Hard to keep moving
when moving is treacherous!
Wow. What a winter we are having here in New England. Here in the Elm City, New Haven Connecticut, we had the coldest February ever and the second snowiest. And we didn't have any snow on the ground when it started. We thought we were coasting this winter, never thinking that Old Man Winter was such a cold hearted bastard.
You see, Old Man Winter loves
to make you sick of him.
Mostly, I was coasting. Besides the bone chilling cold and my chilblains disease, I was feeling "good". I was getting to the gym, I was getting our place in order for a move, seeing a new doctor and taking some medications that actually helped, Cymbalta. I thought I was outrunning my CPPD and fibromyalgia,winning the battle and I had energy!
Then WHAM!
Like Old Man Winter, my Arthritis showed up to breathe fire into my joints. No, not just to make me unbelievably stiff, no. My Arthritis and fibro came to take every ounce of energy. At night, I am awoken by an ache that won't stop. Doesn't matter where, but my left knee shows the worse damage from chondrocalcinosis, the process that causes Calcium crystals to form and then your joints all get attacked. CPPD used to be called pseudo gout, so it is painful like gout, however, no diet can cure CPPD.
This process will happen to 50% of us when we reach 95. I'm lucky because I go to get it when I was 54. Only 2% of people under 60 come down with the disease. There are over 100 types of arthritis, CPPD is damaging to the joints but not as steady or severe as RA. Only the future will tell.
There is no cure for arthritis, all 100. Yet arthritis is the number one problem that causes people to become disabled and not work.
You know the best part?
Doctors don't have a clue, they just help you manage your symptoms. Most doctors try to push the biologics. For now, I will take a less aggressive approach. My new team of doctors are all in the same place, and talk to each other. Especially my Cardiologist. I had a hole in my heart since birth and I was only getting 75% of the oxygen that would be normal.
I was lucky I never had a stroke or heart attack. So my Cardiologist is in with my Rheumy and Internal Docs. For me, it is comforting that they all seem to care. Anyway, the ASD closure (hole) did not take, it did not completely plug the whole. And my last echocardiogram shows more leakage between chambers.
This process will happen to 50% of us when we reach 95. I'm lucky because I go to get it when I was 54. Only 2% of people under 60 come down with the disease. There are over 100 types of arthritis, CPPD is damaging to the joints but not as steady or severe as RA. Only the future will tell.
There is no cure for arthritis, all 100. Yet arthritis is the number one problem that causes people to become disabled and not work.
You know the best part?
Doctors don't have a clue, they just help you manage your symptoms. Most doctors try to push the biologics. For now, I will take a less aggressive approach. My new team of doctors are all in the same place, and talk to each other. Especially my Cardiologist. I had a hole in my heart since birth and I was only getting 75% of the oxygen that would be normal.
I was lucky I never had a stroke or heart attack. So my Cardiologist is in with my Rheumy and Internal Docs. For me, it is comforting that they all seem to care. Anyway, the ASD closure (hole) did not take, it did not completely plug the whole. And my last echocardiogram shows more leakage between chambers.
Well that sucks
For now, they will monitor. In the future the surgery may have to be done again. Oh boy.
Back to the flare, which mostly took on my energy and made my joints throb. For nine days I could not go to the gym, sleeping often; unable to shake the exhaustion. My Internist has me going for a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea. Then we go from there.
The Cymbalta, my doctor said at first has a "honeymoon" effect. Where you feel better at first then you are back to reality. I still am happier with Cymbalta than I thought I'd be. My doctor said to up my Mobic, an anti inflammatory.
Again, I started to go to the gym, but just 2 days.The next week I went Mon-Wed and then
BAM! POW! SPLAT!
Down again. and then the insult. I came down with what I assume is a cold. No energy and a cold means
I can't do much. And now I'm sporting a fever and have surrendered to the bed.
There is no doubt that my arthritis flares during the winter. My last doctor glibly said to move to a warmer climate. If only, then I would have a place to stay here in the summer and head to warmer climates with our migratory birds.
There is no doubt that my arthritis flares during the winter. My last doctor glibly said to move to a warmer climate. If only, then I would have a place to stay here in the summer and head to warmer climates with our migratory birds.
Game plan
Boy I had a great game plan 3 weeks ago. Feeling better enough to get to the gym and starting to feel the positive effect. But then 9 days of trying to cope with the pain, takes up a lot of time. But you perseveres, what is the alternative?
So my game plan is this: Listen to my body and give it what it needs. Starting with getting rid of this bug.
Then getting back to the gym and keep on keepin on.
You can't sweat about your disease. If you are like me, it can bring on guilt, anxiety and depression. And your best defense is exercise. My daily goal is 15,000 steps. One of the main reasons I moved to New Haven was its walkability. And it's a great biking town. What's your game plan for flares?
Keep moving
and
Keep up the good fiight
Bart Connors Szczarba
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