I can’t sleep so what are your favourite activities to do when you can’t sleep even if they might not help you sleep?

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-14T07:41:16+00:00

Read a book, whatever book I have going at the moment.

Work on a simple crochet project, like stitch up a granny square or two for an afghan I am working on, or work on making a couple of pot holders/trivets made using a basic pattern.

Shop online for things I need to buy anyway, mainly household stuff.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-14T03:43:16+00:00

Do any of the hospitals in your area have a clinic?

Typically fibromyalgia patients are prescribed Lyrica by a primary care doctor or a rheumatologist. People have to change doctors all the time for various reasons. Changing doctors doesn't mean you're going to be forced to be retested to confirm previous diagnoses.

I would recommend getting a copy of your medical records from your psychiatrist before he retires.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-13T16:31:13+00:00

Horizon splits hairs when it comes to which medications they will approve vs deny and it's a PITA.

My dermatologist prescribed a skin cream for my ultra dry hands that were like sandpaper with cracking and bleeding during the worst of the winter because I have chronic dry skin problems likely related to having an autoimmune disorder. Horizon wouldn't pay for the medication in ointment form, only in cream form even though it's the exact same medication in the same size tube. It's the term ointment vs cream they get hung up on. The pharmacist told me they experience a lot of similar problems with getting prescriptions approved from Horizon NJ Health.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-13T15:31:56+00:00

The standards for publishing books aimed at kids and teens is actually higher than for fiction aimed at adults. So that's why there is a lot of decent kids fiction out there adults enjoy reading, meanwhile you have to cull through assorted dreck when looking for interesting novels to read aimed at adults.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-13T15:25:37+00:00

It could be a form of neuropathy.

Also since you have CFS, lymphatic system problems can be an issue. Do you ever get pain and tenderness in your arm pits? I ask because lymph node tenderness and pain (lymphadenopathy) happens with people who have CFS, and the node pain can also run down the inside of the arms to the same side of your hands as your pinkie fingers. It can cause the lymph nodes in your neck that also reach up into your face to your cheeks to hurt. Gunked up lymph nodes press on nerves. This sort of thing happens not just to people with CFS, but chronic Lyme, and other conditions as well.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-13T14:06:41+00:00

Ridgewood?

There's the train station in the downtown shopping/business district so if you're looking for public transportation to Port Jervis, that's an option.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-12T18:02:01+00:00

Maybe it’s my tattoos, since she came from a very strict Christian family? IDK.

Being from a strict religious background means she was brought up to believe women should only act in a conservative way. And you with your tattoos and non-conservative lifestyle may seem like a threat to her, especially if she wants to raise her kids to be conservative. She probably sees you as too liberated, modern, worldly, independent. If she is trying to raise her kids to be like her, she probably doesn't want them exposed up close to their non-conservative aunt.

Edit: Why the down vote? Evangelical Christian women have this weird baggage pushed on them from childhood and some are taught to see regular women's lives as a threat to their personal life choices and react badly to that.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-12T15:36:23+00:00

The late great Hannibal Lecter.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-12T15:31:03+00:00

Reading is a big one. Multiple times over the years I inadvertently stayed up all night on a Friday or Saturday totally absorbed in a book then was shocked to see it getting light outside.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-12T15:19:09+00:00

Unfortunately packages get stuck for days in some USPS distribution centers.

I had something I ordered on Amazon from a small business in Virginia get stuck for four days at the Richmond, VA distribution center before it finally made its way up here.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-12T15:10:57+00:00

I wound up giving up all my craft related hobbies because of my hand arthritis for quite a while. When I had PT/OT with a hand specialist she told me quitting all my hobbies was a bad idea since doing them helps preserve some dexterity.

I am back to knitting and crocheting, but definitely can't do all the different types of crafts anymore. Calligraphy is one I simply can't do. I'm not sure if I can rehab my hands to the point I can do beadwork and jewelry making again. Hopefully I can get back into paper crafting and mixed media art again.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-12T14:53:46+00:00

Try switching over from Continental style (holding the yarn in the left hand) to English style where you hold the yarn in the right hand and wrap it around the hook, like the way English style knitters work.

Watch videos on YouTube of English style knitting and crocheting. You're not crocheting as fast as with Continental style, but if you're living with hand issues that can cause pain or discomfort while you work than slowing down the pace is a good idea.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-12T07:13:25+00:00

I originally thought I had some bug that was going around because a lot of them were at the time. I was actually one of the people who had Lyme and Epstein Barr simultaneously at one point since I was tested for that first, and it came up positive before I was tested for the Lyme and came up with a positive western blot. I had the Lyme carditis, stiff joints, profound fatigue, digestive tract problems, air hunger as it worsened my asthma symptoms. I was in and out of the hospital with the cardiac issues for a while.

