I have four posts started, but just sitting, waiting for me. I woke up early this morning which usually is my best time to gather my thoughts and write. I tried adding some thoughts to all of them with no luck. They are all topics I have been thinking about for a while and want to see on my blog. Yet, I can't concentrate. I can't say what I want to say.
At the end of my walk this morning, I realized the problem. Pain has taken over my brain and that is the focus.
While I have many thoughts floating around in my head, the only one it can truly listen to is the pain.
Last September I had bilateral cortisone shots in my hips. The pain has returned. My rheumatologist quickly diagnosed it this week as
bursitis, but sadly I came home and had to do my own detective work. Why? Because after sitting in a small claustrophic room for thirty minutes, she spent less than ten minutes going over my symptoms, medications, and insurance change questions. As I left, I didn't feel she really listened to my levels of pain even though she prescribed Meloxicam and said she thought it was bursitis and if I'd lose a little weight it might improve. Seriously, I had to keep my middle finger held down tight. I had just refused to be weighed because I am fully aware that I am overweight right now and despite spending the last four weeks working out regularly and living mostly on cut up veggies, salads and a ton of salmon, I have lost zero pounds. I am fully aware that the extra weight negatively affects my symptoms. Duh!
Anyhow, back to the hip pain. The pain originally started around my hip bones every evening around 5:00 and got worse as the night went on. By morning, the pain was gone. The last few days, especially today, it was there when I woke up. The pain starts around the hip bones and then creeps down into my inner thighs and down into my legs. After reading about bursitis, my rheumy is probably right. I just feel like I wasn't heard. The pain isn't sharp. It doesn't come and go if I move in a certain direction. It is more like a constant gnawing pain the takes over a large part of my body. All I want to do is complain. It wears me out. Working out makes me feel stronger and more attractive, but it definitely irritates the pain. It's a painful conundrum.
I have chronic hip bursitis and it's amazingly disruptive. The worst for me is at night because I sleep on my side and the pain in my hip wakes me up frequently, every single night. I wish I had a magic elixir to offer. I do the stretches, ice packs, etc. The only things that really help me are the steroid injections every 8-12 months with liberal use of Voltaren gel in between. It doesn't solve the problem but it helps. Getting your doctor to listen to you is a different problem for which I can only wish you good luck.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear you experience the same pain Carla. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
DeleteI don't love ice packs. The other day I secured them in my shorts and went out to sunbathe.
Pain takes up a lot of room in your head....
ReplyDeleteCan you get another steroid shot?
Thank you for your blog and this post about bursitis. I am awake at 2am and playing on the computer. As I was lying in bed, I was telling myself not to fight the pain, acknowledge it and do the next best thing. Turns out that was getting up. I was diagnosed with RA in February this year. I also had been bitten by a tick in November and running myself down with several life changing stressors. I thought the body pain and lack of flexibility was due to stress. I was an avid yoga practitioner and runner which came to an abrupt halt. My RA started in my neck and shoulders then later moved to my hips. I tried prednisone for 2 weeks and the pain was gone but my body felt always hyper. I have been on hydroxychloroquine for 3 months and the pain comes and lessens. I wake with it and it stays with me during the day. I have had a few great days in a row, but I have to be careful not to overdue. I must work under the radar of RA, no more Jane Fonda "feeling the burn"and pushing myself. My body feels the burn all the time! I am mostly on a no dairy, no sugars, no gluten diet. Not sure if it helps - I was trying anything to lessen the inflammation.
ReplyDeleteOkay, back to bursitis. My doctor also said that that is what I have in my shoulders and hips. Sitting seems to be the worst position and I have to shake out my hips and legs to walk. Do others have this issue?I can't tell what lessens the pain. Heat, ice, stretching? Gentle stretching is okay can help with flexibility, but I feel that the issue is not muscle elasticity.
So, this new body is a bit of a mystery and my best plan is to meet it where it is each moment. This morning I am going to try a Qigong class, energy movement. If I am gentle it can't hurt.