Aches and Pains

[Gracie]

fuckit. i just took a whole vicodin. so..fair warning. i might be typo queen more than usual as soon as it kicks in.

 

[Gracie]

omg. no ache. no pain. none! i feel wunnerful! i chewed a whole one til it was mush in my mouth, then ate a banana.

vics and nanas. bliss.

 

[Gracie]

That one pill lasted almost 12 hours. Just woke up from a doozy of a dream...and in extreme pain. So..I just chewed anothr one and now I am waiting for it to kick in.

Found this on google.Scarey and fascinating all at the same time. Its a long read, but now more questions about RA are surfacing due to Glen Fry dying "of RA". Do I fear death? no. I fear suffering this pain forever. Initially I typed in google "how long does a flare last?" and thats when I found this report (which, scarily enough, comes from the Rheumatoid Arthritis Foundation). Highlighting is mine:


There have been many celebrity deaths over the last few weeks from cancer, including David Bowie and Alan Rickman. But now there has been a celebrity death from RA: Glenn Frey, a founding member of the band The Eagles, died on January 18, 2016 from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia.(I have the first two. No pneumonia.... yet).

Right now, that’s all we know about Glenn Frey’s death. We don’t know how long he had been dealing with RA, or how severe it was. All we know is that it played a direct role in his death.

However, Glenn Frey’s manager, Irving Azoff, is claiming that medications that Frey took to treat his RA are what ultimately led to his death. This is currently being reported only by Hollywood Life and The Wrap, and not by other mainstream media that has been reporting on Frey’s death. Unfortunately, this kind of hypothesizing by someone who is not knowledgeable about this disease has the potential to cause hysteria about RA medications.

Clearly there is a fundamental misunderstanding of this disease, as Irving Azoff has been quoted as detailing the extent of Glenn Frey’s disease as, ‘One day his knees would hurt, his hands hurt.’ But that does not begin to describe the extent to which this disease impacts those who have it.

Those of us who take medication to treat our RA know that these drugs come with many risks. However, in most cases, the benefits of these medications outweigh the risks.

While The Eagles are a bit before my time, I understand that this death is a huge loss to the music world, for my local community as Glenn Frey grew up in a suburb of Detroit, and I also understand it as a watershed moment for our community, an opportunity to shed light on RA.

One myth about this disease, held by those both inside and outside of the community, is that you can’t die from RA, but obviously, you can, as Glenn Frey did.

It has been suggested that RA takes years off of peoples’ lives. But it is unclear how much. What is agreed upon is that people with RA have greater risks of premature mortality than the general population. This pretty much is common sense, since it’s no surprise that those who are sick die earlier than those who are not.

Because RA comes with an increased risk of heart disease, this can be a cause of premature mortality. RA also comes with co-morbidities such as infections and malignancies that come from having a weakenedimmune system, sometimes as a result of the disease, and sometimes as a result of the medications we take, or both. This can also have an impact on premature mortality. And because RA can impact all of the organ systems of the body, high blood pressure and lung issues (no lung issues yet, either for me) can also cause premature mortality.

It’s important to understand that disease progression varies by person, and is based on disease severity, time to diagnosis, and other issues. This makes it a bit hard to provide definitive information about cause of death, premature mortality, and how this relates to RA.

While new medications, like biologics, to treat RA, have been introduced in the last several decades, mortality rates from RA have not changed, despite the fact that mortality rates have decreased for the general public.

I hope that this death will resonate with both our community and the general public. But I worry that because it wasn’t a death by cancer, it won’t get the press and recognition that it deserves. We, as a community, have to take the time to educate ourselves and others about this disease. We need to emphasize that while cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, only surpassed by heart disease, RA kills, too.

As I was writing this post, I had the Today Show on, which happened to be talking about Glenn Frey, and Willie Geist didn’t even know how to pronounce “rheumatoid arthritis.”

Glenn Frey was just 67 years old.

#RAmortalityisreal

“[…] We may lose and we may win
Though we will never be here again
So open up, I’m climbin’ in
So take it easy […]”

– “Take It Easy”, The Eagles

Mortality From Rheumatoid Arthritis Is Real - RheumatoidArthritis.net

I take nothing for mine. I "take it easy". But there will come a time that all I will be able to survive on is pain meds...until my heart goes out anyway. Or I get pnuemonia or some other bullshit from letting it take its course. And worse, no RA specialist to guide me on this what looks like a very painful journey.

