This will be my last post for CFS Squared – Tales of CFS. I have enjoyed writing here, for the past two years. But it’s time for me to move on now.

I must say, that this last word stuff is a little daunting. I kind of want to sneak away – and leave you with fun and quirky posts. But, I owe more than that to all of you, and to myself.

On more than one occasion, I have written about Do No Harm. I am going to share a little secret with all of you. Writing and/or following a health blog about chronic illness eats away at the energy you have. It most certainly eats away at mine, which is why I don’t read illness related news blurbs or other blogs. Spending so much time thinking about your illness and how others cope = self harm.

What we should be doing is enjoying life. We should be singing songs to our friends on the phone, hosting dance party in our living rooms, reading Dr Seuss to our favorite 3 year old, playing catch with our dog and his best tennis ball, and throwing fancy dinner parties where we serve pizza and KFC with very expensive wine.

We need to savor the small stuff. Stop analyzing every pain and cough.

Sure, reading about how other people cope with their issues can be somewhat helpful – but this journey is about learning what works for you. My tricks won’t work for everyone. Just like yours won’t always work for me. The best thing to do, is to get out there, and start figuring out what helps. The only way to do that, is to just do it. Be your own Nike advert.

Reading about recent developments for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia, is not going to help you get well. The latest drug may make life slightly easier for a little while, but will most likely become less effective. I will say one last thing. And this will be the most important advice that you will hear….

Get out of your head!

Now go outside and have some fun!

It’s been a pleasure.

**Picture Source - flickr

Post from: Blisstree

The Swan Song

After a week, some of the seeds have started sprouting…which proves that at least my thumbs are partly green. I took some fantastic pictures, but alas the usb port on my camera cable is bent, and so all pictures will have to wait, until I replace it.

Hopefully they will keep growing….I am getting really excited about it, and can’t wait to start using them. The one thing I have learned already, is to make sure you mark your rows. I neglected to do that, and now I don’t know which herbs have sprouted and which haven’t. A mistake that will not be made on my next attempt. Oh well, its all a learning process.

Will report more on the garden in a couple of days.

In the meantime, to tie you over-here is a picture of what Lemon Balm is supposed to look like.

Image details: Lemon balm plant served by picapp.com

Post from: Blisstree

The Start of My Journey Into Medicinal Herb Growing

As I write this post, I am wearing a pair of Pinhole glasses. When I first discovered this product, I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. A few weeks later, I received my pair of glasses and not only was I skeptical, but I had thought I had time traveled back in time to 1984. I am fairly sure that I had a similar pair, when I was a kid. Although I suspect they were for purely aesthetic reasons.

Now, it must be said that I have no problems with my eyesight, with the exception of being a little light sensitive. I work in a very bright office during the week, and so there are days when I wear sunglasses indoors. I wasn’t sure if I was the right person to test this product out. So I passed them around to various coworkers who have some vision problems.

Out of six people who wore them – one person loved them, and thought that it actually would help him. To be fair – he is the only person who gave them a fair chance. He wore them the longest, and looked at different things (computer, the newspaper, outside), to see if it would make a difference.

Three out of the six people just couldn’t get past the appearance of these glasses. The lens is made of perforated plastic, so you are looking through many dots. So they weren’t prepared to really get the experience. They did report that it didn’t make their vision any worse – or cause any other symptoms such as headaches.

Two of the six people, couldn’t remark on how effective these glasses are, because their vision is so bad – and these glasses are not for everyone. So really, they weren’t fair test subjects.

