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Fibromyalgia
Have any of you been diagnosed with it, and what led to that (what types of symptoms)?
I have been having chronic back/shoulder pain for the past 5+ years. It has gotten so bad in the last year that my muscles in my back will randomly lock and cause the worst spasms in my back, leaving me bedridden for days. The last 6 months I have had increased pain in other areas of my body, including shin pain and joint pain in my hands, fingers, knees and ankles. It hurts to wear my wedding rings. I'm constantly tired and my memory/concentration has been off, and I have a lot of vertigo episodes (none of these are debilitating, but it makes it hard to be a good employee). I have anxiety off and on (where my heart palpitates and my blood pressure skyrockets), for no reason. I also have been having bladder pressure (like between my back and bladder), which is not only uncomfortable, but annoying.I also have a permanent numbness from my hip going down the back of my leg all the way into my foot that I've had for 8 years.
I have always blamed all these symptoms on my stress, or just having a bad back from strain, but lately think something else may be going on. When I was reading about fibromyalgia, I saw that it was linked to endometriosis and TMJ, and I have both of those. I'm not dead set on the idea that this is what's going on, but it does seem to fit the most so far. What do you think? I have a physical coming up with my doctor next month, but just wanted some insight beforehand. TIA
Re: Fibromyalgia
A complete physical will help.
Have them check for thyroid issues and other possible autoimmune issues. That your memory and concentration are funky makes me lean toward a thyroid issue, either overactive or underactive.
You need to see a doc for the blood pressure increase and heart rate increease and palpations. This can be very very dangerous if left untreated. Can lead to strokes, blood clots and other issues.
The bladder pressure is something else altogether. That merits closer examination to determine what's what.
A complete physical ASAP. And that is as in immediately -- don't mess around with the heart rate, or the fact that your memory and concentration are not what they should be. GL.
ETA: Thyroid issues can sneak up on you and they are NOT easy to diagnose. Every patient presents differently.
My thyroid problems started with a singing voice problem -- sounds odd but one day I was singing along to a tune on the radio and I couldn't hit one of the notes.
This was the start of my thyroid problem.
About 6 weeks after that, my heart rate climbed to about 100 and I got dizzy spells -- that happened about a day or 2 before my heart rate climbed to 100. When my heart rate hit 150, I decided to get to a hospital and that's where my Graves Disease was diagnosed.
I had problems with my handwriting too, not long after the singing voice issue happened -- it was sloppy and unreadable (this has to do with fine motor skills getting funky ) and I too was tired and irritable. After I was diagnosed, my tiredness continued for about a year and then it gradually went away.
I have Lupus and had a Fibro DX for a few years between Lupus DX. I think Lupus is the correct DX.
It sounds like you may have an autoimmune issue. I would go for a physical and see what your doctor thinks. A good Rheumatologist should be able to diagnose you.
Could be Lupus, Fibro, Lyme, or any other flavor of fun disease.
I was misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia when I was 17. I had everything that you are describing and more. While fibromyalgia is most definitely real, it is also one of the most common misdiagnosed disorders because since there isn't actually a test for it, a lot of doctors use it just to give a name to something they can't figure out.
Have you tried seeing a chiropractor? Even just going to have yourself looked at could be quite an eye-opener. Your spines nerves tend to send out signals long before the pain starts to register. If there is something wrong with your back then it could very well account for tiredness, vertigo, anxiety, concentration, etc.
Either way I would definitely go see a doctor soon. Good luck with everything and I hope it works out for you.
Thank you both for your responses. I have had my thyroid tested a few times recently, as well as gotten pelvic ultrasounds and chest x-rays at the beginning of the year. I have even been put on anti-depressents. None of which did anything for my achyness. I just want some answers, so hopefully my doctor will be able to get that for me when I go in.
I also forgot to mention that I have been sick 5 times since November, 4 times with some type of viral pharyngitis (with white tonsils, not strepp) and once with the flu. The last time I had the flu, I was 10 years old! I'm just so tired of feeling off and getting sick.
My mom thinks that her side of the family may have a history of fibromyalgia, so I am researching into that. Oh, and my mom was diagnosed with a very rare autoimmune disease (Guillan Barre) when she was 18. So autoimmune diseases run in my family I guess...
Thanks again.
Thanks for your response. I actually was regularly seeing a chiropractor for a while about a year ago, when I first starting having my back "go out". It seemed to relieve some of the pain, and I did at one point get an x-ray that showed a herniated disc at L4 L5, but more recently (the past year), the chiropractor only made it worse, heat made it worse, and I was tired of spending money on something that wasn't helping. It feels like it's my muscles causing the hernaited disc and other problems, and my chiropractor felt the same. I'm just so frustrated and tired of feeling like an 80 year old woman...