have it all!!!! all of these things seem to have symptoms that mimic each other and i am having a hard time distinguishing which is causing certain symptoms. was just dx with fibro about a week ago, diabetes 2 1/2 years ago, last period was march 11, 2004, and just dx with an enlarged thyroid with a cold cyst. thyroid has not been treated yet, have an appt on sept. 11th. diabetes is diet controlled and doing great, menopause is what it is, fibro is being treated so far with trigger point injections since i am medication sensitive.
symptoms:
25 pound weight gain in 3 mos. all in upper arms and belly
fatigue sometimes can't get up at all and sometimes need to nap in the middle of the day
leathery skin
sweating, sweating and more sweating
pains all over body
blurred vision at times
palpitaions
anxiety
depression
insomnia at times
trouble swallowing ( not food just saliva)
brain fog
irritability
i think that's all of them but i'm sure i missed something. can anyone distinguish which disease is causing what?
If menopause is contributing, get your level of free estradiol tested. If it is low, estradiol replacement (bioidentical compounded hormone or Estrace) can be very helpful for many of the symptoms you've listed. I'm not a fan of synthetic HRT like Premarin as it can trigger autoimmunity.
Get free testosterone tested as well. It often dips in menopause. Gals need only a small fraction of what guys have, but that fraction is critical for energy, muscle repair, & even bone density. Mostly it's sold (by big Pharma) as a libido enhancer for women, and it works there too.
Trouble swallowing undoubtedly relates to your thyroid issue. Are you going to have FNA biopsy of the cold cyst, or just wait & see/recheck?
Thyroid probs are very common in postmenopausal women. The best tests of thyroid function for fibro sufferers are free T3, free T4, & thyroid antibodies. The vast majority of docs will treat based on TSH alone, but that is less helpful.
I am med sensitive as well, and find that hormone replacement has been very critical for improving function w/fibro.
hi icc,
let me see if i can help. being post meno helps, giggle. the palpitations, leathery skin, sweats, irratibility, and some anxiety are all the gifts of menopause. thankfully they will end. nice not to bleed isn't it? i love the hot flashes. like a rollercoaster within. love them in winter when i am so cold.
pain all over body, blurred vision, depression, insomnia, trouble swallowing, brain fog, weight gain and fatigue are fibro related. thyroid therapy will help with your fatigue and may help with your weight issue and swallowing. it will not fix it. since they are also aspects of fibro they will continue. weight gain may be due to meds you are on and thyroid. especially if you take antidepressants.
hang in there. it does get easier. in time you learn to distinguish the aspects of each issue within. you will also learn to simply be as you are. there is much joy to be had. know that you will find your way to peace with all that your body is going thru.
i have had a long time to adapt to all the changes within. strokes, bone loss, rheumatoid arthritis, heck the list could go on and on, ya know? we all have a choice when our bodies alter. we can adapt, get all the info we can so that our adaptation is easier and go on with our lives. or we can sink in the muck of fear. waste of time and energy. i tried it. boring!
take a few deep slow breaths and relax. you can do this. you are a powerful being with the ability to evolve and adapt.
peace,
bluelakelady
ps. i do not recommend hormone replacement as the side effects are not worth it. after this last stroke i quit taking estrace. i prefer to have thin skin, hot flashes and all the rest rather than have another stroke. there are topical hormone creams at health stores. my auntie uses them and says they really help.
Last edited by bluelakelady; 08-30-2006 at 08:20 AM.
Hey, a guy checking in.. I'm the male with the heat flashes..Been having them for over a year..Got my fibro dx this past spring after donating blood for a year and a slue of test$$$$..Doc thinks the saw palmetto I take to keep the prostrate down is somehow mimicking estrogen in my body..My wife and I are going thru change of life together..I get the heat flashes she has the testiness..Although when your body temp spikes( on my private short trip to the tropics) , stay out of my way heading for the icepacks in the freezer ..On top of that with the hashi's I am in sweats when it gets 68 degrees or less..Crazy huh..But at least I can talk shop with the girls with the heat flash deal..Anyway with the run over by the truck feeling all the time tops it off. The grace of God gets me thru..K
hi k,
welcome, don't believe we have met. i love your sense of humor. your wife is a fortunate woman. you get it!, and that is rare indeed. thank you so much for the chuckle this morning. your humor delights me. welcome to the chick circle my man! the tropics, yea let's all go there. come on hot flashes! transport us.
