My Rheumy drew blood last week and today I called for the results. The first time I called the woman put me on hold then came back saying she'd left a note for the doctor and someone would call me back. No one called. So I decided to call again.
I got a much nicer woman the second time and she told me that my bloodwork looks "normal". She said my Rheumy had made a note that my CRP was above normal, but not abnormally above. She told me to be normal you want to have a CRP of under 10! I'm at 11.2 I feel a bit vindicated by this, because when I saw my Rheumy last week I was coming off a BAD flare! So the fact that I was above the normal range tells me my RA is active and my pain is coming from it, not Fibromyalgia or some other disease.
Nurse told me that my Rheumy isn't "concerned" about anything and that we will keep an eye on the CRP.
I suppose I've always been a little abnormal; in vision, for instance, what an eye doctor describes as a "slight" change in prescription, feels like a HUGE change to me.
I don't have much of a tolerance for pain, either. What might be a 3 to someone is to me like a 5 or 6!
So a "not so high" CRP rate of 11.2, feels really high to me. In fact, my fingers and hands are so sore as I type this....
I just wonder if anyone else has had this kind of experience?
You low pain tolerance may be fibro nerve pain in conjunction with RA pain. Fibro pain is extremely difficult to monitor as it is nerve related. However, it can help paddle your symptoms to an untolerable level.
Has your rheumie mentioned anything about Lyrica or neurtonin to help? They are nerve blockers. (neurontin is an anti convulsant but does the same thing.
We all have different pain tolerances. People like me have to be half dead to complain about hurting. a lifetime of pain has dulled my mental response to it. Even with a collapsing hip bone and a cracked pelvis, my pain level was a consistent 7. However, except for extremely sharp pain, I don't react. For the most part from a medical stand point, that is not a good thing.
Ronie, I have a similar problem............I think. I hurt most days somewhere, so I just take it all in as part of me being me. That is how I ended up at the doctor's office with a really, really bad asthma attack that required an immediate breathing treatment, etc. etc. The doctor was shaking her head, and said I was really sick. But here is the thing, since all this arthritis and fibro stuff showed up on my doorstep, I can't seem to tell if anything esle is wrong. I just don't feel good. That is par for the course, so how do you tell when you need to see the doctor, other than not being able to use your hands at all, tremendously increased pain, etc. I keep getting these UTI's and they are bad ones. The doctor shakes her head on that one, too. She doesn't understand why I don't have symptoms because by the time I see her, it is almost out of control. Well, sure my lower back hurts sometimes, but I can't tell the difference between a UTI and just one of the strange pains I get every day. So frustrating! When a person doesn't feel well most of the time, it is easy to just ignore everything, I guess...??? Hope you are doing okay Ronie and Shine. Take care, V
I suppose it takes mental evaluation. I have a friend who has sever MS. She is allergic to all the meds they have given her. So she has pain beyond my comprehension. She still functions everyday. But she also has to keep an eye on her own body to take note when she needs to hit the doctor.
I am very similar to it. Last night, I was actually considering having Karen take me to ER. I was not feeling well at all and BP was up again. I was scared but Karen was sleeping. So I toughed it out. Instead I actually slept for 5 hours (the longest I have slept in about 4 months). I was up in the morning alert and feeling better. However, as the day has gone by, my energy level has wained. So it is back to bed for me. Yes it is early but my body is telling me I need sleep not a doc or a med. I need to listen to it more often and stop pushing.
Generally when I have some sort of infection, I have to monitor my temp. I will basically feel hot on top of everything else.
I dunno, V. Sometimes I trully dunno.
You have to keep on top of the bp, Ronie. I have had high bp since I was 29 years old and I can tell you that lack of sleep will make it jump by leaps and bounds. While you are trying to get your bp under control, stay away from caffeine and salt as much as possible. Stress and pain will make your bp go up, also. You are in a catch 22 right now because you can't go for a walk to get rid of stress and to get some exercise. Regular exercise also brings down your bp and is good for your heart and vascular system. If you can't sleep, you should at least try to rest. Put some relaxing music on in the background and just close your eyes and try to relax. If your bottom number on your bp goes up over 100, you need to call the doctor, Ronie. And that, my friend, is my 2 cents for the day. Peace, V
well, then I am 2 cents richer than I was 5 minutes ago.
Karen has had high bp for a very long time. Since she does not cook, it is up to me to keep us healthy in the food department. I cook with very little salt except for low sodium soy sauce (yucky actually for my taste) and we do not eat very much junk or fried food.
As for caffeine. Well, that is another story for another day. Kinda like my cable television, i cannot live without it. I am not addicted to it, i just can't live without out it.. lol. I know I know. But ya know what, V. I have given up so much in my life as far as food wise, social wise, mentally, and physically. After the gastric bypass, I have not had sugar in over 5 years. I cannot eat my favorite foods such as ice cream and fried chicken (not together mind you.) I can't even eat brocoli!!! So guess what, I will continue with my coffee with or without my ulcer.
And that is my Custer's Last Stand.
But I bought a monitor yesterday and my jank was 151/90 with heart rate of 100. So it has come down from the 169/108. I am good.
Thanks for the advice, Miss V. And I will try very hard to actually rest or even sleep. I got my normal 2.5 hours last night. So I am back at square one, my fav place to be. I am going to mark my hands and feet in the concrete here. lol
I'm glad you and Ronie were discussing BP. I've never had much trouble with blood pressure up to now (even though it runs in the family on my mom's side). However, last Thursday I was in the ER with terrible pain. When the nurse took my BP it was 154/112! The RN checked it again back in the ER and it was down to 152/110! She said high pain levels can increase bloodpressure. I'm normally in the 130/80 something range or less!
Then yesterday I saw the pain management doc for the first time. The nurse checked my BP and it was 190 on the top number, I didn't catch the bottom number! The nurse asked if I was on blood pressure meds, and I replied that I am not, but now I'm freaked out about it! I see my Rheumy today and will have the nurse check it for me, and if it is still way high, I'll make an appointment to see the family doc and see what he thinks!
Like it's not enough having RA and the pain that goes with it to deal with! Now I gotta deal with high blood pressure, too! Geez oh pete!
But I'm glad I read your posts because they caught my attention when I needed to paying attention!