theotherme

Hello out there, fellow sufferers!

I stumbled upon this message board the other day while researching fibromyalgia (which I do somewhat obsessively), and spent about two hours reading your comments. It is indeed comforting to know that I am not the lone sufferer of this blasted condition.

I am a 52-year-old mother of two residing in the Atlanta area. My symptoms first appeared about 18 years ago, and have come and gone with varying intensity since then. I can trace the onset of my fibromyalgia back to a time when I developed a staph/strep infection in my IUD. The IUD was immediately pulled and I was put on a heavy course of antibiotics, but shortly afterwards I had a sudden onslaught of symptoms: chills, backache, pelvic pain, leg pain, blurry vision, flu-like symptoms... My gynecologist initially suspected Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, but this diagnosis was later dismissed. I am now convinced that I have fibromyalgia.

I'm not one of those who goes running to doctors; on the contrary, I have a healthy skepticism about modern medicine. This is a bit of a paradox, since my father was a doctor and my mother was a science teacher. Interestingly enough, both of my parents, despite their scientific training and knowledge, always held the belief that most cures can be found in the natural world around us, and that the best recourse is usually to "listen to the body" and allow it to heal itself. Because I was raised this way, I have not sought a confirmation that fibromyalgia is indeed what I have. However, I did have a number of tests run many years ago, and the only thing that came back positive was my RA factor. I have also been tested for Lyme disease (negative). All of my other blood work has always been normal. I was eventually sent to a rheumatologist/immunologist, who gave me some materials to read on fibromyalgia and seemed pretty certain that's what I had.

It is very comforting to find that every single item on my long list of aches and pains has been experienced by somebody out there in cyberspace. I'll spare you the full list (although I have at one time or another experienced about 90% of the items on most fibromyalgia checklists). My symptoms flare up and die down, but are never fully gone. At the moment I'm doing pretty well -- my main complaints are intermittent chills, leg pain, Achilles tendinitis and foot pain, and itchy and burning skin. That's not too bad, considering that there have been times when it seemed there wasn't a part of me that didn't ache.

I don't take anything for my fibromyalgia, except an occasional painkiller and lots of vitamins, minerals, and supplements. I try to control it with exercise, and this works like a charm. I am awaiting the warm summer months, because I always seem better when the weather is nice. Of course this could also be because I'm a teacher, so I'm on vacation, and therefore stress-free, during the summer.

I have one question that I have not found the answer to anywhere. I suppose the reason I can't find an answer is that there isn't one... but I'm baffled that no one is even asking the question. Here goes:

It appears that fibromylagia is on the rise in the US, and indeed around the world. What might be the explanation for this? I know that there is a possible connection between fibromyalgia (and other auto-immune disorders) and environmental toxins -- does this explain the increase in cases?

I'd love to hear from some of you directly, and would especially love to hear what methods you use to keep your fibromyalgia in check -- especially any methods that don't involve heavy doses of medicines that have lots of unpleasant side effects.

Nice to "meet" you all! Keep your chins up!