Hi everyone
@TiddleTaddleTat @Moodgie @AndsLee that’s really interesting about the MC theory. I’ve been reading through it all. I certainly have lots of those symptoms, and in particular, the trigger of an insect bite leapt out at me, as the day in June when my worst relapse began, I was bitten by some kind of flying beetle. I remember mentioning this to the doctor in a and e but she wasn’t fussed about it... I had shortness of breath, v high heart rate and blood pressure, chest pain and such bad shivering it almost felt like convulsions.
I’ve also had itchy skin coming and going, sneezing, sore eyes... Plus I’ve found taking an antihistamine at night has not only improved sleep but makes me feel better in the morning too.
But on the flip side, as you guys are saying, I have made huge improvements generally in the past month, and my main symptoms now are
- Fatigue and muscle aches when done too much
- need to sleep ALOT still going to bed at 9pm
- inflamed lower back (specifically the SI joint) which gets very very bad still
- swollen hands and sore joints in hands
I saw a rheumatologist on Monday who has put those symptoms down to possible ongoing reactive arthritis. He felt this would still clear within 12 months and was reassured that overall I was getting better.
My feeling is the lower back and hand issues are NOT improving, and I’m going to need some treatment for this... but no idea what! Steroids?
He also said my positive autoimmune result was most probably hypothyroidism, which I had anyway, and he said this would make me more vulnerable to severe reaction to Covid and potentially problems afterward.
I then relayed all this to my Dr friend who commented that ‘most rheumatologists are really weird’ and he should have just given me some steroids to try.
It’s such a murky picture isn’t it? Who really knows what on earth is going on with us all....
Xxx