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Posted 3/7/2009 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, I just thought I'd introduce myself since I'm lurking here.

I have not been formally diagnosed with Fibromylagia, but my PCP has suspected it for over a year and has referred me to a rheumatologist.

My PCP thinks that I have "something like" Fibromyalgia, but I don't have the tender spots.

Although, I wonder if she's pushing hard enough, because in those spots when I push I definitely have tender spots, where as when she examins me it feels like a light touch which is actually relaxing.

But since I can't figure out how hard someone is suppose to be pushing.. who knows.

Other than that, I have full body pain that feels like I always running a fever and constant fatigue, and this last week was one of the worst weeks I can remember for pain.

I also have migraines, insulin resistance, and polycystic syndrome.  And quite frankly I hate it.

Despite feeling like I'm a medical wreck, I actually have a good life. I have a supportive and loving husband, and my brother lives us.  He's currently unemployed and looking for work, but while he's here he's been a great help and he's easy to live with.   (Fortunately my husband and my brother get along great.)  And occasionally we have another friend who's a traveling therapist, stay with.  He's a Physical Therapist, so that's handy.

I myself am a speech therapist and I work in the schools.  It's nice because it's a short day, but it's tough because it's alot to do and I get easily fatigued. Still it's a good job with decent benefits.  I'm never stressed out over the summer.  tongue

So anyway, I'm just lurking around and I thought I'd make myself known.

Posted 3/7/2009 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Seana

 

Welcome to the forum.  It is a wonderful place with a great bunch  of people.  Check out the fibro 101 thread there is a bunch of information there that will help you.  And always ask questions.  eveyone is so good here to answer questions and to lend a shoulder when we need one.

 

As for the tender points.  Mine hurt really bad with just the slightest touch.  And as far as I know that is the only definitive test for fibro.  From what I have read tho, Chronic Fatigue and Fibro are alot alike with the exception that CF does not have the tender points.  But read the symptoms in the 101 thread they will help.  Reading those, I knew that I had fibro and told my Fam doc that I had it LOL  He then refered me to a Rheumotologist to get diagnosed.

 

~Missy~

Posted 3/7/2009 12:44 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Seana!

It's not required for you to have a diagnosis to be able to come and participate. You are more than welcome to lurk, but we also would like to be able to talk to you. I spent my first couple of weeks doing nothing but lurking and reading. :-) People here are great. It's one of the more active forums that I've found, and people seem to be genuine and are a lot like family. I like to think of myself as the weird cousin that shows up periodically just to make wisecrack remarks. lol

There's a lot of knowledge to be had here as well. There's the Fibro 101 as well as a couple of other useful threads that are skicky-ed at the top of the page. If you haven't prowled them already - I'd suggest it. Also there's a lot of members that have struggled with this for a long time so there's a wealth of experience to be shared.

Personally, I'd be interested in learning more about your job in speech therapy. When I was a child I stuttered and stammered, and had only a couple of sessions with a speech therapist. But in that time she was able to teach me to slow myself enough to be able to make myself understood. My biggest problem was that my brain was working faster than my mouth could spit it out.

Happy chatting, and again...welcome to the family.
Posted 3/7/2009 2:18 AM (GMT 0)

Hi there Seana!!

Just popped in to say hi and welcome the Healing Well Fibromyalgia Forum!  I'm glad you decided to join us!!  This is a great place to learn more about Fibro and get to know some really special people that I like to call my FMily or Fibro Family.

I was diagnosed a few months ago (I was earlier misdiagnosed w/ CFS and the doctor changed it to Fibro), I feel like I learned far more from this forum than I ever would have from my PCP. Please don't misunderstand I have a good doc. but these fine people have made me feel that I'm not alone in my search for answers in this rotten syndrome.