The last test subject is me. Here are my findings:

• These glasses filter out a lot of light. So in my very bright office, these glasses were quite helpful
• I had to slow down my reading speed a tad, just because the glasses are foreign to me, and it took some adjusting. This is not at all a negative. Slower reading speed means higher comprehension. In fact, I accomplished a whole lot more than I usually do, and that is due to wearing these.
• When sitting at my computer, changing head position from looking at the screen to looking at a report on my desk, would make me a little dizzy. So when I had to do a lot of switching back and forth-I just chose to remove the glasses. But when I am working on just one activity, such as writing this blog post-they work great!
• The pin-hole glasses are not to be worn in a dark environment. Which is why they are perfect in an office setting. The entire time I wore them, I was headache free – I am attributing this to the spotted specs.
• Definitely image is a lot clearer when wearing them.
• It does take quite a while to get used to looking through polka dots. But once I adapted to the change, I became a lot more focused (vision, brain power, everything).

These glasses will reduce peripheral vision, so make sure you do not wear them while driving or operating machinery.
When I started writing this post, I had an unbelievable hang over from lack of sleep. I have worn these glasses now for almost an hour, and not only is the fogginess completely gone, but my energy has started coming back. Now, I am not claiming that these glasses will completely combat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but they have helped with my visual focus. This is a huge step in the right direction.

If you want to know more about what Pinhole Glasses can do for you, go here.

If you are interested in obtaining a pair, you can order some through Pinhole-Glasses-Direct

**Picture Source- wikipedia

Post from: Blisstree

Seeing Spots for Better Eyesight

Now lets get down to business.  CFS Squared is of course about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and all of the stuff that goes with it (good and bad), and there is a lot of good that comes with this illness.  For the most part, I write about my personal journey with this illness.  I share what works for me, and what doesn’t.  Sometimes I write about the happenings in the Chronic Fatigue world, but most often I get myself into trouble, when I do that so I tend to shy away from hot topics.  If you have a topic that you would like to see addressed, please shoot me an email to laura@b5media.com and hopefully I will be able to write my take on something that you would like to see.

There are some things that CFS Squared is not.  CFS Squared is not written by a medical professional.  There is a disclaimer that can be found on the sidebar.  I will always suggest that you talk things over with your health care practitioner before making a decision on something that you have read here.  What has worked for me, may not work for you.  Please understand that we are all different, and our illness varies between person to person.  The same goes for commenters.  Any comment that you have read on this blog, can not be taken as advice from a healthcare practitioner. These are people living with the illness, just like you and me.  There is a big range of how we each deal with CFS as individuals.

CFS Squared is not a forum.  I encourage comments, and I applaud readers for reaching out to each other via my blog posts.  Sometimes a topic that is covered, can get some pretty enthusiastic responses, and while I think that is fantastic – people who subscribe to comment feeds, can get more than a little overwhelmed.  I just think there is a better medium out there to communicate on topics with like minded individuals.  For instance, there are many forums on topics such as chronic illness or certain medications.  Support groups can be found everywhere (and this includes online groups). If you can’t find one that is suitable, you can try setting up your own.  There are lots of applications available.  Even Facebook will allow you to set up a little something.

Like I said, I don’t want to discourage comments. But I also don’t want the message of this blog to get lost.  In case the message has already gotten lost, let me reiterate it again.  CFS Squared is about living positively with a chronic illness.  It is a journey on how to go from living in your pajamas to regaining a positive life.

Thank you for your continued support. I appreciate all of you.

Post from: Blisstree

CFS Squared Is….

For me, I try to get out to the movies at least once a month, I never get out more than twice though… although I adore going to the cinema. Please vote in my poll – then return to this post, and let me know what kind of movies you enjoy seeing.Hope your favorites win tonight.

Post from: Blisstree

New Poll- Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Your doctor gives you a few options:

• suggests you stop working, and implement the 50% rule, gives you a schedule of medications to take everyday
• gives you just the meds
• tells you to continue doing whatever you are doing, but make lifestyle changes
• refers you to a psychiatrist
• says that there are various alternative therapies that you should try, that can help

What would you do?  When I was first diagnosed, I followed the advice to follow the 50% rule, and take medication.  Now (keep in mind hindsight is 20/20 – and I am A LOT more informed these days) I would follow the combined advice of continuing to do what I was already doing, see a therapist, and seek out alternative treatment.

