Welcome & Introduce yourself to the Fibromyalgia/CFS Forum!

[dustybrown]

Hello and welcome to the Fibromyalgia/CFS forum on MedHelp. This forum is a place for people to come and share experiences with FMS and CFS. Some of you may have a diagnosis from your doctor, some of you may be seeking an answer for undiagnosed symptoms and some of you may be a relative or friend of one who is suffering. This is a great place to learn more and to gain support from others who suffer as well.

In addition to the community here, MedHelp also offers tools to help you and your doctor in your road to wellness. Fibromyalgia and CFS can be so intricate and can have so many different symptoms. Due to this, it is very helpful that MedHelp offers health trackers for us to utilize. We can track our progress and especially our flare ups. Below are just a few trackers that I find useful.

• CFS/FMS Tracker - http://www.medhelp.org/land/health-trackers
• Pain Tracker - http://www.medhelp.org/land/pain-tracker
• Mood Tracker - http://www.medhelp.org/land/mood-tracker
• Weight Tracker - http://www.medhelp.org/land/track-weight-loss

MedHelp also offers a plethora of “encyclopedia style” information available through the Health Topics tab at the top of the page. If you follow the links below you can learn more about Fibromyalgia and CFS, both topics of which are available on MedHelp.

http://www.medhelp.org/medical-information/show/124/Fibromyalgia

http://www.medhelp.org/medical-information/show/636?section_id=27670#sec_27670

I urge you to introduce yourself below and tell us a little about what brought you to the Fibromyalgia/CFS Forum. Again, welcome to MedHelp and the Fibromyalgia/CFS forum!

Sincerely,

Your Community Leader,
Dustybrown

[hermitess]

Hi everyone. I'm a 39 year old female with Fibromyalgia, migraines and other super-fun, unrelated pain-causing stuff. ;)

I don't usually do forums. I tend to like real-time chat better, but it was suggested to me that I join some support forums for chronic pain... so here I am. Nice to meet you all.

[carolinasnyder]

I am a 40 yr. oldd mom of 2 who has recently been diagnosed with several "diseases or issues" I have depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, bursitis in my left hip(only)  a herniated disc (l5s1), joint pain with a knee replacement @ 30! Youngest one my doctor ever did without injury he said. I'm on a lot of meditation of course, go to physical therapy and the chiropractor. I still suffer...... Minot sure if this could be the right symptoms for here or not. Even with being diagnosed isn't there anything we can do? Oh, and the  long term use of prednisone and Lyrica made me gain weight! Anyone think this may all be connected? I can't remember anything with out writing it down or setting an alarm...which is why I started this to begin with........

[TahoeJuls67]

Hi, I'm Julie, and I'm new to MedHelp, and new to this Forum. I've just recently been diagnosed with Fibro and am still just taking it all in. For years I've had a number of symptoms that I had no idea were related under this one umbrella.....migraines, fatigue, occasional forgetfulness, all over body aches-like I had a constant beginning of the flu, low grade fevers with no explanation, IBS, back problems, knee problems.... OMG, I thought my body was just out of control, that I was aging at an unusually rapid rate, or something crazy. Several doctors treated me for each isolated problem, but no one put the puzzle together for me until my Kaiser primary doctor finally looked at my history, and listened to my constant complaint of the fatigue and body aches, and he referred me to a rheumatologist. After a slew of lab tests, thorough exams, neuro and cardio exams... I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.
    As the doctor asked me all of the questions about symptoms (things I had never even thought of) it all started to come together, and I thought "OMG, she finally gets it!" She knew exactly what I had been feeling and suffering through all of this time! She has referred me for acupuncture, that I'm in the process of getting scheduled. I just joined a gym so that I can get into a low-impact exercise and stretching routine, and our entire family has decided to take this as an opportunity to clean out our pantry and fridge, and opt for healthy options. I will not let this define me or label me. The diagnosis for me, was just a confirmation that what I was feeling was real! And now, I can move forward and learn what to do about them!
     Its not a walk in the park. I'm in pain every day. Getting out of bed is a struggle. My body aches, I'm tired, I'm nauseous from the pain and the fatigue...my knees hurt...my back is screaming. I get needles and knives through my legs and feet, and my IBS flares up almost daily. I have to try to take my morning shower, get myself together, and go to work when I'm scheduled, keeping my secret...I've only shared with a few co-workers that I'm close to. Not ready to give in yet, I push myself to keep going, afraid if I give in, it will overtake me.
      I thank God each and every day that He wakes me up, that He stands by me and gets me thru my day. I pray for His strength to keep me going, and His comfort when the pain meds give out halfway through my shift. My faith keeps me going, my love for myself, and my love for my family and wanting to show my kids to keep fighting no matter what. NEGU - Never Ever Give Up!

