allergies

Ten months after first asking my primary doctor for a rheumatology referral, I finally had an appointment with one yesterday. It didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I have a lot of different symptoms and pain in every area of my body. I have seen a neurologist, gastroenterologist, and orthopedist. I do have tendon tears that are causing pain, but it doesn’t account for most of my symptoms. My ortho and physical therapist think there might be a systemic tendon issue. My doctors ruled out many things with lots of tests. They only want to cover up symptoms, so I was persistent for an answer and finally got a referral to a rheumatologist. Unfortunately, he was pretty dismissive. He said he read my medical records from my primary care, he asked me questions, and he gave me a physical exam. He asked if I had a prostate exam (I am a transgender man) and didn’t know most of my current diagnoses. I also realized later that he didn’t ask me about my cognitive symptoms or check anything but the areas I already know there are tears and push on a few of my vertebrae. I asked about pain management because I am allergic to corn and derivatives which are in most pharmaceuticals. He didn’t know anything about compounding medications or herbal supplements. He recommended physical therapy and to “figure out what works for you.” At the end of the appointment he said he was ordering 4 blood tests. Repeating the 2 inflammatory markers my doctor has tested a few times and were normal, a different RA test, and one to check for muscle degeneration. He said that if those come back normal than I don’t need to follow up with him. He said to follow up with my ortho because my pain is likely due to injuries and micro traumas. And to see an endocrinologist, even though I already had a lot of hormones checked with my primary and doctor who prescribes my testosterone. And to continue with the heart monitor I’m wearing this week and the cardiologist because I could have postural tachycardia. I was nervous and felt pressured to say that plan was fine.

I got the blood work results via the lab’s app today and they were all normal. I am so upset. The doctor said someone would call me with the results. I am not a doctor, but I know there are other tests, blood and otherwise, that can be done to further investigate my symptoms. I’ve been researching my symptoms and connective tissue diseases for over a year. I feel like most medical professionals don’t care enough to dig deep into what’s going on and just pass me off to others or give me meds for symptoms.

I don’t know what to do. Do I tell the person who calls from the doctor’s that I want to follow up anyway and ask the rheumatologist for more testing? Do I go back to the ortho and have him check all of my joints, back, neck, hands and feet? Do I ask my primary for another referral to a different rheumatologist, when she didn’t even want to refer me in the first place? The original referral said “low suspicion of rheumatic cause, patient requested eval.” I don’t know.

I am just so exhausted, feel defeated, and want to give up.

#Undiagnosed #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #CPTSD #Depression #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Anxiety #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #AvoidantPersonalityDisorder #SuicidalIdeation #CarpalTunnelSyndrome #TriggerFinger #Bursitis #Tendinitis #rotatorcufftears #labraltears #sciatica #Migraine #IrritableBowelSyndromeIBS #SleepApnea #Asthma #GastroesophagealRefluxDisease #Allergies #Folliculitis

Hi, hope y’all are well! So, I’ve been getting these random rashes for a while now and don’t know what’s causing them :( the itching drives me crazy and sometimes scratch to the point of bleeding cause I just can’t help it. Just took a Benadryl, so hopefully it helps 🤞 I struggle with chronic inflammation and a weakened immune system, so that might be why my histamine response is overactive. Any ideas?

#Eczema #Allergies #ChronicInflammatoryResponseSyndrome

Let's start off with some honesty, I'm writing this in an allergy-induced haze so I may be biased on the answer to this question.

So many of us, myself included, are managing chronic conditions or ones that require maintenance often, so when a cold or seasonal allergies kick in it's no big deal, right?

But now on top of normal brain fog and fatigue, I get the 'Special Edition' version that comes with even more of both + the addition of new things like fever, sneezing, coughing, general 'I don't know where I am'-ness. A cold or allergies don't usually knock me out, but they do knock me around the ring for longer than I'd like.

If you had to have one, which would you pick and why?

🌿 Seasonal allergies

OR

🌡 The common cold

P.S. I'm voting for🌡 as I skip off to close my eyes and hoping my allergy-relief meds kick in soon 🤞🏻.

#Allergies #CommonCold #CheckInWithMe #ChronicIllness #Fatigue #Disability #MentalHealth #RareDisease

#BrainFog #ChronicFatigue

I don’t know about you, but Benadryl is one of my go-to abortives for when I have a particularly pesky migraine. I either take it alone or in combination with one of my abortives.

I learned about the migraine-Benadryl connection when I was going to the ER once a month for pain relief. They always gave it to me in my IV and explained that it helps inflammation in the brain.

Here’s a great article about its effects/benefits: www.migrainestrong.com/benadryl-for-migraine

💊 This is the fact I find most interesting: “The antihistamine action blocks circulating histamine from attaching to cells and causing negative effects like swelling of blood vessels. Also, histamine in the brain promotes wakefulness so blocking this perky chemical messenger may help calm our nervous system.”

It can also boost the effectiveness of other migraine medications. Are antihistamines something you use to ease an attack?

#ChronicVestibularMigraine #HemiplegicMigraine #Migraine #ChronicPain #Allergies #RareDisease #Disability #ChronicIllness #Fibromyalgia #Endometriosis #Spoonie

🤭😭

#Allergies #Eczema #MentalHealth #Anxiety #DistractMe #MakeMeLaugh

I can't even with these frigging allergies lately. 😩#Allergies #runnynose