[asking]

Hi Ken,
So sorry to hear about the diabetes diagnosis. But the good news is that the symptoms are controllable and it's possible that over time you'll feel much better than you have been for a while. I'm hoping that some of things you thought were mood related were actually caused by the diabetes and the metabolic syndrome that probably preceded it.

I did want to draw your attention to the fact that both sugared sodas and diet sodas disrupt blood sugar metabolism.

For example, here's an article from the New York Times from last February about diet drinks and metabolic syndrome, which is considered the forerunner to diabetes. You probably had metabolic syndrome for a long time before you were diagnosed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/he...on/05symp.html

It says: "the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was 34 percent higher among those who drank one can of diet soda a day compared with those who drank none."

I wish I could get all my friends to stop drinking daily sodas. :(

Anyway, I'm guessing it would help if you could switch from sodas to whole fruits (the more fiber the better) or glasses of fresh water. I wrote about this extensively last year, and a high fiber diet--especially fruit (surprisingly)--helps with blood sugar regulation.

Take care. This may turn out to be good news, since diabetes is controllable.

[KBC]

Well, the blood sugar levels have been steady and "normal".

Metformin and Glipizide have been very effective to this point, haven't needed to inject insulin for a few months now... woohoo.

Now its new meds for the other problems( Seems the older I get, the more problems... HMMMM)

I blew my knee out while splitting many cords of wood.I am now taking a new med called Naproxen.Apparently it'll cause bleeding in the stomach if not taken with food,been OK so far.. it is also a problem with the diabetes,I don't quite understand this,but the Dr. stated it might cause some problems somehow,much less I can't take aspirin or the like for all the other pains I have daily,, WHINE WHINE WHINE.

My Lamictal and Celexa have been a good concoction,seems like this 'MIGHT' be a good winter... we'll see!!

As the initial thread states, Keeping on the daily meds has made me a more functional person,willing to do the right thing,even if it hurts,, sniff,sniff... :)

Hope to hear from my friends and newbies soon,

KEN

[asking]

Hi Ken,
Glad to hear your medications are working! Do you think that some of your mood problems were related to the untreated diabetes?

I messed up my knee this year too. A pain. Exercise helps.
Have you been doing that?

I've been tapering off my methadone the last few weeks, which makes me sort of obsessive and gives me hot flashes. I thought it was menopause until I looked up methadone withdrawal.

I have my fingers crossed that you have a great winter.

[KBC]

Hi Ken,
Glad to hear your medications are working! Do you think that some of your mood problems were related to the untreated diabetes?

I messed up my knee this year too. A pain. Exercise helps.
Have you been doing that?

I've been tapering off my methadone the last few weeks, which makes me sort of obsessive and gives me hot flashes. I thought it was menopause until I looked up methadone withdrawal.

I have my fingers crossed that you have a great winter.

Yes, some of the moods were definitely from the diabetes, but not all.

My knee is a cartilage tear ,I get the MRI in Monday am and possible scope work before Christmas,, what a glorious winter this will be.LOL :)And exercise,LOTS of it, I am installing a new hand split shake roof on an old(1860's) barn,now that hurts... :(

Hot flashes,huh,Must be thinking about that special someone when they come on... ;)

Hope the intensity tapers off for you,hope to see more of you in here,

Ken

[asking]

My knee is a combination ACL injury, plus miniscus tear in did in my teens. Then just when it was getting better, I bashed it on a branch. Don't know what that did. At least I can hike now. I do better when I exercise.

The barn. That sounds cool, but really bad for your knee if you are doing a lot of kneeling. Don't do this! That's the one thing I've discovered I cannot do at all anymore.

The hot flashes (ha!) seem purely related to methadone withdrawal. It's weird because I never had them before. I think this is going to be going on for a couple of months, since my planned taper is so slow.

[KBC]

My knee is a combination ACL injury, plus miniscus tear in did in my teens. Then just when it was getting better, I bashed it on a branch. Don't know what that did. At least I can hike now. i do better when I exercise.

The barn. That sounds cool, but really bad for your knee if you are doing a lot of kneeling. Don't do this! That's the one thing I've discovered I cannot do at all anymore.

The hot flashes (ha!) seem purely related to methadone withdrawal. It's weird because I never had them before. I think this is going to be going on for a couple of months, since my planned taper is so slow.

