Re: Another new one!

November 22, 2004

tracie, i have heard you and others talk of insomnia... my doctor has put me on

nortriptalyne (sp) and one soma at night and i sleep like a baby for most of the

nights... sometime the pain wakes me... but much better since i take the meds...

rae

[ ] Another new one!

Hi,

I just wanted to introduce myself and since I had insomnia again

with these new meds and all this pain I thought now was a good time

to try. I have what they think finally is my diagnosis of RA along

with Sjogren's syndrome, IBS, and fibromyalgia. Whew. What a

cocktail. Is the pain forever? I am married, 38 and the mother of

three children ages 4, 10 and 13. My doctor just told me to quit

working which has me bummed but also relieved. The last six months

were heck and I was barely holding on anyway. Well, sorry if I was

whining or long winded.

Nice to meet you all.

Tracie

November 22, 2004

Welcome to the group, Tracie! Sorry about your diagnoses and pain.

What meds are you taking? Have you told your physician about your

insomnia?

No, the pain does not have to be forever.

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

[ ] Another new one!

>

> Hi,

>

> I just wanted to introduce myself and since I had insomnia again

> with these new meds and all this pain I thought now was a good time

> to try. I have what they think finally is my diagnosis of RA along

> with Sjogren's syndrome, IBS, and fibromyalgia. Whew. What a

> cocktail. Is the pain forever? I am married, 38 and the mother of

> three children ages 4, 10 and 13. My doctor just told me to quit

> working which has me bummed but also relieved. The last six months

> were heck and I was barely holding on anyway. Well, sorry if I was

> whining or long winded.

>

> Nice to meet you all.

>

> Tracie

November 22, 2004

Hi , Larry, Nea and all other newbies!!

I, too am new to this group and have been busy reading all of the

posts, advice and recipies. It is so wonderful to realize that I am

not alone in this!!

I am recently diagnosed with RA and Lupus. I was told by a

chiropractor a couple of years ago that I had FM, and then about 4

months ago I started having INCREDIBLE amounts of pain. At the same

time, I had some blood tests following surgery that had a positive

ANA result.

At the time, the dr. told me that it was normal for that to be high

after my type of surgery, and come back in a month to get retested.

If it was still positive, then they would send me to a rheumy. The

next day I called and made an appointment with a rhuemy. Good thing

I did - as it takes 6-8 weeks to get an initial appointment.

A few weeks away from the appointment, I was in so much pain, I

couldn't even hold a folder of papers in my hands without it hurting

me. I went to the GP and did blood tests for Lymes, 5th disease,

ANA, thyroid, and a bunch of other things I can't remember. And I

got some Vicoden.

The thyroid was high, so went to an endocrinolgist. No thyroid

problems he said. In the parking lot, I broke down in tears to my

husband saying, " the next person who tells me they don't know what's

wrong with me, I am going to stand up on their desk and start

screaming. "

The 1st appt with the rheumy I was armed with the blood test

results. She first said, hypothyroid, and " non-specific connective

tissue disease " . I started on plaquenil and prednisone. The

prednisone helped for a while, but then I developed SEVERE

photosensitivity and broke out into a terrible rash wherever I was

exposed to the sun.

Back to the rheumy - Now she says... " You're a lupus lady " . Stop the

plaquenil, ramp down on the prednisone and start Imuran. Needless to

say - none of it was helping with the pain. At this point I was

still working 50 hours a week at a very stressful job managing

millions of dollars.

Next visit , Oct 7th was told - you have RA with lupus

characterisitics. Stop the Imuran and start injecting Humira. At

that point she wanted me to take time off of work, but being the over

achiever that I am - I said no and toughed it out for two more weeks

at which point I was in so much pain - I have no idea how I managed

to even get out of bed, much less to work.

I now am going into my 5th week off of work. Rheumy has me out for 8

weeks then will re-evaluate to see if I can go back to work. I just

had my 4th injection of Humira this morning, and I am wondering when

I will begin to get some releif from all the pain. I am still

popping the Vicoden (maybe one a day) - less than I was taking while

working. I don't have to tell you guys where it hurts....EVERYWHERE!!

It's like someone is stabbing a fork into the back of my hand and

then dragging it down to my fingers thru all the joints and tendons.

Ice picks in my knees, hips, ankles and even toes. (Don't even get

me started about the fatigue).

You all are right about people not really understanding about what we

are going thru. I don't think it's that they don't want to

understand, I just think that they can't if they are not experiencing

this. My dear husband is doing his best to understand and be

compassionate - he opens every bottle or can, cuts up all veggies or

meat to be cooked, and is definitely in charge of browning ground

beef - which is very painful with all the stirring.

My new goals are to take a shower, get dressed and cook dinner. And

on somedays that can be quite the battle. I have been lurking for a

couple of weeks now and wanted to thank you all for the articles and

posts. You have helped me a great deal. Sorry this is so long, but

I am working on opening up to others and to allow myself to be helped

and supported.

Thanks again!!

Stacey

--- In , " tracierae143 " <tracierae@u...>

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