I haven't been about on here much of late. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia as well as Polymyalgia. The PMR is thankfully in remission at the moment and I found that prednisolone had no effect on the pain I was experiencing at the time. I did notice that I was getting lumbar spinal pain which the hospital specialist was very quick to diagnose as fibro after doing a very quick pressure test on my hands. As it happened I do have fibro, but it is showing up in my shoulders and hands. After going back to my GP and stating that the spinal pain was not the same and that they didn't seem to be taking into account the other symptoms I had told them about, she decided to send me for a MRI. It took several weeks to get the result back, so I thought that they hadn't found anything and I would get the usual brush-off about something being all in the mind or down to stress etc. Low and behold it isn't all in the mind. The result has come back as spinal compression and narrowing of the canal due to a cyst on the spine and causing pressure on the cord, hence the other symptoms. All of a sudden I'm being told that they are going to try and inject the cyst and drain it. They don't want to operate because I'm morbidly obese. On the other hand I have been told that while I'm waiting for the appointment to do it, if I experience any extra or worsening symptoms I must go straight to A&E as a matter of urgency, otherwise the symptoms, which can include double incontinence will become permanent. Oh the joys of getting older! Just as well things don't tend to phase me; so I shall wait patiently until they condescend to sort me out. Me? I'm just happy in the knowledge that once again I have proved to them that my symptoms are not all in the mind. What is it with these so-called specialist doctors, that when they can't immediately see what is causing an issue it is automatically all in the mind? It took me 4+ years to prove it wasn't all in the mind the first time I had issues. Thankfully it has only taken a year this time. And if you tell them they are wrong you are accused of trying to teach them their job! Egg on faces comes to mind when my point was made.
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Chihuahua1
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Sorry to hear of your additional problems. You'd think sometimes, we could be let off with having one serious illness without being lumbered with more and more!
Pity the doctors' imaginations aren't as good as ours at times. Or maybe if they just listened it might help.
On a different scale - but at my first rheumy appt 14 years ago she informed me I had OA in my right knee, she could "feel it". Not a sign of it in the x-ray 2 weeks ago...
And all those "it's your age" get-outs for 5 years? The symptoms all disappeared with 15mg pred.
Yes I have OA too. Apparently it is generalised, but worse in fingers and neck/shoulder areas. We can't win really can we? Still, despite the brain fog and other challenges I still have my life and my sense of humour. They'll see me through
My d-i-l's father has a number of issues as well, and yesterday evening where the kids were having a belated birthday for me and an early birthday for him (two cakes - just what we needed) I learned that he's been waking up with dry, sore eyes and not able to see properly for quite a long time after getting up. When he told his doctor he was just brushed off with this was something that happened as you got older. I was shocked. The poor man has enough to deal with, with PMR and a pacemaker and needing a puffer to breathe... could the doctor not have suggested something like artificial tears might relieve the additional aggravation of dry eyes?
All the more reason for the employers (government I guess in your country and mine) to treat the doctors with respect, sufficient remuneration and the ability to take time off for their own self care, renewal and enjoyment of family, recreation, etc.
It's good to be vindicated, but I am sorry that you have these distressing symptoms. You seem to be a cheerful person, though, and that will help a good deal towards your recovery.
I am sorry to hear about this additional diagnosis, I think your attitude is commendable! I can relate to the sheer relief of being taken seriously and proved right. I hope the operation is a complete success. I wish they wouldn’t use the term “ morbidly. Obese” to me it has an element of punishment in it. My daughter’s recent genetic testing seems to demonstrate that we are all uniquely prone to developing certain conditions. They will discover that stubborn weight gain is one I am sure.
They've discovered that some things which we thought were either the result of lack of willpower, such as weight gain, or natural variation in the way we react to things, such as sensitivity to certain foods (I'm not including allergies in this, of course), are actually a result of the balance of our gut fauna. The reason some people fail to gain weight and others put it on too easily, even though their diets may only vary a little, is because of the microbes they're feeding. I had a small lesson in this when I eliminated nearly all wheat and extra sugar from my diet and started eating a lot more leafy greens, this would have been in the summer. By the end of my first winter with pred when we'd been eating mostly root vegetables for a while, plus broccoli, I discovered I was craving leafy greens. Leafy greens, not chocolate, not bread and butter! So my companion microbes had changed with the change to my diet.
This subject really interests me. I killed a sweet tooth when I was 18 by starting the day with fresh lemon juice cordial. Sugar tasted awful after a while. Now I think the lemon would hurt my stomach, sadly.
I gave up sugar in my tea and coffee and on cereal for Lent the year I was 16. After a few days I realized all my life I'd tasted the sugar. I've never since had sugar with those things.
The trouble is that being that much overweight is bad for your body - and it doesn't matter WHY it happened. The definition of the medical term means that you suffer from obesity and because of this you are more likely to suffer from comorbidities (other illnesses). There is no element of punishment in the medical term - it is a statement of a fact. Just as the term "elderly" means older or aging. It isn't perjorative.
I get sooo annoyed when doctors suggest to people “it’s all in the mind”. Of course it’s in your mind (or rather ‘head’) it’s the brain telling you where the pain is!!!
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