Well, it's another day in the land of Texas and post super bowl, the Manning family is celebratin Eli's win.  I say, You go, Eli.  Don't get me wrong...I am a Pats fan but I am happy to see Eli finally graduate into the big leagues...no more standing in big brother's shadow.  Good for him.

I didn't get alot of sleep last night after sleeping almost all day yesterday.  I couldn't get the pain down to a low roar so I just took my pills and went to sleep.  This morning I am stiff but not too bad.  I read somewhere in my research that taking a small dosage of the clonazepam when you first wake up helps with the fog, so I am trying that this morning to see if it does or not. 

My appointment with the SSA sponsored shrink is in two days and I am really nervous about that.  I am being evaluated for PTSD, Anxiety and Depression.  Should be able to pass this one with flying colors, huh?  I attempted to get all of the records from the time I was hospitalized in NC for all of those, (when I had the nervous breakdown,) but Allsup insisted that I didn't need them.  If I go in there and start telling this lady everything she is going to think I am nuts and I have no backup from a dr. to validate what I say.    Sigh.

In my research I have also learned a few more things...new words for example:  "Anhedonia", means the inability to find pleasure in things that would normally make you happy.  It is the core value in a diagnosis of clinical depression.  People who suffer from this often express finding no pleasure in anything, including eating.  (Raises Hand, jumps up and down, shuting, "Me!  Me!  Me!")  I used to do so many things that I no longer have any interest in.  I used to enjoy my ham radio, gardening, reading, caring for my home, crafts, going out, etc.  None of those things interest me anymore.  As for eating, well I could care less.  I just do it because I have to. Another new phrase is "Adjustment Disorder", which is depression or anxiety from stressful or difficult changes in ones' life.  (Again, raises hand, jumps up and down, shouting, "Me!  Me!  Me!).  I wonder just how many of these "definitions" I actually have.  I guess we will find out in two days.

There is a scottish doctor named David Mikel who believes contrary to the rest of the world, that FM and CFS are caused by a dysfuntional "hypothalamus gland" and not a virus, stress or any of the other suggested causes accepted in the medical communtiy.  This gland controls the adrenal glands and is like the computer that controls input to the brain.  Interesting idea. I checked out his website and posted a video he made discussing the subject on the forum in the Video Room if anyone is interested in seeing it.  I emailed him in England about his treatment and he actually wrote me back which was surprising.  He is looking for people to train in the US to implement his protocol here in the states.  And get this, it doesn't include narcotic drugs! Imagine that!  He claims to have a 98% success rate.  Again, with no drugs at all.  Hmmmmmm.  For those who may not know where to find the forum, here is a link:

The Ultimate Fibromyalgia Forum

The video for Dr. Mikel is in the forum entitled "The Video Room".

I have been doing a great deal of work on the website and recent additions include:

1.  Addition of the Video Rooms both on the website and in the forum.  (This will allow visitors to view aprox. 75 videos, divided into topics in the website and "on topic" videos in the forum.  Of course they are free to view and a great source of information.  I am really pleased to have added them!)

2.  Implementation of  a "News Room" on the website index page where visitors can read news articles and view "news"related videos about FM, CFS and all of the related illness that go with them.  (It is pretty cool and when visitors watch these videos or read these news articles, I get paid a small percentage.) 

3.  Added additonal AdSense ads in all of the pages which again, hopefully will make me a little bit of money if I ever get some traffic to the site.

4.  Added some content on the treatment page for sufferers of cognitive dysfunction for "brain exercise".  They include a "word of the day", a spelling bee challenge, a word definition challenge and a game of "hangman".  I thought they were pretty cool.

5.  Added Bidz.com to the shopping page.  Man is that site addictive!

6.  Am working on adding a whole page dedicated to "Video Games", which kind of goes along with the brain challenge thing.  It isn't necesarily on topic but it may prove useful in keeping visitors  coming back and encouraging them to stimulate their brain function, which is good for the fibro fog.

I have also added a new marketing tool called PPP or Pay Per Play but although the official launch date for the program was feb, 02, it still isn't playing ads yet.  When PPP script is installed on a page and a visitor enters your site, a short 5 second ad plays automatically and you are paid a sm percentage.  It requires no effort from the visitor except to visit the page for 2 seconds or more which is better than hoping they will click on a Google AdSense ad but so far no audio is playing.  We'll see how it goes.

I have also found some new sites to be added to the fibro links page but haven't added them yet.  Regardless, there is alot of new stuff on the site in just the past few days.  Now, I just need the traffic!!!!!

Well, that is it for now.  Thanks for all of the prayers and for listening.  I hope God blesses you with a pain free day!

Tammy Elaine