odd pain vent

Warning: there is absolutely no point to this post. It's just a whiney
vent. I don't complain in real life, except occasionally to DH (but I
just tell him what's wrong, rather than whine about it), and right now I
just need to whine away to a bunch of people I've never seen before. ;-)

Sigh... The only real complaints I have had during this pregnancy are
complaints about pain. Thankfully, the pain in my legs has gone and
never come back (yet, anyway). Then there's the general worsening of a
lot of arthritis problems, but I expected that. But ugh why does it
have to be so bad??? :-( Some parts of my hip fused (or partially
fused) together a long time ago, making the joint always incredibly
stiff, but at least it didn't hurt (used to hurt like heck before when
it was still loose, and I was always a walking barometer). These days,
it's all loosened up, and it HURTS (makes it hard to walk or lie on my
back, and even affects limb movement sometimes). Oh man, I hope that
this doesn't give me trouble during labour. Oh yeah, and then there's
the spinal problems, some of which I had been thinking of having surgery
for before I found out I was pregnant (oops), and the problems with loss
of function in my arms (only on occasion) when there is too much
pressure on the nerves (this is what I was thinking of having repaired).
The biggest complaint, though, *has* to be what this does to my head.
It causes migraines. I can't stand this. I'm barely approaching the
half way mark, and things are only going to get worse. I broke down and
took some ibuprofen today (third time during pregnancy), which I *hate*
doing at any time, not just when pregnant, and it didn't even touch the
pain (grrr). Ibuprofen normally works extremely well on my types of
problems. It worked well on the joint pain, but I guess I've got some
muscle pain today, too, which generally doesn't respond well to ibuprofen.

I think I'm going to have to mention this to the dr or midwife, because
it risks becoming unbearable later on.

It's funny, though, because on the good days, I feel perfectly fine.
That's normal for me anyway, but it just seems like during pregnancy,
the swings downward on the bad days go a lot farther.

(oh and in case anyone who has bothered to read this is wondering, no,
I'm not a RA sufferer - I just have some mildly abnormal curvatures in
my spine and I guess even that is enough to cause bone spurs and other
various sorts of calcification to occur all up and down it)

"Vicky Bilaniuk" wrote in message
. ..
Warning: there is absolutely no point to this post. It's just a whiney
vent. I don't complain in real life, except occasionally to DH (but I
just tell him what's wrong, rather than whine about it), and right now I
just need to whine away to a bunch of people I've never seen before. ;-)

Yay! That's what we're here for! Isn't it great?



Sigh... The only real complaints I have had during this pregnancy are
complaints about pain. Thankfully, the pain in my legs has gone and
never come back (yet, anyway). Then there's the general worsening of a
lot of arthritis problems, but I expected that. But ugh why does it
have to be so bad???

Everything is amplifed for me now that I'm pregnant (even the good stuff!).
Is that the same for you?

:-( Some parts of my hip fused (or partially
fused) together a long time ago, making the joint always incredibly
stiff, but at least it didn't hurt (used to hurt like heck before when
it was still loose, and I was always a walking barometer). These days,
it's all loosened up, and it HURTS (makes it hard to walk or lie on my
back, and even affects limb movement sometimes). Oh man, I hope that
this doesn't give me trouble during labour.

That must be scary to think about! Have you talked to your caregiver about
it yet?



Oh yeah, and then there's
the spinal problems, some of which I had been thinking of having surgery
for before I found out I was pregnant (oops), and the problems with loss
of function in my arms (only on occasion) when there is too much
pressure on the nerves (this is what I was thinking of having repaired).
The biggest complaint, though, *has* to be what this does to my head.
It causes migraines. I can't stand this.

All the other aches and pains can be tolerated, can't they, but a bad (or
migraine) headache ruins EVERYTHING! Why is that?



I'm barely approaching the
half way mark, and things are only going to get worse. I broke down and
took some ibuprofen today (third time during pregnancy), which I *hate*
doing at any time, not just when pregnant, and it didn't even touch the
pain (grrr). Ibuprofen normally works extremely well on my types of
problems. It worked well on the joint pain, but I guess I've got some
muscle pain today, too, which generally doesn't respond well to ibuprofen.

I think I'm going to have to mention this to the dr or midwife, because
it risks becoming unbearable later on.

It's funny, though, because on the good days, I feel perfectly fine.
That's normal for me anyway, but it just seems like during pregnancy,
the swings downward on the bad days go a lot farther.

You have a lot to be aware of. This is going to be a big challenge for you.
You are working toward a very rewarding goal.


(oh and in case anyone who has bothered to read this is wondering, no,
I'm not a RA sufferer - I just have some mildly abnormal curvatures in
my spine and I guess even that is enough to cause bone spurs and other
various sorts of calcification to occur all up and down it)

RA= Rheumatiod Arthritis?
I'm sorry you have to go through this Vicky.
Consider yourself hugged (ever so gently).

