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Saryan,
I can sure relate to a lot of your symptoms, and my family MD just talked with me this week about fibro. I have done a LOT of reading and research on MS and some on fibro. I'm convinced the doctors diagnose fibro. when they are at a loss of pinpointing anything else. That is very frustrating that maybe they miss some major illness. But I keep telling myself, I'll either get better of worse, and right now, I'm better, thank God. If I didn't have such a strong faith, I couldn't have gotten through all this. I have just gotten to the point that I can believe (sometimes) maybe I'm not dying after all and this is some condition that I can live with, be it fibro, ms, or whatever. Re: MS, I have read that on some occasions, MS doesn't show up on an MRI for some time and sometimes, it shows up on the spinal MRIs but not the brain MRIs. Also, I live near Duke U. (go Blue Devils!), and they are now doing all the brain MRIs with some type of water technique because it so much more effective in picking up MS and other brain damage than an MRI without the water technique. I discovered this AFTER I had just had a "normal" brain MRI. You can read the article on-line at [url="http://wral.com/health/1939062/."]http://wral.com/health/1939062/.[/url]
I've had the back pain from base of skull all the way down the spine, the extreme fatigue, the numbness in both legs and arms, and at times, major weakness. I don't have the headaches or twitching, but sometimes feel like my brain is going to "short-circuit" and like I'm going to pass out. I have had severe muscular pain through my back and chest area lately. Sometimes just feel like I'm going to collapse and/or pass out. I was diagnosed with mild asthma last year but have never had a major asthma attack. I am 36 yr. old mother of three. I've had these various symptoms since the birth of my five-yr-old. I am very stressed with many responsibilities and I know that makes everything worse. I am really interested in communicating with someone who is going through this same or a similar thing, whatever it is. I am seeing my family doctor, as well as a neurologist. I'm also considering going to Duke. I think you should definately see more than one doctor, and be persistent in getting other testing done before you settle for the fibro. diagnosis. I've had all the blood work, EKG, chest and abdominal x-rays, brain MRI - all of which were basically normal. I'm having spinal MRIs next week. I also read that over 40% of all x-rays are mis-read by physicians and technicians. Isn't that comforting? The article recommended getting your x-rays read by a Board-certified x-ray technologist. Mine were looked at by my family doctor. Once again, just like the brain MRI, I am not feeling really great now about my x-ray results! Well, sorry this is SO long. Hope something in here is helpful. God bless you!