A New Doctor, Part I

September 22, 2003

Ok, so I've slacked of a little and didn't write in the journal, but then again, nothing really happened. I've been taking prednizone for a week (just about) with no relief in sight.

This morning, I called the doctor's office to tell them about my status. The nurse that I spoke to was amazed. She said, "What?!? The prednizone doesn't work for you?!?!" She then said that she'd have to talk to the doctor and get back with me.

Well, it's been about an hour and the nurse called me back, saying that the doctor wants to refer me to a Rheumatologist and that she'll call me back when she gets me an appointment.

The Day After

September 17, 2003

Well I started the prednizone last night right after dinner. Man, what a rough night I had. I had some major aches and pains in my back, legs, ankles, arms and shoulders. I doubt it was from the medicine, though, because I had just started taking it and figured that it would take longer to kick in.

Well, day 1 down. My doctor want me to take it for 7 days to see what happens. I'm sitting here and can feel the pulsing pain in my knees, ankles and arms. Geez....

Round 2

September 16, 2003

The doctor's office called my house at noon today to let me know that my test results came back. My wife called me and I called them back. The blood work turned up normal. The nurse(?) then said that she would talk to the doctor to see what he wanted to try next.

She called back and said that the doctor wanted me to take prednizone for a week.

The most commonly encountered side effects are:

• Sodium retention
• Increased appetite
• Increased fat deposits
• Increased acid in your stomach
• Increased sweating, especially at night
• Increased hair growth
• Acne on the face, back, and chest
• Bone and muscle problems
• Growth problems in children
• Eye problems
• Increased sugar in the blood
• Increased sensitivity to the sun
• Delayed wound healing
• Decreased ability to fight infection
• Thrush (Candida) growth in the mouth

Waiting Game

September 15, 2003

It's now Monday, and I've been taking the Mobic (2 tablets) every day, with no relief from pain. I'm eagerly waiting for the results of the lab work as I want to get this over with and put it behind me. Heck, I've been thinking if it were a thyroid issue, maybe the medicine would speed up my metabolism as well so I could loose a few pounds :)

Answers?

September 12, 2003

Well, it's been a pretty rough day. My boss at work forgot that I had a doctor's appointment and was running me ragged all day right up to the point when I had to leave. I managed to make it to the doctor on time in spite of everything :) It turned out to be longer visit than I expected as I was at the doctor's office from 3:30pm - 5:30pm. Anyway after a barrage of questions by the nurse and then the doctor about my history, the pain, etc. the doctor was leaning towards either osteoarthritis or a thyroid problem. He then sent me immediately to the lab for blood work and gave me a GENEROUS sample of Mobic to hold me through the weekend until my results come in on Monday or Tuesday. He told me to take 1 or 2 tablets every day.

I took one immediately upon getting home and having dinner, unfortunately, it didn't help. I waited several hours and took the second one... still nothing.

Hmm...makes me wonder

September 11, 2003

Today started out pretty hectic as it was picture day for the kids. I realized that when I was in the shower. I had to hurry up and get out to help get them "properly presented" for school.

Anyway, the night was rough. I can remember waking up about 4 times during the course of the night. As is usual,

I've been doing some thinking about Fibromyalgia. There are a lot of inconsistencies with what I hear from others. Yes, I have chronic pain. Sometimes it's sharp; sometimes burning. Sometimes parts of my body just feel numb or tired. From what I've heard, FM isn't progressive, yet I'm not feeling in pain to the point where I can't function. Is this something that will happen down the road? Will I get other symptoms? How manageable is this? What if this ISN'T FM? If it's not, what the heck could it be?

I've seen sites that say that the symptoms are manageable and that life progresses normally. I've seen sites where people are bedridden for days or weeks and can't manage to dress themselves. I guess that there is a wide range of... what's the word that I'm looking for?... severity?

I have mixed feelings about going to see the doctor tomorrow. I'm anxious to go and find out what he can tell me. Yet, I dread going and having him say that "Oh, it's your weight" or something like that. I also hope that I won't be subjected to numerous office visits with various specialists. I know that it sounds like I want "fast food" medicine". In a way I do. I want to go to the doctor, have him say, "Oh, you've got X", give me a prescription, "yes, I'd like fries with that", and I'm on my way.

Sigh... I guess I have to wait.

