Philip (Phil) England

First one of 2022 ! On this video blog an update on my health - my eye still playing up awaiting appointment and operation on that. My back has been bad as well, and I have been sleeping a lot. Don't forget my radio shows , which you can listen again via www.radiocatchup.uk Saturday Breakfast - 7am til 10am via www.moorlandsgold.co.uk In The Groove, Saturday - 10pm til 11pm via www.islandsfm.org In The Groove, Sunday - 11pm til 12mn via www.broradio.fm Check me out on the socials: www.philengland.com/socials has the full links www.facebook.com/philengland www.twitter.com/philengland1 Skype @philengland1 Instagram @england_phil TikTok @philengland2020 Special pages: Offers - www.philengland.com/offers Health - www.philengland.com/health Online at: www.philengland.com www.itsmyvoice.me.uk www.itsmyblog.me.uk www.grumpyoldgitsguide.co.uk Don't forget, missed something? www.radiocatchup.uk

I was trying to get down stairs to put milk bottle out when my back decided to fire pain at me, it stopped me in my tracks  I am really getting fed up with it all, fed up of no quality of life, any life I do have is impacted by damn Covid. I have days when I am trapped in my flat, when I can even get out side the block to get some fresh air. Life can't get any worse right now, unless I catch Covid, then that would be the cherry on the top. I keep wondering why I am taking Co-codamol or my Gabapentin, until I stop taking it for a 48hour period, when I realise it does actually ease the pain I feel, no matter how slight.

Sunday 24th Oct: Another bout of horrible pain again.  Every part of my body is hurting like hell again. My skin is tingly and sensitive to the touch. If I could get inside my bones to scratch I would. I hate feeling like this. Also sensitive to light right now, and have a thumping headache. It seems to be the norm to feel like this at least once or twice a month. I have no idea why this happens and why I can't predict it. It really floors me when it comes. Sometimes it comes at night, sometimes in the day time, I never know when, it just seems to arrive and stays for anywhere between 12 and 48 hours. It's been 6 hours already... please go  12 hours in, damn this, why won't it ease down. Lucky I have water beside the bed and pain killers. Time for a few I think, and two Gabapentin. 16 hours in starting to ease, at long last, on a volume scale of 1 to 10, it's finally been turned down to a 8. Monday 25th Oct: Well not much sleep had but at some point things eased, and ...

 It is sure annoying, when you go somewhere and can't do what you really want to do because the pain is so great. Was down in Wallington dog and house sitting, and went out to walk the dog, Nikki, in Richmond Park. Started out ok, but soon went down hill. My knees started playing up clicking and popping, then my left hip followed by my lower back. Had to sit down and take a few pain killers. The next thing that occured wass I started to get problems with my breathing and a tight chest, nothing too bad, but enough to knock the wind out of my sails.  Headed back to the car and went back to the house. Once back I tried to relax and rest. Even sitting out in the sun in the garden didn't really help. The heat did with my back and other body pains, but the air was so still, dry and hot that I could hardly breath. Later in the evening I started to get more pain, all over, pins and needles overload, thumping headache and felt clammy. Had to go to bed, even though I wanted to watch a f...

  Great Back Pain – 20 th August 2021 Last night I went down stairs, knees popping and left hip hurting, to put the milk bottle out, on putting it down I somehow kicked off my bad back pain. It was a shooting pain that really stopped me dead in my tracks. I slowly made it back in to the flat, every move sending shooting pain up my back. Pain at a 8 I took some pain killers and also some CBD oil and went to bed half dressed Woke up a number of times in the night in agony, but managed to get back off to sleep. Pain at a 7 Finally woke this morning at about 8:45am still in pain but not as much, took my morning medication with a cuppa. Started to get back to normal manageable pain levels – Pain at a 5 , so went down to get the milk in. It happened again, bad back pain again, shooting up my back. So once again I slowly made it back to my flat, sat down and had a cry. Pain at a 8 This is no way to live, and knowing nothing can be done does not fill me with any kind of excite...

