In Reply to: Possible FM? posted by Tracy on November 26, 2000 at 21:01:18:
: Hi everyone! I'm new here and have a few questions. For quite sometime now I have been feeling pretty bad. My symptoms include IBS, frequent UTI's, extreme fatigue, and mild achiness. I was wondering if I have symptoms indicative of FM. I sleep over 8 hours a night, yet in the morning I feel as though I hadn't slept many hours at all. I am lactose intolerant and I take enzymes to help diegest dairy, but i still deal with IBS symptoms. I also have horrible allergies. My head always feel "filled up" and my eyes...let's say I have horrible puffy eyes. I feel miserable all the time and it's getting worse. Do my symptoms sound as though I may have FM? How do I go about finding a doctor to help diagnose this? Thanks for your help.
: Tracy
Dear Tracy: Your symptoms MAY indicate Fibro. Some define Fibro as a sleep disorder(among things), where your sleep may be long enough, but is nonrestorative. Pain and fatigue are the 2 distinguishing traits of this malady. Your should see a Rheumatologist or Dr. of Physical Med who truly believes in Fibro...often they have to eliminate other possiblities first(arthritis,eg.). While Fibro cannot be cured, it can be treated effectively. IBS, and/or overall achiness or arthritis, are among some of the co-existing conditions. I also have facial pain, clumsiness, unusual forgetfulness, etc. Best wishes, Al awpcwp@cs.com