August 2009 - Enemy of Entropy

Do you have chronic myofascial pain (trigger points)?

2009-08-19

2:06 am

1 Comment on Do you have chronic myofascial pain (trigger points)?

chronic myofascial pain, CMP, trigger points

Trigger points (TrPs) confuse many people. People who suffer from Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) have tender points that are used for diagnosis, not trigger points. TrPs can lead to Chronic Myofascial Pain (CMP). Trying to explain both of them is really beyond me, but Devin Starlanyl does a great job of making all of it clear. Her web site is great, but believe me, her books are even better!

In any case, I have CMP and FMS. For the past week or so, I haven’t been able to move my neck much because of pain on the right side that referred down my arm and around to my chest. I know I’ve got scar tissue there in my neck, and compression of a nerve between two of the vertebrae, but normally I can move my neck through a full range of motion. I have no idea what happened—maybe I slept wrong? I don’t know, and I haven’t really been sleeping much in any case.

I had my monthly visit with my pain management doctor today, and mentioned the problem. Right off, the PA asked if I wanted to try trigger point injections. Within 15 minutes, the pain was fading. I was afraid it would come right back, but so far it hasn’t. By the time I got home, I was falling asleep in part due to the intense relief.

I definitely hope that I wouldn’t have any particular place that is so painful next month, but I’ll definitely be ready to speak up about whatever is most painful.

If your doctor doesn’t offer trigger point therapy for you, ask about it!

If you’re sure that you have TrPs, you can also try treating them yourself. For laymen, the best book about TrPs is The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by the late Clair Davies. I have a copy, and recommend it. I’ve found that it’s best used in conjunction with a TheraCane, but it seems there are several other nice tools available now, too.

I found it necessary to have someone else help me with the treatments, but they did work. They were more painful than the injections, and you need to do them three times a day. On the other hand, they didn’t require a trip to the doctor or a prescription, and once you learn how to treat yourself you can do it whenever you need it. Our former housemate helped me with the treatments, but I’m hoping that my partner will learn to do them. They do work!

I’m alive! How about you?

by Cyn

2009-08-13

3:07 am

1 Comment on I’m alive! How about you?

From the news

crime, medications, safety

It’s been an insanely long time since I gave this site its due. I suppose the real problem with blogging about health problems is that the people who know them best, by definition, have health problems. I’d love to find someone with whom to co-write this thing, so we could cover for each other!

Anyway, I had an insanely long bad period but I’m feeling better now. One factor in the improvement was stopping Effexor XR, which I’d taken for years. I didn’t actually do that on purpose—It was due to an insanely irresponsible doctor who refused to see me because of a screw-up in his office’s procedures, not anything I’d done wrong. I had to just stop taking it, cold turkey, which led to seizures and other problems. On the plus side, though, I’ve been far less drowsy and don’t need nearly as many hours of sleep as I did before. (I’m actually experiencing some insomnia, which isn’t good, but it’s a change.)

Anyway, my Social Security disability claim was finally approved after over five years of waiting. They haven’t started paying anything yet, but that’s supposed to happen Real Soon Now. I have to tell you, though—the Medicare thing is a confusing maze of choices, obviously designed by bureaucrats. You almost need to become a Medicare expert just to know what benefits are available and how to get them!

For now, here’s a link to an article I found interesting:
Do Fibromyalgia Pain Killers Make You a Likely Crime Victim?

I don’t agree with all of the advice. People in Georgia have been arrested for having legitimately prescribed medications because the medications weren’t in prescription containers. It’s a real nuisance to carry the bottles instead of just what you need, and it probably does put us at greater risk for crime—but is it worth being arrested? That’s a Catch-22.

What was her name?

by Cyn

2009-08-05

4:52 pm

3 Comments on What was her name?

Relationships

facebook, high school, old friends

While I was reading friends’ updates at Facebook today, something reminded me of a girl I knew back in high school. She went to my high school, and as far as I know she was in my graduating class. I didn’t meet her at school, though, and I don’t think our paths crossed there. I knew her from church. She introduced me to the guy who became my first husband (who she had dated in the recent past).

Now I’m driving myself nuts, because I absolutely cannot remember her name! I can see her face, plain as day. I remember that she had a somewhat uncommon last name. I think she had an older brother who had been a big deal on the football team a year or three ahead of us. Why can’t I remember her name?

I’m really bad with names, honestly. A Facebook application was asking me to verify 130+ people as high school classmates, and truly, I didn’t recognize many of them at all. I didn’t remember most of the people I saw at our five year reunion. After 25 years? I’m hopeless.

Maybe I should get my old yearbooks out and look at Facebook and the yearbooks at the same time. I don’t know that I’d be any better that way, either. I need context for most people—not just a face and a name, but also something like “that guy from homeroom who was always drawing cars in his notebooks” or “that soprano who bathed in Emeraude” or “the cute geeky drummer who seldom made eye contact with anybody” (okay, him I’d recognize, and I do remember his name).

Our yearbooks aren’t the sort that listed people’s activities with their photos. You would have to search through all the activity listings to find out who did what, which is much more annoying.