I don’t know how it happened. One minute I was dancing at the disco in hot pants living it up and the next I was a woman in her 50’s with arthritis. I must have dozed off or something. So here I am with an aching back and sometimes aching hips, knees and shoulders, but on the inside I’m still a 20-something ready to take on the world.
My doctor prescribed Celebrex. "Great, an old person medication." I said to myself. But within no time every ache and pain I had was gone. I was back at the gym working out like an Olympic athlete. It was like a miracle. But miracles rarely happen so I wasn’t surprised when I broke out in itchy hives. It was maddening. My choice? Give up the Celebrex or scratch like a dog with the mange.
I tried other NSAID’s but none worked like Celebrex and they all gave me hives. After a month or so of trying to get used to the pain again – some of which I forgot all about, I went back on the Celebrex. Sure I have to take Zyrtek to control the hives and I’m not too thrilled about that, but pain-free living is a wonderful thing. So until they come up with something that doesn’t cause hives, this is my plan.
I have to laugh when doctors tell me to take Tylenol and go to physical therapy because neither thing has any effect at all. Pain-killers work great, but doctors would rather stick needles in their eyes than give anyone those regularly. So here I am, full of other types of drugs, but relatively pain-free and if I die tomorrow I will have spent my last day doing all the physical activities I wanted to do.