[chocolatechipcake]

Hi everyone.  I'm a 42 yo woman and single mother of 2 teens.  I have PTSD and major depression from years of childhood abuse and neglectful parenting. I am currently on antidepressants and go to therapy which have saved me.  

Although I am now a successful career woman and have control over my life, overall my life has been a very stressful one.  It is the constant stress over years and years that I believe triggered Chron's Disease at age 33 (no sx prior to then), then last year neuropathy followed some months later by fibromyalgia.

Over the past 3 years my ability to exercise steadily decreased.  I can go to yoga and walk but that's about it.  I used to run 10K trail runs before all this started.  I experience episodic musculoskeletal aching pain.  Sometimes a burning sensation from my lower back down to my mid thigh.  Headaches have started recently.

I am interested in ways to homeopathic/natural ways manage fibro pain. I don't want to take a bunch of pills everyday.  So far, yoga helps even though I have to push through it.  The breathing and blood flow helps at lot.  Sleep also helps so I sleep a little more than I used to.  

Glad to be here and look forward to your posts.

Abby

[cdfoley]

Hello everyone.  I have a brother who is retired and suffering fibromyalgia that is making his life miserable.  He does not drive and does not have a computer, but I had the idea to join an online community and, as his surrogate, find out about possible treatments.  We would like to find a good doctor in the Fresno area. So far the general doctors have prescribed pain killers and MORE pain killers.  He is in a fog most of the time.  I am so worried about him.  Thank you for any ideas you have for 1) getting me up to speed quickly on this condition, and 2) finding a doctor who has been successful with treatments.
Carol

[Fibrojen]

Hi my name is Jen. I have been diagnosed with fibro for about 30 years. Ever since it was a made up diagnosis. I have tried just about everything. Antiseizure meds. like neurontin, antidepressants like elavil, I've had injections in my spine, I've had acupuncture, which does help by the way, and I've swam thru the natural herbs and vitamins. I've spent months in bed feeling scared and sorry for myself. Oh, and the money I've wasted is sad. I found a doctor that agreed to put me in her pain management program which really amounted to a once a month mandatory appointment to get MS Contin and have regular drug testing done. I was in this program for almost 10 years. I started taking MS Contin at about 50mg twice a day, I think. It's been a while. It worked great. In fact, the medication causes constipation which worked well for me because I have spastic colon..I followed the rules for a long time, but I got tired of going to the doctors every month. I had to follow all the rules, regular checkups, mammograms, colonoscopy, ect. If I didn't I would not get my meds., so I started getting tired of it. Since I felt pretty good I started to get a little cocky and decided it was time to get out from under their thumb. I talked to my doctor, whom I'm very fond of, and decided to lower my dose. I eventually went down to 10mg., once a day. It still worked pretty good. I was kinda hoping that my body had just unlearned all the pain. She cautioned me. She remembered the old whiney me. Anyway, over my Christmas vacation I weaned myself completely off the morphine. It wasn't too hard. Maybe because it was such a low dose. The plan was to start on cymbalta after, which I did. There were a lot of side effects, terrible gastro issues. Terrible! I work full time with the public, that was hard. I stuck with it and at about 4 months, the side effects somewhat lessened. I started taking probiotics and it really helped. But I never liked how my head was. I was always in a fog, always forgetting. Just a space cadet, I'm prone to that anyway, I didn't need that and eventually after almost a year I decided I had to get off of it. That was harder to get off than the morphine! All of the side effects x3! It took well over a month!
I am off everything now and the pain is back with a vengeance. I was very lucky to have the 10 years of relief. The one thing I am comforted with is that I'm pretty sure I'm not dying, and I also know it's not just in my head. I'm sorry that there are so many people abusing narcotics because MS Contin at a low dose, time released is the most effective relief I've had. It made my life possible.
I work at a physically demanding job on purpose so that I will get up and get going. I also work with the public to keep myself from isolation. Something that a person wants when they feel sorry for themselves like I did. I see there has been progress in research and I'm hoping that there will be a cure for this horrible disorder. It's a terrible curse and I hope they will finally tell us what it really is! In the meantime I'm hoping to find some relief that won't require me being judged constantly. I'm going to look into Chinese herbs and keep reminding myself that I'm not dying.