lettMandyScarlett
Member
Hi Everyone,I have been a member on the site for about a year. I dropped out for awhile feeling it could help with my self induced anxiety. I felt I was not moving forward and accepting my health conditions. Currently I have acknowledged with my doctors that I am dealing with the following health conditions and medical diagnosis. Along with this acknowledgment I cannot help but feel my employer P&G plays some responsibility for some of my current health conditions. They paid me one year of severance with medical and said goodbye. Currently I am paying for my medical through Cobra and it has not been easy.Current health diagnosisPsoriatic ArthritisDDD in lower lumbarBFS w cramps and or Myokima Sleep disorderI have psoriasis and it finally turned out to advance into psoriatic arthritis. During my employment at P&G the psoriasis was spreading even though I was using prescribed treatment. I know today the psoriasis seemed to be aggravated by constant job stress along with the continued liquid soap contact to my skin. I found myself covered with liquid Dawn, Ivory, and Joy soaps on my skin daily. I think it was the skin sensitivity to such large amounts of these products. As an employee we were constantly looking for parts to patch equipment together to do our daily job. P&G would subcontract skilled ex-employees back to come in a refurbish parts because we were always running out of usable equipment. I likened it to swimming in soap products and working under constant stress to keep this dated equipment up and running at 85 percent or greater. As an employee you would work 12 hour plus days without a guarantee of a scheduled 10 minute break or your 20 minute lunch break. When I would rotate to cover the shipping dock area as a dock coordinator I was never given a break or scheduled lunch break. With that job you were constantly running to keep up with everything to run the shipping business. To date my skin is 99.9 percent clear and one would have no idea that I suffered from psoriasis. My psoriasis arthritis is being managed with 375mg naproxen daily. I have a topical skin crème that I rarely have to use. My rheumatologist is pleasantly surprised how well everything has cleared up skin wise. It is also his opinion that my work environment most likely caused my health problems.I have DDD with disc damage L5 S1 with a bulge, L4 L5 that the disc is flat and dark without fluid, L2 L3 with some degeneration visible. During this time I was on STDB and began a procedure of disc decompression. At the same time my employer P&G was adding pressure to me to return to work. I was under a tremendous amount of stress and uncertainty of whether I could return. I was unsure of my inconsistent sleeping patterns and the disc decompression procedure and my health as a whole. Knowing the P&G work environment I was also unsure if the company truly understood or cared about my current health. I was left feeling P&G wanted to get everyone back to work because they were so short staffed. It was during all this duress and disc decompression sessions that I first felt the fasciculation’s that started in my calf muscles. The continued stress and pressure of P&G manifested my fasciculation’s into shakes and tremors. These shakes, tremors, fasics, etc. were made worse after my employer finally forced me back to work against my doctor’s approval. I lasted 6 weeks and my tremors worsened and the fasics were throughout my body head to toe. Another letter sent from my doctor stating no shift rotation had P&G giving me a 52 weeks severance. At this time I have lost my job. I take 5mg clonazepam daily and have 50mg tramadol for muscle pain etc. My fasics are constant in my calves and occasionally in my thighs. Rarely do I get them in my upper body. Sometimes they appear in my triceps, shoulders and upper back area. I had also seen another neurologist that heads the movement disorder dept at KU to be told that I suffer from an extreme case of myokemia. I have also followed up with KU neurology to show them an unusual 2-3 inch dent in length running vertical above my right knee cap. I have no weakness and can single eg curl 70 80 lbs in reps of 12 along with seated squats of 250 in reps of 12. The doctor believes it to be fat tissue loss. I told the doctor I feel some sensation in the area but the doctor did not think anything was further needed. During the last couple of years of P&G employment I was also suffering from always being tired and unable to sleep without the use of OTC Benadryl and or Tylenol PM. The work schedule was designed as 7 days on and seven days off. To lower finished product cost a reduction of staff with job cuts by management left the department understaffed by 30 plus employees. This lack of staff basically threw the 7 days on and off out the window. Overtime was beginning to become more and more common which further lead to my sleeping problems. I was then tested in a sleep study and found to have sleep apnea. I was not surprised due to the fact that I was working 12-13 hour shifts and as mentioned asked to work my days off with the continued scheduling of biweekly days and night shift rotations. I know sleep better but still take 5 mg of clonazepam at bedtime. I also dream again which I had not done for some time. So, in a nut shell it has been a long health road to haul. I hope everyone is doing better or have seen some health improvements along the way. Sorry for the history and long update. It’s good to stop in and chat. Anyone registered here from the Kansas area?CheersDwaine 