11 February @015

Still chugging along. The winter weather has been murder on my spine and joints, as is to be expected. I had another temporary back shot yesterday to tide me over until I can get another in May.

* Rheum appointment went well – In trying to find out where this weird tic is coming from, he’s sending me for a breathing test. There’s also a link between pain and less air. Which makes sense. I don’t think that’s my issue but it’s one more box to cross off.

* Spine appointment also went well – Temporary back shot, of course, but he’s also very concerned about this stupid tic. I expressed concern about the state of my spine, and that maybe one of my little spurs is poking my spinal cord. He says it’s unlikely, mostly due to the vocal nature (as well as physical) of my tics. So I’m going to see a neurologist. Yes, we all knew it was coming: My brain is broken! Which it may be, or not. No worries either way. Just waiting for an appointment time.

About those tics, yeah, they’ve gotten pretty bad. My better half has politely described me as a crow. And not so politely described it as a goat on a treadmill. In any case, it’s starting to occur in public. I was surprised that it actually showed up in the doc’s office. We all know how this usually goes – you go to the doc and your ailment gets shy. Not this time. Yikes!

Everything else is about what I’d expect. Sore, cranky, but coping okay.

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20 January 2015

Doing okayish. Some pain – back, hips, joints. Dealing with a flu-ish/ body ache thing. Went to the rheum doc yesterday to follow up on that weird twitchy thing that I’ve been going through. He’s going to send me in for a sort of oxygen test usually used for sleep apnea. Apparently, people with lower oxygen levels feel pain more sharply. That makes sense I suppose. Anyway, I have to wait to hear back about a time and take it from there.

Right side upper abdominal pain continues to worsen.
Pain in hips, right beside the sacrum, continues to worsen.

27 November 2014

Hopefully that 7 will be temporary! Went outside on Monday-Tuesday and paid a yucky price for it. On the monday, upon leaving the mall, it felt as though my hips would just stop working. They felt full of shattered glass and I had to concentrate on making them move. Very painful experience. Tuesday wasn’t nearly as bad but it did further settle in, making for a miserably painful yesterday. It’s tapering off today so I hope it goes back to ‘normal’ soon.

Right side pain continues to get worse.

2 November 2014

Not doing too badly this morning – of course, medication has kicked in, so there’s that. I think I’ve got the timing/dosage/delivery system down just right for my pain medication and I can take that pain down to nothing, but then I can’t do anything else either. Like anything. At all. Some days that’s good.

As for the quality of the pain itself, there is a definite sharpness to it, with the colder, wetter weather. I’ve really been feeling it at my lower back/sacrum/hips area over the past week or so. Walking DOES NOT help, but I do it anyway, cus not walking doesn’t help either. I try to keep it moving, at least a little, during the day. Just some flexing and stretching. My upper back will occasionally twinge painfully but I can push it back more easily now. The ache in my joints is about what I’d expect for this time of year. Still dealing with stupid right side pain.

I’ve been sleeping – a LOT. Regularly waking up now at anywhere from 5:30 to nearly 8. That is damned late for me. No complaints. Also, appetite has completely disappeared over the past few days. I’ve had to force myself to eat something, but I haven’t wanted to eat anything at all. Keeping an eye on it.

26 October 2014

Waiting for pain medication to kick in. Cold, wet, stormy weather here has led to a hell of a lot of joint pain. The dull thudding pain in my back seems to be managed fairly well – by the spinal shot, and medication, but the sharper, stabbier pains associated with joint pain? Takes a while for that to fade out. Maybe a few more hours will do it. Toes, fingers/wrists and hips seem to be the worst at the moment. Right side is still sore as hell.

19 October 2014

Pain medication kicked in, so I’m not doing too badly. There are certain spots where it will flare up – upper back if I’m upright too long, ankle (right) and both hips if I move, wrist if I write/knit too much. But basically, doing okay (after medication – it would be an 8 or 9 without it).

I’ve been dealing with a bit of a sniffle/run down cold type feeling. Nothing excessive, but it makes me feel a little run down.

Also, later in the day I have been getting a bit of a migraine. Not a horrible crippling one, but I can feel it. Pain medication keeps it pushed back.

Lastly, that stupid right abdom. is still carrying on cranky. Sharp pains, squeezy, sharp finger pokey pains. Diarrhea. Yellow, if we are going to be specific. TMI, I know.

Still doing okay for pain, and no tylenol/ibuprofen/gravol. About 2.5 gm

13 October 2014

Been a while since I’ve posted here. Needed time to straighten out a medication issue.

I’ve recently had a spinal injection, and enough time has gone by that the initial ache at the site has passed. The surgeon used a different steroid this time, and a lot more of it, so I’ve had a more positive reaction this time. Weird knife-blade-along-the-bottom-rib pain/nervy thing has eased off as the extra fluid there is absorbed in.

Still healing from the fall I took on 14 September, with my right ankle and wrist aching.

All other pain is fuzzy and shoved into the background right now and, in a few more hours – once I’ve done everything I need to do – will be gone entirely, and that should last throughout the day.

medication:

300mg plaquenil

150 mg efexor

1.5 – 2.5 gm CBD

herbal detox

OTC sleeping pill

No more tylenol, ibuprofen, gravol, etc – yay!