It has been awhile ....

So much has happened in my life since my last post, it has been a journey.

2010 was pretty much a wash. I lost my mom in January and then in February we had to close our business. The summer of 2010 we had our youngest daughter in drug treatment for addiction to prescription pain medications.... mine have always been in a locked safe. She met a guy while in treatment and the two thought it would be an amazing idea to move in together after all he was in for alcohol. REALLY!!!

There was all kinds of crap that filled in the gaps all equally stressful and we know that stress is not good for chronic pain patients.

We somehow muddled through it all but I can tell you it was not easy.

Doctor's And Their Medication

The update on my visit to the MD concerning all of my lab work trying to figure out what is wrong with my immune system.....

First; they had done a lipid profile and my cholesterol was up some as well as the rest of the numbers. BAM... she hits me with "you need to take medication to lower your cholesterol." Wait a minute! Why can't I try altering my diet and doing just a little exercise? My husband was able to lower his cholesterol numbers by simply taking his lunch to work instead of eating out and he has stayed with his exercise routine.

With all of the stress of this past year my diet has been horrible and I gave my pilates ball to my best friend and have not blown up my new one. She was insistent that I go on the medication but, with me being me, I am going the diet and exercise route for the next month and see if it makes any difference in the lipid profile numbers. If it doesn't, then I will take the medication.

As for the immune system issue; the MD she referred me to for this is an "allergist and immunologist." Most of my blood levels were within normal limits and the few that were not were, in his words "close enough to normal to be considered normal." I don't know why that didn't apply to the lipid panel. His solution, sit down for this one.... take an allergy pill everyday.

I just about fell off of my chair. 5 years on IV antibiotics because of hospital acquired MRSA, I catch every bug, every cut becomes a major staph infection and an allergy pill everyday is going to make everything ok. I told him that essentially the doctor's created this MRSA problem so why aren't they working diligently on curing all of the complications that go along with having it such as long term IV antibiotic therapy and the immune system. Of course he had no response to that.

I am going to check around for some clinical trials and also seek homeopathic help with this. I am just so frustrated with the whole mess that I could spit bullets.

New Studies on Vitamin D and Chronic Pain

Last month when I went for my monthly visit to my MD to get my Durgesic patch refilled, she told me about a seminar she attended. The seminar was conducted by a "Preventative Cardiologist" -vs- a Cardiologist that just treats the symptoms and disease.

She said that he talked about new and old studies showing the importance of vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of a wide variety of illnesses including chronic pain. A lack of vitamin D will actual make one hypersensitive to pain.

So we decided to draw some blood and check my vitamin D level, it came back at 0, I have no vitamin D in my body... I guess that is what the test results of 0 mean.

She has put me on 50000IU capsules of vitamin D (Rx only), I take 1 a week for 6 weeks. 2-3 days after my last pill I have to get my blood levels draw again and hopefully it will show a significant improvement. If it does then I will go on a maintenance dose of over the counter vitamin D.

I take a daily multi-vitamin and have for years as well as supplements of B complex but evidently the level of D is not enough to make a difference.

Please remember, I was on IV antibiotics for almost 5 years due to the MRSA I contracted during surgery about 11 years ago. I was told at the time that no one was really sure what consequences I would endure due to the long term IV antibiotic therapy and depletion of my vitamin D might be one of the effects.

After I caught pneumonia last year they gave me a pneumonia shot and when they drew blood for the above test they also checked my immune system titers..... out of 10 or 12 different values mine were all ZERO. I have absolutely no immune system either. They gave me another pneumonia shot and I have to get my levels redrawn in a couple of weeks. If there is still no improvement, I will get one more shot.

I had suspected that my immune system was shot to hell and have tried many conventional as well as alternative treatments to build it back up but I guess all of them failed. This is scary to me. I am just a walking sponge for any germ that wants to leap off onto me and make me sick.

This makes me wonder if my childhood immunizations are still functioning, the MMR, etc. so I am going to ask to have all of the titers for those diseases as well as all my vitamin levels done.

There is something going on in my poor worn out 48 year old body and I don't like it one little bit. I eat lots of veggies, fresh or frozen not canned, loads of fruit and all of the food that is supposed to be good for the body but it's not taking.

Just a suggestion, get your vitamin D levels drawn and see what yours is.

I don't really have any reference other than what my MD told me but I did find the below blurb about chronic pain and vitamin D and a few websites that can give you some info to take to your MD.

Chronic muscle pain can be a symptom of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin
D is found in fish with small bones, fortified milk and cereal, and exposure
to sunlight.
Risk factors for vitamin D deficiency are:
darker
pigmented skin (e.g. Hispanic, African American, Asian) does not convert UV rays
efficiently to vitamin D
digestive disorders, such as celiac disease
use
of glucocorticoid medications for conditions such as lung diseases and
allergies
minimal sun exposure (elderly, institutionalized, homebound, veiled
or heavily-clothed individuals)
latitude and season - for example, people in
Boston do not produce vitamin D from sun exposure between November and
February
A study by the University of Minnesota looked at the prevalence of
vitamin D deficiency in 150 people with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Researchers found that 93% of patients had vitamin D deficiency. All people with
darker pigmented skin (African American, East African, Hispanic, and Native
American origin) had vitamin D deficiency.
Another interesting finding was
that the majority of people with severe vitamin D deficiency were under 30 years
of age. Season was not a significant factor.
The researchers concluded that
all people with persistent, non-specific musculoskeletal pain should be screened
for vitamin D deficiency.

• http://www.vitamindcouncil.com/
• http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/533686/
• http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/vitaminD.html (this article has other good info on vitamin D)

Please be sure and leave comments on your experience I am really interested in what you have to say.

Live Love and Learn

Stress and Back Pain or Chronic Pain

It has been awhile since I have posted anything but STRESS has been running my life.

We have had several horrible tragedies and due to dysfunction in my husbands dumb ass family, most of the work and stress has fallen to me.... the least physically capable person of the bunch but I guess I am also the strongest emotionally.

One thing that will increase your pain is stress. My pain level these past few months has been almost unbearable. My pain management regimen has not been working at all. I am taking more oral pain medicine than I have in the past 11 years and it is all stress.

I am not good at managing stress and never have been, I tend to dwell on things unless I am able to have a face to face confrontation with the person causing my stress and just laying it all out on the table... I will dwell on whatever the issue is.

Of course in the past 3 months we have had 3 deaths and sent our oldest daughter to Iraq.... that in itself is very stressful but in the midst of this one of my sister-in-laws decided to get in my face concerning an issue with her sister's recent passing. I would have let it go at that point but she commenced to calling all the other siblings (5) and telling them her version of the story. Then each of them and one of their aunt's calls me and chews me out for daring to argue with their princess little sister..... who happens to be 30+ years old.

So I guess I have major issues with the family dynamic and how I am the villain after all of the work I have done while they sat around and "grieved." I have not had that privilege as of yet and then I endure 2 more deaths and my daughter going to Iraq.

I strayed from my topic...

Learning to manage your stress is paramount to living a healthy lifestyle especially when you are living with chronic pain.