Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Hellloooo, ecchhoooooo

Yeah, I just posted the other day about how dead it is here! It seems like a lot of people are gone or only post infrequently ... but there really aren't many new people to compensate.

Michele -- I've had migraines since I was 14 and they are evil! I take Cafergot (ergotamine) for mine -- I've tried other stuff but nothing's worked as well. I'm glad that your flare seems to be getting under control. Hopefully you can start tapering down on the steroids soon.

I'm still recovering from having my gallbladder taken out -- nearly two weeks ago now. I'm in a lot of pain and I still can only eat small amounts of food at a time, but at least the pain that prompted the surgery is gone. Hopefully I'll continue to improve.

I saw my rheumy today -- I had a sleep study six weeks ago and from that I was diagnosed with RLS (restless legs syndrome). I'm supposed to start taking Requip for it but the side effects are scary and I'm pretty nervous about it. He also said that I have breathing problems, but not from sleep apnea. He's doing some bloodwork to check for anemia and stuff like that. I also had an abnormal cardiopulmonary stress test a few months back because it didn't look like I was getting enough oxygen to my muscles, so maybe it's tied together -- I've been having shortness of breath for awhile but the pulmonary tests have otherwise all been normal.

I also have a rash that the rheumy said was petechiae -- he's doing some bloodwork for that, too, to see if I have a problem with my platelets or something. It's all over my toes and when it showed up and was really bad my toes were also really swollen, but since he didn't see it he doesn't know if it was joint swelling (which would be another autoimmune sign) or if it was edema (which he said might mean a kidney problem). So if it happens again I'm supposed to rush back in so he can look at my toes. My pasty, puffy, red-spotted toes. Ew.

(Why couldn't I have some kind of glamorous illness ... like where my only visible symptom was enough weight loss to leave me with really good cheekbones. And maybe some kind of interesting pallor that would make my skin appear as alabaster ... but I won't get greedy. The cheekbones would be enough.)

I also have a bum shoulder -- he couldn't feel anything wrong with it, so I'm supposed to check back in a week if it's still as bad and get an ultrasound done. Obviously the rheumy is concerned with making sure I have to go to the hospital at least every two weeks.

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jen

"It's one of the most serious things that can possibly happen to one in a battle -- to get one's head cut off." -- LC

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