An Inflammatory Field Report

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I check in here about asthma and inflammation from time to time.  Most recently, about three and a half weeks ago back on Valentine's Day and the day after.

I have a sort of an update. I have been having pain in my right shoulder/upper arm since December (I didn't write about it until mid-February because I kept thinking it was going to resolve). In mid-January I saw my friend, Jenn, in Colorado (an amazing massage therapist) and she was not able to release it (which is not normal).  I had full range of motion - just this persistent pain that started in December of last year.

I saw my primary care doc for my annual physical in mid-February of this year.  He assured me that nothing was physically wrong in my shoulder - no injury - just the old (and infuriating) catchall:  Inflammation.  Same thing for my right knee and right heel (sort of like a flare of plantar fasciitis, but a different sort of pain).  Since then - even before then - I've been on the straight and narrow - no sugar, no highly processed foods, and I was icing my shoulder and my right knee.

This morning I woke up and the pain had started in my left upper arm.  I was so discouraged - really - I thought I would cry. I already can't sleep on my right side because of the pain - now I won't be able to sleep on my left side either.  Really?  REALLY???  How the F$@# am I supposed to sleep???

I seriously felt like throwing in the towel.  I mean, I'm on the highest dose of my anti-inflammatory, and I've been doing everything right - and nothing is helping this pain or alleviating it, and now it's in three of my four limbs.  I'm losing mobility and strength in one limb after another - like I'm falling apart piece by piece. I'm starting to feel like the Black Knight.*

For as positive as you all know that I generally am, this has been a difficult patch. I know a lot of people have way worse problems, but it's been depressing and I've been feeling very sad to be doing everything right and not getting anywhere. Being in constant low-grade pain is challenging to deal with.  Every day you wake up and something hurts.  Or you move a certain way and think you're going to expire from pain deep within a muscle.

And it's not like I haven't been working hard to do what I know I've needed to do in the past to alleviate inflammation.  Seriously - one entire shelf in my freezer is devoted to assorted gel ice and wraps to make it easier to ice the affected parts of my body.  But ice hasn't even been touching this arm/shoulder pain. If the pain is inflammatory pain, then ice should alleviate it - at least temporarily.  But it hasn't.  It's not even touching it.

I had a relatively easy workout at the club with my trainer this morning.  I don't even know how I made it there.  I did yoga yesterday and felt so much better until I woke up this morning.  But I forced myself to go and I could see from what my trainer was having me do, and the exceptionally light weights we were using that I had really lost a lot of fitness ground.

And then, on my way home from the club, the penny dropped:

"What if this pain isn't inflammation at all? What if it's a side-effect from my new asthma controller med????  

I don't know why I didn't think of this before.  I've had rare side effects (like bone pain - oh man that sucks) from high doses of certain asthma controller meds in the past.  My asthma controller med is the only thing that has changed for me since November - and the weird pain started in December.

I called my primary care doc as soon as I got to the office this morning and I discussed my thoughts with him.  He said that he felt that it was worth taking me off Arnuity Ellipta (my new controller med) to see.  He was concerned about my breathing if I stopped my controller med completely - which is a valid concern - and I said I would go back on my former med, Flovent, because I still have some of it at home. Having to use of my rescue inhaler a little more often is a small price to pay to not hurt anymore if my hunch is right.  He felt that it would be worth a shot and he called my asthma doc to confer.  They are in agreement that I need to stop the Arnuity Ellipta immediately and return to Flovent tonight, and I'm to check in with my asthma doctor in another 2 weeks.

Am I clutching at straws?  Maybe.  But I'm praying that this the answer.  The doc said that if I'm right, it likely won't work immediately.  Based on my current dose of Arnuity Ellipta, it will likely take about a week for it to completely make its way out of my system.  I'll be watching and checking daily.

Please hold a good thought for me  :-)

* Here's the Black Knight . . . at least I still have my sense of humor . . . ;-)