Suicide Rates among people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
| October 28, 2010 | Posted by SuperADDMom under iLove, iRant |
Source: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49960.asp
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Some may view suicide as an extreme measure, but according to Dr. Paul E. Whitcomb, “Fibromyalgia sufferers have one of the highest suicide rates.” And OB/GYN News reported, “Among the 1,163 with confirmed fibromyalgia, for example, the rate of suicide was ninefold greater than in the general population, as reflected in Danish mortality register statistics. The suicide rate among the 106 women with possible fibromyalgia was increased 20-fold.” If this is truly the case, what makes suicide a high probability? Oftentimes, we do not want to hear the question from our Doctor, ‘Are you depressed?’ To us, that only means that he is going to label me as depressed and not try to figure out what’s really wrong with me. Did it ever occur to you that maybe ‘I’m depressed’ because I HAVE fibromyalgia and/or CFS? If this is the case, treatment is necessary because depression is a whole separate illness. Looking into the life of these sufferers can help those who do not suffer with this illness to understand why Judith Curren was so desperate for her painful existence to end. What could her life been like? What is your life like? What is mine like?
Have you ever thought or experienced…
I am in pain every day of my life. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t hurt somewhere.
I can’t sleep, or I sleep poorly.
My spouse is calling me “lazy.”
My friends have abandoned me because I can’t keep up with them.
Everyone thinks I’m “crazy,” including my Doctor.
I’m fat!-Probably because of medication and not being able to exercise due to pain.
I can’t play with my kids; I have no energy.
My finances are a mess because I can’t work as much, or I can’t work at all.
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Meds are not a cure, but proper administering can be a component to managing ADHD successfully
| October 27, 2010 | Posted by SuperADDMom under ADDventures, Neuro-News |
So, i had my ADHD med dose upped a few weeks ago, and it has really been an amazing difference!!!!!
For people who do not understand the struggles of dealing with forgetfulness, and scatterbrainedness, and being unable to organize your thoughts in a manner that makes getting things done easy, and stay on track, you might not appreciate just how BIG an improvement this is for me.
I have not had guests in our house since last feb when my parents came by on the way driving through to go back home from being with my uncle who died of Brain cancer last year. So i have been lax.without the pressure of company coming it is easier to say “i’ll do it later” and never get it done.
I am a shitty housekeeper. i am AWESOME in EVERY OTHER WAY in the world, but I have always been a terrible housekeeper. I have a terrible attention span to stay on track with something so boring and mundane as scrubbing floors and vacuuming. add to that two kids home all day and a disabled husband who never leaves the house except about twice a month, and a doubled list of things to do around here with only me to do them and keeping up is very difficult, especially when my ADHD meds would wear off too soon in the day.
but since my meds increase 3 weeks ago, i have managed to clean the house to a “decent” state to feel ok with allowing my daughter to have a small bday party last friday for her 10th, and the kitchen, and living room and bathroom are decluttered and relatively clean. and now, 5 day later, it is STILL clean. I’m not talking OCD clean standards. but decent. we’ll still wanna use plates and the like, no eating off the floors here, but good.
No laundry all over the couch waiting to be folded for days, the dishes are ALL WASHED and PUT AWAY, the floor has been swept, the carpet vacuumed, and just a relative overall less chaotic living space as everything finds it’s home and goes there. I’ve hung curtains and pictures in the house, cleaned the whole hallway upstairs of boxes and boxes of unpacked stuff from our move two years ago, and started on the kid den/homeschooling area, of decluttering that complete mess the kids made in there.
What’s changed? I have less anxiety and feeling overwhelmed because the meds help my brain chemistry stay on track. for the first time since before i got pregnant with my son over 6 years ago, i feel like i have the brain I had then, where the ADHD scatterbrain wasn’t so bad, that I could keep in check with routines and plans, a brain that didn’t get so overwhelmed by trying to make dinner and have people talk to it at the same time. that didn’t have so much anxiety from messing up all the time, and have panic attacks, when trying to just get a meal on the table where each component of the meal was all warm and properly cooked at the same time.
I have not had a single panic attack, emotional outburst from feeling overwhelmed in the evening starting supper and evening routines, with this new med dose. before I used to have a panic attack almost every night, get flustered, snap at people, nd end up cranky and grumpy. before my brain would just shut down and i’d be a bumbling idiot trying to not burn dinner and somehow manage to get the kids to bed in a timely fashion.
