Is this Fibro?

Eric,
Sorry to hear about all your problems I have a lot of similar problems. I am 46 year old male and have been having problems over the last 2 1/2 years. I to have been to many doctors with no clear results. I would like to recommend finding a good chiropractor some of the pain in the penis and other areas could be from a pinched nerve in your low back. I had something similar 15 years ago. After going to the chiropractor those problems went away after a few weeks. You mentioned problems swallowing and reflux. That is how my problems started 2 1/2 years ago. My doctor put me on Omeprazole (Prilosec) 20 mg a day. After a couple of weeks I started having pain in my lower legs then numbness in my hands and feet. I never connected it to the Omeprazole at first after five months they doubled the dose to 40 mg. a day then things got really bad. I started having muscle twitches all over my body ringing in the ears and many other problems. I asked the doctor if it could be the medicine and he said no. I doctor ended up sending me to a neurologist thinking I had ALS. That really stressed my out. The neurologist asked what meds I was on and I told him only Omeprazole. He asked if I could quit taking it and I told him that the other doctor said that the medicine was not causing my problems. He told me he did not think I had ALS, (thank god) so I did some research and found a website askpatient.com and looked at side affects other people had from that drug. Many people had similar side affects. I quit taking Omeprazole and started taking magnesium and B12. Most of my problems went away within a few weeks but I still have pain in my arms, upper back and chest. I also have anxiety now and am very sensitive to medications. The neuro. doctor now thinks I have fibro. I believe all of my current problems are a result of that drug. So if your doctor put you on Omeprazole (Prilosec or Nexium) for reflux you could be having side affects. It makes it harder for your body to absorb magnesium and other important minerals. I do believe some of the problems I currently have are do to all the stress I had thinking I had ALS or some other terrible disease. Good luck I hope we all find relief. Try to limit your stress it helps me the most.

Welcome to the Fibro Forum, both of you! Unfortunately, Fibro is so NOT cut-and-dried, not easy to diagnose - or to alleviate. No 2 of us have exactly the same symptoms, and we're not all helped by the same treatments.

Let me direct you to our first thread, if you haven't seen it already, "Fibro 101." It's very informative...links to everything from a possible symptom list to articles written by prominent doctors in the field, exercises, meds, and attitudes that may help.

We are here to help, so I hope you'll keep posting!

Debbie

Welcome yume to the fibro forum!! So glad you found this forum. I hope it can be some help to you. It really has given my life back to me. Many of your symptoms really do fall under fibro. I don't know about the male pelvic parts though. Lol The hard thing about fibro is many of the symptoms fall under many other diagnoses. This is why it's important to go see a certified rheumatologist that works with fibro patients. They will do many blood test to rule out other things. If many of your test come back normal that might be a sign of fibro. Fibro is frustrating to diagnose because dr's see everything normal, but we still have all these symptoms. Then they start thinking we are having mental issues. I see you have already seen many Dr's already. Many of us go through several Dr's before we got a diagnoses of fibro.

Have you ever had your vitamin D checked? That is a good characteristic of fibro. Anxiety and fear your having is very common in fibromites. I have got use to mine and learned to managed it naturally.

I would go see a board certified rheumatologist. I would get some good books on fibro. Read on them and see if you fit the picture. I was amazed when I bought my first book. I could see myself on each
Page. It was like putting a missing puzzle together. As I read I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was all the things my Dr's were missing. I was kind of mad at first because I have been going through these symptoms for years and here was the answer in the book. So I am a firm believer in educating yourself.

Please let us know how things are going. Feel free to ask more questions. We learn from each other. Even if you need to vent the day away we can lend a ear. This is a great place to learn and receive support. I hope you don't have fibro, but if you do it can be managed by making some changes in your lifestyle. Things such as limiting stress, monitor the hours you work, eat healthy, rest, good sleep habits and exercise with a few meds. Fibro can be managed by natural methods too.

i am sorry, i forgot to respond to both of you ak angel and Rockon. Thanks a lot for your replies. I am reading quite a lot about Fibro at the moment and it does seem to fit quite well with my symptoms. Possibly with the slight exception of the pelvic pain as you pointed out, but then again, the pain down there seems to flare up in a similar way as the pain elsewhere so i am thinking it's related.

The mast cell theory is interesting. I keep meaning to try a low histamine diet but never get around to it (i am trying a low acid/low fermentation diet at the moment for my reflux).

I need to get my vit D checked. But i am a huge believer in vitamin d so i try to lay in the sun as much as i can. Never noticed much of a difference afterwards.

It's good to find this forum and fellow sufferers. But it is still such a scary journey because i have no diagnosis yet and i am afraid that it could be something else. As i posted above, at the moment, all my pain is in my face, around the jaw, neck, ears and eyes. This is new to me and i am so scared that my eyes are now affected. I am not even sure whether this is due to Fibro or to my reflux (LPR) or to something else...

best,
eric