Hmm, today and tomorrow are make or break days. I've been having – a lot – of pain for about a year now, which started as separate neck, lower back and shoulder mini grumbles, all of which morphed into pretty major grumbles.
In the last months the pain from these has joined together and been added to by pretty much every body joint, muscle and any other internal bit throwing in its 10ps worth to add to what's become pretty miserable. By day, things can be ok-ish (or not, it likes to keep me on my toes by varying in degrees of foulness) and by night more often than not it wreaks its revenge. Resulting in not much sleep, a lot of moaning and groaning as I toss and turn – every joint one by one for fear for something popping out of place – and generally making me both feel and move like I am Mum – 86, not 46.
As you'll know from other posts I have had a string of treatments, none of them successful, from physio to osteo, pilates to CT-guided neck injections, from shoulder steroid injections to two back epidurals. A lot of fanning about at Parkside and naff all improvement. Each taking weeks to organise and have done and then await improvement, so it feels like its taking forever – and I don't have forever to wait.
Rheumo doc now thinks it is probably either polymyalgia or fibromyalgia – the myalgia bit means 'widespread pain'. Long boring things to explain that have one one main difference – the poly one is curable via steroids and can go entirely, while the fibre one is not treatable or curable and they suggest a raft of noncy crap like 'try tai chi', right through to 'have a positive mental attitude to combat the pain'. Hmm – I know which one I am desperately hoping it is!
He's put me on steroids and I took day 3's dose this morning – apparently within 3-4 days I should notice 'significant difference' if it is polymyalgia. There is a possibility that even if this steroid doesn't nail it, then another one might. So – a month or more of trying steroids and me hoping massively that one of the feckers will kill this off and I can get back to some more fun times without the drag of this every day.
Keep those fingers crossed lovely people – think poly, poly, poly and maybe for once luck will be on my side!
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