Mental health

[tescela]

Hi everyone..well my story started about 10 yrs ago. One morning i leaned forward to shave in the mirror and felt a shock go in my spine like someone stuck a cattle prod in me. It literally knocked me off my feet. I couldnt walk for 3 days. First quack dr i went to told me it was just a sprain sent me back to work..i worked construction at the time. Went back to work, started to lose feeling in my legs and the pain was constant, like a migrane or toothache in your spine. Second group of geniuses i saw, well i have long hair and a goatee so they immediately assumed i was after some pain drugs..they told me how healthy and fit i looked so (never knew it would be such a hassle to look healthy amd fit..lol) they told me to take aspirin and a couple days off work. Finally had an MRI that showed a small herniation (i wish). Finally after about a month found Stooge #3..a surgeon that told me simple procedure in a month be as good as new, can go back to work, play with my kids again..everything will be fine. Well the 2 hour operation turned into a 6 hour ordeal because there were some issues that didnt show in the MRI..like my disc had completly come out of my spine and embedded itself in the main nerve and going back and working had caused the nerve to wrap around the disc.so he had to cut the nerve away from the disc (permanent damage). A month into recovery i started losing feeling in my legs again and pain came back with a vengeance. He got nervous and sent me to his friend, I think he was one of the Marx Brothers or maybe from Monty Python..he told me I have to learn to live with the pain and the numbness was in my head! Now this is great..at one point during his interview of me, he actually came around behind me and suddenly pushed my head forward! I wont say what I said after that(there are ladies present) but i stood up to my full 6 ft 1 inche 190 lbs of fit and healthy and after some choice words and the threat of seeing how he was going to remove the stethoscope from his ass he called security. Anyway moving along, finally met a real doc that i asked to give it to me straight..his words..son, your up ****s creek without a paddle. Seems that when the nerve is so damaged, it doesnt heal and to operate again would mean going near it and good chance of causing paralysis..oh and he left just a sliver of disc that quickly disintegrated causing my bones to rub together and sometimes pinching that nerve. Things progressively got worse..scar tissue wraping around nerves and more discs tearing and leaking fluid onto nerves, arthritis setting into the spine and the likelihood i wont be able to walk one day. Im on pain meds now but they dont really do much. Do i feel sorry for myself..hell no..that would do nothing but set me back..i do miss not being able to do some things a father would like to do with his son..play ball..but i make it up to him in other ways and he understands as much as a 13 yr old could. Great kid.
To everyone on this particular forum always remember, even in those dark times when you feel very alone and the world is quiet but your body or mind may be screaming and your left to your thoughts..your not alone..there are people that can relate in some way to what you feel inside, i believe many good people here amongst others. Dont ever give up no matter how hard things become..if you have kids be strong for them..show them what courage really is, be strong for yourself.
Thank You All Very Much...JABLUES (joe)...

JABLUES, you are right. None of us here are alone. Welcome home!

I'm not much of a litigious person, but your situation seems over-the-top egregious. Surely you have considered taking legal action?


One final thought: with all of the struggles many of us here face, the idea of the government depriving us of electronic cigarettes seems especially sadistic, don't you think?

[Mary Kay]

Hey Tescela! You hit 100 posts! Now you have a brand new addiction..us
Joe, you posted in A THREAD, I don't really think it matters all that much where. It's just good you did. It saddens me to think what you went through, but your attitude is wonderful. It's so easy to get depressed with all the health, both mental and physical .(I can't see well tonight and I am misspelling everything) It's nice to hear some possitive words. Welcome.

[tescela]

Hey Tescela! You hit 100 posts! Now you have a brand new addiction..us

Its true, MaryKay. I am totally addicted. I don't know which addiction worries me more: my addiction to you guys or my addiction to nicotine. Both addictions are healthy, but both take up a lot of my time.

I've been off analogs for about five weeks now, and I am planning to begin the process of progressively decreasing my nicotine dosage until I am at 6mg or lower. (I am currently at 24mg, so it going to be a lengthy process.)

