Paulette,
I so much appreciate you, I know you're going through alot yourself, the
Hydrocodone doesnt make my ears ring thank goodness, if anything
happens with this medicine, I will be done for since I cant take anything
else and the only other thing that helped me before was chemo the Dr
used to knock down my immune system but it was harsh on my body
and I was considered high risk for that too. I have to get my records from
the hospital on the chemo since I may have to have that again since the
illnesses are getting so bad, its hard to find a Dr that knows the mixture
and the original Rheumy that ordered it is no longer in my area.
I wasn't able to contact you anywhere else but here.
Take care!

Rhonda,
If you ever need someone to listen, I'm here. You can email me personally if
you want. If you don't get through my work email, alert me here and I can
respond to you and give you my home email.

Since you take Hydrocodone like I do, do you have any problems with ringing
in your ears?

Many Gentle Hugs,
Paulette

Paulette,
Thank you for writing back. My problems all seem left sided too. The
hydrocodone is the only thing I can take at this point. I'm afraid to go
to a Chiropractor because I've got Degenerative Disk Disease too,
(my family dr calls me his train wreck) haaha, I'm afraid if someone
starts twisting me around, I might break into pieces, ha. My daily ritual
for the nueropathy in my feet is to take a painpill, wrap my feet in cold
rags, then once they cool down, put on thick socks to warm them back up.
By then the painkillers usually kick in just to take the edge off the pain.
I'm
so glad to find a place to talk to people that actually understand how this
all
feels. Its hard for some people to imagine being in extreme pain 24/7. But
I'm a single mother of 4 and the only income for my kids so I am desperate
to find some relief, I even recently upped my life insurance so my kids will
have something since my health is deteriorating fast and I dont know how
long I can work. I've had 4 different drs tell me I shouldnt even be alive
after
they saw my test results.
As far as the cold, yes with my pain already being so bad and all over, the
cold just jumps in there and makes it worse.
Everyone on this site sound very caring and helpful, I'm new to this site but
anxious to keep tabs on how you and everybody is doing---and SIT UP STRAIGHT!
haha, just kiddin, stay safe!
Rhonda

Thank you all for your concern,

Rhonda,
I hope you get to feeling better. Makes me wonder if my problems could be
similar to yours because it seems like it is always somewhere on my left
side of my body. I am wondering if it is neurological or something. Anyway,
I am some better but I am still having to take Loritab at night. I think the
Chiropractor is helping. My posture is horrible and I slouch bad at my desk
at work. She even GAVE me a support for my chair that she had to see if it
would help me. I was feeling better this weekend with concentration on
relaxing and de-stressing myself but Wham as soon as I sat down in my chair
at work it was back. My company has had to cut back and I know they won't
buy me another chair so I will have to do the best I can.

Maybe after this weekend things will get better.
When I first came down with my Lupus 29 years ago, I too had Polymyositis. I
know what that is like. The only thing that helped me at that time was
Prednisone. They took 4 years to get me off of it. I will pray that you will
get through this. Is the cold weather bothering you?
Are you tense like I am when I hurt. I think sometimes it is a vicious
circle. The more you hurt, the more tense you get which makes you hurt more.
Hot packs seem to help sometimes but if it has to do with inflammation they
say use ice, which being cold natured is not fun.

Keep me posted on how you are doing,

Many Hugs,
Paulette

Paulette,
I hope you find out what's wrong. I have the same pain that is
very intense, I have Lupus, Polymyositis (muscle disease), and
I'm a type 1 diabetic. I started having the same pain in my left
upper back that went all the way through and also radiated down
my left arm. I first thought it was a pinched nerve but it got to the
point that I was having trouble breathing. I was put in the hospital
and the dr's thought I had a blood clot in my lung. The Rhumy that
was brought in said it was my muscle disease constricting my lung
and the lupus was attacking the lining of the lung. She gave me 3 shots
of steriods in the trigger points of the pain, but that shot my blood sugar
up to stroke level and they had to slam me with alot of insulin. It took a
good month for the pain to ease. That was in March, now the pain is
severe again and Im not getting any relief from the drs because I'm
limited on what I can take, so its just painkillers. I'm hoping you dont
have as much going on with your condition but you described how my
pain started so I'm interested in at least knowing what you find out and if
you find anything to relieve the pain. Sorry this was so long.

Hello all,
Just needed to whine a little. Here I am having a performance on Wed (Dress
Rehearsal) and the real deal on Sunday, Dec. 11 with 2 performances.
And.... I have this pain/ache in my upper middle Shoulder area that is about
to get the best of me. It may be tension or a bad result of a massage I had
last Friday. Sometimes the pain radiates down the back side of my left arm
making it feel like my shoulder is out of socket. My chiropractor says that
she can fix me. 2 visits have not done it yet. Thank goodness I have good
insurance. Maybe it has to do with the additional practicing I'm doing. I
think it has to do with my computer desk job that I have only been doing 20
+ years. The only thing that will help is loritab and anti-inflammatory make
my ears ring. Thank goodness this is Friday. Go home and chill out.

Thanks for letting me rant,

Paulette