Hey Ya'll,
As the title says I live with Fibromyalgia, I also live with
RA and Gout among other things because my Fiance'
has RA and gout and is totally disabled ( in the clinical sense ), we both have good days and bad as you all know
so well, as we get older it seems there are more bad days
than good physically, what helps is the tremendous love
we share, we help each other as we are able, we do what
we can on our own and help each other with whatever
we are able to do that day.For the past four months
my fiance' has not been able to even walk across a room
first due to pain and then due to weakness in his knees
because he has had to use his power chair to get around,
but in the past week he has been able to get across the room on his own about once or twice each day but it
wears him out very quickly and his ankles swell if he
does too much so it is slow progress but it is progress
and that does him good. I am still able to work part time
but I don't know how much longer I will be able to do it,
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 1991, I was put
on a course of Ibuprophen 800 mg as needed and Flexeril
10mg three times a day and I was on that for a few months, then my doctor at the time told me to try not to take the muscle relaxers any more than I absolutely had to because of the damage it could do over time to I think she said my liver ( I can't really remember because it
was a long time ago ) . I stopped taking them both many
years ago because I no longer had medical coverage to
pay for it and went to taking over the counter Tylenol type pain killers, they take the edge off when the pain isn't too severe. None of the jobs I've had in recent years
had medical insurance that I could afford so I deal with it as best I can. As I said earlier I am still working part time
but I've already lost the major amount of work hours
simply because I have to move slower and take more breaks and it was costing them too much money so they
moved me to a different job ( actually 2 different departments ) and now I only work 3 hour shifts most
of the time because my body can't take much more than
that, when i work a 6 or 7 hour day my body screams
and it takes a couple of days to ease the pain to the
point where I'm able to deal with it. Well folks I've
reached the point where my fingers hurt and that means
it is time to call it a night. It is now 3:15 AM ( central time ) Good Night and God Bless BethG
I've been living with both of those diseases for several years as well and both of them flaring untreated at the same time is not something I would wish on my worst enemy. You have a fantastic attitude - it's such a cornerstone in coping with the pain and the frustration.
I wanted to comment on two things. If you're having problems physically doing your job, it may be possible for you to get accommodation of your illness/disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This means that your employer is legally required to provide accommodation, by which is meant finding another way of doing the essential duties of the job. Some jobs don't lend themselves to modification, but it's possible that yours might and the good thing is that your employer has already shown a willingness to be flexible and to help you stay working. You can check out the websites of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Americans with Disabilities Act for more information, resources and contact information for staff who will be able to provide more detailed assistance.
I also wanted to tell you about Lyrica. This is a new medication targeted to fibromyalgia and it is incredible. The first time I tried it, I didn't need to take any other medication for the next 2 1/2 days. One tablet of quite a low dose made my body very happy for several days. There are other new treatment options for fibromyalgia and you can find more information about this and other fibro issues in the fibromyalgia section at HealthCentral's chronic pain site.
While I'm talking to you about treatment, I want to tell you about options for treating your RA. The drug companies offer funding programs for people of limited means and you may qualify. You can find more information about that here and may also want to talk to your rheumatologist about it (do you have to pay for the doctor yourself or do you have access to a doctor that won't charge?). That said, there are times where going on social assistance can be helpful to people like us, because that offers coverage of medication. You'll have to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops, but it may be worth it for you to pop by your local Social Security office and ask for information.
Hey Lene,
Thank you so much for the information, my fiance'
is the one with RA and he is getting medications from
his doctor, however the meds he is on can create other
problems for him so I am trying to get a business started online to make enough money to be able to pay for meds that won't harm him just to ease the pain
he goes through every day, plus something that might
cut down on the number of flare ups he has. This has
been his worst year in many years he told me a couple
of months ago. I am looking for natural remedies for
both of us. I found something a while ago that sounds
like what a lot of folks could use to get rid of the pain
for a day at a time, I'll have to look in my archives and find it again then I can let everyone know about it, the
main problem with it is that it costs around $ 60.00
for a one month supply for one of the meds I found.
Well it's been a long day for me because I got called in to work today and this has not been one of my better days as far as pain is concerned. I'm going to get some work done for my website and then I'm calling it a night. God Bless, Thanks Again
Wow,. I read a little too quickly there! Thanks for the clarification - at least the information I gave you can still be used, with a bit of editing on your part as to whether it's useful for you or your fiance.