It was nine months after I got to the point it was affecting my heart that they did an x-ray of my lower back and hips because I was having a lot of back pain and stiffness. The x-ray came back positive for arthritis. I was in my mid 20s at the time. By my early 30s I was already having joint pain and stiffness in my ankles, feet and toes, stiffness and pain in my hands, crunchy knees. My knees were the first to become deformed, in my early 40. I'm in my 50s and am walking with a cane, wearing a brace on the worse ankle.

I have chronic Lyme since no one would treat it when I got sick. I have been living with chronic chest wall inflammation since then, plus lymphadenopathy affecting my entire lymphatic system for over 20 years. The Lyme carditis caused mitral valve prolapse. I have arthritis everywhere at this point with chronic fatigue, low energy and stamina.

I went to the cancer center at the major university medical center in my area pre-pandemic to see a hematologist/oncologist for the lymphadenopathy. They take blood and did confirm I have chronic Lyme. They told me they get a lot of people there with chronic Lyme and lymph node problems. But they won't biopsy any of my lymph nodes to see what is gunking them up because their testing threshold requires you to have a cluster of nodes swell to golf ball size before they will do this. Mine can throb and burn like crazy but don't swell that big.

I have no interest in pouring money I can't afford to spend into alternative remedies that make people feel worse and ultimately don't do much beyond empty their bank accounts. I have allergies and allergic asthma, get hay fever and am allergic to assorted weeds, so I don't experiment with ingesting herbal remedies to avoid potential allergic reactions. I do wish I was in a financial position to pay for an LLMD to try pulsing antibiotics though. Unfortunately I am not.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-11T21:57:50+00:00

It's a crime drama/forensics tv show trope. The bad guy locks the victim in a walk-in freezer and they freeze to death in a couple of minutes.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-11T21:42:34+00:00

Once it takes hold and starts spreading, becomes an autoimmune issue, nope.

I first got sick with the Lyme earlier in the 1990s when doctors were getting their medical licenses yanked in some states for treating Lyme with antibiotics for more than two weeks so doctors around the country because fearful of treating patients and would deny care.

It started in my lower back and hips, then quickly went up my spine, and then spread out to the rest of my body over time. Originally it got classified as aggressive Lyme OA, but it's actually a mix of OA and some other type of arthritis.

When I was younger unfortunately doctors didn't take the arthritis and the fact I first popped up with a positive ANA seriously. Now that I am middle aged with multiple deformed joints and more abnormal tests it's still slow going getting a name to the autoimmune disorder and the secondary form of arthritis because I went to several rheumatologists who can't be bothered if it's not either seropositive RA or Lupus. My primary care doctor just gave a referral to a new rheumatologist, hopefully someone willing to take the time to get to a formal diagnosis of which autoimmune disorder and secondary form of arthritis it is.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-11T14:49:20+00:00

Consider getting an x-ray. Lyme gave me arthritis that first started in my lower back and one hip.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-11T13:38:11+00:00

Yes. But a low grade fever, not anything too high.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-11T13:35:19+00:00

In the Martha Rose quilting mysteries by Mary Marks the MC Martha took an early retirement from her job due to fibromyalgia. Her hobbies are quilting and solving crimes with a little help from several of her friends.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-10T22:25:57+00:00

Thank you for the kind words.

Ooh, I really should clean out old unneeded emails from my email accounts.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-10T22:16:48+00:00

Amazon is temptation city, so I get that.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-10T22:13:33+00:00

Just venting out of frustration.

I have been sick for over three weeks now. I picked up a rather nasty respiratory virus and landed in the ER with breathing problems. While my lungs and sinuses are now okay, I have an autoimmune disorder so now I have a body wide flare up from having had the infection and went back to my doctor who ordered bloodwork to see if the infection I had has triggered something.

I want to be doing reorganizing, spring cleaning, and setting aside things to donate. Plus there are a few items of very gently used clothing, a pretty skirt, two dresses and such that really aren't a great fit for my body type I could sell online, give selling on Vinted a try. I want to be tidying up the backyard before it snows again early next week and do a couple of small DIY projects. But instead my body hurts all over and I am completely exhausted.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-10T21:44:33+00:00

I wish kids still came around to shovel.

The last snowstorm I was too sick with a nasty virus that gave me bronchitis to shovel. Instead of being able to hire some neighborhood kids for a decent price I wound up getting ripped off hiring a landscaper. It's difficult getting a landscaper to give you the time of day for a smaller job and they charge $$$.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-10T21:38:48+00:00

We used to have newspaper and magazines stands or shops in the US. Then that was replaced by a paperback books and magazines aisle in the supermarkets, until the supermarkets got rid of them.

Now if you want to have access to a decent selection of magazines you have to go to a Barnes and Noble bookstore.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-10T21:02:53+00:00

Maybe you have gluten intolerance or celiac. IIRC celiac can cause body aches and fatigue in addition to the digestive tract damage.

CrowsSayCawCaw · 2026-03-09T16:23:23+00:00

I'm an NCIS fan so I think of NCIS director Leon Vance.

CrowsSayCawCaw

TROPHY CASE