Do I have a type of arthritis?Hello,
Tonight I went to dinner with some friends, one of whom is a nurse (also in grad school to be a nurse practitioner), and once we started talking it came out that I have been in pain for most of my life and after listening she said I may have fibromyalgia. I had never heard of this and I am always a little hesistant to search about different illnesses because I think when we want to have an answer for our pain, its easy to some how relate our pain to different illnesses that we find online. I know I need to go to the doctor but I am always afraid he'll think I am a hypocondriac because I am there often, and for legit reasons.
I am 25, no children, do not drink, smoke, or do drugs, work 20 hours a week as a secretary, no abnormal strensuous activities, without medication I have my period only 1 or 2 times a year, 143 lbs, 5'1' and in the last 2 years have been struggling with weight as I was 105lbs only 2 years ago, have had a weight problem before about 5 years ago, same scenario as now.
Here are the issues I have: some have been diagnosed & treated and some not even been brought up yet to my doctor.
DIAGNOSED AND TREATED:
- Acid Reflux- treated and unsuccesful, still have pain in my chest
- Anxiety- treated with medicine (Effexor) and effective
- Menorrhagia- treated with medicine (Provera), one time and effective
- Infertility- treated with medicine (Clomid), one time and unknown if its effective
- Vision- 20/500 vision corrected with lenses to 20/20
- Migraines- I used to get them when I was a teenager-early adult about once/twice a month on average and was prescribed medicine, also I had low blood pressure which I was prescribed medicine for and both were effectively treated.
- Frequent urinary tract infections, at least 3-4 times ayear- treated with medicine and effective
- Weight gain- it has been addressed by my doctors saying it can be related to the effexor, marriage, eating habits, etc and so not treated.
UNTREATED, NOT BROUGHT UP:
- nightmares or very vivid dreaming every night guaranteed (I have always been a vivid dreamer but it has become extremely worse and may be related to my effexor)
- takes about 2 hours to fall asleep at night waking up at least 4 times a night, I NEED a nap everyday (my naps usually last 2-3 hours)
- Ever since I can remember I have been getting pains that a doctor would call growing pains as a child but they have never ceased and increasingly get worse as I get older. They usually happen 2-4 times a week, some more extreme than others. It varies from dull, annoying pain that I can "live" with and continue functioning to the point where I can't move and I just cry where nothing helps. The majority of the time the pain is in my hip more towards my back and spreads all the way down to my toes. My hands, arms and shoulders sometimes get it, but mostly occurs below my torso. To be honest I think it is occuring more than I think but I may be used to it. Because if I focus right now, I can feel it between my elbow and my shoulder on my right side.
- I have had what I think is bronchitis for at least 3 months (simply just putting off going to the doctor because it is a half hour away)
- Only allergies are to nickel and salicylic acid
Can anybody help? I know I should go to the doctor but I would like to know if anybody has had or treated any of these symptoms as all or some. I really do appreciate all of your help, thank you in advance.
I would be happy to answer any questions about me that may help you answer this question.
-
-angels_kindred
Do yourself a favor and start a journal of every little thing in your life from what you eat, breathe , drink , your pain and stress levels. Record it all. This can be helpful when looking for patterns that may be causing some of your symptoms.
For instance , if you are drinking carbonated beverages it could be a problem for your GERD. I found my GERD and some of my muscle pain was actually from gluten intolerance. ( Yes allergies and sensitivities to food can cause muscle pain ! ) When I do away with gluten my pain lessens.It's worth your time to do this.
Migraines can also be from food sensitivities. Chocolate, caffeine, MSG , and soy are some of the known food triggers for migraines.
Fibromyalgia is actually a syndrome consisting of multiple problems throughout the body . Its not uncommon to have many different diagnoses before a doctor finally says its fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is actually a central nervous system problem that happens to be currently treated by rheumatologists, someday it will shift to neurology.
One of the most important problems for you to treat are your sleep problems. Sleep problems are one of the keys to less pain. If you dont get the right kind of sleep(deep sleep) your body can not heal itself. Discuss your sleep problems with your doctor , they can be lots of help . They may recommend a sleep study to see whats going on with your sleep.
-Indiana Jones
well i'd stongly suggest you have your thyroid tested. specifically be have TSH, free T3, and free T4 tested.
i'm sure some of your treated and and untreated symptoms are a separate problems but many of your symptoms point to hypothyroidism.
such as:
-pains
-weight gain
-irregular periods.
and perhaps you have other symptoms that you don't even realize are symptoms.
learn all about it and ask for your doctor to run the blood tests. and if you can get an appointment with an endocrinologist as they specialize in thyroid conditions. and what your general doctor may think it ok a specialist may think is abnormal. and regular doctors don't have enough nor the right kind of knowledge to help in the long run.
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/hypothyroidism-topic-overview
hope you get some answers.
Arthritis Medication, Prevention, Symptoms, Treatment and Causes by Gooarthritis.info
Orignal From: Do I have a type of arthritis?
No comments:
Post a Comment