going to see my rheumy on Fri. this is the guy that looks after me and my ankylosing spondylitis. it was he who referred me for the hip op about this time last year and I have not seen him since.
the x-rays will look somewhat different this time round ,that's for sure.
I see him twice a year and he keeps an eye on things like heart valves, CRP levels and ESR
they take measurements too to see how my disease is progressing. I have had it since I was in my early 20s and it is notoriously difficult to diagnose....I had to wait until I was 30 odds to get a FINAL DX.
the pain in my 20s and 30s can only be described as sickening. after the fusion in the spine and neck pain levels start to settle down as one ages....then the hips kicked in...
I can see now that my pain was poorly mismanaged by myself, my GP, and rheumy
one day ( far too late) as I was visiting my GP he said to me..." I think you are suffering from pain related depression"
looking back I can see that I was "crippled" with depression and anger from year after year of the most awful pain.
WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE THE PROPER MEDS? I hear you ask, well.......I did for a while,Ibuprofen. that gave me ectopic heart beats after a while and probably ruined my stomach ( I now have IBS) only yesterday it ( brufen) was the headline in the papers again for causing all sorts of heart trouble, Diclofenac too. if you are reading this and on any of these meds please don't fret as we are all different and react quite differently to these meds.
so the Doc put me on Vioxx tabs.......I read for myself some months later that these tabs were causing all sorts of problems with the heart,these tabs were withdrawn from the market. so we are left with co codamol and Tramadol.
my Doc told me to take 2x50mg Tramadol QID 4 times a day...went about like a zombie for two weeks and almost had a Tramadol habit in as little as a fortnight. coming off them was no laugh. co codamol is pretty much the same but with different withdrawal symptoms.
not trying to scare folks here....if it works for you that's all that matters.
the next suggestion from my Rheumy was TNFs. a new wonder drug in the treatment of rheumatoid disease.
if you are at all interested you can read about the TNFs yourself on the net. I was not for trying these meds.
as fate would have I was probably not suitable with borderline high BP and the fact that my Mother had died from TB. ( GRHS) ( TNFs lower your immune system)
it's only since I had my hip done and released from that particular pain that I am starting to realise what a mess I was in
I have probably said enough for tonight
John
United Kingdom
