fibro flair. ooouuuuccccchhhhh!!

[mopinko]

i slept on a hard mattress, after going to bed mad. i woke up in the morning with pain and stiffness in my right shoulder. over the course of a day, it crawled down my arm. i was going to call my rheumie in the morning, but i woke up at midnight, after about 3 hours of sleep, with pain so bad i wanted to gnaw my arm off. an unequivocal 10 out of 10. went to the er, where a resident who didn't seem to know what fibro is did an xray, gave me some vicodin, and sent me home. called the rheumie in the morning, and he sent a short course of prednisone. saw him the next day. got an order here for 6 weeks of PT, and a second muscle relaxant for day time. this does not encourage me. also did some anesthetic shots into the shoulder. they helped that spot, taking a 10 down to about a 3. but the rest of the arm still hurts.
just when i was feeling stable, and optimistic. i was hired to work on a mural, which is still floating in bureaucratic hell. i just know it is going to drop now that it will kill me. at least the plan is to only work weekends. so, if i can limp through 2 days, i will have 5 to recover.
god damn it. just god damn it.

[ThomCat]

1. I'm hoping you get a real break sometime soon.

That kind of sustained pain will wear you down pretty quickly. Hang in there. :hug:

My rheumie will be going on maternity leave soon. Her back-up is a guy I've never met. She's the well-known star of the office, and she really is an excellent doctor, so I'm hesitant to deal with anyone else. I am hoping for no emergencies for the next 6 months.

Your doctor seems to be very responsive. I'm glad you've got someone who takes you seriously. It's good to hear that other people have found some of the good ones.

[Warpy]

2. Must be something about the change of seasons

My right side is on fire from my shoulder down to my knee.

I've bumped up the prednisone (and yes, my rheumy knows I'm a brat) and I'll probably get into the Flexeril tonight and be utterly useless tomorrow. I'll just have to be grouchy and walk funny until it cools off.

If we could plan this stuff, it wouldn't be nearly so bad: "Oh, I've got a quiet week starting on the third, guess I can schedule a three or four day flare then."

[Nite Owl]

3. How ya feelin'?

Hopefully the predinisone is working. I hate those flairs, just when the pain is seemingly under control wham.

[mopinko]

4. still horrible

had the pt intake today. mmmmmmm ultrasonic massage.
keeping it at bay with ice, but still pretty freakin ungood. got lidocaine patches. the first on did nothing.
i'll be lining up for more shots by the end of the week if it doesn't improve. just f'ing unbearable.

[Nite Owl]

5. Hope you start feeling better soon mo

I so hate having the fibro, there is so much I want to do, need to do and but always that fear that a little too much of something will put me in pain hell for what seems like forever. Sounds like you have a good rheumie and pt, good to have them in your corner.

[mopinko]

6. update

well, after playing around with dosages, i have gotten to the point where i am a little spacey, but got the pain down to where i can type. yesterday i just could not do it. man did i feel alone.
i was getting the feeling that part of the pain was blowback from the meds, so i ramped them back a little. after a night as bad as the one that sent me to the ER, i moved the other way on everything today. so, i feel better, but sure can't sustain this for long. i see the doc tomorrow. i think it will be tender point injection time. he did one, and it did help. not fun, but worth it.
also have to straighten out the PT. she evaluated me, and thinks it is a nerve/neck thing. not. it's right there on the order. the neck massage did feel good. but it is out there in the muscles.
it's that feeling that it is never going away, ya know. ice packs are great, but after a week of frozen arm, you just start to wonder where your breaking point is. i mean, jesus. i am an artist, and this is my right arm. what can i do without it?