If all routes can lead to the same result – and they can (for many)- why do you choose your method?

I  know lots of people disagree with my reasoning (meds – bad!) – and I think its cool that they do.  Please leave a comment telling me why you feel differently….or why you agree?

Post from: Blisstree

CFS – You Have a Choice

Post from: Blisstree

Got Pot?

How many people have seen an ad on television for prozac, ambien, or lyrica- and have convinced themselves that they need these drugs. They then go to their doctors and ask to be put on them. Do the doctors listen and explain why you do or don’t need these pills. Or do they just grab their prescription pad. You should think about this.

I found an excerpt of a movie called “Big Bucks, Big Pharma” on YouTube. It’s gotten me to think about some questions that I have had about the motivation of doctors and patients (and drug companies). I encourage you all to watch it. It is interesting. Perhaps many of us will discover, that we aren’t really ill….or maybe that these pills are keeping us ill. Advertising is slick these days. Be aware!

Please let me know what you think.
**Thanks to Chris for telling me about this video

Post from: Blisstree

Why Do You Take Pills For CFS?

• Ambien
• Zopiclone
• Valium
• Zoloft
• Xanax
• Donormyl

This is the list of prescription drugs found at the scene of Heath Ledger’s apartment, at the time of his death. I have taken 5 of the 6 drugs listed, at various times to help deal with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. On several occasions, I took some of them at the same time. You may ask, which ones? – It makes no difference. All of them can be dangerous, if not taken properly. Even when taken properly, and under the care and guidance of a doctor – there is a big risk involved.

Doctor’s are human – they make mistakes. How many doctors did Heath Ledger see, in order to get all of those prescriptions? Want to know how many I saw, in order to get mine? No fewer than 4. I could not be trusted to remember every single drug I was taking (my memory wasn’t capable – and I could never remember to write things down). Doctors, don’t always read charts provided by other doctors. I was the one that was ultimately responsible for my pill taking regime.

Want to know why I now choose not to take pills for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – I am terrified of ending up the same way that Heath Ledger ultimately did. I have come close (with an encounter of Ativan – when first diagnosed, and had absolutely no business taking a drug like that), and I am done with it (and all others).

I would much rather not sleep, than take something for a problem, that will eventually sort itself out.

It’s unfortunate that this has happened to a great actor of our time, it saddens me to think about this loss – but maybe there is something that we can all learn from this.

For me at least, I know that my choice to not take anykind of drug to help me sleep – is the right one.

Picture Source

Post from: Blisstree

The Heath Ledger – CFS Connection

Mark this day on your calender (Jan 28, 2008) – which actually happens to be tomorrow.  This is the day, where not one, but two vending machines will start carrying medicinal marijuana.   Keep in mind that they will be located in the Los Angeles area, but if you live nearby – and have a doctor’s prescription, you can use them.

Here is how it works, once you are given your doctor’s ok – you need to go to the vending machine location, have your prescription approved, get finger-printed, and then get a prepaid credit card with your profile on it (which includes the dosage and the strain you prefer -up to 1oz a week!).  Then after you are all set up, all you have to do is go visit a machine, and you get your “prize”.  These machines are available to the patients 24/7 and are guarded by security for your safety.  I wonder if there are machines close by where you can buy snack-food items.  Or at least be in the close vicinity of a 7-11 store or a Denny’s – for when the munchies hit.

If you are currently taking medicinal marijuana for CFS/FM this might be something you may want to consider trying.  It may be less of a hassle.

Future plans include machines to dole out Vicodin, Viagra, and Propecia.

These vending machines can be found at:

Melrose Quality Pain Relief

4906 Melrose Ave
Mid- Wishire 323-957-7777

Herbal Nutrition Center
1435 S. La Cienega Blvd Suite G
Mid Wilshire 310 855 9484

Link from Thrillist.

**Picture Source – flickr 

Post from: Blisstree

Vending Machine Weed