Pain at various parts of the day:

12:54

• Left shoulder - This ALWAYS seems to hurt
• Left forearm & elbow
• Left shoulder - burning
• Right foot
• Left thigh - burning
• Headache - front/over right eye
• Left fingers

13:30

• Right elbow
• Right fingers
• Right wrist
• Right forearm

These all happened simultaneously, while I was sitting down doing NOTHING, well, OK, I was working on the computer, but still.

• Headache
• Left arm - total

15:30

• Right & left elbow
• Right & left shoulders
• Top of back
• Right & left legs from the thighs down

Maybe I'm focusing too much on my pain, but I've decided that I wanted to track it as much as I can, so, what the hey...

I've also decided to document my symptoms based upon the physician's side symptoms list,
known as "Devin's Diagnostic". These are symptoms aside from the general all-over aches and pains.

• "Traveling" nocturnal sinus stuffiness
• Post nasal drip
• Dizziness
• Headaches/migraines - Sometimes in the front, other times, they "wrap around" my head.
• Light and/or broken sleep pattern with unrefreshing sleep - Does waking up 6x a night count?
• Sweats - These usually during the night.
• Morning stiffness
• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Ringing in ears - I'm lumping in hearing lights, and high-pitches with this, and yes, occasionally, just a solid high-pitch.
• Irregular heartbeat - I feel this as an unusual pause in the normal rhythm of the heart.
• Carbohydrate/chocolate cravings
• Sensitivity to light - This pertains mainly to my eyes.
• Urinary frequency - This varies. Sometimes it's 2x a day, other times, I can "go" every 15 minutes.
• Muscle twitching (face) - Usually manifests around my left eye or left side of my mouth.
• Numbness and tingling
• Trouble concentrating
• "Fugue"-type states (staring into space before brain can function)
• Restless leg syndrome

Busy Day

September 10, 2003

Today has been a pretty busy day at work with meetings, etc., so it seemed to be a good day. For the most part, I've just had a headache (most of the day). I've had aches and pains all day, but nothing that you would necessarily call a show-stopper.

Pain at various parts of the day:

• Left shoulder
• Left knee
• Right toes
• Right chest
• Left & right forearms
• Right shin

Research

September 9, 2003

As I sit here, I am reading about Fibromyalgia on the Internet. I am reading about this gentlemen who has a LONG list of chronic symptoms and am hoping that I do not even come close to developing what he has. Albeit, it may be psychological, when I read of some of his troubles, I can relate. I think to myself..."Gee, I kind of have that a little." it makes me wonder if there will be a progression. I've read that there is no progression, so to speak, yet it seems that the symptoms have gotten worse and more developed over the past few weeks.

Other Web sites that I have read all speak of reasonable pain management and have not gone into the level of detail that this guy has. This poor man is practically disabled. I've also changed my doctor's appointment to 3:30 on Friday that way I could go home right afterwards.

I've also decided to keep track of my pain and where it is to document frequency, location, etc. I am going to try to group it as it occurs as usually, the pain happens at multiple points in my body at the same time. I might not be able to accurately record the time or the duration, but am striving to record it when I can get back to my computer.

11:00

• Left shoulder
• Left knee
• Front of head

13:00

• left bicep - burning
• Right lower back - burning
• left hand - numbness

16:30

• left knee
• right shoulder - burning
• front of head
• tightness on right side of neck

16:54

• left/front side of head - cloudiness/numbness

In The Beginning

Well, I've decided to start a journal to track what I am going through. I'm doing this to better to understand what it is that I am going through and to help others, when I find out what it is.

Today, the pain got to the point that my wife asked me to make a doctor's appointment. I reluctantly agreed, knowing that I was having more than incidental pain. My appointment is this Friday @ 9:00am. My first thoughts were that I had some type of bone cancer, but after doing a lot of reading, I've pretty much ruled that out. It's not that I'm a doctor, but I do consider myself reasonably intelligent, plus have a pseudo-medical background. I next settled on the fact that I might have Rheumatoid Arthritis.

I remember breaking my right ankle when I was 11 or 12 years-old. I had pain in it afterwards and was told by my doctor that I had Juvenile Arthritis. I was told to take one Ecotrin tablet a day. Something happened along the way when I was growing up and I stopped taking them as the pain was gone.

Anyway, this is what helped me think that I might have RA. I investigated it, but the only symptom that I have is pain. I don't have swelling or a fever, etc. A search through Yahoo! for "chronic body joint pain" led to a few sites that discussed Fibromyalgia. In reading through them, it appears that I might have it as there are a lot of stiking similarities. I told my wife what I thought that it was. She was very receptive and relieved that at least it sounded like a treatable condition.