Summer Giveaway Winners

I’m excited to (finally) announce the winners of my summer giveaways. 

The winner of the Scough: Kathryn

The winner of the Make Great Light Filter: Joyce

The winners of the Coloring Books: Carly and Britta

If you are a winner – if you’re not sure, I commented on each comment letting you know if you were a winner or not) – please e-mail me ASAP your full name and contact information to gettingclosertomyself@gmail.com, and I will put you in touch with the person from the company who will make sure you get your prize.

Thanks so much to everyone for entering.  I hope to have some more giveaways again soon!

Am I Medication Dependent?

A few weeks ago, I forgot to take my meds.  Well, more accurately, I accidentally took my evening meds in the morning, which meant I couldn’t take my morning meds that I missed.  No harm, no foul, right? 

WRONG! 

The next day, before and after taking my morning meds, I felt awful.  I was in pain all over and felt nauseous and dizzy.  I stayed in bed all day.  It was really terrible.  I felt like I was going into a flare. 

And I had a frightening realization for the first time ever.

I am medication dependent. 

I can barely go one day without meds without feeling terrible.  Seriously?  So when I saw my rheumatologist recently, I mentioned to her what had happened and she basically agreed that, that means the meds aren’t working as good as they should be.  This is really frustrating.

The goal is for me to be stable, but one day of missed meds and feeling awful means the opposite of stable.

I’ve also learned that I can’t take my morning meds much later than 11:30 a.m., or I will feel bad all day.  So there is a very small window in which taking my daytime meds actually works.  I have a similar issue with nighttime meds in that I can’t take them much beyond 1 a.m., but the difference is that my nighttime meds are more for helping me sleep and less about treating my lupus and RA. 

After discussing these issues, my rheum talked about clinical remission and how it is still possible for me.  I am not convinced.  How can I go barely a day without meds without being incapacitated and believe that remission is a possibility in the near future?

I don’t even like thinking about the term remission because I don’t really know what it means.  I mean, I know what remission is, but it seems like such a lofty goal, a goal I’ve never really considered pursuing before. 

For me, the bigger goal is preparing my crazy wired body for pregnancy sometime in the next several years.  And whether that comes with remission or not is anyone’s guess. 

I very rarely make mistakes in taking or forgetting to take my meds altogether.  But it’s frustrating to know that I don’t even have a day grace period. 

It means I can’t mess up.  It means I have to be perfect all the time.  And I guess that may be one of the reasons that I have always focused on medication above other things, like diet and exercise.  Now that I’m back to really thinking about those other things, it’s even more annoying that I’m medication dependent. 

It’s much easier to take meds when you know they work, or you have the expectation that they will work.  And when you experience the meds not working because you didn’t take them, it’s sobering to realize that your health or lack thereof is totally dependent on meds and your ability to take them.

Summer Giveaways And Promo Codes

I wanted to do something fun for summer, so I’m providing you with some promo codes and giveaways for a few products that I have been introduced to recently.

Scough*

Scough is this super cool company out of Brooklyn.  They’ve taken wearing a mask to a whole new level.

As someone who has had to wear a mask on a plane before, the Scough, while there, is less obtrusive than simply wearing a mask.  And it doubles as a scarf, both when you’re using the mask/filter and when you are not.  I had to wear a mask on plane one time when my doctor told me that was the only way she would clear me to travel.  It was embarrassing, uncomfortable, and all around annoying.  As someone who is also very sensitive to smell due to lupus (and as someone who frequents the NYC subway system), I could also see how this can be useful in situations where I am overcome by odor to the point of getting nauseous. 

Scough has generously offered to provide one lucky reader with a free Scough. 

If you enter and don’t win the Scough in my giveaway, but are interested in getting a Scough for yourself, you can receive 50% off your order when you sign up for a one year filter subscription – you pay $15 each and receive a new filter every three months – along with a purchase, using leslierott50. 

If you don’t want to purchase a subscription, you can use leslierott15 and receive 15% off any order. 

For more information on this product, check out http://wearascough.com/.

Make Great Light NaturaLux Fluorescent Light Filters**

Many of us with lupus, including myself, experience photosensitivity from fluorescent lights.  This is a really pesky symptom, especially considering that fluorescent lights are everywhere, including in most hospitals and doctors’ offices. 

I really wanted to try this product out, but currently do not have any fluorescent lights in my immediate environment.  I would love to try it out once I do.

However, Make Great Light has graciously offered to extend their offer to me to one of my readers.  One lucky reader will win either a panel filter or a set of tube filters.

For more information on this product, check out http://www.makegreatlight.com/.       

Adult Coloring Books***

I’ve actually been looking for adult coloring books lately, when I happened to be contacted about them. 

Two lucky readers will win either a Stress Less Coloring – Flower Patters: 100+ Coloring Pages for Peace and Relaxation or Stress Less Coloring – Mandalas.

“League of Mortals” by Duncan Cross****

I recently reviewed Duncan Cross’s novel “League of Mortals”.  He has provided a coupon code – JD55B –for $2 off the book on Smashwords.  The code expires July 10, 2015.   

***

Promo codes are yours to use. 

If you would like to enter to win the Scough, please post a comment in the comments below about why such a product would be helpful to you.

If you would like to enter to win the Make Great Light filter, please post a comment in the comments below and explain why the filter would be helpful to you.  You don’t need to have lupus, but should have some sort of light sensitivity. 

If you would like to enter to win one of the coloring books, please post a comment in the comments below about what you do to relieve stress, and how coloring might aid in that.

You can enter to win each of the giveaways, but please comment once for each.

If entering for more than one giveaway, please indicate your preference, as different winners will be chosen for each prize.

Entry will be open until July 17, 2015.  Winners will be notified in reply to their comment(s).

Disclosures:

* Scough provided me with two free samples to try out.

** Make Great Light offered to provide me with a free filter to try.  Since I was unable to accept this offer given that I am currently not exposed to fluorescent lights, they agreed to extend that offer to one of my readers. 

*** Adams Media provided me with four copies of some of their older coloring books for free, and are also planning to provide me with free copies of their two new coloring books once they are released.

**** Duncan provided me with a free copy of his book to read and review.