Confession time

Will do. You are not the first person to adivse meditation. Maybe there's something in it? lol

Yes, I'm shocked how much meditation is helping me, I just got to 2 mg Pred. 

It's teaching me so much, but it must be done daily, so that's why I said "get addicted to meditation", I've never been a very disciplined person, but this PMR is teaching me so much. I drank too much wine before and now it messes with my stomach and taste buds, I struggle to not open a bottle sometimes. If you want to talk more about meditation we can PM each other.  

Bless you sister. Hugs. 

Saw on Facebook advice on how to meditate, from a monk.  Simple simple simple.  Just become aware of your breath.  He said we can all of us meditate anywhere, any time.  Even focusing on the breath for a minute or two is "meditation".  How can this be?  It gives our busy monkey brain something to do, and that frees up the higher processes we want to encourage.  

Meditate, don't medicate!

I took a short class on meditation and one technique I remember and LOVE is...

using all your senses, sight, smell, feeling, hearing... Put your self at a place that is glorious to you, real or made up in your mind.  For example:

I'm at a beach, the weather temperature is perfect, I feel a slight breeze off the water bringing me smells that are fresh, invigorating, healing, they represent life from the waters. I take a deep healing breath and feel it calm all my nerves.   No one else is at the beach, or if they are, they are down a ways, I hear them laughing and having a glorious time playing, running, happy as can be. It makes me smile.  I feel the sand under my feet, soft and warm, I move the top layer off and feel the cool moist sand below.  Ahhhh. It tickles my skin. I look out at the water and see all the way to the horizon. The expanse of the sight befor me fills me up with the grandeur of possibilities. The sky is beautiful blue, puffy white clouds that look so light weight and soft. 

Then she taught us to turn 360 degrees and see, smell, feel all that is around you. Make it as you want. 

before I knew it 5 minute timer went off. It was so pleasant.  

I think I did this at a workshop one time.  I usually fall asleep when I try to meditate.  But walking meditation works for me.  Just becoming aware of one's steps, for some reason awareness of everything else is heightened.  Usually of the natural world, especially birdsong.  Like paying attention to the breath, then suddenly the real things around one come into focus and the chatter of monkey brain is stilled.

oh, and for record, my response post about that sample meditation was for everyone, just adding to conversation, not just telling Anhaga.  I know some people are sensitive/confused to the response threads.  

If Flip's jurisdiction is like mine, you can get codeine with either aspirin or acetaminophen just by asking the pharmacist for a bottle, no prescription required.  I've had the opposite problem - trying to find a small enough bottle that the darn pills don't expire before they're all used up!

Where in the world do you live that you can get codeine by asking

for it at a pharmacy ?  In the U.S. have to sign for OTC sinus and allergy pills that contain Dextromathorphan, the med that is used in

processing meth. It's kept behind the counter in the pharmacy

and have to ask for it....you have to sign for it and show driver's

license.....hard to imagine you can get codeine just by asking

for it.....

Nova Scotia.  It's not a big dose, just combined with the other analgesic.  I did hear a rumour that they were thinking of tightening up the rules, which seems a bit pointless as I guess the big problem here is with the prescription drug, Oxycontin.  When I had a broken leg when they sent me home from the hospital I was written a prescription for 50 tablets of Oxycontin.  When I saw that I said, I'm not having that in my house, and they had to find another physician who wrote up one for 20 tablets of Tylenol 3.  Tylenol 3 is the prescription version with codeine, and much stronger than the OTC I get.  It took me a whole year to use up that bottle, and I'd say about two thirds of them were used for headaches, not for the leg!  Looking at the bottle I have right now, the OTC version, each tablet contains 375 mg acetylsalicylic acid, 15 mg caffeine and 8 mg codeine.  Any medication with a higher concentration would be a prescription med, and I only ever take one tablet, plus a couple of plain aspirin, at any time, never more than one tablet with codeine on a given day, and even this very rarely.  

I have no problems with taking pain meds for pain.  We just all need

to be aware of the pitfalls with this stuff....Just take what is prescribed

or less than that.   Those of us with PMR that have ongoing pain'

that will return again and again need to be especially careful.....

Like I said, I cut them in half and find it helps.   I can't take

aspirin....I've had a stroke some years back and doc doesn't want

me to take aspirin.   I'm on some blood pressure meds too.

Wish I could get off all of it.......

You know, Faye, I've just remembered, before I was diagnosed with PMR I almost used to welcome the days I needed to take aspirin or tylenol for a headache because that used to make me feel somewhat better all over.  I know we are told that only pred works for PMR pain, but I know I did feel marginally better.  It never occurred to me to take the painkillers just for the PMR aches and pains.  I figured they were arthritis and I would just have to live with them....  The doctor I had at the time just kept prescribing some other heavy duty painkiller and I could never bear to fill that prescription, they were something quite scary.  Not codeine.  Celebrex?

arthritis pain.....I think most pain meds are a trial and error for

most of us.....have to find the one that works for us.

In Australia you can buy a thing called Panadine Xtra over the counter - it's 15mg of codiene and 500mg of paracetamol. Recommended dose is 2 tabs, not more tha 8 in a day and not more than 3 days in a row.

I've been chowing down 4 tablets, three/four times a day for over 6 months.

They've only just started to keep track of who's buying it by taking your licence details, but it's not done everywhere. Most places don't ask questions, especially when you buy it with a ton of other medications like I do.

And it's not the codiene that I'm worried about! it's the paracetomol and the damage it is probably doing to my liver.

I agree, and I am aware of the pitfalls, but when the recommended dose doesn't work any more it's very bloody easy to take 'just one more' until your tolerance is high and you take way more than you should just to get it to work.