It's me again...hi!

ouchpotato
ouchpotato Member Posts: 453
edited 26. Nov 2013, 16:13 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hello everyone

I am sorry I haven't been posting for a while, but I have been keeping my eye on the forum. It is November, which as some of you may remember is the month of the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, so I have been concentrating on that. It's going well, 42,000 words so far and 5 days left, although what started out as chick lit has now become a very dark psychological horror!

Anyway, I woke up this morning in agony. I haven't had it this bad for months and months now and in fact one day last week I wondered if I was still alive as I had no pain whatsoever! Very peculiar feeling.

The pain is in my sacral region, buttock, side of hip and front of thigh and into my knee. Believe it or not I still have not had my follow up from the MRI and xrays with the rheumy, that is on Dec 13th, although she did say in her letter that there is, in her opinion, osteoarthritis in my spine. The GPs feeling is that it could be ankylosing spondylitis. I decided not to push for an earlier apt as the rheumy I'm seeing this time is very good (she is my daughter's consultant) and I didn't want to risk having to see the other one (horrid woman) if I swapped dates.

Possibly more worryingly is that my eyesight seems to be deteriorating rapidly. I picked up new glasses yesterday and will see if they help, but it is one eye. I have several 'floaters' in my eye which are obstructing my view, and when I closed my eyes the other night a bright flashing started, just momentarily. Other times my eye waters like a tap has been turned on.

This cold isn't helping, for sure, and the weather we are forecast is filling me with dread (and I usually love the snow)

Hope you are all well and happy

x

Comments

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello, it's nice to hear from you. Both my eyes are full of floaters (all entirely natural) and my eyesight is fading but that's because I am an old hag. I get the occasional falshing lights things but only when I am looking at things with my eyes in an extreme sideways position - apparently it's something to do with straining my retinas. If I don't do that then it doesn't bother me so I don't do it. :wink:

    Am I well? I have two sorts of arrthritis and fibro so no, not really. :) Happy? Well, kinda, we (and by that I mean me) are getting ready to move house in around two weeks' time, I am packing boxes which means frequent trips up and down the stairs so I hurt from top-to-toe but no matter: the nirvana of no stairs is within my reach. Good luck with the writing, I hope you are able to finish within the time available. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,280
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello ouchpotato
    Its good to see you back I did wonder how you was getting on with the novel ..only sorry you are suffering like this...I hope you can get some relief very soon....could you not get something nice and soft to sit on while you are at the comp writing this novel....sorry I am not much help...good luck and I would love to read it ...x
    Love
    Barbara
  • bubbadog
    bubbadog Member Posts: 5,544
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi ouch, So good to hear from you, sad to hear your eyes are suffering, that's the problem with modern technology it does cause eye problems! Since I have used computers my eye sight has deteriorated and every time I go to the opticians I seem to need stronger lens! You take care, I'm the same as you about the weather forecast my joints are starting to ache recently.
  • mellman01
    mellman01 Member Posts: 5,306
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I don't want to worry you but I'd get that eye checked out, my mother sufferers from detached retina's and flashing lights can be a sign of them, here's a link to the NHS direct web site.

    http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Retinal-detachment/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

    PS I've suffered from excessive floaters for a year or two now and have just put up with them but now I'm going to get mine checked out ASAP after reading the info on the site I've just found.
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi
    Well is Starbucks getting your custom again....loads of coffee to help the concentration while you're writing :wink:

    I have problems with my lower back, buttock, and down the front of my leg as well......all coming from my back I'm told.

    As for your eyes....I know nothing about the floaters but as for the watering {like a tap turned on} I can sympathise with that completely. Been going to the same eye consultant for 3 years and just getting a nose spray which does no good. I went to a walk in hospital which has an eye dept and saw a consultant there. He gave me much stronger drops, and ointment for the lower lid at night and told me all about eye hygiene!!! Got to admit they are much better now......still not better by any means especially when I go out in this cold weather but a lot better than they were.
    Hope you get them sorted
    Love
    Hileena
  • thistlegirl
    thistlegirl Member Posts: 229
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Ouch, great to hear from you again!

    I am impressed with your writing, you are doing really well, do I get to read it?
    Did you get you house fixed after the flooding? How is your daughter doing?

    About your eyes- Have you had them looked at? It sound similar to my Uveitis and Iritis. It can be linked to RA, I can't remember if you have RA or other one?

    Jenny
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello ouch. It's good to see you again and even better that your 30-Day novel is progressing well. It might be that that is to blame for the increased aches and pains, though, if you are sitting in the same position and using the same muscles constantly. Try to get up and walk round every 20 minutes. Good luck!
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • villier
    villier Member Posts: 4,426
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Ouch nice to see you, good on you with getting the novel well on it's way. That is a good suggestion of Sticky's it may just be that you have been sitting too long in the one position, I hope that's all it is. If you have got new glasses you must have had your eyes tested, if there had been anything amiss the optician would have surely picked it up. Good luck with the novel hope you get it finished in time......................Marie xx
    Smile a while and while you smile
    smile another smile and soon there
    will be miles and miles of smiles
    just because you smiled I wish your
    day is full of Smiles
  • AvadaKedavra
    AvadaKedavra Member Posts: 33
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    ouchpotato wrote:
    Hello everyone

    I am sorry I haven't been posting for a while, but I have been keeping my eye on the forum. It is November, which as some of you may remember is the month of the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, so I have been concentrating on that. It's going well, 42,000 words so far and 5 days left, although what started out as chick lit has now become a very dark psychological horror!

