I have what?

Life is really good right now. I am enjoying my trainer and exercising. The end results is so worth it. I always finish feeling great. Even when I am hurting it just shows me the power of exercise and endorphins. Please don't let the pain stop you from exercising.
I have been hesitant to write about my visit to the arthritis doctor. I had to ponder the diagnosis, in fact I am still working on it. The good news is that I don't have RA. Thank you Lord. I am so relieved to get that information. What I have has been going on for about twenty years or so. I have been to so many doctors about it and never found any solution. I have had physical therapy, taken muscle relaxants, acupuncture, chiropractic, massages, and even put horse liniment on my joints. I am telling you I have tried it all.

I stand corrected in that RA can go into remission. Seems mine has been healed. A great blessing from God. Every inch of my bones was x-rayed and five tubes of blood taken for tests, and a urine test. After telling him of my history, he did an exam on my body. Bending and twisting arms, legs, head, feet and hands and then he did something I have never experienced before...He hit some hot spots on my body that felt like a bolt of lightening. Pressure points is what he called them. Ouch! That hurt!

While I have given it some thought in the past, I never believed I had this syndrome until today. I have seen people with this and they are so incredible tired and depressed and in immense pain. Not me, I could talk myself out of that diagnosis, but somehow all the pieces fit together and made a lot of sense.

Other symptoms include memory loss and trouble concentrating, stomach problems, sleeping problems, depression, wide spread muscle pain, flu like symptoms, fatigue, mood changes, headaches, restless leg, numbness and swelling of the joints, changes in pain related to weather change, stress or physical activity. In the old days it was called Rheumatism. Today it is called Fibromyalgia.

I didn't believe it until all of the symptoms made a lot of sense. What causes it? The cause is unknown, but is thought to be due to abnormalities in the central nervous function, leading to an amplification of normal pain signal. It is as if the volume control is set too high in the nerves in your body so things that wouldn't cause pain in most people do cause pain in people with Fibromyalgia. It can present itself with other forms of Arthritis. The doctor said that I have Osteoarthritis.

A lot of problems arise when you don't sleep well. I never got into REM sleep ever until I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. In fact, I never got past stage one sleep and I quit breathing several hundred times a night. It's a wonder that my body could not heal. I felt like a walking Zombie all the time. Medication for this varies. I opted for something that diminishes the pain and will help me sleep. It should all make sense to me because I have always been a sensitive person. It was like I was in over load all the time an could not calm down. Thanks to therapy, exercise and medication I am feeling "normal" (what ever normal means) for the first time in a long time. And for that I am very grateful.