About vitamin supplements.

You will all remember that when I saw the rheumatologist, I had to donate some vials of blood for a few tests. I had almost forgotten about that until today when she called me with the test results. Everything came back normal except for one thing. It turns out that I have a vitamin D shortage. Now, this happens to post menopausal women over 50, so is not uncommon. The thing to do is get lots of sunshine and to eat meat and fatty fish and eggs.

 

The rheumatologist said I would have to take a vitamin D supplement, but I told her that since I saw her, I had been taking Calcium tablets that had 100%  of the daily needed vitamin D and K in them every day. She said that was perfect and to have the level checked again some time later with my GP whom she is sending a report of all her findings.

 

She is also sending a letter of referral to the rehabilitation center and they will contact me with an appointment. That may take a week or two and I don't quite know what I will be doing there, so that will be a surprise. I did look up if my health insurance covers this and they do 100%. Phew!

 

She also asked me is I had read the information about fibromyalgia that she had given me and if I had recognized myself in it, and I said that I had. Apparently she takes this very seriously as a rheumatic disorder and does not think this is just some silly thing that I imagine I have because I am in some sort of mental stress. I do appreciate this very much.

 

She said to stop taking the anti-inflammatory medicines because they help only a bit and they are bad for your body in the long run if you take them regularly. Even the paracetamol is not all that great if used often for a long time. That is why she wants me to go to the rehabilitation center. I suppose you learn a better way to deal with your pain there.

 

I was quite uncomfortable this morning when it was cold in the apartment because outside a wind was blowing from the east and I was airing the place. I had lots of pain and had to close the windows and turn up the thermostat for a while. I wished for a very warm sweater and those bean bags that you can heat up in the microwave and place on your sore joints.

 

I am still not quite back to normal because I hefted the trash bag outside and it was quite heavy. I don't think I will be lifting weights any time soon. My fingers are swollen up and are stiff.

 

I will not write down a litany of complaints, but sometimes it is nice to bitch about them for just a bit. I do feel taken care of properly and that is one thing I am grateful for.