Medication/drugs is never a cure all, or the only solution, but it is a part of my better managing the debilitating ADHD I have. The meds at a proper level, along with good plans, notes, to do lists and implementing routines that become second nature to my ADHD brain mean less chaos, and a happier family over all…and I feel pretty damn good about that right now…it’s been 6 years!
I’ve been trying routines and plans for 6 years with the wrong dose of meds, and I’d fail every time. people can be as negative as they want about ADHD and medications, but I am living proof, that without the right personalized mix of meds and behaviour modifications, nether the meds will work alone, nor will the behaviour modifications work alone.
I feel like I’ve been swimming under the surface of the water for 6 years with a rock tied to my foot, and I have been struggling to get to the top for air, and I have finally broke through the surface by breaking the ropes the rock was held on with, and am able to tread water again like I used to,with my head above water and maybe soon as I catch things back up that have fallen so far behind from all the ADHD fog, i’ll be able to actually SWIM again, and maybe even WIN the race.
If you have been trying ADHD meds with no success at finding the right combo of brain chemistry alteration and behaviour modification, it might be time to see if a change is necessary. if you’ve been struggling and are on meds,maybe a coach and some help with implementing routines is needed, or if you’ve been struggling trying to implement routines, maybe the meds need to be tweaked.
I’ve fought for 6 years to find the right combination..I’ve finally found it!!!
You don’t need to feel like your drowning anymore, don’t give up!
Rant on Bullying
| October 7, 2010 | Posted by SuperADDMom under iRant |
Ya know, it is good that bullying is getting attention, so maybe someday we can stop the social pressures and bullying of kids that are different, but GAY kids are NOT the only ones bullied in school.it is very big in the media right now due to the suicide of a young gay student, harassed and bullied by other students over being gay.
Yes, this is not a light issue at all, and it does need attention, as it is becoming a bigger issue as homosexuals “come out” earlier in life due to overall social “acceptance” but ALL children need to be educated on bullying of ALL types.
Children with learning disabilities are bullied every day, autistic kids are bullied every day, ADHD kids are bullied everyday, FAT kids are being bullied and pressured with the negative pressure from society on obesity everyday. Poor kids, “ugly kids”.. the list goes on there will always be a bully issue, because there will always be a issue with prejudice and discrimination in our world.
BULLYING PERIOD needs to be dealt with. This is a LARGE reason why I homeschool, because the sheeple mentality in a group/gang settings like school playground/hallways creates negative social interaction for children who are already struggling enough in life trying to learn, and grow up, and figure out who they are!
I was bullied in school, for being overweight. I was oinked at in the halls for eating anything. To the point I stopped eating in school, I went to a school an hour away by bus in my rural hometown in Cape Breton, and I refused to take a lunch and eat in front of people. I was called a cow, laughed at, had my gym shorts pulled down so often I either skipped gym and failed the class, or started wearing a bathing suit under my clothes to protect myself from be declothed completely so assholes could look at my “fat ass” and point and laugh.
Then because I found friendship in other girls who were overweight as well, we were then teased and called fat cow lesbians, for no other reason then we were girls who danced at the school dances together ( fast songs) because being a “fat cow” we could not get dates or have boyfriends from our own school, and because when the slow songs played we’d go to the bathroom to avoid the young teen girl misery of being the select few without a boy to slow dance with.
Schools have not changed. Society has not changed. Bullying won’t change. But how we react to the bullying can change, and that is where we need to look at this. You can’t teach a asshole to not be an asshole, regardless of if they are 14, 18, 25, or 40. A kid who is a bully is usually getting mental reinforcements of their underlying attitude in their homes, by their parents.
Bullying does not stop out of school. It is part of our world. As long as we have a society that places higher value on one set of people over another there well be mental,physical and philological bullying, always.
Just look fat vs thin, poor vs financially secure, good grades/good jobs vs people who struggle to get through school due to learning issues, and those who cannot attend secondary schools and get well paying socially prestigious jobs.
Christians VS Mulsim, Anti Gay Vs the homosexual population of our world.
Wars have been started over the bullying mentality, the “I’m better than you” mentality.