Alexis
EDD 4/21/04
Beanie #1

Vent away, Vicky. I am sorry to hear you are in so much pain. I hope your
midwife can give you something that can ease the situation.

Pampering vibes to you.

--
Love

Nicky

EDD March 26, '04. It's a girl!

Fur Babies

"Vicky Bilaniuk" wrote The biggest complaint,
though, *has* to be what this does to my head.
It causes migraines. I can't stand this. I'm barely approaching the
half way mark, and things are only going to get worse. I broke down and
took some ibuprofen today (third time during pregnancy), which I *hate*
doing at any time, not just when pregnant, and it didn't even touch the
pain (grrr).

Migraines, ugh, you have my sympathy. BTDT and don't think I could take it
during pregnancy because there's not a lot of meds you can take. Hope you
get to feeling better soon!

Jill

Auntie Bubbles wrote:

"Vicky Bilaniuk" wrote in message
. ..

Warning: there is absolutely no point to this post. It's just a whiney
vent. I don't complain in real life, except occasionally to DH (but I
just tell him what's wrong, rather than whine about it), and right now I
just need to whine away to a bunch of people I've never seen before. ;-)


Yay! That's what we're here for! Isn't it great?

Yes, especially when, 2 seconds after hitting the send button, the pain
suddenly goes away. ;-) (that happens - the pain will set in very
suddenly and go away just as suddenly) I felt *great* after doing that
whining last night. ;-)




Sigh... The only real complaints I have had during this pregnancy are
complaints about pain. Thankfully, the pain in my legs has gone and
never come back (yet, anyway). Then there's the general worsening of a
lot of arthritis problems, but I expected that. But ugh why does it
have to be so bad???


Everything is amplifed for me now that I'm pregnant (even the good stuff!).
Is that the same for you?

Oh yes. Absolutely everything. I can live without the bad, though,
trust me. Everything stinks, and has ever since the start.


:-( Some parts of my hip fused (or partially

fused) together a long time ago, making the joint always incredibly
stiff, but at least it didn't hurt (used to hurt like heck before when
it was still loose, and I was always a walking barometer). These days,
it's all loosened up, and it HURTS (makes it hard to walk or lie on my
back, and even affects limb movement sometimes). Oh man, I hope that
this doesn't give me trouble during labour.


That must be scary to think about! Have you talked to your caregiver about
it yet?

I mentioned it to my dr only, and he didn't think much of it. I'm going
to make more of a point of it, though, in the future, to both midwife
and dr. When in the hospital, I don't want people to think that I'm
screaming in pain from the baby when in fact it's from my back, or
something. Can you imagine? What confusion. If they ask me if I want
an epidural, I'll ask them if they're willing to put it in the top of my
neck. ;-)




Oh yeah, and then there's

the spinal problems, some of which I had been thinking of having surgery
for before I found out I was pregnant (oops), and the problems with loss
of function in my arms (only on occasion) when there is too much
pressure on the nerves (this is what I was thinking of having repaired).
The biggest complaint, though, *has* to be what this does to my head.
It causes migraines. I can't stand this.


All the other aches and pains can be tolerated, can't they, but a bad (or
migraine) headache ruins EVERYTHING! Why is that?

Because it affects your personality. You can't think straight, you
don't behave normally, you can't do *anything* to distract yourself,
other than render yourself unconscious... At least with a sore back, I
can just lie down and read, but with a migraine, I can't do that because
I can't stand light, and because I can't concentrate on anything.

RA= Rheumatiod Arthritis?

Yes. I was being lazy. (was having a hard time looking at the screen, too)

I'm sorry you have to go through this Vicky.
Consider yourself hugged (ever so gently).

Heh heh, thanks! :-)

Coccinella wrote:

Vent away, Vicky. I am sorry to hear you are in so much pain. I hope your
midwife can give you something that can ease the situation.

Pampering vibes to you.

Thanks. I'm someone who usually likes to just suffer through pain (I
prefer not to medicate myself), but if this keeps up, I'll have to do
something. I don't want to *start* labour already fully exhausted. I
know it's only going to get tons worse in the third tri.

I wish I could get DH to constantly hold my boobs up, though. ;-) He
doesn't mind doing it, but it's not very feasible to get him to do it
all day, heh heh. It's the extra weight that's really causing problems
for my upper body. Sometimes, after a shower, I just stand there and
hold them up myself. It probably looks incredibly funny, but it
provides great relief, and besides, there's no audience in my bathroom.
(at least I hope there isn't) I dunno... I'm thinking that if I go
for surgery to fix my back up a bit, I might have to get something done
to my stupid knockers, too. ;-) I was an early bloomer and have always
been kind of on the large side. Well, TMI, I know, but what the heck.

