My office was also always cold - winter & summer. I used a space heater, heating pad, hot liquid in a cup, etc. Got in trouble for covering the ceiling air vent in the summer more than once until I realized no one could see the cover if I went up through the moveable ceiling tiles. LOL Now that I'm retired, I can control my indoor environment, but walking the dog and some outdoor volunteer activities are an ongoing issue. A few years ago my fingers above the knuckle started turning white when cold, then red and painful when they warmed up which my doctor said were symptoms of Reynauld's. My first rechargeable hand warmers were from Eddie Bauer and I loved them, but they didn't last very long. Now I have one from Hex and one from Human Creations that are in their second year and still working great. (I use them in leather mittens with wool mitten liners.) My DH uses the disposable ones which bothered me until I realized he would, most likely, lose rechargeable ones quicker than I could buy them.

Patriciae, I'm impressed with your rat knowledge! I know a family that keeps several rats as pets, but I don't know what kind they are. The mom (a very bright woman) has told me about the rats' personalities and affectionate nature. I absolutely believe her, but I'm not tempted. I also know a college professor who rescues orphaned baby opossums. He told me opossums seek the warmth of macadam roads on their feet in cold weather, and they're often killed by cars while still carrying their young in pouches. So my friend takes them home to raise. They live only about three years. I don't know if they'd live longer in the wild, but it seems unlikely. I meant to mention that I spent several hundred dollars last week getting my piano repaired because of mouse damage. When we first moved here, mice built a nest in the piano that came with the house--a marvelous old upright. That took some serious fixing too. But my present piano is a grand, with all the strings and hammers visible, so it never occurred to me that mice could invade it. But they went after the felts, which apparently mice consider tasty. I don't think it would have happened when I played the piano every day, but I haven't done that for some time. Re Raynaud's, mine started in my feet about 40 years ago. I wear disposable foot warmers six months of the year. It gets expensive, so I should probably look at alternatives. Eandhl, I'm the same way about meds, and I react badly to antihistamines too.

All you need to do is spray the growing tips to 3-4" down, and no other parts of the bush. A 10 day to 2 week schedule should keep your roses pumping out buds that turn into blooms. When the green bud on the growing tip is garden pea size, about 5/16" in diameter, discontinue spraying THAT tip. It is now home free. Pay careful attention to vigorous basal growths that can put on 2+" a day. Midge fly females find them irresistible. Also, after dead heading, the new shoots emerging from the stem are targeted by midge flies, even when they are only an inch long. Spray them on your schedule until their green buds are pea size. The nice thing about spot spraying for midge infestation is that the entire bush is not sprayed, and open blooms which were last sprayed weeks ago, with no residual spray in their systems now, or no fresh spray absorbed during the last spot spraying of growing tips only, open blooms are safe for bees to visit, and not get poisoned. Long term effectiveness treatments, like soil insecticide granules or liquid insecticide drenches do work, but I do not recommend them. The entire bush and soil in which it is growing is toxic for the period of time the drench remains effecfive, poisoning the nectar and pollen bees harvest from open rose blooms. Also, the insecticide used is so strong that there is a noticeable odor coming from the soil all the time. If you can smell it, you are breathing it into your lungs. Tip spraying requires the most minimal use of insecficide, and is extremely effective for me. I wish you all success in combating midge, among the worst of the worst of rose pests. Moses

phoggie, so sorry for your extensive pain, and we can shake hands, sincel I have fibromyalgia since childhood, but by now my bodywide pain (including Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) is excruciating. I also have painful scoliosis and spinal O.A., and probable foot/leg neuropathy. I don't know which is the greater cause of leg pain, the latter, or my severe varicose veins. Another foot-pain condition is my Tailors bunions. This doesn't mean I don't know what you're feeling, though, because at times I feel a pins/needles sensation shooting to my feet. But even more to the point, whereas the above poster experienced Shingles, I myself have suffered a terrible case of poison-ivy a few years ago, such that for several days I was forced to wear the lightest-weight rag, which i found in my rag bin.. I also took Borax baths, and swabbed all over with Naphtha Soap. I also kept smearing on pure calamine lotion (with no additives) all over my body. Also smeared Aveeno Anti-Itch lotion over my arms and hands. Those combined therapies seemed to help, and certainly didn't harm. Also note it's a FALLACY that you can't get poison-ivy on your palms, because my case was so bad, (spread by a terrible poison-ivy detergent which had been given good reviews online), that the poison even reached BETWEEN my fingers. And THAT was painful.!.!.!.!.! In fact, the skin between my fingers was so sensitive, that I was scared to put anything but Naphtha soap and Wound-Honey there (not even calamine). My [amateur] suggestions to you: Did you download f.lux, and were your screens always easily dimmable? Cuz I personally find that bright computer screens plus too much exposure to EMFs may worsen any such conditions as yours and mine and many other types. Just saying this, in order to alert you, because many people used to contract electrosensitivity and CVS (computer vision syndrome) during the era that high-tech meant High-EMF clunkers and even Bright LED screens which couldn't easily be dimmed. This is not widely known, because the high-tech industries criminally hushed it up. Just ask Swedish & Canadian authors such as Nordstrom etc.etc, who may not even be alive anymore. Also, acidic foods such as citrus (and acid-reactive foods such as chicken and proteins) should be acknowledged as potential triggers. BTW, note that for me, sweet-relish mixed into chicken-salad seems to neutralize the acid after-effect of the chicken. Alot has to do with figuring out which food-COMBO'S work best for you. As other possible mitigators, ingesting baking-soda-mixed-in-water might help alkalize your blood, and act as a temporary calmer, as well as eating yogurt, or drinking milk, or almond-milk, or coconut milk... Perhaps pure calamine-lotion or aveeno-anti-itch can help, though i'm not sure its indicated for small-fiber neuropathy as it is for poison ivy. Furthermore i'm not sure how well such lotions are tolerated by Sjogrens patients.