peace and giggles,
bluelakelady
you people are great.
bluelakelady--------my gyn put me on HRT patches about a year ago. i put one on and within a week i started to blled and still was a month later. i told him not getting periods was the only highlight of menopaus e so he could where the patch LOL
the rest of it. i see the endo for the first time on sept 11th. took me from june 26th to get an appt so my thyroid is not being treated and i don't even know if she'll want a FNA, remove part of it or just treat it. in limbo with that. the rheumi has given me many trigger point injections which really help. keeps telling me he suspects fibro since everything else has been outruled (MS< RA< lupus) but isn't giving me meds becasue of my sensitivity to them. am going to see another gyn whose specialty is menopausal women. maybe with some luck she will check my hormone levels since my current dr. just says use HRT it works. i though it was horrible and didn't do anything for the sweating. i'll be back when i know more. thanks to all
Actually i was wondering about the whole menopause /fibro issue also. It seems like my symptoms have gotten worse since i've entered menopause. The achyness etc is a lot worse. On Wed. i'm seeing a holistic GYN and i'm hoping to get some answers. I have had my thyroid checked in the last 6mos and it was fine. Believe it or not ..i've never had a hot flash..just an occasional night sweat. I'm 54 and feeling kind of left out. All my friends are saying "what do you mean you've never had a hot flash!" That's just not right " . Now i have a new symptom. I get little "stabbing" like pains in different area's. My feet ,hands ,down my leg,etc. It doesn't last that long ,but happens through out the day. Does anyone else have that? I'm reading a self help book on fibro right now ,and i'm basically already doing what they suggest. Reg. exercise, eating well, 5HTP,moist heat ,but am now thinking about getting massages and accupuncture as that was also suggested. Anything i'm missing ??? I want to fight this ,and i'm not going to give in.Wahtever it takes i'm going to do it ... good luck to you all....
kathryn+2---welcome to the world of menopause and fibro. yes i have pinchy kind of pains throught the day in various different body parts. the only thing i would add to your list is yoga and aquatic therapy which i have heard are both really effective for people with fibro. please don't feel left out. i'm jealous. i will be a happy woman when the sweating vanishes. it's horrible. my poor family is turning blue i have the thermostat so low. LOL
i'm not going through menopause (i don't think...), but i do suffer from pcos (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and i am absolutely sure that my fibromyalgia has something to do with my hormones going absolutely haywire lately.
i have been plotting my monthly cycles as my husband and i are ttc, but in the last three months, i am all over the place. having very long bleeds and very long cycles. i noticed the other day, looking at my chart, that my symptoms of FM started around the same time that my cycle started going weird.
anyway, i just wanted to say that i am very sure that there is a link between hormones and FM. which hormones, i can't say. i wish i knew and i wish the doctors would look more widely at the symptoms. i gave my doctor all kinds of information, and you think that they would 'join the dots', but they just look blankly at me...
i here you. i have been seeing 6 different dr. for about 6 mos. evertime i go they tell me to come back in 30 days but i still leave without knowing anything else.
Well ,swimming is my exercise of choice and I love it. They also have a heated whirlpool there that i'm going to try when i get through with my laps. I've worked my way up to a 1/2hr of laps now with only a couple of breaks to catch my breath. When i first started about a month ago i could only do one lap before i had to stop and catch my breath. Still ,there are people there that are older than i am that can swim continuously for an hour. I'm just amazed at their stamina. My daughter has a yoga tape and it's pretty funny to see me trying to hold those poses. Most of the time we both end up laying on the floor in giggles. I think that birkum yoga would be great to try. That's where they heat the room to 110* and you really sweat!
I can relate to the whole Dr. thing. My reg G.P that i've been seeing for years sent me out the door with no diagnosis or help when i tested neg. for R.A. twice ,and my chiropracter doesn't believe in the diagnosis of fibro. She says it's too broad of a diagnosis,and Dr's use it when they can't or won't figure out what's really going on . So i'm getting all my info and self help from books right now. I don't even know who i would see. What kind of Dr. do you see for fibro?
Well ,if i find out anything helpfull from the holistic GYN i'm seeing on Wed .I'll pass it on. She's been highly recommended to me.