Ironically, making that happen will mean that I will become even *more* addicted to you guys and the support you provide!

[Fred]

I've been off analogs for about five weeks now, and I am planning to begin the process of progressively decreasing my nicotine dosage until I am at 6mg or lower. (I am currently at 24mg, so it going to be a lengthy process.)

Ironically, making that happen will mean that I will become even *more* addicted to you guys and the support you provide!

We are many with Generalized Anxiety Disorders and nicotine is known to lower anxiety I believe.
I was planning to stop everything completely too but the most important was to stop any carcinogen first which is done now.

My goal is only to go from 16mg to 11mg at this moment and I am in no hurry.
Even my doctor had difficulties to believe I stopped to smoke tobacco completely and he never asked me to do that knowing my other problems (he is happy I did it now of course).

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

Hi guys... I just found this thread. I'm not quite to the point of posting my story here, but

well, just not quite ready yet....looking for treatment.

[Mary Kay]

Vicks, don't be silly! We already know your problem * sings* It's not easy being green* LOL

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

Vicks, don't be silly! We already know your problem * sings* It's not easy being green* LOL

Would that it was that simple.... I don't have a diagnosis, I barely have a councelling appointment, but plain and simple - I'm a waterfall these days. I'm to the point I just wish I was happy. It's tearing my marriage apart, between my issues and his.

[Mary Kay]

Well all I can say is that I used to cry while watching Simon and Simon, that hokey dectective show that was mostly comedy!..I cried about anything and everything back then. I went to a shrink and he sent me to a GYN. After my Hysterectomy I stopped crying. Of couse it didn't cure all my problems..just that one.
Get your diagnosis and then come back and tell us if you want to. Don't however think you are alone, P.M. those you feel will listen. My P.M. box has lots of room.

[stevo_tdo]

Thread rises from the dead.

Just wanted to chime in and tell you that I have schizophrenia. Took 5 years, 3 Doctors, and 15 different meds. Took 2 years to get social security disability (apparently the standard rule is they believe nobody can be disabled at 21). Now I've got a decent doctor I rarely see. I try to manage and take care of my daughter (it does help, gives me a routine and someone i love and know i need to take care of to keep me in this reality). Fiance' is pretty supportive, I know how hard it is to try to imagine what others are going through (she has hypothyroidism, type 1 diabetes, and bipolar disorder (Can't blame this one on the hypo - even though it is much worse when her levels are off)). I've gone the no meds approach now since being labeled treatment resistant (I cannot tolerate any pscho meds - which makes it hard to treat my migraines beings all the want to push is pscho meds). Of course the worst recent experience was when we took our daughter to children's hospital in saint louis. We got in to see the doctor and it seemed as she was completely ignoring my fiance when she would ask the doc questions. The doc just kept locked on me until she starting asking about our medical histories. I told her I didn't see how mine would pertain to helping my daughter ( we were there for my daughters chronic diahrea). Anyways I finally told her that I had shizophrenia, she then asked what meds I was on, I told her none, and she immediately turned to my fiance' and started talking to her instead. Ignored me the rest of the ....... appointment. Boy, that almost set me off, that got me red hot. The only reason I didn't lose it right there was because it was one of those unique instances. You know, the ones where you don't realize wtf just happened until your outside in your car getting ready to leave..lol.. I could go on and on but I won't.

Steve

[bigeyes]

the plot thickens with my condition.

turns out high estrogen can mimic hypothyroidism, so some of my symptoms are from the estrogen imbalance and some of them are from hypo and neither of them have been properly addressed. It's even possible ALL of my symptoms are from high estrogen now and the hypo is completely under control.

so now they're trying to get my progesterone levels up to lower the estrogen and then we'll take another look at thyroid levels.

I've done a lot of reading in the past few weeks and it looks to me like my estrogen levels could have gone out of whack when they took me off the pill in my early 20s because of my migraines and just steadily continued to get worse over the years.