IT WILL NEVER END
We need to teach people to stand up for themselves, and not let some ass hat decide their worth for them in our world.
Bullied people need to be taught to NOT BE A VICTIM. Because the bullies are never going to go away.
We as parents need to teach our children that their self esteem and value is not calculated by the amount of friends they have, or how many parties they are invited to, or what they look like or how much they weigh, or what clothes they can afford to buy or if they are attracted to the same sex, or what secondary schools they can afford to attend. Their value is in being a good person to everyone and to teach acceptance and understanding and kindness and compassion, and not being prejudiced of others, and not bullying others themselves, and by the good they do in this world.
As a bullied kid, who is now a 36 year old mother of two who has struggled her entire life with self esteem from the bullies in school who I LET have power over my happiness, I say…Take back your power, as the bullied….because in this world there will ALWAYS be a bully in your life. Learn to walk away.
You cannot be bullied, if you don’t let it hurt you. they can try, but their words and actions fall at your feet and don’t penetrate your heart and mind if you don’t let it.
I told my mother about the bullying. She spoke to the Principal, the kids were spoken to by the principal in school with their parents. It didn’t stop it, they just then picked on me for being a cry baby. I retreated inward, became a loner, dressed in black because it was sliming and not noticeable as colours on a “fat ass”. IT didn’t help to tell people…I was still miserable until those older kids graduated and left the school, it lifted a bit, to the point of it not being to my face that they laughed at me. Some days I wonder if it mattered to tell anyone, but we tried, and my mother’s words to me of “don’t let them have that hold over you. Don’t let it get to you”, might not have been 100 percent effective in not having bullies damage my esteem and self worth, but it was good to have the reminder and someone in my corner.
I spent a large part of my life worrying about what others thought of me, trying to fit in, not being too noticed in order to be picked out and picked ON. In part i think the reason my ADHD and dyslexia was not Dxed in school, was because I hid any and all issues that would make me stand out.
It took me a long time to get here, where I am now. I’ve had to deal with a lot of emotional baggage, and discover myself through all of that crap, but now as an adult, I don’t have people in my life who make me feel inferior for any reason. You are either contributing to my happiness, or you are contaminating it, if you are contaminating it, you are not in my life for very long.
I wish I had had the strength in my heart to have known this then, or had had people to teach this to me then, it would have made a HUGE difference in my life, and the years I’ve wasted letting those bullies from school still follow me through the years in my mind and in my heart would have been less.
I hate that I let them have a say in my life for so long, even after the school years, when they no longer even thought of me.
Don’t let that happen to you…Take back your power!
Fork & Knife
| August 20, 2010 | Posted by SuperADDMom under iMother |
Sensory boy has a bit of an issue with pronouncing some things due to how he hears things. his t’s are often d’s and his b’s and p’s are interchangable in words as well.
Sometime when he needs to say AND he says AN, i think it is due to how he doesn’t process an entire word when his brain receives the sound. It can make for some funny moments because of how *I* hear with my auditory processing, and how *HE* pronounces words due to his.
he just came runing in the house and said “i need a fuckin knife”
or so *I* thought. I asked him, “you need what?” as he ran to the kitchen. I don’t react negatively when I misshear, because I know that this is most likely the case. But still I need to ask.
He came back to the living room, heading back out to the tent, holding up a fork and knife.
“i need a fook an knife” and off he ran again.
“AHHHHH”, I said… “OK then”…
Crazy-Makin’
| July 15, 2010 | Posted by TheMundaneOne under ADDventures |
I’m not sure if it has been mentioned here before, but we’ve been without a hot water heater for almost 3 months. Our old hot water heater was the only propane appliance drawing from some VERY large tanks in our yard. When we moved in, we thought we’d use the propane for heating and eventually a gas range, but we discovered very quickly that the propane fireplaces here were too inefficient to be practical. We’d decided to get rid of the big rental tanks and replace them with much smaller ones when Superior propane showed up while we weren’t home and refilled them without our permission (we’d repeatedly told them the house had changed owners and we didn’t want them filled). That meant we were stuck with them until they were empty enough to move – and by our calculations we had enough propane to run the hot water tank until at least 2011. They gave us a deferred, interest-free payment plan because of their screwup and that was paid in full as of March.