So, in the middle of the night my body decided I didn't need any more sleep and woke me up. A tingly type of pain, which develops in to a constant aching pain which seems to then spread from my mid to lower back and then moves up the back to also cover the top part of my body. Sometimes I get one pain in the mid to lower part of my back and my neck and shoulders at the same time, then the two seem to join up. I am really not liking trying to live my life with pain, it really gets me down. Seems my medication isn't really doing much to counteract it, it eases a little, but that's about all. Think of it as the sound on a hifi. The pain I wake up with and live with on a daily basis is at 9 or 10 - full volume, which gets reduced to 6 or 7. I am ALWAYS in pain and that makes my life horrid.

Life with spondylitis, an inflammatory disease, can mean living your days in constant lower back pain as your immune system attacks your joints and spine. Unfortunately, because your outward appearance may not reflect the physical pain happening in your body, your friends, family, co-workers, and other observers might think you’re perfectly fine. One survey found that  54 percent  of people with ankylosing spondylitis felt that friends and family did not understand their chronic illness. Spondylitis and chronic pain can take a toll on your overall wellness and quality of life. A strong  network of support  is one way to get the help you need when living with spondylitis. Because the symptoms of spondylitis are often invisible, it’s important to be able to discuss your condition with the people who love you most or those who will see you most often. Understanding Spondylitis Pain Spondylitis , a type of arthritis, is an autoimmune disease, which means that...

I had two appointments today. The first one this morning, in Singleton Hospital, with Dr Nash (Rheumatology). He just wanted to touch base in person. He poked and prodded a bit to see where and if I was tender in places. He did find a few areas, still feeling where he located them even after 5 hours passing from the appointment. The second was a virtual one, a video call with physiotherapy at Morriston. They say I'm doing ok with the exercises I was given, keep doing them, but if I get in too much pain don't keep going, just stop. If the pain keeps about for over half hour after then I have done too much. I also have to remember to stop beating my self up over things that I have no control over. Things will improve, just have to give things time. With having Ankylosing Spondylitis and Osteoarthritis, coupled with a slight heart condition and also fibromyalgia (specialist today in Singleton said it seems it is a sure thing that I have that due to being lethargic, run down, pain ...

Well, my theory of being ok for the first week after doing my Imraldi injection has been blown out of the water well and truly. Woke up at about 5:30am this morning with terrible neck pain, which is also affecting the top part of my back and shoulders. Along with the pain, I have got like a high-pitched sound in my head. Not too sure what is causing it. Think it could very well be a trapped nerve, more or less curtain about that, but could be wrong.  This better go soon, doing my head in. What a way to start a new week. I am pleased I got out yesterday to see a friend whose birthday it was and his dog, Jet. If you suffer with Spondylitis check out this great site with a very supportive community   https://www.myspondylitisteam.com/

Health Latest, posted 3rd July 2021 Well, Thursday just gone I did my 2 weekly injection, Imraldi (that's its brand name, I can spell that with no problems!), as normal, it hurts, but its nothing compared to how things turn out any number of days AFTER doing it. It was Wednesday 30th June, the day before the injection. I woke up with slight back pain, which normal for me on a scale of 1 to 10 about a 4. Everything was going fine for the first few hours, I pottered about the flat doing this and that. I managed to get out for some fresh air, a quick wobble around the block and back.  Got in and felt a bit sleepy, so had a nap, as it was warm, I decided to lay down in the bedroom, it is always nice and cool in there. A few hours later I was awoken by a sharp shooting pain in my back up to my neck and across to my shoulders, on my scale it was either an 8 or 9. I had to get to my pain killers and quick, which is not easy. Anyway, the pain kept at that level until about 10pm when it sta...

Health Update - 18th June 2021 So, following an MRI scan the other week, today I had a telephone consultation with a specialist from the hospital. Confirmed, I have Osteoarthritis in my back to go with my Ankylosing Spondylitis (which my 2 weekly injection works on, which explains towards the end of the two weeks I am in more pain). It is due to wear and tear.  The specialist asked if I have ever lifted anything heavy on a regular basis when I was working, as far as I know I have never lifted anything on a regular basis! They want to do more investigating when they open up for appointments again.  The specialist likes my way of describing things. Every day pain (that's the osteo) bad day pain (when it's a really bad flair up). The specialist noticed some things had been written in my notes but no follow up on them.  He wants to find out why and get further investigations done, Fibromyalgia being one of them. I like this specialist.  He is pleased I am doing ligh...

