How do I know if I have FM? I have heard that this is often very hard to diagnose. I have a dear cyberfriend who has suffered with it for years, and many of the symptoms she has spoken of sound all too familiar to me.

I have severe foot problems that started about 13 years ago and my ankles and even knees are now involved with incredible pain, stiffness and swelling. I've lost lots of the mobility in my ankle joints and usually limp to one degree or another.

I had a lower back injury about 12 years ago, but my main problem now involves the thoracic spine, shoulder blades and top of shoulders, and neck. This is a continual burning, tight sensation, and I have been told that I have curvature and some disc degeneration. I hear grinding when I roll my head around. By the middle of the morning most days, it feels like there is a ball of molten lead from the middle of my back clear up the back of my neck, and it just gets worse all day.

This interferes with my favorite activities (harp, crochet, beadwork, reading, writing, Internet), and after being on a temp job for three weeks now, I'm having to wonder if I could really sit at a desk again for eight hours a day. Even standing at the sink to wash a few dishes is agony, much less pushing a vacuum, scrubbing a tub, etc. A trip to the grocery store does me in for the day, and going shopping is a real trial. I'll frequently take my daughter to the mall, but I'll just get a cup of coffee and find a bench instead of walking around with her.

I have had chronic fatigue problems for as long as I can remember, and in recent years, I've started having trouble with my short-term memory. I'll forget things that people have told me,etc. I can hardly make it through a day without a nap, and most days, I could take a nap by about 11 am!

I have absolutely no energy. Just keeping up with my teenager is very draining on me and my being tired and in pain all the time is no good for her either.

I have occasional bouts of insomnia, but my problem is that I usually feel as though I can't get enough sleep!

I sometimes have leg and foot cramps at night and often experience a very uncomfortable nervous feeling in my legs after long periods of sitting and sometimes while laying down. They don't twitch or move, but the best way I describe it is that it feels like the skin is moving around on my legs. Ooookkky!

I am overweight by at least 80 pounds, and even though I could eat better, I don't think I eat enough to be as overweight as I am, but the pain level makes it very hard to get motivated to move around much. I can't eat very much at one sitting, and just about anything I eat upsets me in some way--heartburn, gas, diarrhea, etc. (IBS, maybe?).

I am extremely stiff and painful all over in the morning and after sitting or driving for long periods of time.

I've been unemployed and without insurance for the better part of the past year and a half, so the stress of that has really taken its toll on me, too. Sometimes its hard for me to see any point in going on if I'm always going to be in this much pain.

I have tried 23 of the 25 biggest selling anti-inflammatories on the market and cannot tolerate them. Plus, the didn't do any good. I can take as much as 3000 mg of Tylenol or Advil or Aleve or aspirin and feel absolutely no pain relief. I did try a "med pack" of Prednisolone one time, and it had the pain and swelling in my feet almost completely gone within 36 hours, but as soon as the 6-day dose was over, it came right back with a vengeance.

I have also wondered if I might have some kind of low-level infection in my body that keeps all of this pain, stiffness and inflammation going because I was given a prescription for penicillin for an abcessed tooth a couple of years ago and after taking about 5 of them in the first two days, I had absolutely no pain in my feet. But as soon as they switched me to another antibiotic, it came right back. That was before the upper back inflammation started, so I don't know if it would have any effect on that.

The inflammation in my back gets so bad sometimes, I can feel swollen spots if I lean back flat against a wall, and my daughter tells me my back feels lumpy when she hugs me.

The worst part of it all is that I've been without insurance now for almost two years and have very little money and no way to be investigated any treatments for anything. I've even been told by three different doctors that a breast reduction might relieve the upper back pain, but I sure can't go for that without insurance!

Any suggestions? I'd be open to trying herbal/natural remedy type things also that I can get without prescription.

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to the board!
I have to tell you that to get a diagnosis the doctors must FIRST rule out every other possiblility. There are many conditions out there that mimic the same symptoms as FMS.

About anti inflammatories (NSAIDS)
most of the time you must take them on a regular basis in order for them to work. Too much of an over the counter one such as ibuprophen would not be good for you stomach. I started on Naproxen and now I am on Vioxx. If you could get to a health clinic they could try you on some samples before you put out the money.
The other thing is a pain reliever...I started out on Darvocet and now I take Ultram...
BUT the most important thing is to find out WHY YOU ARE HAVING THESE SYMPTOMS. Perhaps if you have a clinic or low cost family doctor they could at least run the necessary bloodwork and urinalysis. Please feel free to ask anything else.

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~Luv, Scoobs~

Thanks for the suggestions, Scooby. My main problem with the NSAIDS has been that my stomach can't tolerate them long enough to find out if they would eventually do any good!

And my problem with pain killers is that I can't take them and still be able to function. I'm a single parent, so I have to work, and I can't even hold my head up if I take anything strong enough to put a dent in this pain. My preferred drug in Vicodin with a chaser of Phenergan, but they're both by prescription, are pretty expensive, and put me to sleep!

I have considered going to a clinic, but I don't know of one in Houston that is in a neighborhood I would feel comfortable going to. MY SO is a veteran, but I don't know if his VA medical benefits would cover me, even if we did get married.

I've even thought about filing for disability payments, but I know that you have to have a ton of medical records to back up those claims, and then that still doesn't pay enough for two people to live on. And, with this level of discomfort, it is really hard to make it through the day. Even just driving to and from this temp job is very painful and tiring.

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to. Ditto what Scoobs said. Also, I just posted to someone else that if you type in nbc10.com then go it will take you to the news. look under health and look for the info. on getting meds. for free. I will try and post the address when my girl friend finds it. Good luck. My husband has to take Prilosec for the stomach. You need to find a doctor specialising in FMS. Like an Infectious diesease or Rhumatoid doctor. Just call around and ask. You need the doctor to fill out part of the form. Take care and good luck and let us know how your doing. Kim