I also garden ...

I'm still battling with some of the worst pain I've experienced so far. I realized the other day that I am going on about a year since the hand pain first started. This weekend though, regardless of the pain, I have to get my garden in. I have lots of baby plants that need to get moved outside. I need to get my seeds in the ground. So, as I posted before I just keep going as best I can. I often am moving at a snail's pace, but I'm moving.
I'll post some photos after I get things in so you can watch them grow with me.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend.
Sarah

Pain is at all time high ...

My doctor has upped my medication but so far i'm not seeing a huge improvement. Hurts to do many everyday tasks. I'm rather grumpy. I should probably sit in the chair and rest today, but i won't. Because sitting really just makes the stiffness worse, so how's that going to help. I will rest some, work a little and just repeat. Keeping moving and at least accomplishing a little bit is my goal right now.

Still struggling...pain is at worst it's been...

I am continuing to struggle with pain. My joints and my muscles are both flared up right now. I am struggling with some very simple tasks of every day life, like stirring - I was so upset Sunday when I made a potato salad for our Mother's Day cook out and I had to stop several times while trying to stir it, my hand was hurting so bad, even up into my arm, and I felt like I had so much weakness. Lots of other tasks are the same. But, I'm such a hard headed, determined person that I refuse to give up. I just keep trudging through my every day life the best I can. I certainly don't accomplish as much as I'd like but I try to at least accomplish some. I have done some sewing, though not nearly as much as I need to do. I've also done some gardening and outdoor work, again not as much as I should or would like to do but it's something. It's a refusal on my part to let this disease win. I have a call in to my doctor to ask what I should do next, I'm hoping maybe an adjustment to meds with give me some relief.

Well enough sad me stuff, here is a few pictures of what I've been up to lately.

So very sorry.... life exploded...

Girl Scout cookies came in and BAM my life exploded. I'm the leader for my daughter's troop. We ordered somewhere over 2000 boxes of cookies, so yah the last couple weeks have been a bit ummm, NUTS! And let me tell you what a great time I picked to go gluten free. I did finally cave after several days and ate a grand total of 4 cookies and yes you guessed it, major tummy problems, so obviously I am on the right track going gluten free.

On that note, I have noticed some improvement in my pain level. Huge improvement in energy level. And minor improvement in sleep. So perhaps, just perhaps I am on to something that might finally help. I have yet to notice improvement in the muscle pain associated with the fibromyalgia, but honestly I've dealt with that for so long I would probably not know what to do if it got better. Okay, but yah I would like to try it!

So I will continue with my gluten free (for the most part) eating. I hope to eventually go to mostly low low carb eating, limiting myself to only carbs found in fruits & veggies. And keeping any other carbs to a bare minimum. It's a slow process and I fully recognize that.

I will attempt to get back to updating this blog on a much more consistent basis.

Sarah

Happy Birthday to me... a reflection on being 37 years o l d ....

So this year, turning 37 has become just a reminder that I am feeling O L D. I mean my neck is so stiff and sore. My hands are so slow working some days, and other times they just don't plain work right. It hurts to walk for too long because my ankles and feet become so sore, that taking another step just doesn't seem worth the pain. At night it's hard to sleep because my hips hurt so badly that no matter how I lay, I am not comfortable.

Should a 37 year old woman be feeling this way? I don't think so.

So I continue on my quest to change that. I'm determined, though tired thinking about it so much. Currently I am putting several plans into action, I will share more on each of the things I'm doing in the coming weeks.

That's all for today. Enjoy your day. Enjoy your family. Savor the good things in your life. Stay positive that you can change the negative.

Advice for myself but happy to share with you all too!

Sarah

Chiropractic Care & RA (and fibromyalgia too)

I'm doing a lot of research on the benefits, and potential negatives of choosing Chiropractic care for your RA & Fibromyalgia pain.

I've used Chiropractic care for years on and off, always finding it very beneficial. I had stopped going in the fall, choosing to give the various medications my Dr was prescribing a chance to work. Clearly that isn't happening, and I'm rather disheartened with the traditional medical field at the moment.

Not only am I back with my chiropractor, I'm also looking a much more homeopathic course of treatment.

Will I still see my Dr. Yes, for the time being anyway.

LOTS more to come on this subject in the coming weeks. For now, do you use more holistic or homeopathic remedies for your pain? Comment and let me know.

Sarah

BLAH !!!!!

That pretty much sums up my feelings on just about every subject lately. I'm so so so sore. I'm so so so tired. I'm so so so grumpy. And to top it off I'm also sick. Antibiotics are on board so hopefully that will at least take care of the sinus, ear & throat infection.

Progress is being made on the house. The girls are fully in their new bedroom, just need to do a bit more arranging of toys and such and it will be good.

My sewing space here in the house is also coming right along. However, now I have to stop all projects and start on the big dance studio order. I have 12 snowmen costumes and 16 various animal costumes to get put together.

I hope to have time to do some more research and provide more interesting content to the blog soon.

Please comment and let me know you are reading, I'd really like to hear from you.

