h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Finally seeing the specialist about my bad arm tomorrow.

It was hurting all through February, and most of Jan - at first I thought I'd pulled a muscle and it would get better, but went to the GP when I couldn't undo my own bra anymore. She offered phyio, but I was too busy for that, so agreed to have a cortizone injection - which I bottled out of. Good job too, as my brother is suffering a similar condition - his wore off after about 3 weeks.

Rang GP back after seeing an osteopath as she needed an xray to continue, nothing wrong there, so I got referred to the orthapedics department - what I want is an ultrasound, and/or an MRI to get a proper diagnosis, so I can have proper treatment.

I feel like an old woman. I can hardly pull my own trousers up, for fear of hurting the arm - it's like how I imagine ramming a red hot poker into the muscle would be if I twist it, use it, shrug shoulders, think about it. If the arm is bad anyway, and I use it by accident, it has put me on the floor a couple of times.

Beginning to struggle with undressing, can't put my own coat on and sometimes I get 'extra' pains such as a bad neck, collar bone hurts, stabbing in the shoulder blade, or the shoulder itself feels as if it's grating. Or I get all at once. Changing gear sometimes takes two hands. Steering is.. interesting (in two weeks I should have a new driver taking over as much of my dog walking/driving as possible, before I'm forced to give up). I can put deodorant on, just about, if I pick the arm up with my other hand and prop it on something so I don't have to use the muscles.

Using the computer is getting painful... That's the end of life itself!

Ouch!

I've had the cortizone injection (twice) for tenosynivitis (nothing like as bad as what you have though, from the sound of it). And yes, a horrible injection. Although, to be fair, both times it worked.

Keep us posted.

Mol

My brother had one for pretty much the same problem (he's a few months ahead of me I think), it never got completely better, then it wore off. A friend of mine had one for a different problem, which it didn't help. She described it as like having a knitting needle shoved into your arm, and as I already have trypanophobia I thought even the lovely drugs the GP gave me wouldn't be enough after hearing that!

When it first started, it only hurt at night. Now it's pretty much All The Time.

Well exactly back where I was at the end of Feb. Frozen shoulder, have physio or the injection, but I MUST speak to my GP about pain management. I was pissed off they sent me to physio, I wanted to speak to a doctor who could prescribe something!