Brian's Story

Brian's Story
(by Brian)

Hello Folks! My name is Brian and I started having severe pains in my legs and hip area about 10 years ago. I saw my PCP who referred me to a Rheumatologist. The "specialist" said there was nothing wrong with me and sent me back to the PCP. After months of agonizing pain and increasing lack of mobility plus major fatigue I had to stop working and went first on California State Disability which led to Social Security Disability and SSI.

Meanwhile my PCP of 5 years decided there was also nothing wrong with me (although I tested positive for the Rheumatoid factor) and refereed me to a psychiatrist as I was told "it's all in your head". At that point I fired my doc on the spot and called the fellow who examined me for the US government (of all people) who was both an Internal Medicine Doctor AND a Rheumatologist. First thing he asked me was if I had been tested for Hep C. I didn't even know what it was. I had no history of drug use or heavy drinking and was shocked when the test results came back positive. Best we could figure, I got it sharing a shaving razor in a house full of roommates.

It has now been almost 10 years since that diagnosis and along with the unrelenting pain and fatigue, depression has now set in. My main concern, apart from my viral load which shows "chronic" but not deserving of any "treatment" at this time, is finding a decent doctor to treat me and who KNOWS that this disease DOES have major symptoms that MUST be addressed if one is to live any sort of productive life. I have recently moved to the state of Virginia and have found NOBODY who is willing to treat my chronic pain with anything other than anti inflammatory meds, both steroidal and they just aggravate ALL my symptoms.

Most docs I have gone to IGNORE the fact that my docs in California at least managed the pain for me with low doses of narcotics and gave me small amounts of an antidepressant called Effexor. As far as I can tell, almost everything I can take is somewhat bad for my liver but the pain is so intense I can barely get up in the morning, let alone accomplish anything. I am hoping someone can steer me towards the proper health care I need in my area as I simply can't find it.. (if it exists) Life is just too short to have to live this way. I am 46 years old and feel 106. All I want is some relief from this chronic and very real pain so I can at least function on some level. Thanks for reading this and if you have any suggestions, feel free to email me at:
ADDsomeMUSICbms@aol.com

God Bless,
Brian

PS I am not talking about simple aches and pains but EXCRUCIATING pain. On a level of 1 to 10 I would give it a solid 10 and 1/2 .. Thanks again

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Last Updated March 20, 2012