I just got off the phone with Cox Cable again. They were supposed to come out Thursday due to the problems with my TV.
But I decided to take the living room equipment back to the store. Just as I already had the one for the bedroom.
I just didn’t have it in me to deal with them and my daughters were coming for lunch. Plus I had to be gone to take and pick up Charlie from acupuncture.
Working In My Area:
Then Friday I called them. But I got a recording that said they were working in my area. And to wait awhile and unplug my modem, etc. That didn’t fix my internet and phone either.
This morning I called again and waited at least 30 minutes because they’re so busy right now. I once again told them my internet goes out constantly. Multiple times per hour. And now my phone is going out too.
I was about to say I’m ready to pull my hair out over this. But I have a shaved head! Kind of forgot that momentarily. There’s nothing to pull out.
New Appointment:
Anyway, I now have another appointment with Cox Cable for Tuesday morning. I stressed that I wanted them to social distance and wear a mask.
If this doesn’t work, I guess I will have to go to AT&T. And I had them years ago and hated the service. Maybe they’re better now. I don’t know. But I don’t know one person who uses them so I can’t ask one of their customers.
Facial Pain:
Yesterday I couldn’t eat on the right side of my mouth. I tried over the counter meds to numb the pain. Anbesol I think it was.
Then this morning when I woke up the bone underneath my right eye brow felt bruised. As well as my right cheek bone area.
I wondered if I’d gotten up with Charlie and fallen and forgot about it. Did I run into a door?
Trigeminal Neuralgia:
Now I see the pattern. It usually takes me awhile. It’s the trigeminal neuralgia. So I’ve taken my first dose of Gabapentin.
This has been happening more and more. Usually I only have these episodes every few years. Since the first of this year I’ve had it 3 times.
I wonder if stress makes it worse? Age? Does anyone know?
Cable and internet woes seem to be happening all over and with multiple companies at different times. It’s always aggravating and annoying because so many of us have come to rely on it. I’ve had internet from AT&T for years (in NY)… the first time because it was the ONLY option where I lived. We had it there about 12 years or so and never had any issues. We moved, stayed with AT&T and we had one issue in the past 3 years which they fixed promptly. We have Comcast in FL which is very unreliable and is aggravating. Our Dish TV goes back and fort with us between NY & FL with any issues. Seems to me it’s simply a crapshoot to which company is best in different locations.
Brenda, I have trigeminal neuralgia. It was a precursor to my being diagnosed with MS. Terrible pain like a needle stuck in face (nerve pain). I take Carbatrol(from my neurologist) for it to block pain. It’s a drug given to epilectic patients, Works perfectly for me and no pain.
Please be sure to check with your doctor and google it. Tumeric can have interaction with warfarin and other blood thinners, by increasing their action. Please check. I’m not trying to be bossy, just hoping to be helpful. I’m a fellow blood thinner user, but I use Xarelto.
I only use my local cable company for my internet. Have you tried using your tv with an indoor digital antenna . I get about 26 channels. Some of the shows you talk about they play on our pbs . Silly as this sounds in when the leaves fall off the trees I get even more channels. Maybe this will help in some small way .
Hi Brenda. I live in a suburb of Tulsa. We have ATT with bundled tv, internet and landline phone. We haven’t had any problems since we switched from Cox about 4 years ago. They are expensive, but less expensive than Cox. I call periodically to see if they have any special rates going. If I find one, they are very helpful in telling me when to call to see if I can renew the offer when it expires.
On the local Next Door website I see many more people complaining about Cox than ATT. Their service technicians are very nice, but you may have to remind them to wear a mask and social distance, as my granddaughter with a new baby had to do last week. Best of luck in making your choice.