Your job Does sound interesting and I'm glad you have a supportive family.  Those two things are huge gifts to a fibromite!!  Though life with fibro is a struggle having a profession that's do-able is great!!  Alot of our members have family members and employers that don't understand their day to day challenges, we do our best to be there for them and support them any way we can.  I'm lucky to have a wonderful family that is extremely understanding and I do my best never to take that for granted.

When it comes to the tender spots.. I have had times when you could hit them with a hammer and i wouldn't feel it, then I've had other times when just looking at those spots made me want to fall to my knees, screaming in pain.  Fibro's a really weird syndrome.. one minute you can feel pretty good the next, you want to crawl into bed for 6 months with a heating pad & be surrounded by a plastic bubble so nothing would touch your skin.  I've heard of people here having flares that could just bother them for a day and  others that have been in a flare for a year.

Getting a plan to handle pain and fatigue is half the battle.  Some folks here do a natural plan, some take prescription medication.  That will have to be your choice and no one here will push you to take one med. or another because we're all trying to figure out what's best for our ownselves and the moderators keep an eye out for anyone trying to sell a product on the forum.  The moderators are great and do an awsome job.

Again, welcome and I hope you will get as much out of this group as I have.

Take care,

Posted 3/7/2009 4:21 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Seana,

Welcome to the HealingWell fibromyalgia forum. I am truly happy that you have decided to join in with us.

As mentioned above, reading fibro101would be the way to go. There is a ton of good information on that thread. It is the second thread. There is a combination of a bunch of different topics. I think you will like reading it.

Dealing with fibromyalgia is no fun, but finding out that others understand you and the way that you feel really makes a person feel better.

So keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 3/7/2009 8:46 AM (GMT 0)
Hi there! I'm fairly new too and without diagnosis - I have a rheumy appointment on Thursday. Everyone here is really lovely - and there's so much information, it's taking me a long time to trowl through it all.
Posted 3/7/2009 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everybody.

Tender spots...I mean I definitely have them. But I'm not sure if they are what is defined as tender spots. But I have spots on my body that a uncomfortably more sensitive to pressure than other parts, and they do match up with the charts of spots I've seen.

But just lightly touching them doesn't bother them, but instead the pressure of gentle massage is probably the amount of pressure that it takes for me to recognize that they are tender.

So I don't know.

I've definitely gone through the fibro 101 thread. A lot of the stuff, I've read before. My Dr. Suggested fibro about a year ago, and when she did I looked a lot of it up.

It definitely sucks. This weekend there are tons of social events that I'd like to attend but the fact that this week was one of the worst weeks of pain combined with the fact we will lose an hour tomorrow, and I just feel like I need to stay home an rest. And I'm frustrated by it.
Posted 3/7/2009 8:37 PM (GMT 0)

Welcome Seana and alimonkey, too.

This is a great site and these are great people here.  Your job sounds like a lot of fun.  I have a friend who is a speech therapist and she has some funny stories.  When I was a kid, I wanted to go to the speech therapist and snuck out into the hall during class and waited in line.  But when she called me in and heard me talk, she said I didn't need it.  I was so dissapointed.  It looked like fun to me at the time.  Better than math problems, for sure!!

I don't know about tender spots.  I have a couple where you barely touch and it sends me screaming and a few that require a more firm touch.  Then there are times if I put firm pressure anywhere (scratching my leg) the it hurts after - kind of like an aftertaste, but with pain. 

Fibro is difficult to figure out.  The biggest thing that has helped me is this group and my fibro class at the pain clinic where they are explaining it to me.  These help me realize, oh, I am not so strange after all!  That helps!  The letter to normals was helpful too because someone voiced in a letter a lot of the things I had been confused about.

http://www.fmscommunity.org/lettertonormals.htm

Best,

Sue

Posted 3/8/2009 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
Hello and welcome. I am also new and I have not yet been diagnosed with fibro yet either. I have all the symptoms and many tender spots that they check for. I don't have much advice since I am also new and haven't been diagnosed.

I am just now going back to school and I was wanting to become a speech therapist. It seems like such an interesting job.
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