Sarah

So sorry I have been MIA ...

I guess MIA isn't really the right term. I am not really "missing" am more just tired, sore and not feeling very inspired to say much at all.

I was supposed to have an appointment with the DR today, but thanks to good ole mother nature, I had to reschedule until Monday. What's another 5 days right? I'm already in pain so eh, whatever I suppose.

As you can probably tell from the tone of my writing, I am grumpy. My little one had strep throat and ear infection last week. I think she passed on the strep throat to her mom, great :( I'm also just in a boatload of pain right now. I tried doing some sewing yesterday, and it was a slow process full of mistakes, I hate sewing like that. When I can't clear my mind fog and my hands are just working so slow.

Taking today off. So working on it Wednesday has become, taking a break Wednesday this week.

Hoping to be back to a more optimistic, cheerful self soon. Stay tuned :)

Sarah

Painful weekend ...

Yesterday my daughter had basketball and a girl scout event. I sat on bleachers at the basketball game and did some standing & some sitting on a metal folding chair at the other event. Last night I was so very sore. And I woke up this morning in horrible pain.

I am so very tired of RA making even the most stupid simple things so hard for me. I have a follow up this week with my Dr and I am hoping she has a new plan for pain management because so far it's definitely not working.

I hope to get back to regular blogging this week. My little one finally started feeling better yesterday. Today I am moving the girls bedroom, despite the RA pain. I'm just going to power through and get it done.

Happy Superbowl Sunday. By the way, I do not watch sports, but I do like the Super Bowl commercials. LOL

Sarah

It's not the sub zero that makes me hurt, it's the SHIFTS back and forth ...

So here in NNY, we just went through yet another stretch of sub-zero temps and I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that I didn't feel "worse". My no stretch of the matter, was I feeling good, but I wasn't feeling worse. However last night overnight, the temps shifted up into the 20's and I am not sitting here with extremely sore hips, ankles, feet & hands. DARN!

This got me searching the internet this morning for scientific data to support how I'm feeling. I found a pretty interesting article that pointed me to an old study by Dr Hollander, in which he built a climate chamber and demonstrated that high humidity combined with low barometric pressure were associated with increased joint pain and stiffness. The theory of the study was that inflamed joints swell as the barometric pressure drops. The swelling irritates the nerves around the joints that sense pain and causes more stiffness.

So off to look at the barometer data for the last day or so. Currently the humidity is high and the barometer is now climbing up a bit after having taken a dip yesterday/last night. So I would say that for me personally this "theory" holds true.

Another interesting little thing I found in my search comes from weatherbug.com which has an "aches & pains" forecast, cool right? So you can check that out here and see for your area what it has to say. Aches & Pains Forecast on Weatherbug

Overall what I already knew, I've spent some time validating. Dramatic changes in humidity, temperature and barometric pressure can and does affect pain of arthritis.

And with that, I am off to take a hot shower and see if I can get moving today.

Happy Monday! Sarah

Treatment Topic Thursday ...

Thursdays I will devote to talking about treatments, both conventional and unconventional. I will try to go in detail of each topic and hopefully you will find the information helpful. If there is a topic you would like me to research and post about I'd be happy to try to do that, just message me.

Today's topic is Plaquenil (Hydroxychloroquine). This is the first try drug for RA according to my doctor. They start here because it is the least likely of the RA treatment drugs to cause side effects. The interesting thing about this medication is that it's actual original use was as an anti-malarial drug.

It's used to treat the inflammation of both RA and Lupus.

Possible side effects -

abdominal cramps, diarrhea, heart problems, reduced appetite, headache, nausea & vomiting, altered eye pigmentation, acne, anemia, bleaching of hair, blisters in mouth and eyes, blood disorders, convulsions, significant vision difficulties, diminished reflexes, emotional changes, excessive coloring of the skin, hearing loss, hives, itching, liver problems or failure, loss of hair, muscle paralysis, weakness or atrophy, nightmares, psoriasis, reading difficulties, tinnitus, skin inflammation and scaling, skin rash, vertigo and weight loss

That huge list of side effects doesn't exactly seem "mild" to me. I have been on this drug now since my diagnosis in October. I have noticed no improvement in my symptoms as of yet though I was told improvement should be noticed in 6-8 weeks. My dose was increased in November after being on it for 6 full weeks. Still, no improvement has been seen. At my recent appointment i discussed with the doctor that I am seeing no improvement with all the drugs they have me on, including this one. In fact, I am feeling worse. She added another drug to my "cocktail" and wants to see if this one will help the others also work better. So, when i go back in February we will consider which drugs are or aren't helping and again adjust.

For me this is the frustrating part of being at the beginning of this process. A large list of medications to take daily, side effects you aren't sure are coming with this drug or that drug. And continued pain to the point you don't think ANY of it is helping.

Trying to stay positive is definitely an UPHILL battle for me right now. I pray daily for answers, for pain relief and for strength to do the things I have to do. This little saying was posted on Facebook the other day, it accurately describes how i feel many days lately.