    Anyway, I woke up this morning in agony. I haven't had it this bad for months and months now and in fact one day last week I wondered if I was still alive as I had no pain whatsoever! Very peculiar feeling.

    The pain is in my sacral region, buttock, side of hip and front of thigh and into my knee. Believe it or not I still have not had my follow up from the MRI and xrays with the rheumy, that is on Dec 13th, although she did say in her letter that there is, in her opinion, osteoarthritis in my spine. The GPs feeling is that it could be ankylosing spondylitis. I decided not to push for an earlier apt as the rheumy I'm seeing this time is very good (she is my daughter's consultant) and I didn't want to risk having to see the other one (horrid woman) if I swapped dates.

    Possibly more worryingly is that my eyesight seems to be deteriorating rapidly. I picked up new glasses yesterday and will see if they help, but it is one eye. I have several 'floaters' in my eye which are obstructing my view, and when I closed my eyes the other night a bright flashing started, just momentarily. Other times my eye waters like a tap has been turned on.

    This cold isn't helping, for sure, and the weather we are forecast is filling me with dread (and I usually love the snow)

    Hope you are all well and happy

    x


    Hello Ouch,

    You don't know me, as I am new here. I have recently got back into reading, mainly crime genre. I am impressed with what you're doing and best of luck with your novel! I hope we may be lucky enough to read it one day. I do hope your aches and pains calm, I laughed when you mentioned not feeling any pain for one day. It happens to me from time to time; almost like a higher power, giving you the day off.

    I am blind without my specs / contacts. I don't know where I'd be without them, probably in someone else's house I'd imagine :lol:. I often wonder if my RA is related to my awful eyesight, but, I have never really looked into it.

    I've noticed very bad pain and stiffening of my knee joints, when I sit down crossed leg, I do this when on the PC. I have just this minute moved my PC upstairs though to my room, now I can sit on the bed which is more comfy! I do hope that your agony was more of a one-off type thing.
    "The pioneers of a warless world are the young men (and women) who refuse military service." - Albert Einstein
  • ouchpotato
    ouchpotato Member Posts: 453
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello everyone, lovely to read all your replies.

    Avada and Sticky...I use a lap top so can't put it down to that really, as I move around all over the place. Sometimes at my desk, sometimes on the settee, sometimes at my desk. Other times it is the library or the coffee shop so my position changes constantly.
    I can't cross my legs as if I put my right leg over my left one, even if it is just my ankle, the pain in my hip is horrible.

    Marie...I actually had my eyes tested about 3 months ago but I didnlt have the money to get new glasses, and the deterioration has been very recent, within the past couple of seeks. I have to dim the background on my laptop as it hurts my eyes, and I can't watch tv in the dark; the light from it is too bright without the main light on.

    Thistle girl...how are you? Are things any better? The cellar hasn't been sorted out; the landlord wants me to empty the cellar before they put a pump in the well (which is ridiculous as the well is the other end of the cellar to the stuff that's in there). There are mattresses down there that are saturated and weigh a ton, and there is no way I can get them out, up the steps and into the garden, let alone dispose of them. I only have a small car, and as the house is on the street I can't get a skip even if I could afford it! Pulling those mattresses would cripple me. my son would obviously help but it is a 3 man job at least, and I have no one to help. So we're at stalemate at the moment. For now the water has subsided.
    My daughter is very well now thanks, she's almost 14 weeks and had her first scan today! You can even see the baby's fingers! She has suffered very badly with morning sickness but seems to be coming to an end with it. How lovely of you to remember!
    I don't (as far as I know) have RA, it is more likely AS or PsA but as you all know it is a long journey to diagnosis. I know uveitis can be linked to AS.

    DD I don't envy you the moving but a bungalow? How wonderful. My house has 3 floors and the stairs kill me. Luckily my bedroom is on the first floor so I only have to cope with one set of stairs, but there are stairs from the hall to the front door, and then steps from the front door to the street, it's a killer. I know floaters are a natural part of ageing, it's just that it has happened quite rapidly so it's rather alarming.

    Barbara...I do have cushions all over the place for sitting, with or without the laptop! I have a good amount of natural padding on my rear but not enough to stop the aching so I supplement it with cushions!
    It will take some time to edit the book, but I am pleased with how it's gone so far. It doesn't make for easy reading though, the story just ran away with itself and it is now largely about domestic violence, but with a supernatural twist! It's very therapeutic and I get to kill off the son of a bee! :lol:

    Bubbadog, the computer is horrible to use with eye floaters as the screen is light so shows them up more. I feel like wearing sun glasses all the time!

    Mellman...thanks for the link, I will check that out when I have finished on here. I did read something about detached retinas but will look into it further.

    My hip is so sore, even to touch it. I pointed out where it hurts to my son and poked myself inadvertently and he nearly had to scrape me off the ceiling! Do arthritic joints hurt to touch? I did wonder if it was bursitis.

    I'm up to 44, 200 words now so the finishing line is in sight!

    Take care all and keep warm, or as warm as we can afford to keep given the price of gas now!

    x
  • ouchpotato
    ouchpotato Member Posts: 453
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I just posted a long reply but it said it had to be approved by the mods? Never seen that before!
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    It's to do with the new spam filter, your post will appear in due course. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Susiesoo
    Susiesoo Member Posts: 358
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Ouch...it's good to see you on here. I do think it might be worth checking out your eyes just to be on the safe side.

    Glad to hear you are enjoying writing your book and good luck for the rest of it. I, too, would like to read it, although it sounds slightly scary!

    Susie
  • lulubell69
    lulubell69 Member Posts: 110
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Good to hear from you. Pleased the book is going well.
    Take care
    Les