Diagnostic Gymnastics and Other Assorted Conditions

I’ve been compared to a gymnast all my life. It’s just how I’m built. But I’ve never heard it from a doctor before.

Let me back up. The rheumatologist pored over the medical history that I gave him, and I felt really encouraged. I told him how my pain was, in comparison to how it was a few weeks ago, and he made some assessments. I later learned that I erred on the side of optimism in describing the pain, since he didn’t understand that I can hardly walk. I guess that I was trying to fight my natural cynical tendencies and focus on the progress.

He told me, with some fanfare, that there was nothing neurologically wrong with me but that I was, instead, “hypermobile.” It’s not uncommon with women (stats say 10-20%), but it’s most common among female gymnasts. It means that my limbs bend a bit too far in the wrong direction. His incisive prescription was to wear running shoes, to stay off my feet as much as possible, not to run (as if!!!) and to come back and see him in 6 weeks. He also wants to do a bone scan to see if we can identify any injuries that might have been caused by this hypermobility. Otherwise, I guess we are just assuming that such injuries exist...

I realized, if he was cautioning me not to run, that I had not made it clear how debilitating this pain is. I teared up and told him about how far I can walk without being in excruciating pain. He looked perplexed and said that I need to come back in 6 months to be tested again for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and for something else that I have already forgotten (I’d never heard of it before; how could I forget this?). He said that it could be serious. I felt like he was the one doing gymnastics.

I asked him what to do for the pain. He said to keep taking ibuprofen. When I suggested that it hadn’t helped, he said that it would now that I’m wearing running shoes every day. I'm insulted. I felt like he had made up his mind and was simply refusing to let any new information get in the way.

“What about pushing myself just a little bit? Can I keep trying to walk a little farther, do a little more? Can I travel? I really need to fly this time next month.”

Emphatically, “No.” I cannot push myself—not now, not for a long time. And I can travel if I can walk.

So, if I just don't move for the next six weeks (or months)--then this is all going to go away? Is that what I'm hearing? I'm trying not to be discouraged, but I'm not having a lot of success at the moment.