This photo looks how I feel: rubbish, and a bit fuzzy.
I don’t want to get into a habit of posting about being ill (I do enough whingeing about that at the best of times), but the last time I did mention it a few of you were kind enough to get in touch, so I thought it would be nice to let you know what’s been going on.
I’ve had a bunch of tests – I scored 18/18 for fibromyalgia tender points – top marks for me! This basically means that I went OUCH every time the doctor prodded me in the 18 test places. Including under my shoulderblades, which is a place I don’t tend to get touched, so that one was a bit of a surprise! I also had lots of blood tests done. So many that I felt a bit like Tony Hancock. (“A pint? That’s very nearly an armful!”)
The results came back today – mostly clear, which was nice. No inflammation markers, no signs of connective tissue disease. Phew. One more test to go (an ultrasound on my worst wrist), but rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are pretty much ruled out. Excellent.
The one that did come back a bit surprising was the test for vitamin D. The usual levels are between 50 and 200 (50 and 200 what, I don’t know), but mine were, rather startlingly, 11. Eleven. Which is not enough, by quite a long way! It’s common for people in the UK to have low levels of vitamin D because the weather’s not exactly sunny (especially this year), but even “low” usually means around 40. Not eleven.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency can include things like joint, bone and muscle pains, chronic fatigue, and confusion. Which explains a lot. Thankfully it’s extremely easy to sort out! I’m now taking vitamin D tablets for 500% of the RDA, which I’ll do for the next six months. After that I should be a) feeling much better (fingers crossed!) and b) able to go down to a more sensible maintenance dose.
As for the fibromyalgia, the hope is that once the pain from the lack of vitamin D is under control, it’ll be a lot easier to manage. In the meantime I have three months’ worth of a very low dose of amitriptyline (10mg) which will hopefully help to break the pain cycle that’s going on between my body and brain.
I also have advice about diet and exercise and acupuncture and generally looking after myself, which should hopefully all help too.
So, I can expect to continue feeling a bit rubbish for a while, but once the vitamins start to kick in, hopefully all will be well. Hooray!
11!! No wonder you’ve been feeling rubbish. Very good news about the RA and lupus tests.
Hello man, This was a great page for such
a difficult subject to speak about. I look forward to reading many more great
posts like these. Many thanks.
So glad you found out what was going on – and hopefully it’ll be a relatively easy solution!