Sorry to hear about your fall. I pray you mend quickly.
I got the idea from my Rheumatologist. He is the one that told me about Fibro and RA symptoms being very close to the same
What prescription drugs do you take? What side effects?
Kay, i'm ready to clear the house. My daughter is too bossy. SHE TAKES AFTER HER MOTHER!LOL She cooks good tho.
Kay, i did'nt know you had no clue about the cause of your blindness.That would be scary to me.
I was alone when i fell. I'm like your mom, i love my solitude and independence. I 'll have to give it up someday but not yet. God takes care of fools and ole ladies. I come under both catagorys.
Ken, I hope you find your answers soon too.
Everyone have a quiet peaceful night and a happy tomorrow.
Vickie
AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Vickie, I hate that you broke your wrist. I hope you are not in pain and that (the hard part) you let people take care of you, just a little bit.
It does not surprise me to hear of a possible connection between fibro and RA.
For instance, 20 years ago, half the MDs were saying DON'T get pregnant if you have MS and the other half were saying if you DO, you'll feel better while you're pg. Huh????? I had a hundred theories why that was. They are FINALLY doing a study on why you feel better while you're pg. I know people who had lots of babies just for that 9 months of feeling better. ("Yes, dear, your father and I loved each other VERY much, and decided it was worth putting up with you for 18 years if it would make me feel better for 9 months ....")
So now maybe they'll put some research money into a few good studies, or treat you with the RA drugs to see if they work.
On that same note, the Cymbalta that is helping fibro patients so much is now being used for autoimmune liver patients to lower their bone and muscle pain, as long as it doesn't mess with their liver counts. It is helping me so much that I hope my tests are okay, I will cry if I have to go off of it.
Glad to hear you are doing o.k., Vickie. Take care of yourself and enjoy the down time as much as possible.
I would cry myself, if they took Jim off Cymbalta.
Currently, the most popular theory with the doctors is that my problems result from my mother being exposed to herbicides and pesticides while she was pregnant and that scrambled some genes. I’m old enough to remember when DDT was considered wonderful stuff so it is a viable theory. Only a theory, though.
Despite this I’m not a zealot where such things are concerned. If you stop to consider that chemicals like DDT replaced the use of things like agricultural arsenic, it legitimately had to be considered an improvement. Not surprisingly, however, I’m committed to an organic gardening approach.
For those who are hesitant to question their doctors, here is a story to keep in mind. For most of my life I was labeled as having Marfan’s Syndrome with all that entails. (People with Marfan’s often have below normal intelligence.) I appeared to have the classic physical marks of Marfan’s Syndrome. Meaning I was unusually tall and, when I was younger, very thin. That never really made sense to me because I had a sister almost the same height and one who is even taller. Neither, has visual, hearing or cardiac symptoms. But, the doctors had eight years of specialized education; surely they knew more than I did. Right? When you question a doctor, many will tell you just that.
The tallest of my sisters by chance came with me to an appointment to act as sighted guide. After talking with her, the cardiologist took some simple measurements and concluded I had been misdiagnosed. (Cardiologist have more hands on experience with Marfan’s than any other type of doctor.) All he did was have me hold my arms out to the side and measured me from fingertip across the back to fingertip. Then, compared that measurement to my height. In most people those measurements will be equal or close to it. In someone with Marfan’s, there is a significant difference. I was only a half inch off. Not clinically significant. I spent my young life believing 50 years would be my maximum life expectancy. That played a part in many decisions I made. Have you heard that old joke? “If I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself.” LOL.
If you have doubts, question your doctor!!! If he/she resents that, you NEED another doctor. *Kay*
Fired my first liver doctor for that reason, he had the nerve to tell me that I didn't need to ask questions, he'd take of everything with my little liver disease. I've never been a violent person, but it was a close call that day.
Marfan's syndrome, your "wingspan" is supposed to exceed your height. I always heard Abraham Lincoln is believed to have had it - no sub-normal intelligence there!
But I definitely hear your point, Kay. Remember the reflex test they do on babies where the MD sort of scrapes the bottom of the baby's foot and all the toes spread out? It's called a Babinski reflex, and all you need is a bare foot and something like a thumbnail, although usually the back of a reflex hammer is used. The Babinski reflex is NOT present in neurologically intact adults (I don't know at what age it disappears, but it does; I think it's only there in infants). I'm thinking of all the many expensive and painful tests I had BEFORE I ever saw a neurologist. The first time someone tried to evoke a Babinski reflex, which should NOT have been there, they were there, both feet, loud and clear. Why wait so long for such an easy and unequivocal test? It would have at least pointed them at the right part of my body!! (Calming down now, I promise.)
We had to do the Babinsky reflex to each other in anatomy and physiology with a ruler.
several of us had very ticklish feet.
