Chronic Pain

I'm not asking for narcotics. In fact, I'd like to avoid them as much as possible.

My pain on a day to day basis (depending on if it's raining or not) is at around a 6. He gave me pills that were supposed to make things better. They spiked me up to about an 8 (in the morning) and would gradually fade throughout the day down to a 6. That's not better. That's worse than doing nothing. That isn't good.

He asked me to wait it out. Some pills take a while to take hold (as long as 6 weeks). I waited 8, felt no better, so went cold turkey on all of the non MS medications. I feel better now (while taking 6 advil and 6 tylenol per day) than I did while taking 2 hydroxychloroquine, 6 sulfazine, 2 naproxen, 6 advil & 6 tylenol.

That ISN'T working, so I saw no reason to continue down that path. I'll see if the Johns Hopkins people have a better way to treat someone with other problems than "just" Rheumatoid Arthritis.

I've known several people who've done well with some of the IV RA medications. I think people only have to take them 1x a month (or something like that). Or even a shot of Enbrel. This is out of my realm of expertise but you're probably right to seek treatment elsewhere.

I got a call from Johns Hopkins Hospital today. It seems that my transfer has gone through. I'm going to go there July 2nd to begin working on whatever they can do for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. I can't wait. As a side note, my wife has off that day, so we're both heading down together. We're going to spend the remainder of the day going to the Aquarium. I purchased a year membership (the cost of 2 visits). It was well worth it.

I'm glad you are going to see someone else.

Well, practical results are what it's all about.

I have no idea. I do know that arthritis treatment is an area that we can get better at. Maybe the shamans know something we don't.

I mean if it was something more than arthritis (not that arthritis is nothing, but you know what I mean. Just somethingmoreserious) I'd caution against crazy...

But the worst case here is that they give you some sugar pills mixed with mexican cactus and you spent a few bucks for a trip south of the border.

So, tomorrow I'm headed to John's Hopkins University for my appointment. I really hope they're able to come up with a better game plan for me than what the previous doctor did. I believe in them, though. I had a dentist appointment the other day, and the girl that cleaned my teeth also has rheumatoid arthritis, supposedly. She told me that her doctor put her on a weekly sub cutaneous injectable and it's had a night and day difference with her life. Before, she hobbled around much the way I do, but now she's jogging and doing Yoga every day. She said her pain (in it's old state) is a thing of the past.

I'll let you know how it goes.

So my appointment was today. 12:30pm. I was given a bad vibe from the guy pretty quickly. I got to the doctor's office at 11:20, and just took a seat. They ended up putting me back in the patient room around 11:35. Then it was the waiting game. It's a quiet room and I was bored shitless. Then the doctor was late coming in to see me. His assistant came in around 12:45 to talk to me for about 10-15 minutes. About all of the information that I filled out on their 20 page questionnaire. Then another 30-35 minutes later, the doctor himself came in to see me. Once he was there, and we talked a bit and he explained some things, it went better, but waiting almost an hour PAST my appointment time was really fucking weak. He ended up wanting a ton of blood work and a few x-rays. Fortunately, I can get the x-rays for free (even no co-pay) from the Hospital my wife works for. I allowed them to do the blood work, though.

He explained a few things to me. Told me his early game plan and what he intends to do if I react either positively or negatively to what we do. I feel more relief talking to this guy than I did talking to the schmuck that's office is like 15-20 minutes away. If only he was on time...