The sun was shining (at least until about 15 minutes ago), the birds are singing, and I managed to wear cute wedge shoes all day (7 hours!) with minimal discomfort (at least none caused by PA, a little caused by the normal "new shoe" breaking in). I really do love those damned inserts. Right now I am probably at a 3 on the pain scale, with a bit in my back and knees. All in all it has been a good day for me.
In other PA news today, I visited a PA forum that user "Cajunz" so kindly suggested, and of course the first post I noticed was labeled "too young?". Unsurprisingly, a 28 year-old women suspects she might has arthritis in her fingers and her peers just find it funny, because she is too young to have arthritis. Now I can excuse some people for not realizing that arthritis affects people of all ages, because all they have known of the disease is grandmothers and grandfathers who complain about their creaks and swells. This is understandable, because like most things today, the media plays this image up. What is frustrating to me is the number of doctors who judge strictly based on age. I went through 3 rheumatologists, a podiatrist, and two general practitioners before I found a doctor who was willing to say "hey, this is obvious, you have every sign of having arthritis", my pain was getting so severe that I was not able to sleep at night because my hips were throbbing. The first rheumatologist simply tugged and pulled at my joints, and because they were pretty flexible, simply said I had loose ligaments and prescribed me pain meds. Since I was completely against being on pain killers for the rest of my life(and pretty much still am), and the fact that what he prescribed me was not working (I can not recall the name or dosage), I pursued another specialist. The next guy told me that if I was against the NSAIDs then the alternative was to go to physical therapy to try and build up my muscles around the joints, this proved to be fairly useless because at the time I was already very fir and going to the gym 4 to 5 times a week, so the therapist just told me what exercises to focus on. Soon after I changed jobs and ,therefore, insurance companies, and had to seek another Dr. when the pain started to become unbearable again. The next Doc thought I might have arthritis and prescribed me to take 1000mg of naproxen EVERYDAY, I thought I would do so just to humor the guy, since he seemed at least somewhat interested in my pain. After about 3 weeks my stomach revolted. It was not a pretty sight to see, let me tell you. I stopped taking the pills, and at this time I had to change insurance companies (again). The next guy (and current favorite, although somewhat of a religious zealot) was so responsive, and with help from my new general practitioner, finally came up with my diagnosis. PA!
In other PA news today, I visited a PA forum that user "Cajunz" so kindly suggested, and of course the first post I noticed was labeled "too young?". Unsurprisingly, a 28 year-old women suspects she might has arthritis in her fingers and her peers just find it funny, because she is too young to have arthritis. Now I can excuse some people for not realizing that arthritis affects people of all ages, because all they have known of the disease is grandmothers and grandfathers who complain about their creaks and swells. This is understandable, because like most things today, the media plays this image up. What is frustrating to me is the number of doctors who judge strictly based on age. I went through 3 rheumatologists, a podiatrist, and two general practitioners before I found a doctor who was willing to say "hey, this is obvious, you have every sign of having arthritis", my pain was getting so severe that I was not able to sleep at night because my hips were throbbing. The first rheumatologist simply tugged and pulled at my joints, and because they were pretty flexible, simply said I had loose ligaments and prescribed me pain meds. Since I was completely against being on pain killers for the rest of my life(and pretty much still am), and the fact that what he prescribed me was not working (I can not recall the name or dosage), I pursued another specialist. The next guy told me that if I was against the NSAIDs then the alternative was to go to physical therapy to try and build up my muscles around the joints, this proved to be fairly useless because at the time I was already very fir and going to the gym 4 to 5 times a week, so the therapist just told me what exercises to focus on. Soon after I changed jobs and ,therefore, insurance companies, and had to seek another Dr. when the pain started to become unbearable again. The next Doc thought I might have arthritis and prescribed me to take 1000mg of naproxen EVERYDAY, I thought I would do so just to humor the guy, since he seemed at least somewhat interested in my pain. After about 3 weeks my stomach revolted. It was not a pretty sight to see, let me tell you. I stopped taking the pills, and at this time I had to change insurance companies (again). The next guy (and current favorite, although somewhat of a religious zealot) was so responsive, and with help from my new general practitioner, finally came up with my diagnosis. PA!
Currently I am only taking pain meds when I need them (something he is unaware of), and I am probably going to have to pursue stronger measures after I come back form Jamaica in July.
I am still frustrated that no one seems to be working on getting rid of or stopping PA, just helping the pain, but I am just so relieved that there is someone out there who believes my pain is real. It sounds dramatic, but there are times when I think even the closest people to me think I am exaggerating when I talk about my pain.
I still get that "oh sure" look when I mention my arthritis to someone, and sometimes I feel as if I am being judged, as though being 15 lbs overweight caused my arthritis, which it hasn't. Perhaps I am being to hard on people when I say they don't understand, or perhaps it's hard for them to imagine my pain when they see me walking, running, and just doing "normal" things day to day.
I still get that "oh sure" look when I mention my arthritis to someone, and sometimes I feel as if I am being judged, as though being 15 lbs overweight caused my arthritis, which it hasn't. Perhaps I am being to hard on people when I say they don't understand, or perhaps it's hard for them to imagine my pain when they see me walking, running, and just doing "normal" things day to day.
I suppose everyone has an aspect in their lives in which they feel no one can quite understand. Don't they?
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