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Posts Tagged ‘pain’

Contra la Corriente – for Dads House

25 Mar

Over at Dads House, David is tempting us with the lovely Gloria Estefan and her beautiful voice and body singing with Marc Anthony to Mi Tierra. I told him that I’ve always been a huge Marc Anthony fan (in Spanish, not so much the English stuff). Actually, I’m a huge Latin music fan generally – love the passion, the emotion, the fire. Just trying to avoid the men….

So here’s Contra la Corriente. Marc’s not much to look at but his voice is amazing and it is worth listening through to the end when the tempo changes. I dare you not to get up and dance!!! Feel that passion and pain!

 

Improving

08 Feb

I wasn’t sure if the extra Zonisamide would do the trick but fortunately by Friday I was feeling significantly better. I do think the weather has a lot to do with it as well. It warmed up a lot towards the end of the week and my pain lessened. While I still had morning and evening pain this weekend, I actually got up and was productive. Went to the movies with Blue Eyes Friday night (after a quick nap), ran errands Saturday and then spent today going to DivorceCare, working on organizing my taxes and doing an artsy crafts project with Pumpkinhead for school. I am so relieved to be feeling better after almost a full month of hellish pain!! And my mother is finally going to go register us for the twice weekly water aerobics class I mentioned so that we can start this week.

One of the stress relieving moves I had considered right before all this pain started was switching law schools. There is another law school in town that is a lower tier but is much, much, MUCH better for working students. They have single-night classes, Saturday classes and a variety of weekend clinics. My law school only offers night classes Mon – Thurs and has nothing on Fridays or weekends. The other school is more expensive but it also has a focus on the area of law in which I currently work. If I am going to finish this degree, the least stressful and most convenient way might be the best way. That is if I can even do it. These past few weeks really kicked my ass… Work is incredibly busy and Pumpkinhead has so much homework, so many papers to sign, activities to juggle, etc. I am just not sure what decision to make here. Not that it needs to be made today. But it’s on my mind. The other law school is a bit more expensive, too. I’m listening to all my night student friends grumble about the stress and the workload on top of their jobs. I read the MILPS taking the bar talk about how much it sucks to have to take time away from their kids. Can I handle a few more years of that as a single mom with a full-time job and this Goddamn illness to boot? I just don’t know…

What I do know is that my doctor has recommended exercise and a lot of extra sleep. More than the 5-7 hours I was getting during law school with study time. More than the 7-8 I get now. That said, it’s 9:30 and I’m going to hit the hay and worry about all of this another day.

 

Quick Health Update

02 Feb

On Friday night, after a horrible day at work pain-wise, I called to see if I could get in Saturday morning to see someone about muscle relaxers or some other drug to help me. The on-call nurse said that my condition didn’t meet the criteria and that I really needed to see a specialist and also that I didn’t need to be in a room with all the people who had 102 fevers and flu. She suggested putting me through to the on call neurologist covering for my doctor. He called me back and basically accused me of being a drug seeker!! I told him I didn’t want painkillers (they don’t really work – just take the edge off and make you sleepy, but don’t take the pain away), just something to help me kick this pain cycle after three weeks. He said that not only was he unwilling to help, but also that I needed to get a Rheumatologist to help me. He said that the neurology department could help me with the neuropathy but that I really need to see Rheumatology for help with the Fibromyalgia. I’m going to call Neurology tomorrow to see if the nurses can help me get in to see Rheumatology ASAP. Someone has to help me put an end to this somehow.

In the meantime I am taking Tramadol. It works better than Vicodin or other opiod meds but it knocks me on my ass so I have spent most of the weekend in bed. I am also slathering myself in Biofreeze every few hours and using my microwavable wrap on my neck, sciatic nerve, loewer back, knees, etc., throughout the day. I spent all day Saturday in bed and then slept over at Blue Eyes’ house and spent all day today in his bed (Pumpkinhead went to spend a few hours with his Dad mid-morning). I have slept a ton and am still thoroughly exhausted and in pain. Argh.

