Update - A Full Diagnosis At Last

I was so fed up with the whole situation that in October I decided to take this blog down. In anger.

I was very low.

Then in November I was lucky enough to take part in the Arthritis Ireland short course called 'Living With Arthritis' in South Galway.

It was wonderful to meet other people who had been through and who were going through the same or similar things as me. And I learnt how to feel more empowered to ask for what I wanted etc when seeing my GP and rheumatology consultant.

It's a very worthwhile course to attend for anyone with arthritis of any kind and at any level.

On December the 8th 2009 I had my next scheduled appointment in the HSE Merlin Park Rheumatology Clinic.

By some wonderful quirk of fate I was there on a day when the 'other' consultant (not my normal one) had his clinic (apparently they work a rota of clinic and wards between the 2 consultants).

This time I saw Dr Carey and a very thorough doctor working with him. I was treated as an individual, asked many many more questions etc than ever before, with exceptional manners and kindness, and was included in all discussions and decisions.

Dr Carey made a diagnosis of Osteoarthritis (which my previous consultant had already diagnosed), Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I was so relieved that someone at last was taking all my pain and difficulties into the picture and seriously. Despite the unpleasant diagnosis - it was a massive weight off my shoulders to know just exactly what is going on.

I have been prescribed Lyrica for the Fibromyalgia pain and Plaquenil for the RA. The Lyrica dose is fairly low and both will take a good while to take proper effect, so I will be patient and wait and see if I am lucky enough for them to work. I believe it is 4-6 months for the Plaquenil to take full effect, and a bit less for the Lyrica.

As soon as I start noticing a difference I will post it here.

I have since managed to be able to afford heating oil - so my house is toasty and I have hot water at last as myself and a friend fixed the airlock in the system.

I am taking a lot less Solpadol, partly because my GP doesn't like me taking it and that rubs off - I feel guilty taking it - and partly because it really barely makes a difference a lot of the time...

The pain and stiffness is therefore pretty bad still most of the time, and can at times be unbearable. I only take the Solpadol now when I can't sleep because it hurts too much, or if I am trying to work at something and the pain/stiffness has got too much and is stopping me doing the work.

The rest of the time I try and ignore it.... and I admit to being quite used to living with it now.

I still hate the pain though...

Off The Grains - Result

Well its been a while now since I decided to try and see if not eating grains made any kind of difference to me personally.

I was 99% good !

And 1% bad....

Well we can't all be perfect. Especially not me!

I mostly didn't eat any kind of grain at all. I lapsed on a very few occasions, such as croissants... a cheese and marmite sarnie.....small bits of rice... testing a bit of a peanut butter cookie I made for a friend...

I actually do feel a bit less stiff, and in particular much less bloated. But the pain levels are the same. As a result I will definitely continue to eat a lot less grains, in particular ones containing gluten, as the less bloated feeling is much more comfortable all round.

I have some very good tasting gluten free wholegrain organic pasta made by Doves Farm in the UK. They make a fantastic range of very high quality organic flours and related products, which I use whenever I can.

I have also almost completely cut out sugar, but I always put honey in my drinks etc anyway. Maybe this has also helped with reducing the stiffness slightly, its hard to tell. However I ate very little sugar before reducing it.

But I definitely feel less bloated and therefore more comfortable.

And I have lost 10lbs ! Which is a big bonus for my joints and muscles and my back.