Where I live in the Milwaukee area, it seems just about everybody is experiencing some kind of internet/telephone problem, no matter if they have it via cable (Spectrum formerly known as Warner Cable here) or ATT. Demand is higher than usual and has been since the pandemic has swept across the country. And not only are more people working from home, many school systems depending on where we live are opting for ONLY on-line classes, or a mixture of in-class instruction and on-line classes. There seems to be constant work going on and it hasn’t helped that last year ATT started installing some kind of super high-speed internet with these extra thick cables. But I never see old cables coming down, just bigger, fatter/thicker cables going up, and they run them right through tree branches and trees! Now where is the sense in such a stupid way to install cables, I ask you! My internet has gone out intermittently since I moved to this house (in July 2014); I rarely had problems at my former home when we didn’t yet have DSL. When I was without internet and my land line (my only telephone) for nearly 2 days recently, I signed up for and bought a cheap flip cell phone from Consumer Cellular and pay less than $20 a month for it with a 5% discount for being an AARP member – that is before taxes and fees. I haven’t gotten my first bill yet so not sure what the final cost will be monthly. I didn’t want to do it but I have to have access to at least ONE phone service that I can rely on, even if I don’t have internet. I actually watched network television for two days while the internet and phone were out and I could not even call anyone and of course now – good luck trying to find a pay phone! – and got hooked all over again on DSI Miami, LOL! You can find information on trigeminal neuralgia on the internet at reliable websites including from the May Clinic, among other sites. It sounds like a horrible condition and you never ever know when it might be triggered. For some unknown reason, it affects women much more than males, typically begins in women over the age of 50. Since irritation of a particular nerve is involved that sits at the base of the back of one’s neck, a restless sleep where you are tossing and turning or your head/neck is held at a certain angle on the pillow while you are sleeping may be a trigger, but it sounds as if just about anything can trigger the horrid pain attacks at any time without any warning – even just a breeze on your face. https://www.healthline.com/health/trigeminal-neuralgia
I would look into whether dietary changes might help. I know it sounds kooky, but when I started suffering bouts of sciatica to the point where I was painfully trying to limp around the house, a friend told me to start taking a teaspoon of plain yellow mustard daily. Frankly, I thought she was nuts but after suffering for several days and generic Tylenol not working (I have to be careful what I take for pain because I am on Warfarin) I tried it and wouldn’t you know it, it worked. Been eating at least a teaspoon of yellow mustard daily since then, on a morning “breakfast sandwich,” and I have not suffered an attack since – been over 2 years at least. So, I no longer discount some “home” remedies, especially when it comes to natural ingredients in foods. Turns out it’s the tumeric in the yellow mustard that prevents inflammation of the sciatic nerve, and tumeric is used to treat a lot of different conditions involving inflammation.
I was going to say, the mustard works because of the turmeric. But you then explained it. 😉 If you don’t want to frequently be eating mustard, you can also buy a bottle of the spice turmeric itself and just sprinkle it on your food. I just had it in my oatmeal. I also put it in my smoothies.
I’ m sure stress and lack of sleep are agravating the Trigeminal Neuralgia.
I hope the meds you are taking help. I live in the mountains of WV so I have Dishnetwork for my tv and HughesNet for the internet. I have Frontier for my landline phone as I do not have cell service here. When I first got Dishnetwork it would go out often, but in the last few years they have improved. Very happy with Hughesnet and Frontier.
I can see I’m the outlier here, but I’ve had AT&T (internet only) for several years, and the service has been very stable. Even now, working from home the past five months, I have not had any issues. I formerly had Charter-now-Spectrum, with poor service and equipment.
Have you thought about setting up the hotspot on your phone for when WIFI goes down, it uses data but it’s better than nothing.
The cable companies all stink, Spectrum is the only game in my town and they’re nothing to brag about!
I would say that neuralgia is most definitely stress related
I hope you have found relief because facial pain is excruciating.
My TV goes out more than the internet and phone.
Can you sleep with Charlie in a box beside you or with him in your lap?
Sweet dreams…
AT&T. Once was enough…NEVER again!!!!!!!
