* Hello from Europe :) *

[annekat]

Michelle, I think you mentioned that before, and I forgot. I probably haven't followed it very well.

Wegetarian, true, you won't know much about how to recognize a flare yet, since you've only recently recognized your symptoms as Wegs symptoms. That happened with a lot of us, we had a lot of symptoms for a long time that could be attributed to other things. It's hard to know where other things leave off and Wegs begins. If you improve a lot and feel more normal over time, then you may think more about whether you may flare in the future. You will have had a lot of time to be used to your Wegs symptoms and the fact that they can worsen temporarily when you are under stress, and then get better again when you are rested from that. Then you will be able to tell if there is a distinct and less temporary worsening of those familiar symptoms. A flare could develop gradually like mine, or all of a sudden, I suspect. Do keep in mind that a serious flare could involve new symptoms or new disease activity in areas where it wasn't before. That's why it is good that you are here, where a lot of variations in people's Wegs experience and involvement are discussed.

[Wegetarian]

Thanks for the tip Michelle! Didn't consider that at all. Maybe it has something to do with how the meds effect cell division? Dunno, but now I kind of feel I want to take the pills with tweezers.

On the bright side I didn't notice any effect of the meds. Granted it was a very small dose as discussed, but didn't felt any nausea or anything and remembered to take my folic acid the next morning. I also left out the stomach meds since we weren't sure if they might have some adverse effect as there seems to be some kind of synergy between them even though they are commonly used together. We discussed with the doc it could be OK for me to leave it out the day after I take MTX. Didn't take any such meds before my condition either.

On the topic of stomach I think mine has become more sensitive. I just love spicy foods, and now if I eat something really strong I can feel some sensation in my tummy. Especially when I ate this really hot veggie burger. They did give me a T-shirt as a reward for eating it, and I hadn't eaten much spicy food during the few weeks before that but still I don't remember reacting like that before.

I also notice there is a strong correlation between how much I sleep and how I feel. Like when I get a full 8 hours of sleep I feel rested for once in the mornings. Then on days like today when my kids wake up at 5.30 am and even though the little one went back to bed I got a cough and couldn't get sleep. Our older one woke up a half our later so I made him some breakfast but didn't really feel like a champ. Really sucks to be up this early on a Sunday morning. My spouse couldn't get sleep either, but I asked her to try to rest since I doubt I'll get any sleep now and its fun and easy to be with the kids early since we just watch TV and drink some cocoa. I'll try to get a nap a bit later.

I'm still surprised how well I feel in general. Besides the fatigue that sometimes comes much quicker than anticipated I don't really have any complaints. I tried returning to my old hobby yesterday, but playing for an hour and a half on my desktop made me feel feverish and weak. I've also had fun with my family, and playing with my kids is so much fun now that I have energy for it and I see how they like it. The summer has been so rough for my family when I have been ill and I really want to make it up for them.

Are you guys addicted to online shopping? I usually buy most of my clothes from the summer and winter sales, but I wasn't able to go this summer so I've been buying clothes online too. Usually it was just technology. Yesterday I kind of felt it went out of hand. I had really wanted to get a nice sleeve for my laptop since I carry it in a light bag with almost no padding, the sleeve I wanted was way too expensive but I noticed I could get it for about a third of the price from a discount store. After buying it I noticed they also had some of the bags for sale, and since my old laptop bag had been broken down so much I got the one with the coffee-logo. Again for about a third of the retail price, and it should be real good quality and hand made.
Laptop bags, Macbook messenger & shoulder bags | ColcaSac

Then I managed to snag up a broken quad copter from a local auction site for €50. From what the seller said it has a broken propeller or engine. It should be the same model I already have (bought one real cheap before) and I have a spare engine and rotors so it should take less than 10 minutes to fix it up. The seller was a noobie, so of theres a chance nothing comes out of it, but he lives right near by so if we can't agree on a pick-up I won't at least loose any money. Its a fun toy, but the battery is almost dead on mine so it won't fly more than 5 minutes or so. The spare I ordered didn't work properly and I kind of lost interest in it. Dunno, might actually sell both of them or then I just put all the best parts in the one I keep. They retail for about 250 so I should easily get my money back even though I bought some extras for my old one. Fun toys though, you can control it with an Ipad or smartphone and it sends the video all the time when it flies. Some hobbyist do put better cameras on them since the included one isn't particularly good.
Parrot AR.Drone Review - SlashGear

I have to say my spouse wasn't thrilled at all to hear that we're getting a new quad copter. Its quite large and finding the space for it has always been an issue. Especially given the long winter when I can't really use it at all.