After months of extreme fatigue, chronic pain, and various other symptoms, my doctor thinks I may have fibromyalgia. I still have some labs to get done, to rule out other issues, but I seem to fit the symptoms. I know some of the moms here have FM, do you have any advice or things to watch for? I have days where the headaches and body pain are so bad I can't function, and the fatigue has caused me to miss a lot of work over the past few months. There are days I feel so good, and others where I feel as if I've been run over by a train. I'm concerned about the (unofficial) DX, but no one has been able to figure out what was going on for years, so actually *knowing* what's wrong is a relief. TIA for any info you can share!!

By Andi on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 12:00 am:

I do. I was diagnosed about 4 years ago and I also have good and bad days. When the weather is cold those are the days that are the hardest for me.
Feel free to e-mail me.
wahooper 5 @ cox . net

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 08:44 am:

Ditto here. I was Dx with FMS and CFS 7 years ago, after seeing countless doctors and having countless tests and bloodwork done. Same as Andi, good days/weeks and bad ones. I have been tested for lupus several times, as well as RA too.

Some medical professionals and a large number of otheres don't even believe it is *real*; others will debate the *cause* of it. My advice - do a lot of research. Try whatever you think *might* help you. Some things will, some won't. Join a health messageboard or two - you can pick up some great tips there, and some of them are really good and have some caring and knowledgeable people, plus it's a great support system when you have flares or bad days.

Feel free to email me too, if you want.

The biggest issues I have had were A) being *labeled* with that diagnosis, and B) not being believed, particularly by doctors, etc. I have a bunch of other stuff going on along with that, and the first person to actually suggest I had it was my physical therapist, after back surgery.

By Christylee on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 09:52 am:

There are many days that I'm certain this is what is going on with me so I've started keeping a journal of the days I feel really bad. I note what I've eaten, done, etc that day, the majority of the time I feel this way is when I have taken my Paxil CR. I'm weaning myself (under doctors care and guidance) off of it and so far my pain has been noticably less. If you are taking any antidepressants or anxiety medications you might look into it. On further investigation I found out that many patients who take Paxil are often diagnosed with fibromylagia.

Just something you might want to look into as an alternative.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 02:49 pm:

Crys, as you know I have FM. What exactly are you wanting to know? How it feels? What you do? Feel free to email me.

By Amecmom on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 10:12 pm:

No advice except to take things one day at a time. Do things when you can. Rest when you can't do. Lots of hugs.
Ame

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 10:11 am:

Thanks, everyone. Andi, take your time getting back to me, I totally understand with the fires going on. Bobbie and Karen, I will probably email both of your tonight.

By Andi on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 11:09 am:

I e-mailed you last night.

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 03:34 pm:

Crystal, no advice but I just wanted to send you some hugs...{{HUGS}} It must be so difficult to go through all of that, and the unknown. Let us know how you're coping.

By Karen~admin on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 04:14 pm:

Crystal, if you emailed, I didn't receive it. Send again, if you did.

By Conni on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 06:56 pm:

I'd be curious to hear more about the fatigue...I swear I have some energy sucking disease. argh

Hopefully you get lots of info and support from the ladies here. (((Hugs)))

By Crystal915 on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 07:57 pm:

Karen, I had not emailed you yet, I've been painting and moving after work, and can't use GMail at work, so no real time!! I will, soon, though.

Thanks again, everyone!!

Conni, I started noticing that I was so tired, I would fall asleep in meetings, and in my office. This was at the beginning of the year. I had a kidney infection in February, the week a bunch of my friends deployed. After the infection, I was so exhausted I could barely get up and go to work, this lasted about a month. The doctors kept saying it was residual effects from my kidneys, and to get rest, which is hard as a single mom. Still, I could sleep 12 hours and still feel like death warmed over. So, throughout the course of the year, I would have good days, and really bad days, but I've been missing a lot of work because I was so tired and dizzy I couldn't even dress. I was also having severe headaches, and strange muscle pain. Still sleeping a ton, not getting rest, I go to the doctor in near hysterics, exhaustion and pain had me on the brink of collapse. He sent me for labs, and a sleep study. I also started on Lexapro, and just had my one month follow up. At the follow up I was MUCH better, the last 2 weeks or so have been a big improvement, but I noticed that after my oral surgery 2 weeks ago I was having trouble with the fatigue again. I mentioned all of this to the doctor, how I felt a million times better than before, but still having headaches (he thought they were stress headaches, but nothing was helping them) and muscle pain for no apparent reason. So, based on my history, and the symptoms, he said it sounds like fibromyalgia. I upped my Lexapro, (actually changing it to Celexa because it's almost identical medications, but there is a generic Celexa) and changed to Flexeril for the head and muscle pain. I immediately saw an improvement with the Flexeril, I have felt so much better over the last couple of days. I've taken various SSRIs over the last 10 years, but never had a good experience until now, so hopefully this helps.