Hi everyone! There are lots of little updates on how I am doing, so I figured I would make a general update post and then another post for a specific topic I will need to go into more detail about.
I'll start with a quick one first. I had an appointment with my ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist) today for my 1 year allergy shot check up. I have to see him once a year just to make sure that everything looks good with my sinuses, ears, and throat. Everything looks great and he has no concerns for me! He wants me to try to space my allergy shots out to every 3 weeks instead of the every 2 weeks that I am currently doing. This will help my body to build up it's own immunity to my allergens (which is the goal of allergy shots), so hopefully in another few years I can get off of the shots. I have only been on them for 1.5 years and he said we will evaluate if we can discontinue the shots after 4 years. The only question I had for him was about how one of medications interacted with the allergy shot because when I had done some research I read that this class of medications (beta-blocker) can be contraindicated in allergy shot users. He said that this used to be a concern, but the research has proven that they are not an issue and that we don't need to worry about it at all! I also got a new prescription for epi-pens, since mine are expired (whoops!). Anyone who uses allergy shots is required to have epi-pens in their home just in case they have a severe allergic reaction to the shots, which can happen since the shots are a concoction of all of the things that you are allergic to.
My wrist is doing really well! The pain at rest has completely cleared up and the shooting pain when I lift something or push on something is greatly decreased. My exercises are going really well at home and I have been able to discontinue some of the more basic exercises that we were using at the beginning. We have decreased therapy to once a week instead of twice a week. I have an appointment with my surgeon in 2 weeks so hopefully we will get the all clear from him! I got a new brace as well that my therapist recommended. It is to provide compression and support only, not immobilize like my other ones do. I need to wear it when I am doing a lot of activity or heavy lifting. It is very comfortable and not as restrictive as my other braces, so that is nice!
I started on the vitamin C supplement that my rheumatologist suggested I try. So far I have not had any negative reaction to it, which I was nervous about since my mom reacts negatively to large doses of vitamin C. I haven't noticed a huge difference yet, but most patients say it is a gradual difference that occurs over a longer period of time, so hopefully it will help in the long run. I forgot to mention in my post about the rheumatology appointment that she recommended that I order a book called "Joint Hypermobility Handbook- A Guide for the Issues & Management of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Type and the Hypermobility Syndrome". It is written by the geneticist that I am on the wait list for, Dr. Brad Tinkle, and is supposed to be excellent. I am going to order it and will hopefully get some good insight from it! I have an appointment with a podiatrist on Monday to discuss getting fit for ankle foot orthotics to stabilize my hypermobile ankles. I am looking forward to this appointment and hope it will really help me with ankle, knee, and especially hip pain. Maybe it will even help with my lower back pain!
I got a call with the results from my thyroid ultrasound back today as well and that came back clear. This is great because we were concerned that the endocrinologist thought that there may have been a nodule on the right side. Overall, I am doing really well on the new thyroid medication. I am sleeping better and waking up easier. I have more energy in general, which is really nice! I go back May 21st and we will retest my blood levels to see if we need to increase the dosage at all or if I am in normal levels on this dose.
Like I said I have a few appointments coming up, so I will keep you all up to date with how those go. I also have a blog I need to write on the next step in my treatment neurologically, so keep an eye out for that!
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