Ankle Update
I've had debilitating ankle pain for the past 11 days now. The first few days I could not even put any weight whatsoever on my left foot. Since then, I've been hobbling and limping around with a cane. Needless to say, very little has been accomplished around here for the past week and a half.
A few days ago I wrote that I realized that I probably injured some nerves while working on the waste plumbing for a new bathroom that I am trying to install. There is no doubt that I was hard on my ankles while crouching on the floor and sitting on my feet on an uneven, unfinished wood floor. I was also crouched down in a tight crawl space for part of the plumbing project. These activities were no help to my ankles, knees, shins and lower back, that is for certain.
This morning when I awoke, my ankle pain seemed to get a little bit worse again. It was raining out and the moist rain always affects my bones and joints since I've been struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis (or perhaps it is a quick change in atmospheric pressure which accompanies rain) and that got me thinking about a possible other cause to this excruciating ankle pain. I also remembered that when this ankle pain started, I was also complaining of bone and joint pain that I get far too often and which we attribute to my struggles with Systemic Mastocytosis.
Maybe, just maybe, this pain is mostly due to mast cell degranulation causing nerve irritation. I get nerve irritation all the time due to mast cell degranulation in all different areas of my body. At times, this nerve irritation is excruciating. Other times I manage to tolerate it. The pain in my ankle was worse again today even though I am still religiously taking my maximum dosage of anti-inflammatory medications. I've been taking these medications for nine days now so I feel I should be feeling pretty good by now but when I awoke this morning I felt as though I took a few steps backward in my recovery.
So, what if mast cell degranulation was causing most of my ankle problems? I had some signs and relatively mild symptoms of anaphylaxis the other day which is a clear sign of mast cell degranulation... dizziness, breathing difficulties, tachycardia, palpitations, terrible stomach pain and diarrhea... I couldn't wander far from the bathroom all day. So, I knew I was having mast cell problems. Maybe these problems were causing the worst of my nerve irritation in my ankle...
I decided to take a bunch of extra mast cell medications today just in case this nerve irritation is indeed caused by my mast cells being over-active and degranulating. I took extra H1 blockers, extra H2 blockers, and, most importantly, extra mast cell stabilizers. Those mast cell stabilizers are my most potent drug (and most expensive costing approx $72,000/year). I decided to try this tactic in case my illness was the main culprit in causing this terrible ankle pain.
This evening I started feeling considerably better. By the time we were finished with cleaning up dinner, I felt like I could do a dance! My ankle feels almost normal! For the rest of the night, while I had my feet elevated, I exercised my feet, ankles and lower legs. I still feel a little bit of pain but nothing worth mentioning.
At this point I am thinking that it is entirely possible that my biggest problem causing this ankle pain is/was mast cell degranulation. I plan to continue with my maximum dosage of anti-inflammatory medications as well as extra mast cell disease medications but we'll see how I feel over the next few days.... These mast cell disease medications seemed to be more of a help than my anti-inflammatory medications... go figure!
We'll see what happens over the next few days...
A few days ago I wrote that I realized that I probably injured some nerves while working on the waste plumbing for a new bathroom that I am trying to install. There is no doubt that I was hard on my ankles while crouching on the floor and sitting on my feet on an uneven, unfinished wood floor. I was also crouched down in a tight crawl space for part of the plumbing project. These activities were no help to my ankles, knees, shins and lower back, that is for certain.
This morning when I awoke, my ankle pain seemed to get a little bit worse again. It was raining out and the moist rain always affects my bones and joints since I've been struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis (or perhaps it is a quick change in atmospheric pressure which accompanies rain) and that got me thinking about a possible other cause to this excruciating ankle pain. I also remembered that when this ankle pain started, I was also complaining of bone and joint pain that I get far too often and which we attribute to my struggles with Systemic Mastocytosis.
Maybe, just maybe, this pain is mostly due to mast cell degranulation causing nerve irritation. I get nerve irritation all the time due to mast cell degranulation in all different areas of my body. At times, this nerve irritation is excruciating. Other times I manage to tolerate it. The pain in my ankle was worse again today even though I am still religiously taking my maximum dosage of anti-inflammatory medications. I've been taking these medications for nine days now so I feel I should be feeling pretty good by now but when I awoke this morning I felt as though I took a few steps backward in my recovery.
So, what if mast cell degranulation was causing most of my ankle problems? I had some signs and relatively mild symptoms of anaphylaxis the other day which is a clear sign of mast cell degranulation... dizziness, breathing difficulties, tachycardia, palpitations, terrible stomach pain and diarrhea... I couldn't wander far from the bathroom all day. So, I knew I was having mast cell problems. Maybe these problems were causing the worst of my nerve irritation in my ankle...
I decided to take a bunch of extra mast cell medications today just in case this nerve irritation is indeed caused by my mast cells being over-active and degranulating. I took extra H1 blockers, extra H2 blockers, and, most importantly, extra mast cell stabilizers. Those mast cell stabilizers are my most potent drug (and most expensive costing approx $72,000/year). I decided to try this tactic in case my illness was the main culprit in causing this terrible ankle pain.
This evening I started feeling considerably better. By the time we were finished with cleaning up dinner, I felt like I could do a dance! My ankle feels almost normal! For the rest of the night, while I had my feet elevated, I exercised my feet, ankles and lower legs. I still feel a little bit of pain but nothing worth mentioning.
At this point I am thinking that it is entirely possible that my biggest problem causing this ankle pain is/was mast cell degranulation. I plan to continue with my maximum dosage of anti-inflammatory medications as well as extra mast cell disease medications but we'll see how I feel over the next few days.... These mast cell disease medications seemed to be more of a help than my anti-inflammatory medications... go figure!
We'll see what happens over the next few days...
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