Finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, 28.. I dont fit criteria? strange symptoms.

[kakk333]

Hello, I was hoping for some answers here, I know it's not really possible over the internet sometimes..  but maybe one of your has been through something similar. I have been through a lot in the last 2 years.. I have finally gone to a pain management clinic and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I don't know if I really have it or not.. but here is what is going on.

Basically, 2 years ago I went to the doctor for a pain in my lower left side, it felt like a knot in my lower left side when I would bend over. It somehow felt tied into my middle back.. Well the pain in my mid back got worse over time, I developed pain under my left ribs, then my right ribs month later.. the knot under the ribs would not go away. It got so bad that I opted in for gallbladder surgery and an exploratory surgery.. they removed my gallbladder, the exploratory surgery found nothing unusual. They said I had cholesterol streaks in my gallbladder, but I'm not sure if it really was bad because I can feel movement under those ribs still.. just not as bad. I get some relief if I lay on my stomach, something moves under those ribs but I have no idea what it is.. perhaps my hepatic flexure of my colon. All of the doctors say the only thing under there is my liver.. but how could it be moving?

Well after 2 years, I went to a pain management clinic, they said I have fibromyalfia.. I have been taking norco 3/325mg x 3 a day for a while now.. It is the only thing that takes the pain away.. but I am so tired of feeling depressed on these meds... and I can't afford to go to the doctor anymore. My deductable resets every year and it is $1500. I tried to wean off the drugs but the pain is still there, and just covered up I've realized. The gnawing in my mid back is horrible, it does not ease in any position. It is impossible to work if i dont take the medicine.

Over the years, I have finally learned what can increase and decrease the pain.. and I hope this will be useful information. 6 months ago I started playing the guitar to relieve stress, and I've noticed that if I am pain free during the day.. and play guitar leaning forward for more than 5 minutes, my mid back pain will worsen the rest of the day, where I will need to take my medicine again.  Any activity that requires leaning forward for more than 5 minutes very badly aggravates my mid back. I've also noticed if I sleep on my back, It will hurt in the morning, very stiff and painful (we have a new bed also, I know its not that) If I sleep on my side, in a fetal position the pain will be much less in the morning.  If I bend my torso left and right, I can feel pain in between the lower ribs on my sides, I believe it is the muscles.. but I am not sure. The muscles never "heal" and I don't understand it.

Sometimes I will get that knot feeling still, under my right side ribs.. I can feel it is hitting a nerve at times, and can feel it up to my collar bone. If I lay on my left side, there is the sound of bowel movement under the ribs, I am not sure if it is actually my colon moving or stomach or what.. but it feels related for sure.

When I reach behind and push beside my spine in my mid back, It is sore to the touch.. I believe I was touching a nerve the other night.. and could feel that knot in my lower left abdomen when I was touching that spot in my back the other night, very strange.  I have had every test in the book, multiple mri's (always lying flat, really wanted to try sitting up mri) I have had blood work, emg's (not really sure if they got the right area on that) ct scans, I have tried cymbalta, lyrica.. you name it. I was hoping any of you might have gone through something similar, and perhaps have an answer for me. I have not tried completely stopping the norco since the surgery, I had a theory that maybe the surgery healed me and it's norco causing it somehow? But I can't risk withdrawling, wasting a month of work in pain, losing my job, and that theory being incorrect. I don't know what to do, I cannot function without the medicine covering up the pain, I don't want to live like this the rest of my life.

Doctors don't believe me, and this sounds impossible.. but there really is something wrong. I would consider myself to be a fairly normal person, I don't drink or do drugs, I have a good heart, but something is not right with my body. Please help if you are familiar with this situation, I am in a bind.

