Are these health/pain issues anything to worry about, or am I just getting old?

God lord lady, what did you do to your body to get it so pissed at you? I have some minor osteoarthritis and I’m fighting through some other stuff, but I have a walk in the park unlike you. I admire your courage and perserverence so so much. I think the trembling comes with age and computer use. I don’t know about the others.

You have my sympathy and admiration.. Yes and yes. The conditions you cite hang around and hang around as we get older. You might consult a pain specialist who can help you manage the pain. They don’t only use medication, but what sounds to me like a self distraction method.

To me, this all, including the abdominal pain, sounds just like my Fibromyalgia pain.

I get “electricity” pains, my feet always hurt, I do not heal well (especially from bug bites….which can take 5–6 weeks to heal), my eyes can be painful and/or I lose focus, and I have tenderness all over.

Have you eaten something you don’t usually eat recently? These bouts used to happen to me after certain splurges.

Personally, I’ve found cutting out gluten and all cross-reactive foods have decreased my pain and caused my healing time to improve.

Eczema: Are you still eating dairy?

I’m so sorry to hear what you’re enduring, dear Auggie. I send you great sympathy.

I’m not a medical professional or even close, but I’ve had a few health issues in my time. One thing that occurs to me straight off is this: could there be anything going on among your medications?

One time I spoke to my regular pharmacist, whom I’d known for years, and asked him to sit down with me and go over my meds. We made an appointment. He took me into their breakroom, I with a notebook and he with a complete list of my meds (11 or 12 of them at the time), and went over all their side effects and possible interactions. He spent about an hour giving me a free consultation. To me it was definitely worthwhile to cover that angle from the perspective of a professional other than my doctor.

I have no information to offer, but you have my sympathy Augie. It sounds awful.

I’m not sure what it is although half way through I did think fibromyagia oddly I know too that as we mature we should do different things like exercise more, be careful with our diets, I have also learned that when I am super stressed I get strange pains and odd symptoms. (Which is to do with joint swelling and joint pain). I also suffer allergies more when I am stressed and also when my mind is in poor health I suffer pain more. Or even infections of this or that.

Lately I am off the bandwagon but I did for a time watch my

sugar intake (swelling, join inflammation, yeast)
Wheat/gluten (bloating, candida, immune issues)
caffeine (sleep and anxiety)

as I think that as we get older we don’t metabolize things as readily and they build up in our bodies creating disease.

I have no idea if this helped as maybe all my weird symptoms are in fact some horrific disease? I’d like to think that I could create a healthier environment internally to stop disease though.

check here

Hugs Auggie :)

I feel for you and have several of these myself. My doctor tells me most are “old age” and he has some of them too! The bruising and vague pains in limbs or gut “will pass” according to the Dr., they usually do just pass, Be strong and be glad for every day you are here,.
I had cancer thirty years ago and had chemo to clean it out, after it metastasized.
Feeling in my finger tips never came all the way back.

@Jeruba – I often recommend a pharmaceutical review, because the physician’s know which meds absolutely can’t be mixed, but can not know of all the potential interactions. I also remind people to be sure to include over-the-counter, topical, and dietary/herbal supplements they are taking.

I am just a year-and-a-half into my autoimmune symptoms – suspected RA. My pain has been significantly worse these past 4–6 weeks, but my bloodwork is supposedly stable. My follow-up is next week and I’m stressing about increasing, adding or changing my medication.

Bilateral presentation is a strong indicator that the etiology is systemic rather than externally caused. Since you haven’t got insurance or disposable income to pay out-of-pocket for healthcare, I would suggest starting with your pharmacist, and also being über-strict with the diet – eating no processed food, no grains or dairy or meat, and trying to eat as high a percentage of organic fruits and veggies as possible. If that makes a difference, I’d add back organic yogurt and see how you tolerate it; and if you do, gradually add cheeses, and then maybe other dairy – always antibiotic-free, and ideally organic. The same with adding back meats – only free-range, antibiotic-free, organic and add one type at at time, eliminating any you seem to not tolerate. And the same for any grains.

Consider the potential toxins in your personal and household cleaning products, too. Bleach, ammonia, formaldehyde and who knows what all those other chemicals are.

I hope you find a way to feel better soon, and will have work, steady income and health benefits soon, too!

Stupid editing time window glitch. X-/
The first paragraph is responding to Jeruba; the rest is to @augustlan.

Thanks for the input, jellies. My diet is shitty, so it might be time to make some serious changes in that area. Several years ago, my doctor thought I might have celiac disease, but I tested negative for it. Even so, he suggested I go gluten-free to see if it might improve things, but I couldn’t stand the thought of loosing all the foods I love and didn’t do it. Might be time to rethink that decision. The pharmacist consult seems like a good idea, too.

Well, Lisa asked me to answer this, and I’m not going to be much help. It’s not just “getting old”. You should get a work up.

@Rarebear Thanks for chiming in. A doctor friend of mine once suggested I get a referral to Johns Hopkins for a thorough work up by an auto-immune specialist. Obviously, I can’t afford that at this time. Is it something my regular GP can do, or what?

@augustlan Hear me out before you laugh.:) Have you ever tried acupuncture or biofeedback? I’m just asking because I have two offices in my hallway in the office building where I work that do this. The traffic they get is incredible. Somebody believes in these, or they’re doing something else that draws a crowd. The bio feedback person is a PhD.

@Adirondackwannabe I haven’t. The most ‘alternative’ thing I’ve done is get deep tissue massage, which really did help with the fibro pain. Sadly, it’s been years since I could afford that.