Well, one thing I said I wouldnt want to have is a stroke, so if I keel over with what Fry did...ok. I will only be dependent for a short while. Pneumonia doesn't take long.

Whcih leads me to my dream that woke me up along with pounding joints, which will be in the next post.

 

[Gracie]

btw...IF...and it is a big IF....I disappear....you know RA got me. Foxfyre has my info. I gave it to her couple of months ago. I didn't want to just go awy and someone ask in passing "where is gracie?". I have no plans on "going" anytime soon, myself. Thats up to the RA I guess. Or driving to a thrift shop when not in flare up mode (which I found last anywhere from a day to months. Mine has been going on almost a week) and getting smacked by a car. Who knows.

Ahhh. I didn't need to take half of another. Its kicked in. Eyes are drooping. Gonna try to get some sleep.Dreamless, I hope. I don't wanna go swimming.

 

[Gracie]

Note to self:

Do NOT post when loaded.

But..just in case anyone is wondering ....I have not had to take another pain pill since my last post this a.m.
I read it gets worse just before the flareup ends. I think this a.m. was the worst. (praying).
I also went early this morning to the pharmacist and had a chat with him. He said get with the doc for the permit for cannibis and do the THC lotion cuz he heard it works well...and to take half a acetimonoginimenafuckitname and half a vicodin ONCE during the day, and a whole vicodin just before bedtime. So...thats what Imagonnado...IF I need it. And so far....I don't and its been 9 hours since I took one? Good sign, that.

Ok. Done. Feel like an idiot so off to hide in CS for awhile. Got my pillows and its a nice quiet place, which I need for now.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Note to self:

Do NOT post when loaded.

But..just in case anyone is wondering ....I have not had to take another pain pill since my last post this a.m.
I read it gets worse just before the flareup ends. I think this a.m. was the worst. (praying).
I also went early this morning to the pharmacist and had a chat with him. He said get with the doc for the permit for cannibis and do the THC lotion cuz he heard it works well...and to take half a acetimonoginimenafuckitname and half a vicodin ONCE during the day, and a whole vicodin just before bedtime. So...thats what Imagonnado...IF I need it. And so far....I don't and its been 9 hours since I took one? Good sign, that.

Ok. Done. Feel like an idiot so off to hide in CS for awhile. Got my pillows and its a nice quiet place, which I need for now.

Glad you're going to take the suggestion of the THC lotion.

Trust me...............it's gonna help a lot, and you can thank me later.

And.............since you're going to get a cannabis card, get a quarter ounce of some really good Indica and see how that works as well. Good strains of Indica can help a lot with pain.

 

[Gracie]

Indica is not the stuff that will make me high, right? I just want to soothe the inflamation. No pot high. Pharmacist and I had a good laugh about that. he said the last time he got loaded was back in the 80's when in college. I said I got loaded the last time back in 1970 something. I said "funny, isn't it, that when we are younger, we want that buzz but when we get older and get Old Age Buzzes...it scares the bejesus outta us" and he laughed and said "I never really thought of it that way but yes! yer right!"

 

[ABikerSailor]

Indica is not the stuff that will make me high, right? I just want to soothe the inflamation. No pot high. Pharmacist and I had a good laugh about that. he said the last time he got loaded was back in the 80's when in college. I said I got loaded the last time back in 1970 something. I said "funny, isn't it, that when we are younger, we want that buzz but when we get older and get Old Age Buzzes...it scares the bejesus outta us" and he laughed and said "I never really thought of it that way but yes! yer right!"

Yes, if you smoke the Indica, you will get high, but I do recommend at least trying it to see how you feel about it.

Lotions won't make you high, but they will relieve the pain.

And, since there has been a lot of research and development over the past couple of years for cannabis products, if you get edibles, make sure you check the label and see if it's from an Indica or a Sativa strain.

Sativa has a totally different effect, as it produces a pretty intense body high and brain buzz. My room mate is unable to smoke Sativa strains because the body high intensifies her nervous system and it makes her pain increase.

So, if you do decide to smoke, be careful with the Sativa and hybrid strains, try to stick to the Indica.

I know this from personal experience.

 

[Gracie]

I will pass on it then. I do not want to get high. I just want the lotion.

 

[Gracie]

Eaglewings are you the one that told me initially about THC Lotion for RA?