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Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group
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Oh my brother from another mother Ray @ray666. It definitely is a double whammy for me also. Not sure I have any real answers for you but I can tell you how I sort of cope with it. The only time I use a walker is on my trips to the bathroom at night because my balance is not great and it's darkish. The walker is not practical for me outside the home since it would be more of a nuisance and slow me down. I don't go out late in the evening much but when I do I have the senior shuffle down pat. I don't walk very fast on purpose and I'm always looking where I'm stepping.
I do have to deal with the nagging bladder issue when we go out anywhere. What has helped me is to try and use the bathroom before we go out, then not drink any liquids or limit them when we are out unless I have easy access to a bathroom.
I also use tamsulosin (flomax) daily and take it at night vs in the morning with my other meds. This was a tip I got from my pharmacist after years of taking it in the morning. At my annual wellness appointment earlier this week I discussed the issue of trouble emptying the bladder with my new PCP and she mentioned trying another medication that works differently if I wanted to try it. I think it was finasteride but she mentioned some side effects that I wasn't keen about - takes up to six months before it starts helping and can also cause sexual dysfunction. I was thinking more of the minimal invasive surgery so I may have a consult with urology this summer just not sure if I want to do it or just live with it.
Right now I'm just trying to stay warm and happy most of the snow missed us. I think we may have 3 to 4 inches of the white stuff by morning and my wife should be able to get out of the driveway to get to work at 5 am so I can wait until it's light out before I break out the snowblower and clear the driveway. It's 7 degrees now but the high for the next 3 days is 10 degrees Saturday, minus 8 Sunday and Monday for a high and minus 10 or lower at night for the next 3 days. Hoping it's warmer where you are.
Replies to "Oh my brother from another mother Ray @ray666. It definitely is a double whammy for me..."
High, nice to meet you, ray666,
I live in North West NJ, we had 12 in. of snow! My husband had to shovel a path for my dog. We have 2 acres but do not have shovel all of that!
I fell due to an area "rug" I meant to pick up, my cats like to run and slide on it so there was a bump, hate using walker, Wound with a concussion! Hospital for 2 days, my fault!! The rugs a GONE.
I CAN'T BARE LOOSING MY INDEPENDENCE!!!!
Wish I could go to a support group.
Flomax help Urinary problems?
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Hellooooo, John! (@johnbishop)
It's cold here too. I think it's cold everywhere. I went out first thing this morning to fill my gas tank, and it was -5º. When I was heading home, my Jeep's dash told me it had risen to -3º. I thought, "Phew! It's really warming up. Time to set out the patio furniture." 🙂
I haven't acquired a walker yet, but I can see one in my future––maybe my near future. Most hours of the day, I get around just fine, a little shaky, of course (at certain hours more so than others), but my balance practice has so far prevented me from falling. Of course, I don't want a bad fall to be an overdue message: "Hey, Ray, how about that walker?"
Although my partner and I have skipped going to movies and plays (those darkened auditoriums) when we have a friend's invite for dinner, I do much as you do: stop drinking any liquids a few hours before we're expected at the friend's, then ration drinking any liquids while we're there. That helps, but we've made a practice of keeping our social get-togethers short.
Along those lines, a movie over three hours, like Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon, presents a real challenge. Wagner operas are definitely out, too. 🙂
I plan to give tamsulosin another try. I was too quick to blame what I thought was a new side effect on the tamsulosin. What I thought was possibly a medication side effect may have been nothing more than my PN acting up. I, too, would rather avoid surgery, minimally invasive or not; a friend had the surgery you may be thinking of, and although the results were good, he was uncomfortable for about 7-10 days (i.e., a catheter). Today, he's happy he did what he did. I envy him, but I think I will try tamsulosin first.
I see it's now -1º. Downright tropical. 🙂
Ray