A Crescendo of Pain.......

The past few days or really more than a week I have this unbearable pain aching my body to the point of physically stressing me out and making me so tired. I know its time to see my rhuemy again as my immune system had gone overboard or in my rhuemy terms 'overactive'.

My worst time is early in the morning lying in bed with numb hands and upper back that feels like being run over by a truck not to mention the pain in each movement to get out of bed. Still I need to do some exercise to bring myself to work my limbs so that blood could really flow through my veins again. 

Tomorrow I will have to travel on a 4 hours trip to get my blood test before I can see my rhuemy on Friday. I think I would need to take back my MTX  for some relief. I am worry about my kidney as I felt some discomfort on my right side the last 2 days.

Wait N See Attitude......

Its 2 months since my last posting here. You may be wondering what might have happen to me for the disappearing act. In fact no news here is good news to me. I started this blog to release and share my pain as well as keep a sort of record of  ups and downs of my battle with  RA.

So far I can say I am coping very well and my bouts of dizziness has improved  to the point of forgetting when the last one had occur. I had stop taking my MTX for the past 6 weeks as it makes me really sick and inflammation is just around the elbows and wrists in the morning. So its a wait n see attitude of when to continue taking my MTX a as well as to see my rhuemy which is long overdue.

A positive mind with some exercise and not to forget my diet is what keeps me going at present. The last 3  weeks saw myself doing some travelling plus feasting non stop along the way is really heavenly for me. Hope my waiting for another big flareup will not happen so soon.

Getting Back On My Feet........

Last Monday, after an appointment with my rheumatologist, saw some improvement in my arthritis pain. This is because she injected me with steroids ( I don't know how much as I forgot to ask) into my buttock muscles after syringing out 2 tubes of  fluid from my swollen right knee. My CRP(C-Reactive Protein) after a blood test  is 35.5mg/L which is shows inflammation at its worst for me so far. My usual one was only between 7 to 10mg/L. No wonder I was suffering so much the past few months.

After the steroid injection and  a dose of 5mg of Mtx ( was suppose to take 10mg) I felt so good for the next 5 days and til last Saturday I had some stomach discomfort and dizziness . My blood pressure was quite low for the next 2 days with some chest dicomfort and weak pulse rate. I did not take my atenolol yesterday. Early this morning I took my weekly dose 5 mg of Mtx  after much thought  whether to take and  get better of the pain and inflammation or NOT to take because of its side effects and toxicity on my weak body. After all the CT scans and Xrays (I did go for the scans and barium xrays wh I regret later)  last month my body had not fully recovered . I fear for the harmful radiation that could do more damage to my cells.

 But  the good news is the results comes out clean and my abdominal pain miraculously disappear after some self massage and prayers. And doc diagnose it as POSSIBLY due to my gut sticking in some raw area of my abdominal wall which could happen to hysterectomy patients. He should have told me earlier and not after all the test. I assume all doctors are only human and not God, They can only conclude after all the test to get to the end result.

So I am praying and hoping the next few days and the days to come I will be back on my feet again to enjoy my life to the fullest. Maybe if God willing I can  give back my 2 cents worth of energy to sing in my Church choir which I have been missing the practise for the past few weeks.

My Left Hand Takes Over.....

Woke up with the usual stiffness and pain. Look at the clock. its 7.o5 am. This morning the 'monster cells' had attack my RIGHT hand rendering it swollen from the elbow down to the wrist and fingers. Nevermind, as i console myself. My left hand which was disable yesterday was at least spare the rod today. So it will be doing everything with mr left today. forgive me for the missing capital letters here as its too painful to hold shift while typing with my left finger.

Just so looking forward to the 15th of this month when my maid will be back from her 3 weeks break back home. Today it will be another slow and painful day just to do everything with my left hand from pulling down my pants to ease, holding the cup to my lips drinking my Milo, holding the saucepan to make some oats AND MANY MORE TO GO. just wondering how am i going to wash my face and comb my hair and brush teeth in a while. That makes it more difficult for a right hander like me. Anyway that's life for me as an RA (rheumatoid arthritis) patient. I just pray that this agony will disappear as the day goes by.

For now it will be another long day trying to get my left hand to do the job while waiting for my right hand to recover. cheerio to myself and to my mr left today.

Note:. i took 2 tablets of my 2.5 mg mtx after a month break last night and have yet to see some results.