August 18th 2015 - Chronic pain

August 18th 2015 - Chronic pain

Let's start right at the beginning - What is Chronic pain?

Chronic pain is often defined as any pain lasting more than 12 weeks. Whereas acute pain is a normal sensation that alerts us to possible injury, chronic pain is very different. Chronic pain persists—often for months or years.  It is a persistant unpleasant discomfort that is often resilient to medications.

I have had knee pain since I was 4years old.  At that point in time my parents were told it was growing pains and I would eventually outgrow the symptoms.  I remember my Mum sitting and massaging creams and things into my knees from this age in an attempt to ease the pain an help me sleep, I would often wake during the night crying with pain in my knees.  It never got better!

When I was about 12 the doctors agreed that it probably wasn't growing pains and sent me for xrays and scans and various tests.  The results of this came back that I was suffering from Osgood -schlatters disease.  This resulted in me not doing much in the way of PE at school, I had to give up dance and gymnastics that I had done for many years and I spent most of my teenage years on crutches as I couldn't walk and weight bare for long periods of time and my knees would give way without warning.

This continued well after I left school and started work, I had to stop working in the nursing home as it was putting too much strain on my knees and got an office job of which I was sacked due to time off with knee problems and not being able to go in.  When I was pregnant I had even more problems due to the extra weight I was carrying and again had to use crutches.

Things seemed that they had settled down in my late 20's, I still had problems and pain but was only occasionally, and more so when I had over done things.  My doctor said I had mild chronic pain syndrome and the only way to ease it was pain meds and rest when I had a flare up.

In January 2013 I was dancing on the wii with the kids when I twisted my knee - I collapsed straight away and the pain going through my knee was something like I had never felt before.  I spent the net few days resting, using ice packs and taking pain killers.  It seemed to be easing up a little and I was able to walk abit more. The week after I twisted it I had gone outside to the rubbish bin and I slipped on the ice on the path and was unable to walk and weight bare and ended up in a&e.  After 2 xrays  being given crutches and a thigh to ankle knee brace I left a&e.

I saw a consultant 2 weeks later and was no better, I was  given more stronger pain killers and told to rest as much as I could.  This went on for 4months and I was put on morphine patches and they decided to send me to a physiotherapist - this took a further 6weeks for an appointment and by this time it was a few days before I was due to move house so the physio didn't do anything.  Once I was registered with a doctor in my new area the sent me to the chronic pain clinic who confirmed that I was now suffering chronic pain.  I was referred to a surgeon and 6weeks after seeing him he operated on my knee in April 2014.  Apart from the fact I can now walk short distances without crutches I am still in as much pain every day as I was.

Some days are struggle to even get out of bed as I am in that much pain, others I can do some things.  I am not lazy I am just in constant pain, I am always tired as I am unable to sleep much at night due to the pain I am in, the constant pain has affected my mood and I am clinically depressed and I have seen a counselor about it, I have a short memory due to being so tired, I amnot able to do all the things I used to do and its not just me that is suffering but my family too.  I found this 2nd pin and it is very acurate and I would like to share with my friends and family.

 

I have been referred back to the surgeon who has requested another MRI scan on my knee, thinks steroid injections into knee may help and has sent me bac to the chronic pain clinic.  It is just a waiting game.  I never thought I would be disabled at the age of 33 and not able to do much, I have had enough of constant pain and not being able to walk places with my kids etc.  I have hired a mobility scooter for our holiday and I plan to buy one so we can start going out places again.

August 17th 2015 - Waiting

August 17th 2015 - waiting

I saw this pin and it just about sums up today - i'm sat waiting for my meds to kick in.

I have been back to the docs today about my knee again, this time they have changed my meds for 1 I was on ages ago that didn't work, so I don't hold out much hope of them working this time round.

I knew I would be in pain from all the walking about I did on saturday at day camp, but it was worth it for the kids, they really had a good time.  I just don't like being in pain and the meds doing nothing!

