Confused

Sometimes I think fibromyalgia is a lazy diagnosis and when a doctor had no idea what is wrong with you they diagnose you as having fibromyalgia .
I guarantee of all the patients here that if the doctor would really listen to you he would find what is really wrong, like a auto-immune disease , arthritis, a vitamin deficiency, any number if ailments .
my friend has battling fibro only to find out she has lupus.
The fibromyalgia diagnosis was the first symptom of my Crohn's disease and if a doctor would have taken the time to do further testing and investigating he would have found it and I would not crap in a bag.
Do I sound angry? Well I am, and I should be. I feel everyone with this diagnosis needs to really question the doctor about what all the symptoms they are having and what else it could be. Could it be something more serious ? Could the pain be something as simple as a vitamin d deficiency ?
Really make your doctors do their job.
That's what you pay them for and with the right diagnosis comes the right treatment ..
Hope I did not offend anyone , just being honest..

I apologize for post, I was just in one of those moods where I am angry about my fibromyalgia diagnosis and all the above..

Apologies..

Doctors can sometimes really 'goof.'

Last year I wasn't feeling well and was running a low fever for a few days. I had the usual aches and pains of fibro. Having a fever is very unusual for me, so I went to the doctor. Unfortunately, my family doctor was out for the day, so they gave me another doctor. He very quickly examined me, took no blood or lab tests, and sent me home.

Two days later I woke and when I got up, some kind of fluid ran down my legs. I knew something wasn't right. Went to the ER, had a CT scan, and had emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix! I'm thankful it was caught in time, as I had no major pain to let me know my appendix had burst.

My regular doctor is much more thorough, and I think he would have known what was going on, or at least would have taken some lab work.

crohns Dz is difficult to diagnose. It is one of those wait and see diagnosis. The test for it is inacurrate, and biopsies can be misleading. My father had crohns and would have died had it not been for him calling his dr an idiot and firing him right there in the hospital when the idiot tried to send him home with a tummy bug. He called another doc, they looked at his scans and sent him to duke. He had emergency surgery the next day. You are right and you have to be your own health care advocate. My grandma's new doctor caught the lung cancer that was on prior exrays that the past TWO pcp's missed. It is even spelled out for them in the radiological report ... but offices are just too busy and hey, their insurance will cover it.

I agree with you that a lot of doctors try to see too many patients and have this in and out practice that blows you off and pushes you out the door. I was diagnosed with cfs and fibro by sitting in 4 different doctors offices and answing questions and being poked at ... I thought the medical society felt that fibro could only be diagnosed after all else is ruled out. The fifth one said that I have functional gastric issues.... She is the super rhuemy. She still thinks I have fibro but that I also have something else going on.

I have been trying to figure this out for years. My old gastro said that it still could be crohns but that it would take it progressing to a point where tissue was dying..necrosis .. before a diagnosis of crohns can be given. The test for it can say no when you do and that can cause a delay in proper treatment down the road.

I am so sorry that you have been through so much. I am sorry that you have so much on you. The changes can be difficult to say the least. But you can preservere.

I think if your Neuro thinks something else is up by all means find a good gastro and get a proper diagnosis but as stated above crohns is hard to diagnose, my best advise.. Do not have surgery if unless it is absolutely necessary (life-threatening) my whole nightmare began with a small fistula after childbirth and turned into a complete reconstruction of my rectum and vagina because dr after dr kept operating and I was not healing properly. I coud give you more details but I doubt you want to know those details..trust me.
I was diagnosed with fibro then crohns and then told I did not have fibro, the pain was my crohns dx and inflammation through out the body.. Then would you believe a dr said I didn't have crohns after everything i had dealt with, all the surgeys and all the hospitalizations, g.i bleeds, bowel obstructions, watching my body disintegrate? I then was diagnosed with fibro again, if your confused just think how I feel.
I would love for someone to give me a clear definition of what fibro is exactly.

