Marti delurking

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I joined this group a while ago, but I've just been lurking and trying to get

familiar with you all. You seem like a compassionate group of people, so I'm

going to take the plunge and tell you about myself.

My name is Marti. I am going to turn 54 next Thursday. I'm happily married for

nearly 11 years. I have a son who's almost 37 but I have no grandchildren.

I've had a lot of hard knocks in life, but I'm a survivor. I've had bouts of

major depression since I was a teenager and I'm there again - just beginning

medication and counseling.

I raised my son alone, while working full time in office jobs but after 22 years

of that I was laid off from my last office job and couldn't get anything thing

else. So I did a 180 and started working at cleaning. I had my own little

business for a while but after a minor car accident in which I broke my foot, I

got out of being on my own and worked for a couple of years in a luxury hotel.

After that I became self-employed again doing a little computer tutoring and

bookkeeping for a couple of small business.

For the past 10 years I haven't been seeing doctors for anything except minor

emergencies like UTI's or tick bites because we've had no insurance and not

enough money to pay for expensive diagnostic tests. Meanwhile - for the past

year and a half - this pain condition has developed. I have a lot of the

symptoms of fibromylagia. I wake up most mornings feeling like I've been

hitting by a truck - sore and stiff and achy all over. I have a terrible time

with insomnia. I have restless legs at night when I'm trying to relax. I get

muscle pains and burning sensations like someone has punched me. I often feel

bruised and swollen in places, but am not. I have tinnitus and the list goes

on.

The most prominently bothersome area has been my shoulders and arms. Started

with the right shoulder and felt like bursitis that just wouldn't go away. The

rest of the arm and hand have pains too. One day it's my bicep, one day it's my

forearm, another it's both, etc. I assumed that I had some sort or repetitive

nerve injury like carpal tunnel and just kept toughing it out and using cold

compresses and ibuprohen by the handful. After a time the left shoulder started

bothering my worse than the right.

Recently I got on state assisted health insurance and so I'm finally able to get

some medical attention for all of this. Blood tests have eliminated a lot of

serious diseases, including Lymes. The only other diagnostic testing that's

been done is exrays of my shoulders and neck. I have moderate arthritis in my

neck and some calcium deposits on my shoulders. My blood glucose was elevated

and I'm being treated for diabetes, and hypertension. Meanwhile I saw a

psychiatrist for evaluation of my mental health and was prescribed Wellbutrin

because I've had numerous problems with SSRIs in the past. Because I have a

history of drug and alcohol abuse (clean and sober for 16+ years now) everyone

is being careful not to prescribe anything habit forming or narcotic. I was

given Trazadone to help with my insomnia, but I stopped taking that because it

was turning up the volume on my ringing ears to an intolerable level.

My doctor has arranged for me to go for PT to try to help with my neck and

shoulder problems, but she's pretty much ignoring all the other aches and pains

I've complained of, saying " let's wait and see how you feel after you've been on

anti-depressants for a while " . How many of us have heard this or other polite

way of saying " I think it's all in your head " ??

Meanwhile - I'm doing whatever I can to try to get better and be more

productive, but it's often very discouraging. I'm looking to this group for

advice and suggestions as to what has helped you to cope - not only with your

painful conditions, but with medical personal that don't take you seriously?

If nothing more, lurking on this group has given me some gratitude that I am not

suffering to the degree that some of you are. God bless you all and bring you

some comfort.

Thanks for reading my story..

Marti