Fibromyalgia attacked my body more than 10 years ago after knee surgery. I was in a wheelchair for about six months, and I used a cane for another six months. I did not even know how to walk anymore. I fought the fibromyalgia with a lot of pain pills and tears. I was on so many medications that it damaged my stomach lining. Learning to break the cycle wasn't easy because it was painful. It caused tiredness and depression. To this day, I am no longer on meds, and I live a new life with a new career. I have no more depression. It tries to creep in, but I fight it off through prayer. I have bowel problems, this pain that pain, etc., etc., etc. I find that when I help others and talk about it, it brings hope to others. Learning to stop the cycle is a battle. But there is hope.
I've had fibromyalgia for about 18 years. For the first 5 years I had no idea what was wrong with me. Doctor after doctor, could not find anything wrong with me. I think after a while they thought I was making all this all up, as all of my test came back OK! Finally one DR. gave me the diagnosis. Since that time I have gone through so much. All of the symptoms you have mentioned I have had or still have. Life is not too much fun any more, just no let up. I just keep hoping they will find a medicine or treatment that can really help us all.
Published: July 07
Two months ago, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After years of going to see the doctor, I finally got some answers. The pain I feel seems to never go away-hurting in my lower back, legs, neck, even sometimes radiates to the very tip of my toes. I am 32 years old and I don't know if I want to see how I feel at 40 because the pain is very intense. I'm trying to deal with it without meds-because I'm trying to have a child-don't know if I'll be able to do it!
Published: July 01
I was just diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I am 44 years old and I use to be very active. One day (about 10 years ago), I woke up with every single joint in my body aching. I was also very fatigued. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Lyme disease. I was put on an antibiotic for 30 days and had another blood test done. It came back positive again for Lyme disease. My doctor called a specialist and they agreed that my body was reading a false positive. I did nothing after that to find out why I had pain. I just learned to live with it. As time went on I noticed my pain worsening and my knees would hurt going up steps (I blamed that on all the years of high impact aerobics), and I was stiff and sore all the time and I woke up tired all the time. Then about two months ago, I was at the store and I could barely walk. My whole body hurt so bad I just stopped and went home. My doctor referred me to an arthritis doctor who diagnosed Fibromyalgia and I have been taking 30 milligrams of amitriptilin and two Aleve twice a day now for four weeks. I don't feel any better, and all I want to do is sleep. I have to force myself to clean the house, go to work and keep up with the gardening that I love.
One of my first symptoms was an excruciating pain in my head. The next was I couldn't move my right arm with out getting a lot of pain. I'm taking Lyrica now , it helps but I still have to be careful not to over do things.
Published: July 01
I have never been diagnosed as having Fibromyalgia. In my 20's I had a fatigued feeling in my back and legs during and after a night out. I always figured (normal) in my 30's I seemed to get a little worse. Then I had a back injury (a broken tail bone. In my early 40's a very bad lower back attack. The leg pains Muscles got more and more frequent, 50's almost debilitating. Since mid 50's I never knew there was a condition called Fibromyalgia. I was treated for depression, I felt terrible because I had no energy, couldn't and still can't sleep I had an MRI done and there is a bulge on my sciatic nerve and narrowing of the L4 and L5 lumbar. I just got over a severe lower back attack. I forced myself to do a couple of jobs through Christmas that were urgent. I wound up in bed with heat pads and naproxen; I could not even set on the couch or ride to town without severe pain. You just feel like your life has fallen apart and there is no hope for you and nobody knows how you hurt or feel. I am going to the neurologist for a review of blood tests and possible treatment. I am supposed to get a sleep study done three hours is an average nights sleep without meds.
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Abdominal pain is pain in the belly and can be acute or chronic. Causes include inflammation, distention of an organ, and loss of the blood supply to an organ. Abdominal pain can reflect a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen such as the appendix, gallbladder, large and small intestine, pancreas, liver, colon, duodenum, and spleen.
Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension and fear characterized by physical symptoms. Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults.
Headaches can be divided into two categories: primary headaches and secondary headaches. Migraine headaches, tension headaches, and cluster headaches are considered primary headaches. Secondary headaches are caused by disease. Headache symptoms vary with the headache type. Over-the-counter pain relievers provide short-term relief for most headaches.
Migraine is usually periodic attacks of headaches on one or both sides of the head. These may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity of the eyes to light (photophobia), increased sensitivity to sound (phonophobia), dizziness, blurred vision, cognitive disturbances, and other symptoms. Treatments for migraine headache include therapies that may or may not involve medications.
Stress occurs when forces from the outside world impinge on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life. However, over-stress, can be harmful. There is now speculation, as well as some evidence, that points to the abnormal stress responses as being involved in causing various diseases or conditions.
