A Young Wife’s Tale

Some of the simplest remedies that help him are things like over the counter heat patches, heating pads, and hot baths with epsom salts. Another thing that has helped David is chiropractic care.

I’ve blogged before about the Back 2 Life Machine. It was very helpful when he was flaring so badly the muscles in his back would spasm. You could actually see the muscles in his lower back twitching. The Back 2 Life Machine helped stretch David’s lower back very gently.

At different times David’s rheumatologists have given him injections in his back of things like methotrexate and cortisone. They typically only offered mild relief.
Doctors have prescribed many different medications to help David with his pain. Some of the medications that have given David significant relief are hydrocodone, Lyrica, Flexeril and Cymbalta. There was only one time when David asked a doctor for pain medication, and the doctor didn’t want to (but he’s the horrible rheumatologist who didn’t think David had Psoriatic Arthritis). I convinced him to give David the medicine, and we found a new rheumy ASAP.

What’s the best thing for David when he flares? David soaks in a hot bath with epsom salts every day. When he flares, he takes additional hot baths. Sometimes he will use a heating pad or Therma Heat patches. Often when he flares the doctor will give him an injection of arthritis medication directly into his back. There’s really not a whole lot we can do except wait it out. David has tried acupuncture, but it is a bit expensive, although it does provide considerable relief.

What helps your jaw when it’s hurting? Rest and relaxation. I try to eat soft foods like mashed potatoes and yogurt when my jaw hurts, so that my jaw can rest. Relaxation through exercise, massage therapy, playing the piano, etc. helps quite a bit. When my jaw pain was very bad a few years ago, I would sometimes drink hot beverages to relax my muscles. I wish you could have seen me with my mouth full of Chai Tea Latte leaning to one side to hold the hot liquid where I wanted it.

Although I’m really looking forward to our trip, I’m very worried that David is going to flare while we’re traveling. I’m looking into renting a wheelchair, but I don’t know if David will go for it.

Yesterday I worked at my little part time personal secretary job. David doesn’t usually call me when he’s at work. Yesterday, he called me on my direct line at work. I don’t think he has ever done that. He wanted to know what time I was leaving work to come get him. I also had a text and a voicemail from him on my cell when I left the office. He was having a really bad day. At first, I thought he was having a flare up.

No, no. Turns out, he forgot his meds the night before. Yup. Just one time

So, here’s a list of things you can do specifically for David.
1. Play video games with him. It’s David’s favorite thing to do.
2. Invite him over to your house to play video games or come over and play games with him. XBox Live is great, but actually sitting next to someone, sharing a bowl of popcorn is so much better.