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Treated For Rectal Cancer, Having Fibromyalgia. Night Sweats, Severe Pain In Joints And Having Menopause. On Zoloft. Suggest The Cure?
Question: I am 60 yr. C.female. I have many things going on. Being a retired nurse I would like a straight forward answer.
Had rectal ca. clear now about yrs. I am seeing pain Dr. for
fibromyalgia
osteo. very painful
RSD for 13 yrs.
bi-lateral knee surg. due to always having tears. 4x0ne knee
3x other
on meds for depression
panic
anxiety
recently new problems
only at night awful night sweats-I am through menopause
wake up every night severe pain in one of all joints. I am not laying on it
and elbow-knees-neck will be painful to move.
skin feels funny on areas on my body. Almost like numb .
insomnia-headache and past month when bladder is full but as I release to urinate it feels as though something stops the flow from starting and have to sit and try to concentrate to release the flow and. Bowels either cant go or cant stop. Hands go numb just from holding or waken from pain due to so stiff.
This sounds yuck but always crust in nares. Both.
When I wake up eyes are always moist and stuck together. I developed large bags under my eyes and tried everything but stay. This has been over a couple of months.
I begin to sleep and legs or arms feel like I was just I was shocked and can do that all night.
Also some nights and days my legs ache and I have to squeeze the muscle very hard for some relief.
On Zoloft but have weeks or a month of severe depression that I cant eat-dress or do basic AODL. I stay in bed praying for the awful anxiety in my to stop.
It is not all related to depression but the constant anxiety puts my belly in a roll and I just stay in my bedroom wait for it to go away
My hands go numb when I try to sleep and through out the day.
I think I covered a lot and glad I had MRI'S to justify my pains and need for operations or people would think I was not all there. Also one more thing. I am very nervous. If I am computer and something pops or the phone rings my it causes me to jump out of my skin . Terror goes through me and I actually will spill something or jump
Had rectal ca. clear now about yrs. I am seeing pain Dr. for
fibromyalgia
osteo. very painful
RSD for 13 yrs.
bi-lateral knee surg. due to always having tears. 4x0ne knee
3x other
on meds for depression
panic
anxiety
recently new problems
only at night awful night sweats-I am through menopause
wake up every night severe pain in one of all joints. I am not laying on it
and elbow-knees-neck will be painful to move.
skin feels funny on areas on my body. Almost like numb .
insomnia-headache and past month when bladder is full but as I release to urinate it feels as though something stops the flow from starting and have to sit and try to concentrate to release the flow and. Bowels either cant go or cant stop. Hands go numb just from holding or waken from pain due to so stiff.
This sounds yuck but always crust in nares. Both.
When I wake up eyes are always moist and stuck together. I developed large bags under my eyes and tried everything but stay. This has been over a couple of months.
I begin to sleep and legs or arms feel like I was just I was shocked and can do that all night.
Also some nights and days my legs ache and I have to squeeze the muscle very hard for some relief.
On Zoloft but have weeks or a month of severe depression that I cant eat-dress or do basic AODL. I stay in bed praying for the awful anxiety in my to stop.
It is not all related to depression but the constant anxiety puts my belly in a roll and I just stay in my bedroom wait for it to go away
My hands go numb when I try to sleep and through out the day.
I think I covered a lot and glad I had MRI'S to justify my pains and need for operations or people would think I was not all there. Also one more thing. I am very nervous. If I am computer and something pops or the phone rings my it causes me to jump out of my skin . Terror goes through me and I actually will spill something or jump
Brief Answer:
Fluctuating morphine levels may be responsible.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to Healthcare Magic!
I understand you have multiple physical problems which have been worsened by mental health issues. I also agree that many times physical health problems in people with mental health issues are not given adequate attention by physicians, and investigations like MRI help prevent this.
You have mentioned some new symptoms which have caused you concern, like night sweats, pain at different sites, numbness, insomnia, headache, nasal crusting, sticky eyes and difficulties with bladder and bowel movements.
Since being a nurse yourself, you can realize that there is a whole long list of diseases that may be responsible for these symptoms. As you are aware, all doctors first try to find a disease that can explain most of the symptoms rather than finding individual explanations for each symptom. In your case, I was struck by two things that could be responsible for your symptoms. Firstly, worsening of anxiety may be responsible for many of your symptoms. Secondly, fluctuating levels of morphine (MS Contin) in your body can also explain many of your symptoms. This can also be responsible for the worsening of anxiety.
Morphine causes dryness in all mucosal linings like in eyes and nose, constipation, difficulty in urination due to spasm of muscles in urinary tract and analgesia. When morphine levels fall in the body, there is withdrawal which causes symptoms like aches and pains, excessive secretion from eyes, loose motions, sweating, running nose, sneezing, yawning, insomnia, goose flesh etc. I fear what may be happening is that your morphine tablets are unable to maintain a steady level of morphine in the body. So at times, your body is exposed to a high dose of morphine while at times, it is left craving for morphine. I feel that if you discuss this with your pain management doctor, he or she may suggest some alterations in the dose or timing of the morphine tablets which can ameliorate your symptoms.
Though I cannot claim that no other cause may be responsible for these new symptoms, I feel that looking into what I have suggested may help you with at least some of these symptoms.
Hoping to have been of help,
Dr Preeti Parakh
MD Psychiatry
Fluctuating morphine levels may be responsible.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to Healthcare Magic!
I understand you have multiple physical problems which have been worsened by mental health issues. I also agree that many times physical health problems in people with mental health issues are not given adequate attention by physicians, and investigations like MRI help prevent this.
You have mentioned some new symptoms which have caused you concern, like night sweats, pain at different sites, numbness, insomnia, headache, nasal crusting, sticky eyes and difficulties with bladder and bowel movements.
Since being a nurse yourself, you can realize that there is a whole long list of diseases that may be responsible for these symptoms. As you are aware, all doctors first try to find a disease that can explain most of the symptoms rather than finding individual explanations for each symptom. In your case, I was struck by two things that could be responsible for your symptoms. Firstly, worsening of anxiety may be responsible for many of your symptoms. Secondly, fluctuating levels of morphine (MS Contin) in your body can also explain many of your symptoms. This can also be responsible for the worsening of anxiety.
Morphine causes dryness in all mucosal linings like in eyes and nose, constipation, difficulty in urination due to spasm of muscles in urinary tract and analgesia. When morphine levels fall in the body, there is withdrawal which causes symptoms like aches and pains, excessive secretion from eyes, loose motions, sweating, running nose, sneezing, yawning, insomnia, goose flesh etc. I fear what may be happening is that your morphine tablets are unable to maintain a steady level of morphine in the body. So at times, your body is exposed to a high dose of morphine while at times, it is left craving for morphine. I feel that if you discuss this with your pain management doctor, he or she may suggest some alterations in the dose or timing of the morphine tablets which can ameliorate your symptoms.
Though I cannot claim that no other cause may be responsible for these new symptoms, I feel that looking into what I have suggested may help you with at least some of these symptoms.
Hoping to have been of help,
Dr Preeti Parakh
MD Psychiatry
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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