[mrsjt50]

I am sorry you are dealing with so much. Let me share my experiances. and first off, sorry for the bad spelling. Also, before I forget, wanted to share with you what I seen on Dr. Oz show. He was doing a show on kidneys. he had the audiance stand up and put both hands around on there back, close to the spine area, around to the middle of the back. It struck me when you wrote about your back pain by your spine. Just a thought. Anyway, I started having pain in my ribs, It hurt when I ate. I could feel things moving also. The doc thought I was nuts. Also, when I did eat, It was as though I could feel the food moving all through my colon, pain all the way. I started eating lite, and it was not as bad. I also to ths day, am very picky as to what I eat. some foods still hurt. I had my gallbladder out last may. Doc said it should remove the pain. I still have it. Other doc said I have some kind of syndrome after the removal of gallbladder. I have gastritus also. This also causes a lot of pain, gas under the ribs, bloating stomach. I deal with IBS also. I had seen so many doctors GI's. The back pain also. As I sit here at my computer, leaning over to read, the pain gets pretty bad. I have been to a chiropractor. Went to him for about 6 weeks, then I went to thyrapy for my back. It helped for the most part, but I still deal with pain. I have two lower 25-26 disk that keeps me from being able to stand more that 10-15 min. I have to be in constant motion or I cant walk anymore. I was diagnosed with FM two years ago. I have bladder and bowel spasam's. And i wonder if the pain you are discribing on both sides could be spasam's also. I complained to my doc about the pain on both sides.. they gave me hyoscyamine. it helped. I get a lot of body spasam's, body stiffness, pain, fatigue, cant sleep due to pain. I cant lay on my back, hurt laying on my side. I sleep in a chair most nights. Headaches, brain fog and blurred eyes. Not everyone with FM has the same symtoms, but what we do have in common is chronic. Either pain or fatigue, or both.
I hope this was a little helpful. Just coming of pain meds and my mind is a little scrambled still.

[kakk333]

Figured I would post a followup since it's been 5 years. I may have been a little over excited in my post there and seemed all over the place.

I ended up figuring out what the problem was.

It ended up being alcohol and caffeine in my case. I ended up cutting them out completely for two months and all of my pains went away. It was extremely difficult to do and I thought it would be a waste of time but in the end it wasn't.

Whenever I have even a single beer about a day or two later the back pain returns along with stomach acid and sometimes side pains. I am just one of the unlucky ones with an alcohol intolerance. With the caffeine I get weird twitches and nerve issues/muscle pains that seem to mimick fibromyalgia. Also headaches from coffee, etc.

On top of that the vicodin back in 2011 was only a bandaid and making me more sensitive to the pain. That was very difficult to get off of, and I wasn't on a very large dose.

Anyways, just wanted to let you guys know.

[blue_violet]

I was going to say referred pain as well... With fibro, not only do we have various tender spots but we also get trigger points. A good massage therapist might be helpful to work them out for you.

Hope you find some relief soon!

[k9helper]

I would try an Osteopath if I were you. They are non-invasive so no pills,needles or surgery. It sounds like you could have things out of alignment.I say Osteopath over chiropractor because the osteopath is able to put everything back into place not just your spine. I also wonder if what you are feeling is referred pain. Something may be pinched or squeezed off in another spot but you are feeling it in your rib area.

I hope this helps some and that you get some relief soon.

[supermomma531]

Have you tried physio therapy? Some people can handle it and some people can't. I find that a tens machine is great for relieving my muscle knots with added heat pads as I cannot stand that touch of anything cold. It makes my muscles cramp up even more than they should be. Have you ever had x-rays done from head to toe? I know that you had mri's, ct's, emg's, etc but they x-rays can show if you have anything physically wrong with your bones. Ultrasounds can show any muscle tearing, etc. Also too some people need to take more than one or two pain meds to keep control of their pain, there are also other types of sleeping pills that can help to relax your body at night, it really depends on what is wrong with your health. Here is a list of meds that I am on and still having to find the right dose and medication: tryptophan, zopliclone, amitriptaline,gabapentin, extra strength Tylenol and Tylenol with arthritis meds, citalepram. These are all of my pain and sleeping meds. Without these to help relieve the pain, I wouldn't be able to walk or take care of my family or work or live life. I went about ten years suffering this pain until I couldn't take it no more. Sometimes in order to get more out of life and feel "normal" we need to do the things we absolutely hate doing or swear we'd never do. I'm not trying to push the meds onto you but you really need to think about what is going to make your life better. I personally have issues from head to toe, literally. So for me, if I have to take meds everyday for the rest of my life to make life more bearable for me and my family, then I'll do so. Otherwise I'd feel like I was being useless and that doesn't fly with me. I hope you get better really soon. Take care.

[kakk333]

sorry for all of the typos above, I basically just started writing everything fast.