Sunday, March 23, 2008

The last few weeks

So, the last few weeks have been a little interesting. Actually, the last few weeks have kinda sucked. Back in February I went to a rheumatologist. I'd been having a lot of really bad pain pretty much all over my body for months and he was recommended to me by a friend. I told him about my pain, was given an exam, and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and arthritis. For those who don't know, fibromyalgia is a disease that affects the muscles, ligaments, and tendons of the body. It is characterized by widespread pain, severe fatigue, muscle twitches and burning sensations of the skin. Another very common symptom is depression which thank the good Lord I have not experienced. I think that having a deep rooted faith and love for Jesus has prevented that. Depression can be the worst of all the symptoms. Thank you Lord for sparing me from that! Fibro (short word version) is also genetic. My mom and cousin both have it and we believe that my great grandmother had it as well. I knew that when I made my appointment with the doctor that I probably had fibro, but was not aware that I also had arthritis. The type of arthritis I have is called psoriatic arthritis. It's directly linked to the psoriasis that is on my head and body. Isn't that interesting? I never knew that psoriasis could cause swelling and pain in the joints. All in all, my pain has been pretty intense and coupled with extreme fatigue it started to greatly affect my work and as a result I ended up losing my job on Friday( the assistant part I was good at but the front desk was the job that was being affected). Although I was very upset about it at first, I no longer am. I actually see this as a blessing. When I was working, I would come home sometimes in so much pain I would be sobbing. I was also coming home so exhausted, that I would head straight for bed right after dinner. I left on very good terms with the office and Dr. Mungo said I could always use him as a reference. He had also said something else that has stuck with me. Right before I left he told me "You know Crystal, you need to take care of your health right now. Don't worry about finding a job right away. Go home, get better, and have babies". I go off birth control in August to give my body a couple of months to flush out all the hormones and then Caleb and I start really trying for a baby end of September (our 3rd wedding anniversary is September 24th!). And until then my main concern is taking care of my health so that when we do have a baby I can take care of him/her. So you know what? I think I just might take Dr. Mungo's advice.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Crystal. I found your post because you mentioned "psoriatic arthritis." I also have PA and want to let you know that many people experience remission of both P and PA during pregnancy. So you might get a double bonus if you become pregnanat - a baby and pain relief!

Also, your last post about falling down on the stair-stepper machine - it is possible that your ankle is giving out and causing you to fall. This is common with PA and at first you don't realize what is causing the fall, it just seems spontaneous or caused by something else (faulty machine or a crack in the sidewalk). But if you pay attention, you might find that your ankles sometimes turn and give out and causes falls. It took me 3 years to figure out this is what was causing my falls.

I wish you well. Happy Easter - He is risen! sherry z

p.s. There is yahoogroup support group for people with PA at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/PsoriaticArthritis/. Lots of good info there about treatments for PA, and tips for living well with PA. Join us!

Margo said...

Hey there. I'll be praying about your condition. I'm so happy to know you haven't experienced any depression. Please keep us updated, OK?

I'm so excited to hear that you and I could be pregnant at the same time! :-)