Category Archives: Living with Pain - Page 3

Lack of Vitamin Can Cause Chronic Pain

Posted by on November 20, 2007 Comments Off

I went back to the rheumatologist yesterday and apparently I’m severely Vitamin D deficient. He’s putting me on a mega dose of a supplement. It was a very quick visit, of course, so I didn’t get to ask any questions (what is with doctors avoiding the question and answer sessions?). So, I came home and did some research.

Apparently Vitamin D deficiency, the major cause of Rickets, wasn’t a problem for a long time. Now because so many people are warned about staying out of the sun and using massive amounts of sunscreen, they’re getting ill again. But many doctors don’t test for this particular deficiency because it was so rare before- and they don’t like to do new stuff (except for using their prescription pad for new meds, of course).

How do you become Vitamin D deficient?

People are using more and more sunscreen at a higher SPF and many are told to avoid direct sunlight all together. That means that valuable Vitamin D is blocked and avoided too, because the sun produces most of the Vitamin D that we need. And according to some, anyone above 30 degrees North latitude is at greater risk in the winter (of becoming Vitamin D deficient), because the angle of the sun prevents the vitamin from getting through to us. This could be why so many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

During the winter at latitudes above 35 degrees North and South, very little, if any, vitamin D can be produced in the skin. For example, in Boston (42°N) no vitamin D is produced from November through February.[source]

Another reason for the deficiency is malabsorbtion due to intestinal issues (such as Crohn’s Disease, Celiac Disease, or Irritable Bowl Syndrome) or kidney problems. This can be especially true if you’re like me and avoid direct sunlight at all costs and can’t get the nutrients needed through food. Of course, I rarely eat liver and/or herring, but that’s another story.

What are the symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency?

Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle weakness and muscle aches and pains in both children and adults.[source]

That study states that every person involved with it had pain complaints and was Vitamin D deficient. Other symptoms include fatigue and bone pain. It also states that the problem is getting worse because of warnings and fears of skin cancer. Fair skinned people, such as those of Northern European descent, are better equipped to absorb Vitamin D from the sun, but because of the high use of sunscreen these people are just as susceptible to becoming deficient as those with darker skin.

Vitamin D malnutrition may also be linked to an increased susceptibility to several chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, tuberculosis, cancer, periodontal disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, depression, schizophrenia, seasonal affective disorder and several autoimmune diseases [source]

How do you know if you’re deficient?

Have you been tested for any vitamin deficiency? If not, ask your doctor to do a simple blood test. The normal range for Vitamin D is 16.0 to 74.0 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) [source]. My Vitamin D registered at 6 ng/mL, so I’m very low. A simple blood test was all it took to find out that I am deficient. None of my other doctors bothered to include this test in with their other blood tests, so it’s taken almost 2 years to find this out. If you are experiencing chronic bone and muscle pain, fatigue, and any other strange symptoms that your doctor can’t figure out, ask if he or she has done a test for this particular deficiency (or any other vitamin deficiency for that matter). If not, ask for it.

What now?

My doctor has prescribed what he calls a “mega dose” of Vitamin D supplement. I’m to take it only once a week. He’s also advised that I take a calcium supplement because the deficiency causes osteoporosis and calcium helps the body absorb the Vitamin D supplement better. You can safely take up from 300 IU (International Units) to 4,000 IU of Vitamin D a day. Dietary sources of the vitamin can provide up to 250 IU, so when sunlight isn’t available (or in the case of Lupus patients, ill-advised) it’s suggested that you supplement with a pill.

I’m not sure if my deficiency is because of malabsorbtion or because I’ve been actively avoiding sunlight. I’ll find out soon enough because of other tests (if you have gastrointestinal issues you should have a colonoscopy). I’ll also let you know if my symptoms improve with the vitamin supplement I’ve been prescribed.

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Merck Inspired Me

Posted by on November 9, 2007 Comments Off

Today I found out that Merck is going to pay $4.85 BILLION in settlements because of it’s “blockbuster” painkiller, VIOXX. I was more than a little appalled, but not at all surprised, that so many people had taken the drug and it took so long to get it off the market. In my own experience with doctors and prescriptions, I’ve learned that you can’t trust a doctor’s prescription pad. He or she may have ulterior motives for wanting you to take what they’re offering. I’m especially wary after the last couple of doctor’s that I’ve seen really pushed medicines on me that I didn’t want and wouldn’t benefit me (especially because of my bad reactions to them).

