, just use aluminum foil bread pans, cranberry bread is so pretty, bake and wrap with plastic wrap and tie with bow. Makes a great present too!
Mainly remember Jesus and your family, spend time together, pray together and be thankful you have each day to be with your family.
I hope I have helped. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me back.
God Bless and Happy Holidays!
Lisa M.

Keep your decorations low, as in low enough to be at your kids? level. This will save on the climbing that can be pretty scary when you are unsteady. Since things are at their level they should be things kids can touch & take off the wall to play with if they are irresistible. This means they really ought to be paper. It?s inexpensive and with paint & glitter (I just adore the chunky white kind-it really is quite snow-like) it can look GORGEOUS. If your family or friends raise an eyebrow smile angelically and say ?Christmas really is for the children you know.? Let anyone over about 2 yrs help with the painting and glittering. With any luck you can turn cleanup into water play and most of your work will be supervisory. It?s not exactly a Martha Stewart Christmas, but I would bet it?s one your whole neighborhood would be envious of. I hope that this has helped a bit! Dena

I don't mean to do commercial advertising exactly but, for shopping, it's hard to beat Amazon.com. They've even added clothes this year. They still have books, but also tools, toys, music, videos, everything for household and kitchen, and/or all kinds of electronics from PDAs and cell phones to well, hundreds of thousands of choices. I recommend them because I've done literally hundreds of transactions without a hitch. It's a fast, easy, safe, joint friendly way to go. And as for decorating? Remember Tom Sawyer and the fence whitewashing job? Bet you can convince some of your single friends that it's actually FUN. I have several who live in apartments far from their families and they don't do anything themselves or have the room for boxes of accumulated Christmas decor - and they have a blast coming over here to do the place up. Some eggnnog, a few boxes of cookies, etc. and it's a done deal. As for the cooking. Most of the major supermarket chains will roast you a turkey and everything imaginable in the way of fixings to simply heat and serve. Is it the "same" as the years you did it all yourself? No. But do kids notice? Again, no. The tree is up, they get their loot, and they get fed. Good luck. Lynne (RA) 

Now is the time to call in the troops of reinforcements. Call your sisters and ask if they could bake a few extra cookies for you. Look for church's that have cookie walks and go and purchase the cookies. Call on your extended family if there are some close of some other mothers and ask if they can help you. Perhaps you can wangle a trade, like I'll watch your kids if you bake something extra. Ask for help. People watch us struggle and we don't THINK to ask for help. Make a list of what is important and what is not. If help is not available then remember the most important thing is time with your kids, not the cookies. Read them stories of the Christmas season or watch the specials on TV. Make your memories with them instead of the hustle and bustle of the season. Your kids will adjust and not know anything else is different, and when they do you explain that Mommy hurts and can't do all of those things. But, your memories will be of time spent with your kids, reading, playing games, singing carols. Focus on family not what the commercialism of the season tells us that we must. Toni

Help for the Holidays

Hi, I have been dealing with osteoarthitis in neck, knees and lower
back for about 6 years. I have tried just about everything and just had
prescribed for me a drug called neurontin. Can you tell me how this
drug is supposed to help arthitis pain? I am willing to try it in order
to avoid surgery. I would like to know what to expect and how long one
must use the drug in order to feel the results. I started on 100 mg and
just increased it to 300mg. Please tell me what to expect. So far I
have only noticed minimal results.

Neurontin Anyone?