How go those hot flashes?I hope they have settled down for you:)

My surgery is scheduled for Jan 13th.That's a long way off,and being stuck on vicodin for that long isn't sitting well.This pain med is bringing out the addict in me again,I am short tempered,tweaked in my thinking,argumentative,and my buttons are way too easily pushed.

I am on a probation of sorts in here even! I made an enemy of a member and was accused of insulting them.Even though others have pm'ed me to support some of my actions,I still believe I would have never gone to the extremes I did with this issue had I been more 'sober'.

I have been wondering if vicodin causes muscle spasms?At night I stretch and my leg muscles cramp up on the other leg, not the one with the damage.Maybe it's that I use the other leg more due to the injury?Not sure.

Hope you had a nice thanksgiving and hope to hear from you soon,

Ken

[asking]

Hi Ken,
I had a great thanksgiving with family and hope you did too.

I still have hot flashes, also lots of headaches. Kind of discouraged these days. Tapering is taking so long and I feel crummy nearly all the time. I'm tempted to try cold turkey to get it over with. I HATE methadone! I go down an eighth of a pill every other week and each time that eighth pill less gives me hot flashes and misery.

Of course, I still have baseline lower back and knee pain and that's been worse, so that doesn't help my cranky mood.

I am sorry they have got you on vicodin for such a long time. That sets you up for an addiction relapse, but I'm guessing you will be able to overcome the temptation to continue for more than a reasonable amount of time after the surgery. Maybe give yourself a deadline? A doctor friend told me to keep taking pain meds through physical therapy.( But he's an addict himself. His wife had to through away his drugs.)

I didn't know that pain meds make people short tempered and argumentative. You mean that's not all me??

I've been on pain meds--different ones-- now since June of 2004, though I'm now down to 2.5 mg of methadone. I sleep terribly if I don't take ambien or benadryl or something to help. I switch off, so I don't get dependent on any one thing. The sleep disturbance is a symptom of methadone withdrawal too, so I'm hoping to get better sleep when I'm finally free of its grip.

I took vicodin for a while and I did have muscle spasms in my legs, but both were back in 2004-2005 and I can't tell if there was a connection. Seems possible now that you mention it. It could also be overuse, as you say. Can you do some simple warm ups and stretches before bed? That might help. I would try to do both legs as much as possible. The more you maintain muscle tone in both legs, the better your recovery from the surgery. I read that people who put off knee surgery have a worse outcome because they are so deconditioned by the time they get the surgery.

[KBC]

Hi Ken,

I didn't know that pain meds make people short tempered and argumentative. You mean that's not all me??!

Can you do some simple warm ups and stretches before bed? That might help.

Thanks,I wondered if I was just in my addiction mode again,seems like I am settling down,usage is down to 4-5 a day.(Even though it's dangerous to work in the shop while taking these,power tools and pain meds... not a good mix,unless I can't feel it when I lose a finger... :eek: OUCH!)

Exercise before bed... hmm,that's when it is the most painful.Mornings, the pain is there but after a day of normal use it's a different story.

Surgeon is still booked till Jan.The OR is tied up(I guess not ALL elective surgeries.:rolleyes: )

[asking]

I guess I would try gentle knee exercises in the morning then. Whatever makes you feel better. For me, it's walking. For you something else might help. It's not so much whether it feels better while you are doing it but how it feels later.

Plus then you could do very gentle stretches before bed. I was just thinking it might be worth trying. You could do some easy yoga type stretches while watching a TV show or similar. (I do that. :)) For example, I stretch out my quads and hamstrings. And also I found a stretch for the si joints that helps my back. Of course, I don't do them as much as I should...

I have a friend who is in the same boat--having to wait for surgery--and his wife told me that it's really hard to get surgery this time of year because people wait until their deductible is used up, then schedule surgery for late in the year. Then people like you who really need it now, have to wait.

4-5 doesn't sound too bad. If that helps you function, it's good!

I'm down to 3/8ths plus a little.

How did the roof come out?

[KBC]

The roof is AWESOME( I need to get some pics of it, once the snow melts that is:p )

Now an insurance company wants me to do a hand split shake repair on a round,ceramic tiled(ceramic sides),barn,only 3-4 square,I said, NOPE, not until 1) winter is over and 2) not until my knee is done healing after surgery.. (they have NO ONE to do this type work... Exclusivity has it's privileges... LOL)

[asking]

Cool! That it came out so well and that you have people asking you to do work.

I had a good day today. Volunteered helping kids with science fair projects at the local junior high school, went for a walk with a friend, looking at old houses and stone work in my favorite neighborhood.