So, Saturday I had the first part of the Covid vaccine . I had the Oxford AstraZeneca one. Don't get me wrong, I am over joyed to have been called up for it, but the side effects since are not too good, but as people keep telling me, "it's a sign it is working", geee, thanks for that! Before I go any further I want to say a massive thank you to AstraZeneca and also the University of Oxford, and the Swansea Bay NHS health board for getting this out. During yesterday afternoon my arm started hurting and then I started feeling as if I had a head cold coming on. Later in the evening my mind got a bit foggy. Day two since first part of vaccine jab,  I was woken at about 5am this morning. Feeling worse,  , woke up in a pool of sweat, and somehow managed to squash my pillow up and out of its pillowcase in the night. The sweat I could have done without, it was horrible waking up to that, when all I wanted to do was stay in bed, waking up in sweat just made me have to get up s...

Started off not too bed, was sick with pain though, that soon passed, but as the day has gone on I have been feeling more and more pain in my neck, shoulders and top part of back, feeling sick again with the pain. It really knocks me for six when I get pain sometimes, its like I been hit with a sledge hammer. My cat even seems to pick up on how I am feeling. Any one else get pain like this? Please share your experiences here, thank you 

Been watching The Real Marigold Hotel on BBC iPlayer, where 8 senior citizens go to India to see if they could retire out there, or at the very least, see if they can get their health issues sorted out. It got me thinking if I should look in to treatment elsewhere in the world to get my problems sorted out, as it seems I have fallen down in to the cracks of the NHS system as things are not bad enough to go in and fix just yet, and one injection I am on has stopped Ankylosing Spondylitis it in its tracks but its not making it get better, yet its not bad enough to go in and fix. My neck has problems as well that needs looking at, spinal cord damage apparently. I also have issues with both my knees and my left hip and leg in between. Going to somewhere like India has to be an option, I can't keep living between the gaps of a system, being a drain on the NHS for my medication month after month, year after year, it is no way to live. If I went private in the UK it would cost thousands, ...

On the night of Friday 6th in to the early hours of Saturday 7th November , started a nasty period for me, this is how it unfolded in real time of then.... Friday , had a really bad night, was woken up at 3am, not by my cat, but chronic pain still got some now but it is easing ( at time of typing this on Saturday ), I hate it when it hits, really stops me dead, Its like tingling through my nerves, get sounds in my head, throbbing in my back, skin goes uggy and itchy. A little better today ( at time of typing this on Sunday ) thank goodness. Bit flushed but I'm improving, will never be 100% ever, but far better than yesterday. Was hardly 2% on Saturday, Sunday however about 40% so still a long way to go. Will push myself to step out side later for a bit. (Today - Monday ) feel about 70% which is almost normal. I have been down to about 30% I guess before, never down to where I was in the early hours on Saturday morning. I tried to keep it all together and managed it. Dark room, kee...

As well as having Ankylosing Spondylitis and carpal tunnel syndrome - which are both bad enough to have to live with! Yesterday I had a telephone consultation with a spinal specialist at Morriston Hospital (due to the COVID-19 lock down this seems to be the new normal), he said I have problems with bone wear and disc problem which is causing a trapped nerve which is causing the pain and problems I am having, along with bone growths. Reading the letter he sent me it says; "The MRI scan from 18 months ago shows a degree of cervical spondylosis at C6/7 with some impingement of the C7 nerve roots which is probably transiently causing these nurological symptoms" In the information leaflet that was sent with it, it says; " Numbness, clumsiness and weakness in arms and legs are likely due to pressure on the spinal cord in the neck. If there is severe cord compression on your MRI, then further damage is likely ", it goes on to say " Once spinal cord damag...