Blue Eyes has surgery in the morning. He had to call his Dad to come. I am taking the day off to help but since I am in so much pain, I won’t really be much use. Now his Dad will just babysit us both. Hopefully I can wake up enough to take care of some stuff tomorrow. I need to try to get my taxes in to a processor and take Pumpkinhead to his psychiatrist in the late afternoon. I also need to pay my homeowners association dues, which were due Saturday. I just didn’t make it there but hopefully I can get up early tomorrow and drop them off before anyone arrives at the office. Ugh…

 
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Random Gifts

29 Jan

I received a box of chocolate today. No name, no card. Just a lovely box of Ferrero Rondnoir dark chocolate goodness. Sending thanks out to the universe since I don’t know who sent it. The only other time I’ve received chocolate randomly was at a similarly opportune time in 2004, the day before my ex-husband and I left with our son to fly to Guatemala. My ex-husband picked that night to mention that – oh, by the way – he had a daughter he had left in Guatemala with whom he had no contact and who he had failed to mention and planned to take me to meet her while we were there. The chocolate with no card was Godiva (yum!) and was from my ex-boyfriend, Matt. I didn’t know it at the time but he had just been indicted for a major crime and was about a year away from commencing a multi-year jail term in federal prison so I guess he was reaching out to friends in the hopes they would stick around (I did, of course). I appreciated the chocolate very much then and I appreciate it now as I sit here, miserable and in severe physical pain, even though I know it wasn’t from Matt this time. Maybe I have a secret admirer? ;)

I received another random gift today. I had to attend a training seminar for work. I got up this morning and drove the hour across town to get there, blanket and microwavable heating wrap in hand, praying that I could just make it through the day. After about 5 hours the instructor, who knows me from some other work we do together, finally came over and put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Sweetie, why don’t you just go home. It’s obvious you are in pain. You have the binder of materials and I will e-mail you additional study items to reinforce those.” I love that man. I drove the hour back home and crawled into bed with my heating pad, falling asleep instantly for the first time in days.

I did call my doctor yesterday. He reiterated that there is nothing beyond the medications I am currently taking that they can give me for the Fibromyalgia. He was fine with the fact that I had ordered the buttload of additional herbs and vitamins and suggested I add 500mg of Glucosamine 2x/day and 800 mg of Chondroitin 2x/day to my regimin. Went to CVS only to discover that they are freaking expensive!! But, in yet another random gift, they were having a BOGO sale so I got two for the price of one. Woot!

Final random gifts. My mother made delicious chicken soup and homemade bread tonight. And on Tuesday when I went to bed sobbing in Blue Eyes’ arms and woke up sobbing again after Pumpkinhead asked me to clip his nails and I had to say no because my finger joints hurt too bad to hold the clippers, she took care of that for me. Blue Eyes drove Pumpkinhead to school for me so I could make it to work and my coworker carried boxes and binders up and down the stairs for me for the back-to-back meetings I had all day yesterday. I will make it through this, damn it! (Although my massage therapist did freak me out by telling me that her youngest client with Fibromyalgia is 26 and uses a cane when her flare ups are bad. I can totally relate to the need for one (ow, my freaking back!) but OMG!!!)

 

Trying something new

26 Jan

Spending today at work feeling like I wanted to crawl under my desk and die was no fun so I decided to be proactive. I have been reading a variety of books on Fibromyalgia trying to figure out what I can do since the Zonegran and Cymbalta aren’t doing the trick by themselves right now. One recommendation I received was to try to stay warm at all times. One thing that may have helped my pain at work last week was that a coworker had lent me a heater, which she took back on Friday (when my pain returned). The masseuse I saw on Saturday recommended using a heating blanket, even if it means cranking up the A/C, because it will keep my tissues loose and relaxed. I also found a popular regimen by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum that recommends a variety of vitamins and minerals to complement the medications prescribed by your doctor. For now I have ordered the following (in addition to my current regimen of two multivitamins, calcium, iron, B12 injections and sublingual vitamin D):
Magnesium
Probiotic Acidophilus
Standardized Olive Leaf, Capsules
Organic Flaxseed Oil
Grapeseed Extract
B Complex +C
Vitamin E with Selenium
Odorless Garlic
CoQ10
Acetyl L-Carnitine & ALA
NAC
Ginkgo Biloba