After thought... My basement is full of hand split shakes from the decrepit house I tore down to build the one I'm in. I use it for kindling. Is that really bad? Is it rescuable? Some of it is rotten, but some is quite solid still. It's about 100 years old.

[KBC]

After thought....My basement is full of hand split shakes from the decrepit house I tore down to build the one I'm in. I use it for kindling. Is that really bad? Is it rescuable? Some of it is rotten, but some is quite solid still. It's about 100 years old.

NO,it is very good kindling,all the scraps/cut-off pieces from the barn,the customer wanted for either the new 'chicken coop,, uggg, or for kindling,it burns great doesn't it?

Rescuable/reusable? Not in the conventional way,to use the old ones might be acceptable for restoration( they are already gray and weathered) but the insurance type work,and the new wouldn't go for anything used(maybe slate/tile,something man made)

I would use them though, great shims for large openings in door frames,maybe to shim a joist/rafter that needed adjusted,, something like that.Much less in art work or making a bird feeder roof... hmmm, Maybe I need to see what you have?? ;)

[asking]

I have used them for shims on occasion. They do burn wonderfully! Which is why I would not really want a roof made of them here in wildfire central...

The rafters in my old house were held up by redwood branches. When there was an earthquake a lot of them would fall down and I would have to go up in the attic and put them all back in place. They weren't even nailed in. A bit of a shack, but I lived there for 5 years.

I don't think my shakes are worth mailing across the country, but I'm happy to post a photo if you really want to see them? :)

[KBC]

I have used them for shims on occasion. They do burn wonderfully! which is why I would not really want a roof made of them here in wildfire central...

The rafters in my old house were held up by redwood branches. When there was an earthquake a lot of them would fall down and I would have to go up in the attic and put them all back in place. They weren't even nailed in. A bit of a shack, but I lived there for 5 years.

I don't think my shakes are worth mailing across the country, but I'm happy to post a photo if you really want to see them? :)

Just a joke,, I have sooooooo many shakes (and I make my own for interesting little gifts).

Made some from oak once(mostly band saw cuts)They eventually curled up so much the birds simply landed on them,looked around for predators(and competition) and went to eat.

[asking]

Mine are cedar I think. Nasty splinters. They do not curl!

I can see oak curling.

I've got a lot of tight grained oak rounds I am trying to get my two teenage sons to split. They thought it was fun for half an hour...

Are there any exercises that help your knee? Or is it all bad?

[KBC]

Are there any exercises that help your knee? Or is it all bad?

To bend even halfway down,the left knee(injured) will shoot pain through the entire leg,then the foot is in pain,only on the inside of the foot though.

Both knees used to crack on a regular basis(probably from many years roofing.. etc) and I would purposely kneel to pop them on a regular basis(probably going to have arthritis later in life.Better hurry though,not much life left... lol)

So any real stresses on the left are kind of out,the right leg I can stretch out though.

[KBC]

Great news!

The Doctor called,said that someone canceled their appt. for surgery!! Woo hoo:)

Now it'll be my turn on DEC 24th.

Don't really care if Christmas is a little painful,It's already painful and I would rather be in recovery than in this constant nagging pain anyway(sure,I say this today... :p )

Apparently the squeaky wheel is going to get greased.

These Hydrocodone are not all their cracked up to be,I am more than ready to get some clarity back in my thoughts.Hopefully I'll be off them soon!

[asking]

Congratulations, Ken! I'm happy to hear this. I guess this is your Christmas present.

As far as exercises, I wasn't thinking of deep knee bends! Heaven forfend.

More like some of these. Anything that can be done without pain.
Knee Pain Exercises

I agree about hydrocodone. My feeling at this point is that opiates generally are wonderful for short term use and if you are really stuck with severe chronic pain. I don't think, for example, that NSAIDS like ibuprofen are in any way better. They just have different trade offs and, overall, opiates are much safer. But even aside from physical dependency, opiates have cognitive side effects that are subtle but persistent.

Good luck with the surgery!

[KBC]

Christmas came early this year,The surgery got advanced again, Had it this AM!It went great,and I was home by 2PM.

Now the pain pills are doing for recovery instead of nursing the long term pain.

I meet with the psych Dr. in the AM and I feel confident the meds will stay the same,as I am doing well enough this year(so far.. :) )

[asking]

Busy, busy, busy! This is great and I hope you recover quickly.
Merry Christmas and sleep well tonight. :)