May 19th 2015 - Cumberland Infirmary

May 19th 2015 - Cumberland Infirmary

Although Cumberland Infirmary has been added to my board of places to visit this wasn't actually somewhere I wanted to visit but ended up visiting!!!

My youngest son was taken by ambulance with "blues n twos" from where we live to the Cumberland Infirmary on Monday night due to suspected major problem and possible urgent surgery.  He thought this was a great adventure!  We spent from Monday evening through to Wednesday lunchtime at the hospital.  He had various tests done and all came back clear, which confused the staff as they have no idea of the cause of the swelling or what they were treating.  All they know is the swelling and pain wasn't normal and have been given him high anti-biotics and pain killers.

He has got to go for more tests on friday and hopefully these may give us an answer.  He has charmed all the nurses and has had fun except for the pain and being prodded n poked by staff (during examinations as they do!)  He has even started to make a "Story Sack" of his hospital trip and has put his wrist band, stickers, syringe, pulse ox etc in a bag and is going to make his own little story to go in it.  He has even taken a toy ambulance from our car and put in it!

I can't fault any of the staff, they were all very polite, friendly and helpful and made our stay as nice as they could.

May 5th 2015 - Pain

May 5th 2015 - Pain

NO idea what has happened BUT the past few days the pain in my knee jas gone through the roof again! I've not done anything to make it worse.  Pain killers don't seem to be helping much either.

I'm back where I was before I had the operation a year ago, well not quite as I can walk without crutches, although not very far without pain.  I am still getting heat patches (like when you rest a cup of coffee on leg), I am still getting shooting pains up thigh and down calf, I have constant pain under and around knee, my muscles twitch loads, resting doesn't help walking doesn't help, heat and cold don't help!

I have just about had enough of this now 2.5yrs of constant pain is beyond a joke!  But I no if go back to docs they will refer me back to surgeon and i'm not sure if I really want another operation on it as 1st one hasn't helped much!

March 22nd 2015 - Steroids

March 22nd 2015 - Steroids

Today is day 4 of being ill, last night I thought I was going to end up in an ambulance as every time I laid down it felt like my throat was closing over and I couldn't breathe, I would take my inhalers, cough more as they hit my throat and then couldn't breathe due to coughing, a viscious circle!  So I ended up propped up by the v-pillow and 2 normal ones.

Hubby rang the out of hours docs this morning for me (as can hardly talk today) and a doctor rang us because of my asthma and said they would ring me back with an appointment time.   No sooner had we hung up from him it rang again with an app for 20mins later.

Off to the out of hours we headed, got there 5mins early but didn't get seen til 15mins after appointment time as running late.  I explained to the sister how things started wednesday night and I was hot/cold and nose running/blocked etc and how i've got worse.  I've been taking beechams, paracetamol and honey & cinnamon.  She said have been doing the right thing.  She checked my pulse, bp, temperature, checked my chest and looked in my ears and my throat.  She said my chest sounds clear but my throat is really red and will be being made worse by inhalers so I need use a spacer for few days.

She did issue me with Prednisolone steroids for the next 5days, 8 a day.  And said it should help ease my chest and throat and to keep up with the beechams, paracetamol and honey & cinnamon drinks, she also said ice cream will soothe my throat as well.  Not been like this since Sept/Oct last year, so fingers crossed it eases soon.

March 19th 2015 - Full of cold

March 19th 2015 - Full of cold

I feel so ill, well not ill exactly but i'm fullof cold and have a stuffy and runny nose at the same time!!!   I was fine when I went to SJA last night, however, we had to move to big cold room so we could play games - the kids were all ok as moving about but as I was stood still I think I got a chill.  But 1 of the Adult members has also ended up with a cold  and he wasn't in the cold room so thinks 1 of the kids brought it in.