We’ll see how it goes…

 
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Sunday Pain Update

25 Jan

Yesterday afternoon I went for a massage. Today my allover muscle pain is feeling better but my joints are still extremely tender, especially in my hands, knees, elbows and toes. I was supposed to start water aerobics last week to see if the water helps, like this article recommends, but the place is only open from 8-5. My mother said she would register me but she didn’t make it last week. Hopefully this week. In the meantime, I called Chapin in tears and asked him to come pick up Pumpkinhead for a few hours. I feel so deficient when I’m like this. Can’t play, can’t be productive, can’t do much of anything.

funny pictures of cats with captions

 
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Blogging the Pain

24 Jan

I’ve been having severe all-over pain since September 2007. During my lifetime I’ve actually had two bouts of “mono” and years of being sick with “viruses”, sensitive to noises, smells, chemicals and sensations. It just seems like in the past two years, everything has been magnified 1,000 times. I am blogging this because when I go back and look at the start of this, it helps to see what I was experiencing back then compared to now. I couldn’t type (right now it is really hurting to do so) and had to try voice activated software. Just having my knuckles graze the steering wheel made me cry out in pain and having a sheet move across my inner arm was like rubbing your skin when it is sunburned. When I first went to the doctors they tried everything from Vicodin to Morphine, steroids, a variety of anti-convulsants and, except for making me sleepy, fat, irritable, etc., nothing really helped. They did bone scans and MRIs and bloodwork and ruled out Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis (my feet and arms felt super-swollen all the time but were not), Cancer, and a variety of other nasty illnesses.

Then they sent me to Neurology. The head of Neurology at a large local hospital suggested that the tingling, numbness and burning in my lower arms and lower legs was due to peripheral neuropathy caused by five years of low B12 (pernicious anemia). He moved me up to weekly B12 injections (from monthly) and sent me for a nerve biopsy and tried various anti-seizure meds. At the time he mentioned Fibromyalgia and I blew him off. He sent me to another specialist in the area of gastric bypass-related neuropathy. I recently returned to the head of neurology and he again mentioned Fibromyalgia as a reason for why, even though my tingling and numbness is improved somewhat, the pain continues and, while still most severe in my arms and legs, is really a full-body experience much of the time. I didn’t really think this was a real disease but I’ve talked to a lot of people and done some research and am starting to believe my doctor.

The past two weekends have been excruciating. The last time my body hurt like this was, well, this time last year. I did a little bit better during the week while I was keeping busy but as soon as Friday hit, my body just hit a wall and started hurting. I went out Wednesday night with friends. I was feeling lousy all day and just sat there trying to keep my arms still and not let them rub against my sides or legs. Last night Pumpkinhead and I went out for dinner with Blue Eyes and then went back to his house and I just sat on the couch trying not to move. Didn’t want my legs to touch the couch or my arms to move out of a certain position. Spent the night with my arms resting on a cool satin comforter and my legs out from under the covers. Barely slept. Today I am just dragging. I had to do things with my mother but I went and got a massage to see if that would help, took a nap and am now back home in bed and about to sleep. Again, I am blogging this so that I can keep track of my pain cycles down the road and see if there is some damn rhyme or reason to all of this. Bah humbug! :evil:

Symptoms:
Pain (joints, knuckles, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, toes, hips, shoulders, neck)
Burning (forearms, hands, calves, feet)
Allodynia (sheets, clothing, light touch – especially hands and inner arm)
RLS/Cramps in Legs
TMJ
Fatigue
Dizziness/Vertigo (apparently FMS can cause this and I’ve been suffering with this, especially when driving around curves, for several years)
Anxiety/Sadness
IBS
Interstitial Cystitis
Vulvodynia
Sensitive skin/rashes
Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

 
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Tightly wound

19 Jan

Tonight I upgraded my regularly scheduled hour-long massage to a 1.5-hour massage. The masseuse said he could not believe how tight my muscles were. He said that if he hadn’t seen me with his own eyes the weeks before, he’d think he’d never worked on me. Apparently my body is stressed. Duh. Fortunately I think he managed to twist, bend, press and otherwise torture it out of me. He does deep tissue massage with myofascial release and there are some places I’m practically screaming when he touches and then, suddenly, they seem to relax under his hands and, while they still hurt, they feel much looser and much less tender. Still, I am chugging water tonight so that I don’t wake up feeling worse tomorrow than I did all weekend and today. Hopefully his magic fingers unwound me for the rest of the week. If not, the chair masseuse comes to work on Wednesday and then I start water aerobics Thursday night and that should help sooth some of the pain.