Good Morning Brenda…. so sorry to hear about your cable/phone problems. I was a loyal customer of AT&T from the very beginning for years but they just got increasing more expensive and the service was horrible! I could not even have a conversation in my home because the signal was so week and kept going in and out…. It was very frustrating for me and my friends and family. Monday I got rid of them and went to Spectrum our Cable Company here in Central Florida and signed up with them for their phone service which uses Verizon towers and upgraded my phone for at half the price I had started having to pay for AT&T that kept going up without notice until last month I was billed close to $80.00!!! My phone service needs are minimal as I do not have any social media on my phone ig. FB and Email etc. I have had the new phone and service since last Monday and I hoping for the best! so far so good…
I don’t comment often but I wanted to share this info about someone who was an AT&T customer for years.
I also have followed you for years and the first one I look for when I get online! I just love every thing about your blog! sharing you thoughts and everyday life; of course your Babies Charlie and Ivy; your incredible decorating skills in your small apartment has been a real inspiration to me; and of course your Fantastic Patio container Gardens which I am in the process of trying to do the same thing on my patio and have learned so much from you; you and Charlie & Ivy are in my prayers each day. I myself have 6 kitties all rescued over the years in my own subdivision when irresponsible people just went off and left them! All 3 of my first kitties were only 5-6 weeks old and then came Momma Kitty who was just a stray that I started feeding when she was pregnant because she was so skinny, who brought me her 4 tiny new born kittens 3yrs ago during Hurricane Matthew and they are still here living with me except the one that was adopted by one of the Students at my School…. So I truly understand the Love that you have for Charlie and Ivy.. Good luck resolving your phone/cable issues….
How so very sweet of you to nurture your fur babies… you’re an angel from heaven.
No surprised it flared up. I know my neuropathy gets worse when I am stressed. You could definitely use some relaxation. XO Laura
Hope you can get your internet fixed. That is so aggravating. Make sure you deduct days for the service interruption. Tell them you work from home which you do with your blog and that the service interruption has cost you money so they need to credit you the month. If you push it with these cable people especially if you threaten to leave they will do it. Just a FYI.
Kris
According to one doc we had years back, it does not matter what health issues you have, he said, “STRESS makes EVERY kind of medical problem worse!!” So I would guess your nerve trouble is indeed related to stress (maybe even lack of sleep being Charlie gets you up so much). We have been having issues, esp. with my cell phone here…my guess is that some kind of work is ongoing in the internet area…maybe many places right now.
I have Direct TV satellite, which has been bought out by AT&T and ours goes out constantly. It is so frustrating. I have no answers for you on your cable situation. However, I do know for a fact that stress will aggravate trigeminal
neuralgia. And you have been stressed out over Charlie and sleep deprived.
Hope the gabapentin kicks in soon and you feel better!
AT&T has got to be the worst company in the world. They have outright lied to us many times. We have several properties to handle and we have waited all day over and over. Nothing. They all lie and even hang up on us. Never again.
I’ve said never again as well with AT&T. And that was years ago. Hopefully I’ll get this straightened out with Cox Cable.
I think it depends on where you live. We’ve had AT&T for many years and have never had a problem with their customer service. We’ve only had our internet go out once in all these years and they came out the next day and fixed it. We have a bundle package with basic cable just on one TV and internet. We also use them for our cell service and have never had a problem with that either.
We had Comcast before that and had nothing but problems with them. They were an absolute nightmare. That was why we switched to AT&T.
Good morning Brenda, We have Verizon Vios and for the most part it is really good, except the phone. Although we do not use our home phone we have it for our security alarm and when the phone goes out it causes our alarm to go off, it is a pain in the butt.
I am sorry that you are not feeling well, I am not familiar with what you are refering too perhaps you should phone your doctor or the pharmacist?
Take care of yourself Brenda and have a great day.
Elizabeth
P.S. Thank you for the information about Sarah, she is great.
I have the medication for this on hand, so I just take it when this happens. I see my doctor for my twice a year check up next month.