Wow..Swimming..exercise......Only in my dreams.....I use to mountian bike with my wife til this fibro/thyroid stuff hit....If I just exert myself to much doing some chores around the house, I pay for it the next few days..It's like I just emptied the last few ounces of energy out of my cells..I all of a sudden feel achey/fluish and nauseous.. I have to immediatly crash..K
Last edited by HisKid1973; 08-31-2006 at 09:53 PM.
dear icc,
i went thru 17 doctors before i found my staff of helpers. i now have 7 doctors who assist me in my journey. they are wonderful listeners who really do care about me the person. do not settle for less. there are many doctors to choose from so keep searching. it was a hassle, one that proved to be well worth the effort.
hey k,
it takes starting slow and working your way up. exercise is vital to feeling better. sure it will kick your fanny at first. we all go soft in the first year or two. such pain and fear of pain immobilizes us. worst mistake we can make. i was wheelchair bound 11 years ago. now i swim, hike, kayak, dance, garden and tho i may pay the next day i do not pay for a week like i used to.
it takes time to build your stamina back up. it will never be where it was when we were healthy, however it will be more than it is today.
please consider some kind of starting point back to body strength. you won't regret it. sure you will be in pain, but hey, you are already in pain right? may as well be hurting cause you had yourself some fun doing something healthy that you love.
for us all,
never forget that you are still you. special, wonderful, adaptable and worthy of the highest level of care.
peace,
bluelakelady
ps. atascadero i am really proud of you. keep it up!!!! in water i only weigh 12.5lbs. gotta love it!!!
Hey Blue..Morning to ya...Hey it's not the pain..I am dealing with that..There is just something wrong. I don't know if it's part thyroid or the wacky hormones that I got,plus some kind of psoratic arth that the rheumy is talkin about.. It's the chronic fatigue..it is like I am always living on my last two ounces of energy.. It would be a workout just getting my mountain bike out of the shed. My testosterone is supposedly OK at my age. I try to do the best I can with getting my projetcs done around the mobile home here...My last job was building construction/remodeling..What I could do in a day now takes me a week or more. I guess we all have different issues and differences how this affects each of us.Thank God my SSDI went thru after 8 months. Thanks for sharing..May God Bless you...Kim
Last edited by HisKid1973; 09-01-2006 at 05:56 AM.
hi all------ to answer some questions but always forget who asked. i see a rhematologist for the fibro and i love him. am seeing an endo in a week for the thyroid. here she is great. love my pcp who takes care of everything even my mind unless he thinks it's time for a specialist. if i don't like the one he sends me to i tell him and he recommends someone else. he tries to keep my personality in mind. i am in the midst of physical therapy for the work injuries so i do get somewhat of a work out twice a week. am going to start aquatic therapy on my own becasue i loved it. only stopped becasue of the work injury. part of it was my ankle and it swelled badly from the warm water. well i am off to the cardiologist to make sure the ticker's ok. palpitaions i believe are either anxiety or my thyroid. will be back. keep the info coming. we all have something to help someone else. God love us all!!!
hi kim,
sorry to hear that. so let's forget the bike. what else do you enjoy? i started out with bits of stretching. i used to dance so i knew the moves i needed to start stretching out those muscles and tendons. getting out of that wheelchair was not an overnite deal. it was only a year ago that i gave away my wheelchair to an elderly woman with alzheimers. it felt so good to say bye bye to my wheels.
hormones. what a pain, yes?
it now takes me more time to get a project done than it used to. i was a go getter type. now i go slower and still get it. congrats on the construction!!!
i also have rheumatoid arthritis, my body is eating my bones every so slowly, i have had 3 strokes, heaven knows how many surgeries. both hands, one knee and next year the other knee. have tmj and tmd, ibs, gerd, oh my the list gets longer the older i get, giggle. but hey, i am still here to live it, yes?
you tie a knot in your rope, make a swing and take a ride.
i will keep thinking on you.
we are all so different. amazing and wonderful. how boring the world would be if we were all the same.
peace,
bluelakelady
ps icc, you have no idea how happy it makes me when i hear one of us has a perfect group of assistants by our side. you give your pcp a big hug for me. tell him i said he is a peach!!!!!!!!!!!