Deep well
"thick" huh? You can say that again. I apologoze, I am so frustrated I can't see straight sometimes, I am miserable, I have lost my life, I am on disability and wish I could work, the problem is I am unreliable, I do not know how I will feel from One day to the next, everyone here can relate
You bet I will read the link you suggested thanks..
Surfy shadow:
I am/ was a phlebotomist and was seeking my nursing degree when all hell broke loose.
I do realize that that I should see a reumy but have seen neurologists before, you have to realize I get overwhelmed and confused as to what each dr does what and what I have seen in the past..
I used to treat drs as Gods and truley do not think things would be as bad as they is if I had just "listened" to my body.. That is where I am now. I finally started taking a more active role when I was so messed up on pain medication I couldn't see straight, literally, I now have several doctors that I have worked very hard to find BUT I am only dealing with only the symptoms at the moment, pain managment, chiropractor for the scoliosis. Elmiron for the i.c. I am terrified to go back to a g.i. The colonoscopy they want to do is a very painful test for a crohns patient and one with a bag is torture and should be illegal..I'm being dramatic of course but right now I have all my diagnosis's in a neat little box, god for bid if they throw yet another wrench in the works and tell me I do not have crohns dx or fibro and this daily hell is all in my head..
I exhausted, just exhausted.

Lady with fibro,
My goodness, that is terrible! A broken back? I am sorry that happened to you.. ..Really am.

Anything with "clari" thats strange but better to be safe than sorry.
You really have to be careful with your back from now on, your story gives me the "ouch" response, that must have be so painful.
I can relate, a little. I have had scoliosis, well always, I have a 42 degree curve in my spine, I have DDD and now have a bulging disc..fun, I have had 7 car accidents that have all aggravated it.. And osteoarthritis of course..
Seizures? ...
I started getting injections to help with the pain and found them to help.
I went to a new pain specialist.
He did the injections which always kind of make you loopy from the lidocaine.
On my 3rd visit the dr did the injections and I asked for some in my neck, he stated .."you have had the maximum amount of lidocaine" but he did them anyway, I am assuming he figured I would be fine but with my 93 pounds he made a very dangerous error.
I was standing in the waiting room approximately 3-5 minutes after my injections and I collapsed. I recall trying to stand up and unable to and then they moved me to a closed room, I went into full blown seizures for 2 hours, yes 2 hours, that is before he called the ambulance, this is after I crapped and urinated. Everything is a little fuzzy but I did have a gf there that helped keep me from drooling all over myself and held me down and helped fill-in any blanks I had.
When the ambulance came they took me to the hospital.. (I recall this..vaguely)
When I got there i was coming to, I never even saw a physician only a nurse, i was cut up on my ankles and had a goose egg on my head BUT I was discharged after maybe 30 minutes with anxiety, yup that's right, anxiety. This is even after the ambulance witnessed my seizures.
I got home and I immediately called my brother, a nurse, who stated I had lidocaine toxicity which has to be given with a formula calculated by your weight this is why they always weigh a person before they give you lidocaine. I also looked it up online and right there in black and white it reads ..seizures and altered consciencness and possible death.
When I saw the doctor next you can imagine I was angry even more so when he stated it was from my pain medication, the pain medicine I have been on for more than six years all on a sudden caused seizures? The best part it is a anti-seizure medicine..(gabapentin) the other medicines I am on I have also been on for more than six years.
You can see that I dont have a lot of trust in doctors, they will always cover their bums.
I still get the injections but he does not give me lidocaine, he doesn't tell me this but I know he does not because I am in so much pain from them which I never was before.
I know your asking why I do not see another dr, it has to do with insurance, finances and availability to pain dr's in my area that do both medication management and injections.
I guess I would love to see doctor's just be honest,"look, I made a mistake" but then I might sue and then where would we be? I am not a sue happy person, I just expect a little honestly and compassion. I just want to be treated and feel good and have a good day from time to time.

Hi, Lasardo. I'm sorry I'm so late in posting. I had Crohn's for many years before fibro hit me. I lost my colon to Crohn's but have still lived a full life in spite of these things. I lost my colon due to a doctor who had me taking a drug I was allergic to. He assured me I would be fine, but I wasn't. Nevertheless, fibro didn't cause the problem.

I do understand your anger but does it help you to be angry? That does cause more stress and that will cause more pain with fibro. Many of us wish we could have a " do over" but that won't happen so we just move forward with our lives the best we can. That's where this forum can help. We do have good ideas because we have been there and done that.

Have you read Fibro 101...the first thread on the forum? If not, you should. Knowledge is power with this illness....any illness! A good link for you to read would be Doctors Respond to New York Times article. They were responding to an article that had been written that thought the same way you think. They explain about fibro and the effects on our bodies. Another good link is called A Thorough Explanation of Fibromyalgia. All the links in Fibro 101 are good so do read them.

Just hang around here and we might be able to help you.

Sherrine