Posted 10/20/2008 2:03 PM (GMT 0)
King -
You know, I am not a Dr. - However, my good friend also has a compression in her spine. I'm not sure what her symptoms are, I just know that she goes to a Chiro each week and that seems to help.
As far as my joints, no I do not have any redness or inflammation. My joints pop and crack a lot! Sometimes they feel a little swollen. It's harder to take off rings and my watch seems tighter. No obvious swelling though. Could just even be the weather I guess.
I'm not sure if this has anything to do w/my joint problems or not...I went to have a colonoscopy 2 months ago. (they say I have IBS). During the procedure, I became very sick, so they gave me nausea med. through my IV. That evening my hand and all the way up to my elbow felt tight and bruised. The nurse said they called that a "burned vein" from the med in the IV and it would take a while to heal.
Within a week, I stared to notice my feet and hands tingle. When holding the phone to my ear, it felt as though it was going to fall asleep. When I called the GI nurse back, she told me to contact my regular Dr. because that had nothing to do w/my procedure or the meds that were given to me.
A week later when I was able to see my family Dr. he ran all kinds of bld wk on me - not sure himself of what was going on. As I said in my last posts, all bld wk came back fine, except low Iron.
I started getting new symptoms...2nd toe felt numb, thigh muscles felt sore, left front of my neck felt tight and stiff, then one day I woke up and had severe joint pain in every joint. It lasted about 3 days then slowly the pain eased. I made an appt. w/a RA.
She ran bld tests- lupus, RA, inflammation, ect.
Everything negative except low Iron still and low B12.
She said that could be causing the tingling and numbness -if it didn't stop after taking B12, she wants me to see a Neurologist.
During all of this time, anxiety was sooo high. I had this fear of being diagnosed w/RA. End of the world- No, but everything I've been through the past 2 yrs, I couldn't believe something else was wrong w/me.
I see a therapist, who fortunatly for me also suffered from anxiety and panic. She told me that yrs ago, while she was still in school, she though that she had MS because the muscles in her forearms were tight and very painful. She couldn't write or drive.
To hear her talk about her symptoms, even though she didn't have joint pain like me, made me really see that anxiety can cause more physical problems other than the typical - heart racing, tingling, dizzy, ect.
She told me before I go see a Neuro, to just start taking my Ativan for a bit to see if my symptoms subside. She never gives names, but she tells me stories about some of her other patients and their physical symptoms. That really helps me. She said she's not saying that I don't have arthritis, but we know what I DO have - ANXIETY. So, our plan is to take my meds for a while.
So far, I still have physical symptoms - I know that they are not going to go away instantly and I have to be honest, it's really hard to believe that it's just anxiety when my hands hurt this bad. As soon as a bad thought pops in my head, I dismiss it and press on. I do have tons of questions for my RA doctor, however I promised myself and my therapist that for a couple of weeks, I'm going to layoff of the doctors appts.
It seemed like everyday I woke up, I either had to call to make an appt., call to check results of tests and so on.
I have noticed that now since I've cancelled all appts. and won't allow myself to call any drs. regarding my symptoms, it feels like a load has been lifted off my shoulders. Do I still have symptoms, yes. I just don't allow myself to let my symptoms consume me and my entire day. I'm 34 yrs. old, have two girls 6 and 9. I'm a stay at home mom and with both girls in school all day, it's really hard not to dwell on things.
Again, I still wake up w/anxiety and physical symptoms, I just don't dwell on them.
I'm not sure if w/RA symptoms come and go or not. I have noticed that for a bit during the day, my hands and feet joints bother me. But not all day. The same goes for the numbness and tingling. How about you?
Sorry for the long letter - I just though maybe you could try what I'm doing. To see if you have any improvement w/joint pain. By the way, are you seeing a therapist?
I almost forgot - I too have the ridges and bumps on my fingernails! Both doctors told me that it's a sign of some form of deficiency.
Vertical ridges indicate poor nutrient absorption and / or iron def.
Horizontal ridges can be a result of severe stress either psychological or physical.
Ridges that run up and down the nails indicate a tendency to develop arthritis....This is all what I've been told.
Anyways, hope this helps and hope to hear from you again.
I'm down to seeing my therapist 2X a month now. This forum really helps me through those days in between!
Take care
Jennifer