Kenalog and stuff

[Guest guest]

At 12:43 PM 07/03/2002 -0500, wrote:

>Em, Kenalog injections are not appropriate therapy for fibromyalgia.

>Fibromyalgia is not thought to be an inflammatory condition, and Kenalog

>is a corticosteroid used to reduce inflammation.

>

>How all of that got started is unclear. Did the rheumatologist diagnose

>your fibromyalgia? I'm not sure why it took him so long to come to the

>realization that he was treating you inappropriately or that possibly

>your diagnosis was incorrect or incomplete. It's too bad that he didn't

>have the guts to discuss it all with you.

Hmm. I just got a regular shot of Kenalog (gluteal), definitely not a

specific treatment for one area, but systemic. And it DID help, although

I'm not sure even a year ago that I didn't have joint problems as the root

cause of everything. This doctor diagnosed me with fibromyalgia and

Sjogren's. At the time I did not test positive for rheumatoid factor, and

I guess he dismissed that. In any case, he never mentioned it. My current

PCP has suggested that you can have RA without testing positive. Steroids

have ALWAYS helped. I guess it just never occurred to me that that meant

my problem wasn't fibromyalgia -- or so I'm starting to suspect now.

>Which doctor had the pneumothorax possibly caused by GERD theory? Do you

>have a history of GERD? Do you smoke or have asthma? Again, no need to

>answer any of these.

I went to a clinic, because the first bad breathing trouble happened on a

Sunday. This doctor -- oh, she was GREAT, I liked her immensely --

suggested a side-effect of GERD since I have a history of peptic ulcer

disease, although that's been no problem for a few years now. No asthma,

nothing like that.

I confess I'm really pretty startled that the treatment I was getting last

year really wasn't appropriate for fibro. I just don't really want to see

this doctor again, but here where I live -- Lubbock, Texas -- there are

four rheumatologists, and they all are in practice together. Therefore if

you've seen one of them you can't see any of the others.

That's giving me some food for thought, though. Because if steroids helped

me as much as they did (I would be pain-free, about 80% of the time, for

nearly two months after an injection), that speaks to what I may actually

have, as opposed to the previous diagnoses. Steroids are a common

treatment for RA, right? *helpless look* I don't even have a diagnosis

yet, and so I havent' been doing as much research as I usually would. But

if it helped, then maybe that's a good clue. I better do some reading.

Thank you, -- this is really thought-provoking.

Best,

Em

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Nicky's so good-natured, one of two things is bound to happen: He'll

either become a doormat and start Season 3 with 'WELCOME' written

across his forehead, or he'll snap one day, and Gil will be forced to extract

posthumous revenge after Ecklie investigates the night shift's stunning

mass murder and concludes it was all a wacky accident. "

(Sobell on Our Nicky)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~