I spent most of last night going from hot to cold and back again, but more so on the cold front, to the extent I had thick fluffy pjs on,  blanket and the duvet!  My nose was going from running to blocked and back again most of the night which wasn't fun either.  I've taken beechams all-in-1 tablets and they don't seem to be helping so I searched pinterest for ways to get rid of a cold and found this home remedy of honey & cinnamon either as a mix on own or mixed with tea - well I don't drink tea so put it in a coffee and it had a spicy christmas coffee flavour, wasn't too bad really.

The website it's from says 4 times a day for best results.  I don't normally drink this much coffee in a day so hopefully it wont send me hyper, but will get rid of this cold.  I can't say whether ot not it is going to work as only had 1 lot so we will see.

UPDATE

since having the first cup my nose has stopped running and I have only sneezed once.  So I have now made a 2nd cup in with coffee and hope that this does actually work like it seems to have done so far.

February 3rd 2015 - Croup & Asthma

February 3rd 2015 - Croup & Asthma

NOT a good combination!  However, this isn't the 1st time its happened so we are aware of signs, symptoms and ways to treat etc.

HISTORY - My middle son is now 9years old, he has suffered with croup since he was a baby and has been treated as asthmatic since he was 18months old and had his first "asthma attack" when walking up to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, he didn't want to go in his pushchair but walk like his brother.  He got part way and started to slow down, we thought he was just trired, but then he started to cough and then wheeze as he breathed.  Having had asthma since I was 7 I always have an inhaler with me, and I used it on my son.  It stopped the wheeze and eased the cough. 

When we got back to where we were staying we rang the local doctors and explained that we were on holiday and what had happened with my son.  The doctors agreed to see us but told us to take him to the park and let him run about for half an hour before his appointment.  We did this and he started coughing again.   Well at his appointment the doctor said "I think he has early onset of asthma."  And with that we left with a prescription for a spacer and inhaler.

As I put above he has suffered with croup since he was a baby, the first time he had it was very scary, the cough that sounds like a dog or seal barking and the husky cry gets you out of bed very quickly and is a sound you don't forget.  I thought it was whooping cough, so off to out of hours doctors we went to be told it's croup.  They told me the signs & symtoms to look out for and simple ways I could try and treat it at home.  All good.  The same with his asthma, just before 2years he had another asthma attack from running around outside, his inhaler didn't work and I had to call an ambulance to him, again a very scary process, the crew were brilliant and hooked him to nebuliser straight away but he didn't want the cute teddy mask on his face!  I had to hold him and the mask to his face as he wriggled all the way to the hospital.  Anyway, we got sorted and were told of what to keep an eye out for.  So he gets croup and now throw his asthma attacks into the equation as well = a very stressful time.

Both croup and asthma cause the walls of the upper airway and windpipe to swell and inflame causing it hard to breathe and talk and swallow.  Most people just suffer with one or the other, but my son has to be different and suffer from both!!!  This means that nearly every time he gets croup he has an asthma attack shortly afterwards or at the same time.

NOW - as I put above he is now 9years old and according to most sites on the internet croup is suffered from those under the age of 5years.  But as the doctor said yesterday he is ticking all the boxes for croup despite his age.  This is what was said over 6months ago when he got it as well.  They have no idea how come he is still getting it or if it is just coming across as croup but is his asthma.  He doesn't wheeze very often with his asthma but gets a cough and even when he has an attack (not very often now thankfully) he coughs when struggling to breathe.  Coughs linked to asthma are not very common but they do exist.  His asthma attacks are usually triggered by a change in temperature - hot to cold, dry to wet and vice versa, he can also have asthma attacks if I change the washing powder!

