Just a couple of questions cause I can't seem to find the answers on the net (lots of opinions tho)

(1) Can fibromyalgia be caused by trauma or maybe you have it and it's dormant and an injury triggers it?
(2) How long does this last? Stress definitely makes mine worse. If you take away stress factors, like job, can it reduce the fibro?
(3) What can you take for depression that's not addictive?
(4) Anybody on vitamins and what kinds seem to help?
(5) Does diet matter?
(6) Any good books on this? Layman's terms please.

Sorry for all the questions but I've got Devlin's books, both the fibro and MPS (I think), anyway they're big paperback books. Hard for me to get through. Any easier ones?
Hugs.

Forgot, one more thing. I take wellbutrin 150mg daily, it changed my life. Chronic pain takes its toll on us and many suffer from depression. My doctor says it won't be addictive and I have no side effects. Paxil or prozac for me was horrible with side effects. Have a better day

guess i messed up, wrote 1st page and the page just disappeared,so you got my additional comments on well butrin and didn't receive the 1st pg. Let me try to ans some of your questions. Fibro- no cure. Just learn things to help control it. Diet does make a big difference. For me I eat much less meat, much more vegs, very little caffine etc. Use an energy blend powder: We go to HiHealth and get Premier green, has spirulina, 1000mg, 5 fiber blend, 8 cluture probiotic blend, enzyme-active juice concentrates. Barly Green is another good one, I like the taste of premier green better. Take teaspoons several times a day, put powder under tongue, take a big drink of water, slosh around and swallow. Also, the most important breakthru for me is Liquid calcium/mag. I take 1 tablesoons Am & Pm w/extra magnesium. You have to play with this some, when you have diarerra, back off just a little, the cal/mag coats the nerve endings all thru your body, skin etc. In about 3 days the pain will practically go away. Be sure you find a liquid not having carbs or sugars, at least very close to O on both. Your digestion and assimulation is probably affected and most fibro folks have candida albicans (yeast) and it has overwhelmed your body - you can tell this if you grave sweets, yeast breads, sugars etc. Yeast robs the nutrients from your food.

boy did you hit the nail on the head!! I have two ain food groups, coke and chocolate. I crave crabs -- mostly bread, sweat rolls, anything with sugar. Never thought about it.

Right I'm just really suffering with severe joint pain.

Do you think an injury can start all this and it can like lay dormant and then wham become active?

What kind of injury did you have?

Have you had an epidural with Depo-Medrol?

Check out websites for arachnoiditis

I was mopping my kitchen floor and had some chairs on the wet floot. I slipped and went forward over a chair, jamming my right foot under the bottom chair rail. I immediately felt a huge electric shock from my foot to my head. My top of foot, that big bony part, turned white and red. About 4-5 days later I got a horrible burning sensation in my foot. Went to doc, referred me to orthro specialist who said rsd. had 8 blocks. One of the iv's during the blocks, also caused that burning sensation in my right arm.

They gave me neurotin and I think it's helping. I was previously diagnosed with fibro a couple of years ago. I'm still not sure I accept rsd tho. I'd much rather have fibro, believe you me. My main symptoms are: soft stools, can't think, sensitive to meds, muscle pain mostly around hips, neck and shoulders, knees feel weak, tmj, the symptoms go on and on.

the right leg just sort of feels funny like a slight tingling. It's not sensitive to touch but massages to foot will bring tears to my eyes, they hurt so bad.

I sure would like to figure this out. I'm so tired all the time, I mean exhausted. I could go to sleep and wake up 100 years from now. The neurotin has caused weight gain and I'm very unhappy about that.

Stress from my job is a 10 plus and that makes this all worse.

I wish I knew what to do..... Most people get tired of me but I'm not crazy, honest, I'm not.........

No Dayton, you are not crazy, but it sure helps when you have Fibro. I have read everything I can get my hands on about Fibro. Trauma can cause it and long term traumatic experiences... like years of abuse, etc.
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, etc.

There is no cure. Just find a sympathic Dr that will listen to you and work with you. Thats the hardest part.

Start keeping notes now about your pain,etc. Start a medical journal. This will help when you get to the point where you can't work. Make sure when you call in sick you give specfic like "extreme joint pain", etc. This will help you if you ever try for disability.

I am sorry you have this horrible disease that not everyone understands or can explain. It is different for all of us, but yet the same for most parts. Hang in there and hang around here. We will all help you get thru the days and nights...

Hi Dayton,

Yes, trauma can trigger the fibro, but at least in my case, after the trauma (a very bad car accident) when the symptoms got much worse, I realize that I have had the symptoms since I was very young. They're just a million times worse since the accident.

Yes, stress will intensify the symptoms and bring on flare-ups. I too had a job at which the stress level was off the chart. I worked 20 hour days sometimes, 7 days a week. If I tried to take a day off, I was on the cell phone all day, if I was home sick, they wouldn't leave me alone. I finally had to leave that job after 7 years, my health is better for leaving, but the damage that was done during those years will probably never be repaired. Well, actually, I have to say that in some ways, some things are repaired, I was actually walking with a cane for a while before I finally quit that job. Now I'm not using the cane anymore.

You may have to experiment with various meds, seems like some work well for one but do nothing for another person. I have had a lot of luck with Neurontin, Flexeril and Celebrex. The anti-depressant I'm on now is Celexa, I can't say that I'm real impressed with it, but I've only been on it a few weeks. I took Effexor for a long time, it worked pretty well.

Diet does matter. Try to drink lots of water and take in a lot of fiber, keep your system "cleaned out" from all the toxins as much as possible.

Hope this is helpful information, hang in there!

Dayton, thanks for replying and sharing. It is so helpful. The info you share is supportive because here, I find we all fit in. Finding commonalities and offering each other tips is great! It sure helps to be amoung those who understand how whacky these symptoms cause one to feel!


I haven't been diagnosed yet with what my symptoms amount to, and as I understand it, it may take a year for the health problem to actually rear its ugly head. Autoimmune is suspected.

Look forward to keeping in touch with all on the healthboard! See ya next time! :p

The Ca Sunflower :p

It's just my opinion, but I believe that my fibro started from constant overwhelming stress. I was in a very bad marriage for 9 years, and started getting my first chronic symptoms about 9 months before I filed for divorce. Besides of natural things that happen to people like deaths in the family, the 9 years I was married was the worst, most nightmarrish time of my life. The stress was constant and severe. I can't even explain to you what it was like being me.

Unfortunately, 7 years later and the fibro has only gotten worse. I still function. I work full time and at 43 am in my last semester of college to get my BA, but the stress and lack of relaxation time is a killer.

I'm due to have a total knee replacement next month due to a congenital defect in my legs that caused my knee caps to rub away at my joints until there is nothing left. I walk with a cane and the only meds I take are Vioxx every day and vallium only occasionally. The Vioxx isn't working that well now that the weather has gotten cold, and the vallium doesn't really seem to help anymore with the amount of stress in my life right now. The fact that I might be losing my job soon due to downsizing doesn't help the stress level any.

I am a firm believer in the fact that stress alone can bring on FM, yet I also know it is hereditary. I have an aunt, cousin, and neice who also have FM, and all of us were diagnosed at different times and different ages. The youngest being 28 and oldest being 68.

Stress is the most debilitating part of this illness for me, yet antidepresants knock me out for days, no matter how strong they are. So I just live with it.