Silly Little Accidents

[ditchdwellers]

I've managed to injure myself with a piece of paper 


I bent down to pick up the the offending piece of paper from our bedroom floor and I felt this sudden intense pain in my lower left ribs. It was excruciating and left me gasping for air.
Sitting on the bed trying to get my breath back, I could feel a very painful area around a particularly point in my ribs. It feels like the area where the bone meets the cartilage.


Now I'm no stranger to Tietzes Syndrome, thanks to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and this has always occurred in the upper sternal ribs. My first thought was this is what had happened in my lower ribs. A new place for me, whoopee!
Unfortunately it happened as I was packing for us to go on a week's holiday with the family so I continued trying to pack, my husband loaded the car, made me a hot water bottle for my ribs, and off we set for a three hour drive.


Well I didn't let on to the family how much pain I was in during the holiday and played with the grandchildren as much as I could, and glugged the morphine. Two weeks on my ribs are no better and I'm contemplating phoning my rheumatologist for help. It's affecting my sleep, I can't sit up in bed without help, or get out of the bath unaided. It even hurts to breathe. I feel like I'm being a bit of a whinger and a complainer when all I did was pick up a damn piece of paper!
That'll teach me to tidy up   


I think it's one those chronic pain/chronic condition things where you get so used to being in pain you don't like to make a fuss when something else flares up. I get into this mindset where I think it will get better on it's own when in reality, and if I'm being completely honest with myself, if it was going to get any better on it's own then it would have shown some improvement after three weeks.


I'm even feeling guilty for even considering calling my rheumatologist as I know how busy he is. Yet why am I feeling guilty? Is my pain any less valid than the next person? I'm feeling very conflicted by this and it's an unsettling feeling.

[Monic1511]

You are important as well so make sure you get an appointment, hope you’re feeling better soon

[Sunshine Meadows]

Crikey DD


 


I think you are right things should have started to get better by now.


Pain is a complicated thing and for some having hope of improvement in the actual condition causing vulnerability is too much to bare so we endure it and wait.


A conversation with a doctor that goes that goes along the lines of yes yes apart from the injury managing okay, well time will tell.


If someone broke their leg in a slip fall in a shop the circumstances of recovering would be so different.


Sorry about me being grumpy it is not you its the unfairness of it all.


 

[Sunny Clouds]

Just a knee-jerk response on my part, but pain that can affect breathing matters as much as things that mechanically affect breathing.

[ditchdwellers]

You're all right of course 


Thank you for reminding me that my pain is valid.
I phoned my rheumatologist and he's on hospital for a fortnight so I called my GP and got a face to face appointment. She has referred me for an xray which I'm having on Tuesday.


The pain is no better so I definitely know something isn't right.


I have a feeling it might be Slipping Rib syndrome where the lower ribs slip under the ribcage. My symptoms fit and being a hypermobile person I wouldn't be surprised!

[ditchdwellers]

I've had my x-ray which has confirmed my ribs problem is slipping rib syndrome!


It should hopefully resolve itself over time and heal on it's own.


It's still very painful and inflamed which is getting really annoying and frustrating now. For someone who should be used to multiple injuries and chronic pain, I'm a very inpatient patient 

[ally]

Ditchdweller I have something similar going on at the moment.  Mine is right sided pain, as you’ve describe.  The GP said she the it’s shingles related, as I had that under the right breast recently.  However, I don’t think it is.  I’m fine sitting down, or, not moving.  As soon as I get up it starts.  I also feel as though something is moving, as it clicks.  Like you, I’ve tried to get on with it.  I’ve had that much pain spinal related, that I feel as though I’m whining too.  The Gp did offer more pain meds.  However, I’m on so many including oxycodone, that I’m reluctant to take more on top of what I’m on already.  Hope you recover soon 
   

[Sunny Clouds]

I find it very difficult to get the balance in terms of how strongly to emphasise personal concerns.  A friend told me off a couple of years back for downplaying a health problem when talking to health professionals, but leaving aside my upbringing, I'm always anxious about being written off as 'hysterical female'. 