It's true that exercise is the key ,and it's also true that starting an exercise program when you are so very fatigued is almost impossible to even think about. Everyone is different and manifests this disease in different ways. I can only relate to what's helped me. No one has mentioned diet that much ,but modifying my diet and adding supplements did raise my energy level enough for me to take that first step. Cut out sugar (except organic dr.chocolate in my case) all white foods,and processed junk. I start my day with a smoothie made out of organic apple juice ,frozen strawberries,a banana,soy protein powder and an overall vitamin powder called cyrofood. I also take 8 pills. Including one that's for adrenal system support. Then I have either a sprouted wheat granola bagel with local honey ,or a poached egg on sprouted wheat toast. Eating sprouted grain breads is very important. I go to Farmers Market and stock up on all the local organic fruits and vegetables. When I do eat meat i only eat hormone free, free range beef or chicken. I have noticed a change in my energy level since starting this regime. But exercise is still the most important part to living with fibro . I think swimming is a great one to try. You don't even have to exert much energy at first. Just get in the water and paddle around a little. It's a start ,and then everyday you will feel more motivated to step it up a notch untill you can't live without some sort of daily exercise.The book i'm reading now also asserts that exercise is the most important key to feeling better. Believe me ,I do know how hard it is to start exercising. when I get up in the morning I can barely move ...but I hobble down the stairs and straight to my treadmill. I start out at a slow walk ,but work up to a fast pace eventually. When i'm done i feel
%100 better. Then a long hot shower tops it all off.
Good luck....you have nothing to lose by at least trying something new. Don't you think it's just amazing that "bluelakelady" doesn't need a wheelchair now. she's quite the inspiration as to what can be accomplished with hard work ,determination,a positive attitude ..and a sense of humor. For me sometimes ...laughter is the BEST medicine.......
ABSOLUTELY !!!!! i would like to nominate bluelakelady to be our leader. what accomplishments. good for you and God bless. i too agree with the diet end of it. luckily i have diabetes and multiple food allergies so i have no choice.LOL i do feel better since i have eliminated certain allergins in my diet. the exercise part is just hard. necessary but hard. i have a very physical job which is why I am out on WC right now. too old to be doing what i was doing. ok wake up call. i have never liked exercise because i got so much of it 8 hours a day. now i need the PT and my own routine on my own. will i ever return to work? don't know yet. it depends on how well 3 different joint injuries and a neck and back injury heal. taking one day at a time, one injury at a time, and one health concern at a time. i was losing my mind being overwhelmed with everything that happened at the same time and we all know what insurmountable stress does to us.
bluelakelady----i will gladley give my pcp a hug. i just love him. there are times i have seen him and probably should've been in the counselors office and he has sat and just listened. well i have walked out of there with my head on the right way. most pcp won't spend the time just talking if that's what you need. i found a jewel in him.
I have to give my pcp a thumbs up too.The rheumie I went to wanted to send me home with a fist full of scripts..he just has me on 10 mg of sonata a few nights a week but it is losing effectiveness..It did help my staggering when on my feet to much as my body is totally is totally exhausted as you all well know...I take 500 mg b12, glucosamine msm, mag. malate and two others along with my Armour thyroid....the gluco/ msm and mag malate really help my aches and leg ancyness..We try and eat healthier but the oganic / hormone things are way expensive where we live..Btw my wife is looking for the finishing of her menopause..She has had her monthly come and go 3 times this past month..She went the natural route there with progest creme, don quai and a few others..God Bless...Kim
You are so right that eating organic is exspensive. Frankly when our kids were home and we had 4 mouths to feed we couldn't do it. Now that there is only the 2 of us it's much easier. Farmers Markets are a good place to get inexspensive produce. Usually even cheaper than your local grocery store. Trader Joes is also fairly inexspensive. I have to admit that the meat is outrageuosly exspensive though. Sounds like you are taking all the right supplements. Good luck to you ...and take care....
..On top of that with the hashi's I am in sweats when it gets 68 degrees or less..Crazy huh..But at least I can talk shop with the girls with the heat flash deal..Anyway with the run over by the truck feeling all the time tops it off. The grace of God gets me thru..K
. Now i have a new symptom. I get little "stabbing" like pains in different area's. My feet ,hands ,down my leg,etc. It doesn't last that long ,but happens through out the day. Does anyone else have that? I'm reading a self help book on fibro right now ,and i'm basically already doing what they suggest. Reg. exercise, eating well, 5HTP,moist heat ,but am now thinking about getting massages and accupuncture as that was also suggested. Anything i'm missing ??? I want to fight this ,and i'm not going to give in.Wahtever it takes i'm going to do it ... good luck to you all....