Kay is so-o-o right. If your doctor resents your questions. It means he don't have the answers. So get another one. My DH went thru that with heart doctors. They were determined he had ulcers untill he had a heart attack and triple by-pass surgery.
Any more you can google a medical condition and learn about as much as the doctor does. Thank heavens for the medical universitys like Miami and Harverd.
Edited because i had a senior moment. also can't spell harvard. LOL
This message was edited Nov 12, 2009 11:39 PM
Under the circumstances, Vickie, we are just happy to be hearing from you. Jim is taking some extra pain killers because of some dental work that didn't go as expected. Bone is exposed, but the dentist says it is not "dry socket" and will heal normally in a week or so. "It is not a serious problem," he says.. I think I will send Jim to live with the dentist for the upcoming week. I think the doc would change his mind. I don't dare leave Jim alone. With the extra buzz, there is no telling what he would take it in his mind to do. Happy Friday, the 13th. *Kay*
Kay, I really feel for you and Jim. my DH had a reaction to a pain drug the dentist gave him and he lost it intirely. Was detemined to go to work and dentist said he had to go home till it wore off. I ended up going to his work to get him. His bosses were very understanding and concerned. DH was very mad at me.
Hope Jim gets over this in a hurry. You too.
LOL i used to say doctors ought to have to take care of their patients in their own homes for a week at a time to appreciate nurses.
I have a mysterious plant blooming in one of my flowerbeds. It has red blooms up a slender stalk.I don't recognise either the flowers or the leaves. Will have to go into plant files.I don't remember planting anything there, which don't mean much.
He is just goofy, thank goodness. Well, in Jim's case, maybe I should say goofier than usual. I am going to hold on to the bank and credit cards until he is back to normal. The druggist talked him into letting the living room remodel wait for a week or so. The idea of Jim and power tools is spooky. However, he bought a bunch of stuff while he was at the pharmacy that we probably could have done without. The purchases included a new back brace. We have six or seven of those now. Also, cinnamon pills because someone in the store happen to mention they had read cinnamon helps people lose weight easier. No real harm done, but for the sake of our bank account, I should have gone with him.
Does anyone know if drugs can make someone extremely talkative? I have thought sometimes that people on Tramadol seem more gregarious when they are taking it then when they aren't. At the moment, Jim is talking, and talking, and talking, and..... *Kay*
The only two people I know who talk incessantly when taking Tramadol are Kay’s sister and Kay, herself. That is why she thinks that. They once talked non-stop from Bucksport, Maine to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. My BIL and I could not get a word in edgewise. They’re blaming the drug for that incident. Since milignant hyperthermia runs in their family, I honestly don't doubt there might be other off-the-wall allergic reactions to drugs.
I’m just bored and talking doesn’t cause me any pain. I bet if I talked more about clothes, or gardening, and less about electronics and computer games, they wouldn’t think I’m talking too much. LOL. But, I don’t know anything about fashion and I’m a newbie gardener. (Jim)
Hello everyone, I wanted to put in my 2 cents worth about the fibro diagnosis question that was ask by ken or riceke. I was sent to a Rhuematologist because they thought I had RA but when blood work was done and I had very little inflamation( I think that is the right word) in blood test the doctor did a test on my tenderpoints. He pressed on certain spots on the body and it was very painful. I thought I would scream at times it was so bad. I knew that I hurt all the time but there are certain tenderpoints on a fibro patient that are extremely painful to touch even a little. There is a tenderpoints map that indicates the areas that you could probably find by googling it. There is a website called Fibrohugs that you can go to although I have not been there in a while. I learned alot there in the beginning. I check occasionally to see if anything new has been learned through research. Everyone who has been diagnosed with fibro seem to get treated like we are hyperchrondriacs( probably misspelled) They think we all want pain killers. I refuse to take strong narcotics unless desperate because my dad was an alcoholic, my brother is one now and my mom was addicted to painkilllers. So I know chances are I would be addicted quickly. I stopped smoking for ten years and got to having panic attacks and would smoke one to calm down and now I am hooked again. I am cutting back one day and forget the next. Then I start all over. Also, about drugs making you talk too much, I think it does to some people. My mom got louder and more talkative and also meaner when taking too many pain meds. She had a stroke several years ago because she took too many, she almost overdosed I think. She had tons of the stuff in her apartment. I think her DR. allowed her too many. But she always talked him into them. I let him know I thought he was responsible too. the same DR. would not give me anything because he thought all my problem was being overweight. His nurse practitioner told me she thought I might have RA and sent me to the rhuematologist who quickly told me I had Fibro. That is my 2 cents worth. Goodnight. scraps
Tramadol ABSOLUTELY makes DH garrulous.