On the 1st of February I had to take my youngest to the out of hours doctors as he was crying with pain in his ear, as I don't drive this meant we all had to go (parking is terrible at out of hours) so hubby stayed in the car with the older 2 boys.  This is where I think my middle sons problem started as they were sat in a car in the cold for about 20minutes (yes the heater was on but there was snow outside and temp was 1C.  When we got home he started to cough so I made him take his inhalers and thought nothing more of it.  He coughed a few times during the night but seemed ok to go to school on the 2nd.  When he came home on the 2nd his vouce was husky and he was no longer coughing but barking like a dog/seal and said that he had had to use his inhaler a few times at school and his chest hurt when he coughed.  I rang the doctors and they said they had no appointments (I didn't think they would at 4:15pm), but I asked for a doctor to ring me as had an asthmatic son that has a croupy cough and is struggling to breathe - not bad enough for an ambulance yet!  Well the receptionist came back and said 5:30pm appointment they had squeezed us in.

Quickly rush to do tea before we head to doctors.  The doctors were running half hour late by the time we got seen.  Before the doctor even asked what was wrong son was "barking" again and the doctor said sound like he has croup.  So it went from there, he had a temperature, a barking cough, his voice was husky when he spoke and noisy breathing (pretty much all on todays pin).  Doctor initally said to put him in a steamy room and see how he goes - I said he is asthmatic and usually goes downhill quickly with crop and asthma linked and would probably end up in a&e by morning.  The doc hadn't read all his notes but had a quick look through and saw what inhalers son is on and said he would issue prednisolone (steroids) and antibiotics to help me sooner rather than later.

Poor thing was awake most of the night with his barking cough, despite being propped up on pillows in bed.  This does mean that he hasn't gone to school today, and he's still barking away upstairs.  But he has had his second lot of steroids and his second lot of antibiotics so hopefully they will get into his system and start to work soon.

After all of this I will get to the medical bits.

What is croup?
Croup is is a condition that causes an inflammation of the upper airways — the voice box (larynx) and windpipe (trachea). It often leads to a barking cough or hoarseness, especially when a child cries. 

Most cases of croup are caused by viruses, usually parainfluenza virus and sometimes adenovirus or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Viral croup is most common — and symptoms are most severe — in children 6 months to 3 years old, but can affect older kids too. Some children are more prone to developing croup when they get a viral upper respiratory infection.
Most cases of viral croup are mild and can be treated at home. Rarely, croup can be severe and even life threatening.  The term spasmodic croup refers to a type of croup that develops quickly and may happen in a child with a mild cold. The barking cough usually begins at night and is not accompanied by fever. Spasmodic croup has a tendency to come back again (recur).  Treatment of symptoms is the same for either form of croup.

Signs and symptoms of croup
May have cold symptoms, like a stuffy or runny nose and a fever. As the upper airway (the lining of the windpipe and the voice box) becomes more inflamed and swollen, the child may become hoarse, with a harsh, barking cough. This loud cough, which is characteristic of croup, often sounds like the barking of a seal. 

If the upper airway continues to swell, it becomes even more difficult for a child to breathe, and you may hear a high-pitched or squeaking noise during inhalation (called stridor). A child also might breathe very fast or have retractions (when the skin between the ribs pulls in during breathing). In the most serious cases, a child may appear pale or have a bluish color around the mouth due to a lack of oxygen.  Symptoms of croup are often worse at night and when children are upset or crying.

Treatment of croup
Breathing in moist air helps and ibuprofen or acetaminophen (only in children over 6 months old) can make them more comfortable. As with most illnesses, rest and plenty of fluids are recommended.
The best way to expose your child to moist air is to use a cool-mist humidifier or run a hot shower to create a steam-filled bathroom where you can sit with your child for 10 minutes. Breathing in the mist will sometimes stop a child from severe coughing. In the cooler months, taking your child outside for a few minutes to breath in the cool air can ease symptoms. if the croup appears serious or there is a suspicion of airway blockage. Doctors often treat croup with steroids to decrease airway swelling. For severe cases, doctors will give a breathing treatment that contains epinephrine (adrenalin).

If you think your child has croup try the home remedies of steam and/or humidifier before going to the doctors, but if you are concerned ring your doctor.