hi there,

i'm coming to the conclusion that i may have fibromyalgia. i have been suffering from pain since october, and it's getting worse and not going away.

i went to the doctors recently, about something else, but mentioned this pain to him. he did some blood tests for rhumatic pains, but they came back clear. i'm not sure what to do now.

my pains are pretty much all over. elbows, wrists, hands, knees, thighs, buttocks sometimes, shoulders, neck, ribs, feet. i also get muscle spasms pretty badly. my sleep is disturbed, but it always has been.

i have a couple of questions about the pains:
a) i seem to have a kind of pulsating pain arcross my back - it hurts all the time, but then i also have a constant throb too.
b) i have pain in my feet constantly. i am carrying a fair bit of weight, so that is definitely going to contribute to it, but there are mornings where i literally hobble when i walk.
c) we have a 'swamp cooler' here - it's an evaporative cooler, so it makes the air really damp. my husband gets hot, so he puts it on at night. my sheets feel damp, and i'm sure that this is making my symptoms worse.
d) my joints click, very noisily.

- is any of that 'normal' for fibromyalgia?

can anyone shed any light on what i've written - i'm not sure what to do next.

another bit of info, if it helps, i'm in my mid 30s and i also suffer from p.c.o.s.

thanks in advance - i am really having trouble dealing with this pain now. i thought it was all in my mind, but it's not. i really am in pain and it's starting to really affect my life.

Hi aleenia,

Sorry to hear you are suffering & in pain. It's very possible you do have fibro, a diagnostic label that applies to one set of symptoms that can have any number of different physical causes in different people. Tracking down the particular physical causes is most helpful to finding treatment that helps.

Fibro is a diagnosis that is given after ruling out other potential causes for the pain. Looks like perhaps some of that has been done. Many fibro specialists find that for the majority of fibro sufferers, hormonal imbalances play a large role in the pain, and must be addressed. Unfortunately, many MDs don't keep up with research in fibro, miss easily treated hormonal connections, and skim over these issues & simply treat with painkillers. While that can be helpful in the short term, in the longer term that tends to backfire.

PCOS sufferers, while obviously having ovarian hormone glitches, often have imbalances across the entire endocrine axis. Thyroid & adrenal issues are relatively common, both in PCOS and in fibromyalgia.

I would strongly recommend that you have a complete thyroid panel done. There is no substitute test for free t3 & free t4 testing (FT3, FT4). Many docs will order total T3, uptakes, TSH, etc, but you want to know that your free thyroid hormone levels are in the upper third of the normal range. Likewise, it's important to have your adrenal function thoroughly tested. Minimally a 24 hr. urine testing for adrenal metabolites. Sometimes in PCOS the adrenals go into high gear. Even if free thyroid hormone levels are good, adrenal overfunction creates an imbalance that can mimic low thyroid and/or fibro symptoms.

If you are interested in learning more about fibro, I highly recommend the book, From Fatigued to Fantastic, by Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, who is himself both a fibro sufferer & fibro specialist. I got my first copy at the public library, but later purchased the most recent edition. This book is packed with over 400 pg. of thoughtful commentary on conventional medical, alternative med, and self-help strategies for fibro.

Best wishes.

thank you very much for your reply, elmhar. i will check out that publication. also, i'm being referred to an endo, so i will ask for those hormone tests, along with all the others they're going to give me for pcos. hopefully they can help a bit.

i went out for lunch with my husband today, to a mexican restaurant, and we had a couple of rather strong margaritas. i have to say, after two of those, i didn't feel much. i know this ISN'T the way to go (lol), but do other people with fibromyalgia also find that their symptoms go away (or lessen - i could still feel pains in my right elbow) after a couple of drinks?

i hope that's not an inappropriate question.

Hi Aleenia! I am sorry about the new possible dx with fibro. When I first learned of it is seemed like serving living hell on a silver platter. But that was before I got out of anger zone and into acceptance.
One thing you said about the drinks helping. I am sure many others will frown on that. But....I wanted to be my husbands old wife and friend and decided to have 2 mixed drinks with him a few weeks back. And even though they tasted so good and lessened the pain. Within an hour I felt immediatley hung over and almost threw up.
Now I know at least for the time being I can't drink at all:mad: So oh well. I am sure a few drinks at a Mexican restaraunt won't hurt you if you felt fine after.
At least you had fun right????
Bye
Deena:wave:

hi i am new here. started to see a rheumotologist back in april. have lots of crokked fingers with nodules on knuckles. He immediately checked all trigger points and told me he is pretty sure i have fibro but cannot diagnose it in one visit. saw him again 2 weeks ago and he wants multiple blood tests to check for lupus, rheum arthritis, and had a deep concer that my thyroid wasn't working right although my test blood tests are fine. low and behold had a thyroid ultrasound done and i ahve an enlarged right side with multiple nodules. nuclear scan to come next week. also have a problem with alcohol. not a big drinker but like a couple on special occassions. for 6 months i can't tolerate any. makes me sick and hungover immediately. sometimes after a half drink. i'm not happy being dx with fibro or for that matter the thyroid problem and possibly rhem arthritis or lupus but it did answer alot of my questions and i don't feel crazy anymore.