I wanted to edit this post because I thought I had my answer and I believe now that I was wrong. I don't believe that arthritis is the cause of my muscle pains at all. I always read any drug information inserts as soon as I buy a prescription. I don't remember an insert stating this side effect of Sandostatin. Looking at their drug insert information online, muscle pain is not even listed as a side effect of this drug. But a simple google search tells me that statins can cause muscle pain. I'm going to mail Novartis to see what they say about this.
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And the verdict is (most likely) - Arthritis!
Well the good news is my blood tests came back good. I don't have chronic fatigue (although I've been exposed to Epstein-Barr like many people), and I don't have Fibromyalgia. My heart was good, no diabetes, no low levels of potassium or Thryoid or anything else. Did have slightly high LDL (by like 2 points), and slightly low HDL(2 points again). So naturally, I'm feeling a bit like a hypochondriac at this point! :-) Is my pain in my head?? Well, it is literally many times :-)
I did ask my doctor for pain medication to manage my chronic pain since OTC doesn't help anymore. I still have headaches/neck aches, and right side sciatic pain. And I'm sick of dealing with it so I guess I'll take my chances with pain meds. To my surprise, he handed me Arthrotec. Which is an arthritis pain med! I already knew I had degenerative disc arthritis in my back due to my sciatic pain, which began last year and has been bothering me consistently. And my blood test did show a high sedimentation rate which indicates inflammation like arthritis. But I never thought the other symptoms I had could be arthritis related. I have an aunt with rheumatoid arthritis and I certainly don't have her symptoms or limited mobility! I do have joint pains sometimes, but most of the time it's muscle pain, or sciatic pain. Anyway, a Google search also confirmed chronic fatigue is a symptom of arthritis, which I also didn't know. So maybe I have my diagnosis finally! I'm happy to have some sort of answer, so I can know how to properly treat myself. And I'll be looking into seeing a Rheumatologist most likely, although I'm not sure how helpful that will be considering I don't like taking medications.
ETA: Arthrotec didn't work unfortunately. I only took one pill and had continuous stomach pain, and a bloated/full stomach feeling all day. I did eat before taking the pill as directed. The pain was like hunger, but once I ate I felt overly full and like I had reflux/the food wasn't digesting at all. And I didn't notice a significant reduction in arthritis pain either.
I'm also noticing my posture has been horrible. Trying to maintain good posture all day seems to help with headaches and sciatic pain, although my back muscles are so weak that it makes my back ache! I'm hoping to join a gym and increase my muscle to help combat the arthritis.
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I've been wearing those gimmicky exercise shoes/sandals (don't want to mention brands here), and although they're supposed to firm your legs, I've only noticed that I stand up straighter in them, and I tend to hold my core muscles in. I have a friend (w/o acro) who is a big fan of them and she says they have helped her back a great deal.
I didn't know that exercise is supposed to help arthritis, but that's exciting if it's true. How has it been going for you? Please let me know things progress! I think I'm getting arthritis in my neck, upper back, shoulders and hips, but I'm afraid of getting an X-ray b/c of the extra radiation (I know it is super low these days, I'm still paranoid). I didn't know there is a blood test for arthritis! Maybe I will ask for that. Do you remember the specific name of the blood test?
-Ellen
Hey Ellen. I hope things are going better for you. I'm not sure what the specific blood test would be for arthritis. I just know my doctor told me when they check the sedimentation rate, if it's high that can indicate inflammation, such as arthritis. It's not necessarily a positive diagnosis. I'm sure an x-ray would be the best test.
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