So, I was finally bitten by the article bug and wrote one up for AC. I initially thought I would publish it here and see what kind of hits I got with it, but changed my mind. My audience here is so small compared to who reads over there (the CPs who read AC articles voraciously but rarely venture into blogland, for instance. It doesn’t hurt that I get money over there either. :) Since it’s largely an op-ed piece I had to submit for no upfront payment, but that’s ok. It’s also non-exclusive. So, if it does well I’ll know where to concentrate my talents and maybe submit to a higher paying establishment (like Constant Content).

 

Here’s an excerpt of “When Good Drugs Go Bad: Why Your Doctor’s Prescription Pad Might Endanger Your Life”.

My primary care physician likes to promote relatively new medications and has been known, at least with me, to either not know of or intentionally mislead about serious side effects of particular medications. When he prescribed Tramadol (Ultram) for me he assured me that it was non-habit forming and that there were no serious side effects. He failed to mention that:

Commonly reported side effects include nausea, constipation, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, and vomiting. Less commonly reported side effects include itching, sweating, dry mouth, diarrhea, rash, visual disturbances, and vertigo. Some patients who received tramadol have reported seizures. Abrupt withdrawal of tramadol may result in anxiety, sweating, insomnia, rigors, pain, nausea, diarrhea, tremors, and hallucinations. [Emphasis mine. Source]

As a matter of fact, because of I’m so leery of taking medications with which I’m unfamiliar, I asked him about possible adverse side effects. He assured me that Tramadol (Ultram) is no worse that prescription strength acetaminophen or ibuprofen. At that time I trusted his judgement. Later at a checkup I told his NP that I sometimes took two pills at a time because they did little to alleviate my pain. She told me it was fine as long as I didn’t go over 500 mgs a day. She then consulted with the same doctor that prescribed the medication, and returned to tell me I was taking too much, that it wasn’t good for me and I should take the vicodin primarily for pain. She told me that I could take the Tramadol to boost the vicodin “occasionally”. I was again reassured that the Tramadol was basically safe and not to worry about anything. I already knew about the withdrawal symptoms, now I worried about other things. It’s better for me to take a controlled narcotic than this? Bye, bye Tramadol.

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College Math Chatter

Posted by on October 25, 2007 Comments Off

I had it up to my eyeballs in Math class yesterday. Living with this illness and dealing with the fog is bad enough. But when I sit in class, in the front of the room, and can’t hear the professor because of conversations on the other side of the room… Well, that was it.

There is a group of women who sit on the far side of the room. Every Monday and Wednesday night they converse among themselves as if Math class isn’t happening around them. The professor sometimes raises his voice and sometimes gives them looks, but he never asks them to quiet down. It was especially bad last night- at least for me. I was foggy and was having trouble focusing because of the chatter. At one point one of the women actually stood up to illustrate a point she was making to the other women. It was unbelievably disrespectful, not only to the professor but to those of us who were paying $300 per credit hour to attend the class.

After class I waited for everyone to leave. Then I spoke with the professor. I explained to him my condition and why it’s difficult for me to concentrate on the lesson when there’s so much noise coming from the other side of the class. He seemed to understand and said we could work out a hand signal when it was getting too loud over there. That miffed me a little. I told him that I didn’t want special treatment for my condition, just some consideration for someone paying to attend the class. I also told him that other people felt the same about what was going on over there. That was a little white lie as I have no idea if others get just as annoyed, but it did help my cause. We talked for about half an hour and he agreed to control the class a little better. I’m satisfied with that. I just want to learn. That’s why I’m there, afterall.

The funny thing about these women is they’ll chatter all through a discussion and then ask redundant questions when they realize where we’re at. After the prof goes through an equation, explains what he’s doing, and gets the answer, one of the women will pipe up “So, how’d you get that answer?” Lovely. Just lovely. The man is too nice to say “You’d know if you shut your trap and paid attention” so he goes through the whole thing again. Which has put us 3 chapters behind. What a pain.

My first semester I took Intro to Business and there was a similar situation the first day of that class. A group of younger people were sitting in the back talking among themselves, oblivious to the lecture. That prof stopped the lecture, walked to the back of the room and said “I would love to hold up the rest of the class for your benefit, but they’ve paid money to be here. If you can’t quiet down, I suggest you withdrawl from the course, because the next time you interrupt you’re losing class points.” And that was the end of that. My psych professor, too, makes sure that the class stays focused and respectful. He simply asks “Can you hear me back there?” when someone starts talking too loud. I really like that approach.

Hopefully my math professor will show some spine next week. I’m sure I’ll be the class pariah for taking away all the fun. I don’t care though. Class time is not the time to be talking about idiot husbands and barfing dogs. I don’t think they should even be in that class if they can’t take it seriously. And I really hate to think what they’ll be like when they finally do get their nursing degrees.

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