Let me talk with them, I’ll see if they think they could help you. They’re both local firms, but if they think it would work maybe you could find one in your area. We all get along well so it’s no big deal to ask.

@augustlan – It is an outrage that in your country, full access to medical care is inaccessible to those who need it. What you should do is get a full work up. With your history, it likely will extend your life and its quality. Perhaps there is financial assistance available in your community. Do no be too proud to inquire!

Your GP could do it.

@augustlan My son was negative for Celiac, however an elimination diet for both of us proved we’re both extremely intolerant to:
– Gluten
– Dairy
– Soy
– Corn
– and a variety of other cross-reactive foods such as oats, quinoa….the list goes on and on and on.

We’re both eating a limited ingredient type diet, leaning more Paleo.

You may want to consider a lengthy elimination, then slowly add in one food at a time.

I have severe pain quickly after eating MSG. Yeast also needed to be cut out as it caused a variety of health issues to become exacerbated.

@Dr_Lawrence I couldn’t agree more, an absolute outrage!

Let me also suggest going gluten free. There have been enough changes to the genetics of whet to cause you all kinds of issues. My old girlfriend was troubled by all kinds of strange symptoms, but a two week vacation with a friend who has celiac got her gluten free and feeling remarkably better. She no longer has chronic migraines, strange ulcers, odd pains and stomach problems.

Remember, food is medicine, you are what you eat. Eat a healthy diet without processed stuff and you will feel much better.

Other than that, it sounds like continued fibromyalgia.

Your abdominal pain could be diverticulitis. If you have a poor diet, especially one low in fiber, this could be the problem. Stop eating food that doesn’t digest easily, like nuts, corn and food with seeds and increase your fiber.

darn editing isn’t working….

Diverticulitis is most common in those who are 50 and older, but it is becoming a problem for those who are younger now. My husband had part of his colon removed when he was 30 due to diverticulitis. His surgeon blamed it on the “Wonder Bread diet” of our generation. He had another attack this past Spring that sent him to the emergency room. He was eating a lot of peanuts and popcorn before the attack. He has stopped eating these foods and he hasn’t had any abdominal issues.

Bleeding under the skin…I have noticed that as I age minor owies turn into ugly red things. I assume it has to do with the thinning of the skin. I also scar much more easily.

If I drink hard liquor I get weakness and trembling in my arms and hands the next day. I can’t hold a book up in one hand because it shakes too hard. It didn’t affect me like that when I was younger, but it does now so I rarely drink hard liquor any more.

My professional medical advice would be: Don’t do anything any more. Just stay in bed. Hope this helps! :)

PS…don’t know your financial situation but could you apply through SRS for medical assistance?

Healthcare issues are always something to be concerned about. Even something minor can lead to something bigger. It if’s a new thing, check the thing out! No one will help you if there’s a problem that no one knows about. If your kid, or even your dog was hurt surly you’d try to help! You’re important too! I’m not saying become a hypochondriac but don’t be stubborn either. I think you’re doing the right thing by reaching out here but for your own sake, see a doctor.

You sound like Mr Burns, in that episode of Simpsons where doctors tell him the only reason he’s alive is because all the diseases in his body have fought each other to a standstill.
I don’t know how it works in your neck of the woods, but my state has charity care, which you can apply for via a participating hospital (which is all of them in my state I think). Then you can see specialists and get testing done through the hospitals clinic. The wait times are long, and there’s paperwork, but if you jump through all the hoops there’s care that people without insurance can afford. Inquire at your hospital or county health department about that.
As far as your actual symptoms, egads! I sometimes get patients like you at three in the morning (after they’re fed up about not being able to fall asleep), and I’m clueless every time.

New symptom. This has only happened once, but it really freaked me out: I had a blind spot right in the center of my right eye. It lasted for at least half an hour, then went away.

Possible migrane?

I get occasional migraines, but never one like that. There was no pain, either, just the blindness – and if I closed my eye, there was a sort of flashing light around the edges. Kind of like a lightning bolt curved around the outer edge of my eye. It was bizarre, and I had to stop working til it passed.

Ocular migraines My boss has these without any pain.

Thanks, @chyna. That is less worrisome than what I was thinking, given the symptoms all taken together.

Of course I wasn’t diagnosing you, just wanted you to read that article to see if it might have your symptoms. Although I do like it better than what you came up with.

Every headache is a tumor for me, until I calm myself down, haha.

If your eyesight has returned then it doesn’t sound like retinal detachment, which can have painless flashers.
If it is different from your previous migraines I would say that increases the possibility of a transient ischemic attack (a stroke that reverses itself without treatment).
Other risks: smoking, heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol disease, diabetes, obesity, family history of stroke or heart attack around your age. The more you have of those, the more likely you’ve had a TIA. The problem with TIAs is they can be harbingers or strokes that do NOT go away, so you should talk to your doctor.
MS symptoms can wax and wane but not likely in the space of 30 minutes. that sounds more like a TIA

For anyone who could possibly still be following this, I did finally figure out what’s going on with my body. In January 2018, I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a genetic connective tissue disorder) and my whole medical life suddenly made sense.

EDS is sort of rare but you’re born with it, so it seems crazy that I wasn’t diagnosed until age 50. The missing puzzle piece is the fact that I’m hyper-mobile (what we used to call ‘double-jointed’). I never reported this to any doctor because I never thought of it as a symptom. Combined with my other symptoms, it’s super obvious in hindsight. If you’re in a similar boat, don’t give up hope!

Wow. Hi and thanks @augustlan.

Auggie! Come back to us my friend <3