newbie help :-)

Hello Everyone!
I am very new to this all but found this site and wanted to reach out to people who are dealing with fibro. I have not been diagnosed yet, but think I have finally found my answer. My story is a long one so please bear with me as I share it. It's going on three years this month when this all started... I had a cyst on my ovary burst and was put on birth control, shortly after I developed what the doctors thought at the time was asthmatic bronchitis (however, ended up being the severe respiratory infection RSV) and was given all kinds of antibiotics and steroids. I was a senior in high school, ballerina, middle school cheerleading coach, good figure, good life... and I watched things slipping away from me. I had to stop dancing, ended up with asthma that I still have to this day, and started getting these weird rashes that didn't itch, just bumps. They treated the "rash" with more antibiotics. From that point on my body stopped working correctly... I was tired ALL the time and caught anything anyone had just by them looking at me. I was always sick, always feeling bad... and nothing seemed to help. The main thing was that I was tired. I had entered a community college and I can remember being so depressed and so upset because getting out of bed and going to class was HARD... I didn't understand how I could be that tired, especially since I had never had that problem before. It was such an indescribable exhaustion, like my mind and body had been put through a ringer. So it's been a journey... the fatigue had grown into fatigue AND pain...then into REAL bad pain. I've had weird stomach problems and been tested for lupus and crohn's disease(baffled the dr when that came back negative). Over the summer my mom took me along with her to see her friend a few hours away and her daughter (in her 40s) has suffered with fibro since at least college. In fact, she was not able to finish medical school because of her fibro. Upon hearing me tell her my problems she suggested that I could have fibro. My mom then came forward saying she had suspected fibro because some symptoms I had (hands feeling swollen and tingly but no visible swelling, joint pain) were things she had when she suffered from fibro. I read somewhere that fibro can be genetic? Now my mother no longer suffers from fibro... for some reason when she went through menopause she came out of it with no more fibro! (it could be anything- but we like to say God healed her) So I guess to list my symptoms: fatigue, muscle's feel weak, pain especially in shoulders,back, and legs but generally everywhere, hands and arms get tingly, stomach problems like IBS, sleep can get thrown off SO easily, developed food sensitivities, rash (or small red bumps) on skin... ehh that's all I can think of for now haha... I'm evaluating myself as I type. Does my story sound like that of fibro? Feel free to ask me more questions, I'm sure I left things out. At this point I've been through so many diagnosis and possibilities but been disappointed when the results come back negative... I'd really love to know why my body HATES me.

thank you so much for the warm welcome!

i am looking to get diagnosed professionally... how do you recommend avoiding the doctors who aren't going to be helpful at all?

I am so sorry you're experiencing all this at such a young age. Then I look back and realise, as early as junior high I was on antibotics for strep throat, continuously, and only attended school half of the time. Even in university, I had to pace myself. Taking like 2, 3 courses at a time. The secret is learning to pace yourself. For example, I am obsessive about housework. We are living in this beautiful modern house right on the water, I want it clean and beautiful, all the time. Unfortunately, I have to make myself take a rest every two - three hours. I used to slip into the ladies room at Junior college where there was a little coach and sleep through my lunch break. I needed the rest more than the food. That's how I survived. Good luck, I hope you get some answers. Also, the genetic part, my mom is in a motorized wheelchair, she has MS.

Hi, and welcome!  You have gotten really good information.  As stated, read the Fobro 101 thread...the second thread on the forum.  Once you educate yourself about fibro that will help you in accepting this and moving forward to enjoy your life.  Don't hesitate to ask questions.  That's what we're here for.  Hope to hear more from you soon!

 

Sherrine

Hi LilMissSunshine and Welcome-

My diagnosis was fast because the fibro hit me like a ton of bricks. It has got to be frustrating when symptoms have been there for a long time and your not sure what it is. Hopefully you can get into see a Dr. that knows about fibro and get some answers soon.

Keep us posted and it was nice to meet you!

GamJill