Jill wrote:

"Vicky Bilaniuk" wrote The biggest complaint,
though, *has* to be what this does to my head.

It causes migraines. I can't stand this. I'm barely approaching the
half way mark, and things are only going to get worse. I broke down and
took some ibuprofen today (third time during pregnancy), which I *hate*
doing at any time, not just when pregnant, and it didn't even touch the
pain (grrr).


Migraines, ugh, you have my sympathy. BTDT and don't think I could take it
during pregnancy because there's not a lot of meds you can take. Hope you
get to feeling better soon!

Well thankfully they've only been mild, but a mild migraine is still a
migraine. :-( Normally, I take 4 regular strength ibuprofen to kill a
migraine off, and then take a couple more later to keep it gone. I
don't want to over-medicate like that while pg, though. The most I'm
taking while pg is the normal 2 pill dose (or 1 of the new extra
strength ones). I'll have to wait and see what medical pros tell me.
;-) I have to head in next week anyway, so I'll talk about it then.

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 19:43:44 -0500, Vicky Bilaniuk wrote:

Warning: there is absolutely no point to this post. It's just a whiney
vent. I don't complain in real life, except occasionally to DH (but I
just tell him what's wrong, rather than whine about it), and right now I
just need to whine away to a bunch of people I've never seen before. ;-)

Don't you worry, we're here for that too.

It's funny, though, because on the good days, I feel perfectly fine.
That's normal for me anyway, but it just seems like during pregnancy,
the swings downward on the bad days go a lot farther.

That's hormones
(If you don't know what's causing it, always say it's the hormones)

(oh and in case anyone who has bothered to read this is wondering, no,
I'm not a RA sufferer - I just have some mildly abnormal curvatures in
my spine and I guess even that is enough to cause bone spurs and other
various sorts of calcification to occur all up and down it)

I know what you mean, my mum has it and she responds very well to naproxen
as a painkiller (also for the migraines). However, I don't know about its
safety during pregnancy. It's available OTC in the US, but check with your
midwife first, she may have a better alternative.

Hope you feel better soon!

--
-- I
mommy to DS (19m)
mommy to two tiny angels (28 Oct 2003 & 17 Feb 2004)
guardian of DH (33)

"Vicky Bilaniuk" wrote in message
. ..
snip
The biggest complaint, though, *has* to be what this does to my head.
It causes migraines. I can't stand this. I'm barely approaching the
half way mark, and things are only going to get worse. I broke down and
took some ibuprofen today (third time during pregnancy), which I *hate*

Hi Vicky, sorry to hear about your pain, it sounds like it really sucks. I
am not
a regular poster on this group, but I lurk here a lot. I just want to make
sure that you have
OK'ed the use of Ibuprofen with your OB. Ibuprofen is linked to heart
defects in the baby when taken
by the mom in the third trimester, which you are nearing, right? It is also
*possibly* linked to miscarriage
in the first trimester, but I guess you're past that hurdle, hey? You can
google "pregnancy heart ibuprofen"
to get more info on this, if you don't already have it.

I'm sorry I don't have an alternative to offer you though, Ibuprofen has
always been on 'wonder drug'
status in my bloodstream. Maybe someone else has a better alternative?
Hope you're feeling better soon!

Suzie E.

Ilse Witch wrote:

I know what you mean, my mum has it and she responds very well to naproxen
as a painkiller (also for the migraines). However, I don't know about its
safety during pregnancy. It's available OTC in the US, but check with your
midwife first, she may have a better alternative.

I used to take naproxen. It worked really well, for a while. I
eventually developed a tolerance for it, though, which is something that
my body does really well. I've slowly but steadily eliminated zillions
of pain killers. The only one that seems to be mostly OK (i.e. I don't
develop a tolerance for it) is ibuprofen. Naproxen also caused ankle
swelling for me, which was bad. Also, I'm pretty sure it's dangerous
for pregnancy, but I can't remember exactly for sure. I remember that
when I found out I was pg, the naproxen went into the garbage, just to
be safe. ;-) I didn't want to grab it by accident.

You know the funny thing, though, is that I was originally prescribed
Naproxen because of an ankle injury. I had major swelling (so yeah, the
fact that naproxen *caused* swelling made things kind of interesting),
but absolutely no pain. My dr was worried about joint damage. Anyway,
after taking it for a little while, I reported back to him that it did
absolutely nothing for my ankle, but that my back felt great. (this was
before he did the x-rays that showed the bone spurs, extra ribs, and so
on, so it was kind of surprising that the naproxen had a positive effect
on my back, especially when I had never once told him that my back was
sore. I never told him about my back because, honestly, it came on so
gradually that I just never clued in until I started taking naproxen daily)