So, of course, we ran out of propane on April 17th, 2010.
Since then, we’ve had to do without. We’ve boiled water for baths on the stove, bathed in the mill pond, and used cold water for everything else. We researched out options extensively, including looking for alternative propane tanks that we could move and fill ourselves, alternative hot water heaters (including solar options), and anything else we could think of. Everything was a no-go: financially we couldn’t afford to purchase tanks, lines, regulators or anything else outright; because we live rurally, we don’t have natural gas lines so there is no gas company to finance a heater; our electricity comes from the large, main provincial utility rather than a local municipal supplier (the usual tank-rental providers); and we were having trouble getting financial help from CMHC, the government agency which is supposed to assist with such problems. That is, until about 2 weeks ago, when we found a company which declares their mandate to be renting electric hot water tanks to rural homeowners. It took 10 days of phone-tag, but finally ADDGirl finally was able to arrange an installation for July 13th. Unfortunately, we didn’t know until they arrived that the existing HWT wiring didn’t meet the current building code so they were able to hook up the water to the tank, but not the power. I had to go out and purchase $6 worth of armoured cable and install it last night, so the plumbers could come back and connect the wire to the heater today (“We’re not allowed to go in your electrical panel, because we’re not electricians,” they said).
Sorry to be long-winded and boring, but I had to explain that to tell you about this.
I planned to work before dark so that when the main power was off, I’d still be able to see – but that didn’t work out. In fact, the job kept getting delayed and delayed until after 2am. I used a backup power pack (a deep cycle battery/built-in inverter combo device) to run a halogen work light so I could do the job with the mains off. It was gruelling due to my pain issues and lack of stamina, and the fact that pauses were needed to make everything safe and let the battery recharge with the mains back on (we had to do that at least 3 times). Finally done around 3:30am, I sat down to rest and relieve the agony in my legs while she put some things away. I was also desperately thirsty, but we had no drinking water because the kids had emptied the water cooler during the day and she’d forgotten to change it. Then, she got on the computer – in spite of the fact that she knew she had to be up for the plumber’s return in 5-6 hours – and proceeded to play around for more than 40 minutes. This induced an argument – while I tried to point out the lack of forward thinking in wasting time instead of getting into bed, she kept insisting that “wind down” time was needed. I went to double-check that things were finished, and discovered the back door had been left unlocked, so I locked up, turned off the lights, and came back to find her still on the computer. Finally, she came into the bedroom, crawled on the bed, and within seconds was incoherently telling me she’d “Just be a minute” and she’d refill the water cooler that she’d promised to take care of 12 hours before “in a sec”. Our well water is not suitable for drinking (after the water softener, it still tastes very unpleasant) so the water cooler or bottled water is only way to slake ones thirst. After I tried to be patient for almost an hour, we ended up having a huge blow-up because I lost my temper with the “I’m just resting my eyes a minute” B.S. In a snit, she went out to the car and brought in some bottled water. Eventually things calmed down, but it was damn close to 6:30am before we were actually getting to sleep.
Now, here’s what makes me nuts.
The plumber showed up sometime around 9am (without calling first like he was supposed to), so she wasn’t awake. He knocked but we were obviously too out-cold to hear it (which is actually abnormal for me, but given the circumstances, understandable). A neighbour walking by told him that if the van was home we were home, but he couldn’t get an answer. He saw through the window that the wire was ready to be hooked up, so he tried the door, found it unlocked, and walked in and connected the hot water tank. He then left a note and headed off to do his next service call.
Note that the door was unlocked. It wasn’t SUPPOSED to be unlocked.
She’d forgotten to lock it when she went out for water to drink. She wouldn’t have gone through it if it wasn’t for the argument and her sudden “inability to stay awake” problem.
I’d locked the door. I’d tried to get us into bed as soon as we were done the job. I’d reminded her repeatedly about the water, only to be ignored. I did everything right, trying to steer us toward getting enough rest and making sure she’d be up when the plumber showed up, trying to plan in advance and anticipating any problems.
She did everything wrong – she didn’t get to bed early enough (and prevented us both from getting the job done in a timely manner), she didn’t get the water when she was supposed to, forcing her to have to drag her butt outside at 5am – and as a result she left the door unlocked so anyone could walk in the house.
