Joint Pain Medication

Archive for October, 2009

I think I left off before at going to college and deciding that there had to be a reason other than growing pains for all of the pain that I was experiencing each day.

I saw doctor after doctor after doctor and I tried every over the counter joint pain medication that I could find. It really seemed that there was no answer for why I was experiencing so much pain. I even had doctors tell me that the pain was all in my head and suggest that I see a psychiatrist! After a while though I even started to wonder if I was crazy.

Dealing with college and being away from home was already overwhelming and the constant pain in my joints just added so much more to that. I could never just wake up in the morning and get out of bed. There was a whole routine I had to go through first.

Stretching my fingers, wrists, arms… Then moving to my toes, ankles, and legs. One joint at a time. Moving slowly and carefully. Finally managing to sit up and get my feet on the floor. Always wondering if my ankles and knees would support me when I stood up. Just getting out of bed could take an hour! And trying to explain all of this to whomever I had as a room mate each year was almost as difficult.

It’s not easy to explain this way of life to other people. It’s a really difficult situation to explain. We should explain but we usually don’t. Most people who live with chronic pain have faced ridicule and judgments and are  “gun-shy,” of the reactions, words or even facial expressions of people who don’t understand. Instead they decide that we’re crazy, or lazy, or a hypochondriac. Why can’t they just accept how difficult day to day life can be when your body constantly betrays you?

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to visit my journal. I’m new at this blogging thing so bear with me while I get settled in.

I guess the first thing I should probably do is introduce myself. My name is Frances Catalano and I have lived with daily pain since I was a teenager.

When I first started complaining of pain in my joints everyone said that it was just growing pains. Even my small town physician. Let me tell you, by that time I really wanted to stop growng if it was going to hurt so darned much! The advice was to take vitamins, drink more milk, and eat lots of bananas. When none of that helped and I still complained of the pain, I was told that it was a good thing because it meant that I was growing and I shouldn’t be so dramatic.

I did finally stop complaining about the joint pain because no one wanted to listen. Instead I was constantly sneaking Tylenol and Motrin to try and help. I was willing to try anything to relieve the pain I was in so that I could enjoy the sports and activities that all of my friends were involved in.

It wasn’t until I went away to college that I decided that I wasn’t just experiencing growing pains and I started trying to find a doctor who could tell me why I hurt so badly all the time.