the latest doc.
[QUOTE=D.U.]I can relate to that, and for me it’s getting worse in my arms and shoulders at night. I have almost no muscle strength and very little biceps muscles now, and moving my arms at all is excruciatingly painful, and much worse at night, when the paralysis takes over. In order to turn over, I have to do physio exercises in my shoulders and arms first to minimize the pain. Can’t move my arms or pull up the blanket or straighten the pillow without physio exercise first. Some nights I’m tossing and turning till dawn because the pain is relentless and I can’t fall asleep. And the more activity I do in the daytime, the worse it is, especially my hands, which burn and tingle furiously all night long till they go numb enough for me to drop off to sleep.
One thing that helped me on some nights was to discipline myself to fall asleep while in pain, and not turn over. (Because I know my tossing and turning every few minutes is actually my body’s way of trying to escape from the pain, and there’s no escape.) That self-discipline actually worked, and I got a few hours sleep, but I’m not mentally strong enough to do this every time. The past 4 yrs. have taught me a lot about how to endure constant pain, but it does really get to me sometimes, and I know I’m weakening whenever I feel pain and my teeth chatter with reaction. Believe it or not, we can actually learn how to endure pain better, as we adjust to it. Years ago, I used to fret about my back pain, and my osteoarthritis and my various old joint injuries, but since GBS hit me, I don’t think too much about that anymore, because the new pain by far outweighs all of the old pain. And sometimes I can even handle the GBS pain better.
On a personal note:
Saw the latest doc last week, and told him about all this, but he did nothing, just a little smile, like he was discounting what I was saying. Showed him my swollen, numb hands, and he couldn’t bend the fingers, but did nothing about that either. Showed him my swollen ankles and feet, but he refused to ‘see it’.
It has been a very bad 2 weeks for me since that day. I’ve been so angry. Thank God for this forum to help me come up again from all this hell on earth at the doctor’s office. If it wasn’t for this forum, I don’t know how I’d cope sometimes. I’m feeling better as time, distance, and other activities gradually replace the memory of that visit.[/QUOTE]
D. U.
Take off the gloves and let him know that he works for you. If he is going to be condescending or dimissiveof what you tell him he can be replaced! None of us have time to waste on those kind of ‘Doctors’ !