If it wasn’t for ADHD behaviour and the argument over failing to get stuff done,the plumber wouldn’t have been able to get in. He would’ve had to charge us for a service call instead of doing the hookup for free. We wouldn’t have hot water today – plus we’d have had to pay out-of-pocket to have them come back.
So much for learning from mistakes. ARGH!
MuffinTin Miracle!
| July 12, 2010 | Posted by SuperADDMom under ADDventures |
So a few weeks ago I “liked” a page on facebook for “muffin tin meals” when I saw it on a friend’s status as it looked kind of fun for the kids, and I wanted some more info.
When I saw what they were doing with “muffin tin mondays” I decided I’d try it with the kids. I have muffin tins I NEVER use ( as you can see by the picture! lol) I liked the idea because it is derived from Bento boxes from Japanese traditions, and as an ADD person I find Asian culture’s streamline organized ways to be calming to my mind.
Anyway, in my usual ADD fashion I forgot about it for a week or so, and then in a rush one evening this week past, and from having literally NO clean plates in the house due to our current canoe project taking up a lot of my time, I needed a solution!
Once again a possible ADD disastrous supper due to no clean dishes, and little time to prepare anything decent, I became a Super ADD Mom, and got some major cool mom points for remembering the muffin tin idea.
I dug out some muffin tins and scoured the fridge for leftovers, and made a muffin tin meal for the kids. We had worked late on the canoe and everyone was tired and cranky, so I just threw in some fast bite foods to fill the tummies fast, and cut up their hot dogs in bite size manageable pieces with some raisins for the boy, and hummus for the girl.
THEY LOVED IT!
HOW SIMPLE an idea, but how BRILLIANT! A mom and former preschool teacher from California came up with muffin tin meals!
Now, the kids are asking for muffin tin meals at every supper, and if I can dish it in a muffin tin, I am!
The smaller sized sandwiches or hotdogs cut make it easier to eat, and they are HAPPY to have them cut for the muffin tin. If I suggested cutting a hot dog served on a plate in half to make it more manageable to hold they’d normally get really upset..possibly even major meltdowns, but in a muffin tin, they are happy to have it cut.
The girl HATES her foods touching each other, so this is PERFECT for her. Potatoes and corn and chicken all separated. Even gravy for dipping. She’s not whining about foods touching.
The hyper boy is making less mess and actually SITTING for supper!
In fact he was so excited for “our muffintin meal” for supper the other night he cleaned the WHOLE table off ( it was stacked with crafts, recycle, and the breakfast dishes)….and he worked really hard to wipe the table off! He was so Proud of himself! he said to me ” i’m being asponsible aren’t I mommy” with a big grin on his face.
Then in the evening after the kids were in bed. TMO and I were cutting beef up and I put the crock pot and slushie maker on the table for counter room, and in the morning the boy said ” AWWW man I JUST cleaned this WHOLE table and someone went and messed it ll up!”
I laughed so hard…nice role reversal. I cleared off the table and told them if they like muffin tin meals to keep the table and dining areas clean. Today they kept it clean again, and even put new place mats in place, and made a bouquet of fresh flowers from the garden. 
So far… this is like a small miracle in my house! We are planning on shopping for some nicer looking colourful muffin tin type trays for the kids soon, or maybe making more traditional bento boxes.
The Mundane One has also said he’d like to eat that way too and spent some time on google looking at bento boxes.
Thanks @muffintinmom !! She and I connected on Twitter last night, and best part of all…. SHE’S a Super ADD Mom too!
If you want to check it out, follow @muffintinmom on twitter, or read her blog at www.muffintinmom.com
mommy noodles
| July 8, 2010 | Posted by SuperADDMom under ADDventures, iMother |
this is why i love my kid.
they can drive me nuts through the day fighting and whining, and making ABSOLUTE mess of the house, having temper tantrums over sensory issues, being cranky from lack of sleep etc.
But today, she had a fairly decent day, though she was whiney and cranky from the heat….then after a lovelery swim in the pond we come home hungry and the girl makes her own supper wth some help… a can of alphabet noodles.
In the middle if eating she asks “can I borrow your DSi for a minute?” I say ya, but give it right back. She did, and I never looked until just a few minutes go to what she wanted to take a picture of… and this is what she borrowed it for!