 
 

Pain

17 Jan

I’ve been having a week of progressively worsening pain in my arms and legs, which totally sucks because I am taking all the DAMN medication (and makes me think there may be something to my neurologist’s repeated insistence that, on top of the neuropathy and taking the IBS into account, I may have fibromyalgia). Crapola. Painkillers and other medication really don’t work on that, hence the full-body ouchies. I know, whine, whine, whine. I wanted to stay in bed this morning but I got up and took the car to the mechanics. Apparently replacing the O2 sensor didn’t work and now the Catalytic Converter is coming up broken in the engine codes. I came home, played a game with Pumpkinhead as promised and then took a nap while he and his friend watched the SpongeBob Movie at the end of my bed. I only got up because Pumpkinhead wanted lunch and now I am back in bed trying to get up the motivation to take a shower and get moving. I want to stay in bed and sleep away the pain. But that won’t really work so I’m going to get up, eventually, take a shower and head off to this guy’s house for a single parent/child dinner and bible study over on the other side of town. It’s sponsored by the church where I’m taking the Rebuilders class and hopefully Pumpkinhead and I will both have fun. Then we’re probably going to go over to Blue Eyes’ house and hang out there since I haven’t seen him all week and this may be our only chance since he’s getting up at the ass crack of dawn for a fishing bachelor’s party for one of his friends. Hope you all have a good weekend.

 
 

Health Update

05 Jan

cat

Went to the neurologist today for my EMG, followed by a consult with him. The EMG sucked, as expected and as remembered from 15 months ago. Especially when they stick the needles in your muscles and then say “please flex it this way/tighten it that way.” Um, no thanks? Or when they are attaching the water-soaked gauze-covered metal ring to your finger before they hit the electric buzzer to shock your nerve and all you can remember is those ads for electricity/water mixing gone wrong. At least my frizzy unwashed hair went along with the electrocuted look. (We will be getting a replacement hot water heater on Thursday, thank God.) Verdict: damage to ulnar nerve explaining the numbness, tingling, etc. But slight, which is good. Small fiber neuropathy, as before.

After the torture was over and I got a year’s worth of refills on the CrazyMeds from my doc with a “keep taking your vitamins, see if there’s a study you can get into to look at the malnutrition-induced neuropathy and call me if the pain gets worse and you need more drugs,” I headed home for about 1.5 hours of soup and rest before jumping back in my car to head back downtown to the dentist. I thought I’d be there for maybe two hours tops. Three hours later, I woke up from a little laughing gas-induced nap to find the dental assistant chipping away at my new crown and I mumbled through my thick, dry lips, “whatimzit?!” When she replied “4:15″, you should have seen me run. Leg pain aside, I flew out of that chair and down the street with about 10 seconds to spare. The tow truck was one car in front of mine towing the line of illegally parked rush hour lane vehicles. Crap. I still got a $65 ticket, but that is much better than having to deal with a tow! Unfortunately it took the dentist another 45 minutes to finish my teeth and then she gave me the bad news of four more teeth that need work, one of which is a bone decay under an old root canal. Darn tooth-eating dry-mouth-inducing meds. Let this be a warning to those of you on anti-convulsants (or taking IV iron): chew Trident, use Biotene dry mouth rinse, etc. Do whatever it takes to avoid having your teeth go from perfect to rotted in 6 months.

The good news is that the dentist took pity on me and agreed to send a digital x-ray to her endodontist friend to see if my rotting bone is really serious (i.e., needs IMMEDIATE attention versus a few months) so that I can figure out where to cut back. I think I’m going to have to start by sitting down with Pumpkinhead’s psychologist this week and telling her that, continuity or not, I need her to recommend another therapist for him that works with my insurance. I just cannot afford the $140/week for only 30 minutes with her. Ack. At least if my insurance covers it, it will only be $35. I told her that before but she said I had to stay with her because he needs consistency. I’m going to ask her to tell him she wants him to see her friend, Dr. “____” and that way he will feel safe. I think that should work. Please!?!? Guess we will see…

funny pictures of cats with captions