No answers….maybe this will work?

As I discovered that the foot inserts were doing no good, I turned to my general practitioner. Looking back, I gave him too much credit for knowing what to do. He didn’t have any answers, so he initially sent me to a rheumatologist. He ran the tests, they came back, it’s not arthritis. Thanks for coming in, be sure you pay your co-payment….no real guidance from there. Back at square one, strike two!

Now I’m sure you all know how this works, it takes sometimes months to get in to see these specialists. A week or so goes by to get results, then you try and squeeze in another appointment to hear the dreaded results and before you know it, another 8 weeks have gone by. Then you are back where you started, in pain and not sleeping. The couch was my best friend and I started the cycle of self-treatment.

A friend of my husbands told him about something called Tiger Balm. I could only find it at a small oriental supermarket near Ohio State’s campus. It came in a rub and a patch. So, I bought some and got some relief; enough that I could fall asleep (actually in bed) in a reasonable amount of time. Of course, like most of you I’m sure, if I find something that is going to help me sleep, I am going to buy it by the truck full. After a few weeks, I had a reaction to it and got a horrible rash. The first thing to work, and I had to pitch what was left of it. That was so deflating.

I had tried a lot of over the counter ointments and lotions for pain and arthritis relief, none of them really worked. I tried a Vitamin E ointment that someone suggested might help joint or muscle pain, but it didn’t do much for me. It did however make my feet very smooth and soft! (I later shared that little discovery with the lady at GNC!) Just how many trips back to square one is a person supposed to take?

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