Neck pain (cervical pain) may be caused by any number of disorders and diseases. Tenderness is another symptom of neck pain. Though treatment for neck pain really depends upon the cause, treatment typically may involve heat/ice application, traction, physical therapy, cortisone injection, topical anesthetic creams, and muscle relaxants.
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. The principal types of depression are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disease (also called manic-depressive disease).
IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) is a common gastrointestinal disorder involving abnormal gut contractions (motility) characterized by abdominal pain,
bloating, mucous in stools, and irregular bowel habits with alternating diarrhea
and constipation, symptoms that tend to be chronic and to wax and wane over the
years. Treatment options include medication and lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, and stress management to control symptoms. Also called spastic colitis, mucus colitis, nervous colon syndrome.
Chest pain is a common complaint by a patient in the ER. Causes of chest pain include broken or bruised ribs, pleurisy, pneumothorax, shingles, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, angina, heart attack, costochondritis, pericarditis, aorta or aortic dissection, and reflux esophagitis. Diagnosis and treatment of chest pain depends upon the cause and clinical presentation of the patient's chest pain.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a debilitating and complex disorder characterized by profound fatigue that lasts 6 months or longer, is not improved by bed rest, and may be worsened by physical or mental activity.
Myofascial pain syndrome is muscle pain in the body's soft tissues due to injury or strain. Symptoms include muscle pain with tender points and fatigue. Treatment usually involves physical therapy, massage therapy, or trigger point injection.
A number of vital tasks carried out during sleep help maintain good health and enable people to function at their best. Sleep needs vary from individual to individual and change throughout your life. Not getting enough sleep can hurt memory performance, health, and your mood.
Pain management and treatment can be simple or complex, according to its cause. There are two basic types of pain, nociceptive pain and neuropathic pain. Some causes of neuropathic pain includes: complex regional pain syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. There are a variety of methods to treat chronic pain, which are dependant on the type of pain experienced.
Insomnia is the perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep because of difficulty falling asleep; waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep; waking up too early in the morning; or unrefreshing sleep. Secondary insomnia is the most common type of insomnia. Treatment for insomnia include lifestyle changes, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medication.
Fatigue can be described in various ways. Sometimes fatigue is described as feeling a lack of energy and motivation (both mental and physical). The causes of fatigue are generally related to a variety of conditions or diseases for example, anemia, mono, medications, sleep problems, cancer, anxiety, heart disease, drug abuse, and more. Treatment of fatigue is generally directed toward the condition or disease that is causing the fatigue.
Chronic pain is pain (an unpleasant sense of discomfort) that persists or progresses over a long period of time. In contrast to acute pain that arises suddenly in response to a specific injury and is usually treatable, chronic pain persists over time and is often resistant to medical treatments.
Stress may be considered as any physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental unrest and that may be a factor in disease causation. An important goal for those under stress is the management of stress in our lives. Elimination of stress is unrealistic, since stress is a part of normal life. We can however, learn to manage stress through techniques such as exercise, relaxation, meditation, time management, and support systems so that we have control over our stress and its effects on our physical and mental health.
Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of disease. Regular exercise can also reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety. There are fitness programs that fit any age or lifestyle.
Natural menopause is the permanent ending of menstruation that is not brought on by any type of medical treatment. For women undergoing natural menopause, the process is described in three stages: perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.
However, not all women undergo natural menopause. Some women experience induced menopause as a result of surgery or medical treatments, such as chemotherapy and pelvic radiation therapy.
Fatigue (either physical, mental or both) is a symptom that may be
difficult for the patient to describe and words like lethargic, exhausted and
tired may be used.
Taking a careful and complete history is the key to help making the
underlying diagnosis of the cause for the symptom of fatigue, However, in about
a third of patients the cause is not found and the diagnosis is not known.
There are numerous causes of fatigue symptoms. Examples of some treatable causes of
fatigue include anemia, diabetes,
thyroid disease, heart disease, COPD and sleep
disorders (Table).
Long lasting complaints of fatigue does not equate to chronic fatigue
syndrome. Specific criteria as set by the CDC need to be met to make that
particular diagnosis.
Fatigue introduction
Fatigue can be described as the lack of energy and motivation (both physical
and mental). This is different th...
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Fibromyalgia attacked my body more than 10 years ago after knee surgery. I was in a wheelchair for about six months, and I used a cane for another six months. I did not even know how to walk anymore. I fought the fibromyalgia with a lot of pain pills and tears. I was on so many medications that it damaged my stomach lining. Learning to break the cycle wasn't easy because it was painful. It caused tiredness and depression. To this day, I am no longer on meds, and I live a new life with a new career. I have no more depression. It tries to creep in, but I fight it off through prayer. I have bowel problems, this pain that pain, etc., etc., etc. I find that when I help others and talk about it, it brings hope to others. Learning to stop the cycle is a battle. But there is hope.
Related Reading: Fibromyalgia | depression