The very first thing I want to say is that if this thing I'm suffering from turns out to be temporary, and I so hope it does, I will never, never, never have more respect and sympathy than I now have for people who have lived with chronic arthritis for years and years. I will never again sigh impatiently behind the elderly woman in the checkout line who takes forever to write a check or the person who takes forever to walk up the jetway to the air terminal. And, though I'm in a professional position where I'm asked all the time to take on and volunteer for health causes of all kinds (the Heart Ball, the Diabetes Run, etc....I think I have a new one that I might dedicate myself to now).
I was robbed overnight. One day a month ago, I was fine...except for my long-running but well contolled and not bothersome hypothyroidism and a pesky cold/cough/slight sore throat with conjestion/runny nose that I'd had for about a week.
But the next day, BOOM. My body imploded. Debilitating pain in my shoulders that within hours migrated to my right hand and elbow where I had red, warm, swelling, that hours later migrated to red, hot, very swollen ankles, and there followed hips and knees. Thank GOD my feet below my ankles have never been involved. Also had fever and chills that made my teeth chatter. But due to my hips, I couldn't walk and barely made it into the ER where I was given a steroid shot and a shot of Toradol to help me keep from just wanting to die. Went home with 10 days of prednisone and a bottle of Tramadol. I thought for all the world I had rheumatic fever, but the ER doc said that's not what it was.
The pain has decreased over the past month but still is there in milder form, jumping all around my body and newly attacking my jaw, the swelling and redness never has returned, but the tiredness and fatigue are horrible.
Since then, I've had myriad blood tests (RF negative, ESR 91 and now 74, WBC normal, TSH 2, ANA positive but not yet analyzed), and I'm being presently treated with doxycycline, since one of my doctors thinks it could be a mycobacterial infection and the other one thinks the doxy is at least ameliorating an autoimmune response if in fact I am not bacterial. Both of them suspect if it's not bacterial, it's viral. Also have done an exhaustive search thru family history where there is no RA, no Lupus, no MS.
But the docs are both waiting for the magic "6 week" mark to see if they should press forward and try to find me a more devestating diagnosis, and I am waiting to hear back on my ANA analysis. Thank goodness one of my docs is an "out of the box" doc who already is using an alternative protocol to treat my hypothyroidism (the Dr. Broda Barnes protocol). Because at least that keeps my options more open.
So as of today, I'm on doxcycycline, Tramadol and 400 mg Celebrex/day.
I have taken some of this into my own hands and am doing as much research as I can. Have begun taking Healthy Trinity probiotics, daily dose of Certo pectin with grape juice, multivitamin, Omega 3/6, garlic supplement, and eating as healthy as possible. Also have begun epsom salt/peroxide baths (today).
I have been heavily searching the internet for the past month and have both been terrified by what I've found and also been much more educated about all this.
Glad to find this forum and will probably spend hours on it now.
Edited by Stormee - 04 February 2010 at 8:38am
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