I've been quiet for some days, and not without a reason. I haven't been on computer all that much. Haven't been feeling well at all. More pain and fatigue than usual.
Night to yesterday was pretty much sleepless because of severe back pain, back pain in another part of my back than I'm used to, and worse than my usual back pain, feared it could be an issue with a disc so went to ER for a checkup yesterday. I spent 6 hours in the hospital, having doctors knock on my back, test my sensation in arms and legs and X-rays were taken. Fortunately my X-rays were fine, but the ER doctors decided to deal with what my own doctor has ignored for a long time now- My chronic pain!
I have now been put on OxyContin twice daily, a low dose to begin with and a small box to try to see if it works at all and if the dose is enough, then I am to call my usual doctor to discuss if it's working or not and if the dose is enough to have me covered. This way I should be feeling generally better as I have less pain to deal with on a daily basis, and I can save my OxyNorm (our brand name of rapid acting Oxycodone) to breakthrough pain.
I must say, I do feel a bit better already and my parents has noticed a difference in me today as well. OxyContin seem to be my magic blue pill (NOT Viagra lol Just OxyContin is blue as well). Not sure if the dose is right yet, but time will tell. A small difference to the better makes a huge difference to my quality of life anyways. Having had to deal with less pain today definitely gave me a bit more energy! I'm not pain free, nor do I expect to be. But having a proper pain management is really important to be able to cope! The weekly grocery shopping with my parents wasn't as exhausting today as it tends to be, and I wasn't in as much pain afterwards as I use to either, so OxyContin has definitely made me a bit better already!
Currently seeing an evaluation team consisting of physiotherapist, psychologist, occupational therapist and a doctor working as a team at a clinic about 50km away from my town. They have EDS experience and will help writing my diagnose in stone so to say. I saw the physiotherapist on Monday and she said I'm very hypermobile and kinda freaked out when the bones in my hands moved under her fingers from just a gentle touch, and she was amazed by my velvety soft skin on my hands, especially when I told her how much physical jobs I've been doing over 10 years time. A "normal" person would be covered in callouses! Showed her some scars and stretch marks as well and we talked about my life in general, pain situation, fatigue etc From her experience and point of view, I definitely have EDS. Seeing the team psychologist on Friday (first time ever seeing one btw), team occupational therapist on Tuesday after I've seen the other occupational therapist to get my ring splints and custom made wrist braces, and on the 26th I'll be seeing the team doctor. Pretty busy times ahead and once all those appointments are done, I'll have traveled 400km or 250 miles in total for those appointments. Not the best for someone living with chronic pain but if it can help in the long run, it will be worth it. I have the diagnose on paper already, but my doctor wants to make sure it isn't a worse type than hypermobility type I'm up against so he's sent me to more experienced people.
Now I should catch some sleep. Need to wake up on time to take my morning dose of OxyContin and then get on with my day.
No comments:
Post a Comment