Well, after the disastrous meeting with the registrar in November, and my GP getting on my side, I got a call to see the Consultant on Monday 7th January.

Over Christmas I had 5 days where I didn’t touch a computer, and January 1st dawned, bright, early and only slightly hungover to discover absolutely no pain at all.  I was delighted, only to have that hope dashed on the 2nd January when it all came back again.  So the idea that it is triggered by crafting or typing would appear to be nonsense.

However, my meeting with the Consultant went *wonderfully*.  The meeting lasted about 45 minutes and she carefully and thoroughly went through everything.  She even tested how dry my eyeballs were.

The upshot of the Consultant appointment is that she is referring me for an MRI scan of my hands and wrists (to double check we haven’t missed anything in the ultrasound scans), she sent me for x-rays of my feet and hands (in case there was something showing in my feet that wasn’t giving me pain) and is referring me for hand therapy (which I think is some form of physiotherapy).  She has also put me on six weeks worth of steroids.  The lowest dose she can get away with, to see if it makes any difference at all.  Of course steroids are nasty creatures so I’m also on a stomach liner and calcium tablets to counteract some of the side affects.  She tells me that steroids are a bit difficult as they cure everything, but are evil.  Currently the hope is that a short course of steroids gives my body just long enough to sort itself out.

Naturally, having found somebody who takes me seriously and is moving things on, she goes on maternity leave next week – so my next appointment will be with the locum consultant (I asked if I was going back to the registrar, and got the distinct impression that he had been told off for signing me off).

I had a GP appointment today to get my ‘scrip for the steroids filled, but also to get the results of the blood test I had done before Christmas.  It appears that my vitamin D is ‘low’.  Therapy levels is over 72 (I don’t know what unit they are using here), insufficent is classed as 50 – 71 and deficient is below 50.  I’m at 42.  So the GP has also prescribed me a high dose Vit D supplement.  20,000units per tablet (my multivitamin comes in at a paltry 250units and claims that’s 100% RDA) which I have to take once every 4 days for  weeks, and then a lower 1500unit tablet every day for at least 6 months.

My Chiropractor also has me on mineral supplements – Copper and Magnesium.

So from tomorrow morning i’m going to rattle!  3 steroid tablets, a stomach liner, copper, magnesium, and a Vit B or Calcium tablet (I’m not supposed to take those two together).

On the plus side I have carte blanche to eat as much cheese as I like!

All in all very positive and things seem to be moving forwards.  I’ll let you know….