I think there's an art to emphasising what the problem is in a way that avoids stereotypes and gets the message across.  I wish I were better at it.  Something like "I'm sorry to have left it a while before seeing you, but obviously I didn't want to waste your time.  The problem hasn't gone away, though, and I've had time to notice some things..."  But better phrased and adapted to relevant condition and relevant doctor/patient relationship.

I got round it with one issue (to do with spasticity) by drawing up a table with all the relevant info in it and printing it out, which, with my explanation of there being lots of factors I considered relevant but my being aware that I can be longwinded verbally, worked a treat.

I had a very close friend who, years ago, had pain in her chest.  She saw the GP, who wasn't incompetent or uncaring, and who gave an initial diagnosis of indigestion.  She then had a cardiac arrest.  She was resuscitated and used the experience to warn others to seek help earlier and to go back if a preliminary diagnosis and treatment don't work.

I look back over my life at how often bad experiences with health professionals has deterred me from being assertive, all made worse by societal stereotypes.

So daft, because it's actually wasting NHS time and resources not to be assertive and get into the system soon.  Incidentally, it's easy with long waiting lists to wonder if you're unfairly jumping the queue if you seek help now, but how much more does it take in the way of resources if you wait to join the queue and get worse?

That being said, I suppose you could call me a hypocrite, because my GP diagnosed a condition and referred me to secondary care. A doctor there examined me and told me that my GP and I were wrong about what we could see.  No, we're not.  But I can't cope psychologically with pursuing the matter at the moment, it won't kill me, it's uncomfortable not painful, and in due course I'll go private, preferably overseas.

It would be a different matter if it were something I needed to be more careful with.

[lankou]

I dropped a TV top box on my big toe this morning. I brought tears to my eyes.

[Sunny Clouds]

Owww!

[lankou]

Owww!

That is not what I said, but what I did say is not fit for publication.

[Sunshine Meadows]

 


I hope ongoing OUCH that flipping hurts resolve soon.

[ditchdwellers]

Ally


Your rib pain sounds very familiar and I'm sorry you're experiencing something similar  .
Shingles is awful too.I had it mildly when I was a student and that was bad enough!


I know what you mean about the pain killers barely scratching the surface of this additional pain. I'm on fentanyl patches and this extra pain has made me reach for my emergency stash of oramorph which I don't really like having to take on top of everything else. But needs must.


Thankfully my ribs are improving now and I'm feeling much better than I did a week or two ago. It's still uncomfortable and painful in certain positions but much improved on the whole. I hope your pain resolves soon too.

[ditchdwellers]

Sunny, you've definitely hit the nail on the head with your conclusions about communication.


I find it difficult sometimes for doctors to take newly occurring symptoms seriously rather than instantly assuming they're attributable to one of my nine existing weird conditions. It can take quite a lot of persuading at times to steer them into the direction I need them to go in and not get distracted by the 'noise ' of the other conditions.  At times I really don't feel like I have the energy to advocate for myself like this and then end up getting frustrated.


Living with chronic conditions I think gives us a certain resilience and hesitancy in consulting medical professionals. I know I certainly put off seeking medical advice until I'm desperate as I'm so used to flare ups and odd symptoms that I assume things will settle down given time. I never want to be seen as that person who is always at the doctors complaining about this and that, and I'm immensely grateful for the care I do receive. I don't want to be perceived as a burden or a whinger.
I think part of that stems from my childhood when no-one believed I was in pain and that my injuries were a result from attention seeking behaviour. Anyway, that's another story.


So thank you Sunny for your insights. 

[ditchdwellers]

Iankou


Don't you know that toes were designed to have things dropped on them, or stubbed on awkward corners?


Seriously though,  I do hope you haven't done any major damage to your toe. My eyes are watering in sympathy  [size=78%] [/size]


It's so easy for these silly little accidents to happen in everyday life and it's not as if you can go around wearing steel toe capped slippers is it? Hopefully your sitting with your feet up and your favourite cuppa.