Newbie - need serious help and advice, he just doesn't believe me :-(

Sorry for all the typos, I was just trying to get it all down and get it exactly as he says. I did say he had vascular tumors but he has them still, so, I didn't mean they were gone. Thanks so much.

Maybe this will help:  http://www.fibrotalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=1000&sid=42a6194052085b4de208156caa3c858c

 

I'm sorry... Make that 10 million... Google it

You cant see the wind either but it is there and can be quite damaging. I sure hope he comes around.

Sometimes family or friends are in their own denial about our issues. For some its a protective layer as the thought that their loved one being hurt and they cant do anything about it is frustrating.

Good luck!

Hi there,

There is a point at which pain killers (opiates) cause pain. If you have been taking them awhile, this could be true. It happened to me I think. I have been off of pain killers for three months and my pain is manageable. So far... And we have been having cold damp weather which bothers me usually.

It sounds strange I know, but after awhile, opiates cause pain. It does something to the pain center of the brain and receptors.

I hope you can manage your pain without pain killers. I took them for over ten years. Remember they do cause kidney and liver problems after long term. I Hope you can keep your pain manageable. I guess I would say do what is right for you.

Hugs, Karen...

I was diagnosed about 6 months ago but my rheumatologist tells me that it is moderate to sever fibromyalgia. I don't really know a lot about it except that I have pain everyday when I didn't before. He thinks that the moment I started using pain medication for my migraines and my back about three years ago, that that's what has "caused" me to actually have fibromyalgia and that if I stopped the pain medication all together then I wouldn't hurt like I do. Looking back, I believe I've had it for several years, my Dr's just didn't know what to look for then because I was coming in to be treated for sever migraines, or bursitus in my left shoulder, then it was my lower back, and so on and so on, but I've always lived with some kind of pain. Can taking pain medication cause you to have fibromyalgia? I have tried to look up that question and have gotten nowhere. And and all replies are very welcome.
Yes, I also know that the others taken together can slow down breathing, I take trazadone for sleep, 5 mg of flexeral also at night for my muscle and my effed or in the am. I'm in the middle of trying to find a new rheumatologist because the one I have just isn't working and I would love to have someone explain things that are happening to me a lot better than my dr telling me to just go buy fibromyalgia for dummies. Yes, she actually told me to do that. Wouldn't answer any questions, just told me to go to the book store or library...which I have gone to the library and I think I'm even more confused now than I was.
Thank you all for the great support and replies, I will check out every link I can to try and get him to understand. I just wish he knew that me being off of pain medication isn't going to stop my pain...or that "I'll be almost pain free" as he says.if it were only that easy

I also wanted to say that I have read all of the fibro 101 things to him, he is just convinced that once I'm off pain medication then I won't hurt like I do now, that I wI'll be happier and will be able to do things I haven't been able to do in the last few years like work, and stand for long periods of time or run..I am no overweight, I'm very average so I know that's not the issue. If I stopped taking pain medication would I be better or normal again?

Hi Ksiler75,

I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through. It sounds like most of your meds are standard even for Fibro, and I know plenty of Fibro folks who also need narcotic pain meds on a regular basis. It actually sounds like a lot of your pain is coming from your lower back and as someone who has suffered that kind of pain I can totally understand what you are going through. I will say that having been there I found what helped me the most is trying to walk as much as I could (especially in a warm pool, because it helps take the weight and impact away and just allows you to move). Sitting for me is just evil and I can tell when I've been sitting too much because that lower back pain starts to get really bad. Drs avoid doing surgery in lower back unless they have to (you practically have to be paralyzed) because of what it takes to do surgery on the lower back (going through organs and rips and such - you'd think they could go in from the back, but evidently not).

Pain meds don't cause Fibro. However, pain meds can cause your pain tolerance to go down leaving you needing more and more pain meds. It's a vicious cycle, basically. It's that knowledge that has pushed me to avoid doing that type of pain management. I try to manage naturally as much as I can and for the most part it works. There are times where it gets really bad and I have to take something, but (I think partially because it's so rare) I can tolerate a good bit.

As far as your boyfriend, WOW! Sounds like you were dating for about a year before you started dealing with the pain (migraines and such). So, he's just kind of watched you go downhill. My husband and I were in the same boat. I was healthy-ish when we were dating (oddly while we were dating I went through about 6 months of the lower-back hell where I could barely move), but then about a year after we married it's like I started falling apart,massive migraines, TMJ, gall bladder, then Fibro. We'd get a few months where things were looking better then it would be something else. Overall, I'm doing well now but it's largely due to just learning how to deal with things. Anyway, early on he did have trouble accepting the dx (so did I), he wanted it to be something we could fix. And, even when it seemed like he accepted the dx he still wanted to constantly offer me a "fix" (something he'd read or heard somewhere). Guys are just like that, they want to fix things. I found it important to make sure that he knew I was doing research and that I was talking with my doctors about any questions that came up. I also found it important to establish boundaries with him regarding my healthcare. It's MY health after all, so I have to be the one with the final say. It's great if someone else has a suggestion, I might listen to it, but in the end I'll be the one doing the research and making a decision. You likely need to establish similar boundaries with your boyfriend, letting him know that you appreciate his concern and that you understand that it's hard to accept a diagnosis of something that can't be seen on imaging or bloodwork. If all else fails, invite him over for a weekend and stop taking your pain meds and let him see what it's like for you without them, let him see how much more he would need to help you. That will likely remind him that you are doing the best you can with what you have available.

I really don't think that could cause it... But who am I to say???

Are you on the fentynal patch or butranse? I was scared to do the patches, but I have very sensitive skin and break out easy...

What milligram of Percocet were you on? I was on 10's... Six a day at first and then four...

If you are having a lot of pain without meds, you probably need them. My pain has lessened going off. But it is still there and I am taking suboxone and it does help a little I am told... I guess it is going to take me eight months of this. I thought it would only be three.

Try to take it one day at a time... And try to keep moving. If you are sedentary, it just gets worse...

I wonder if the malic acid/magnesium would help you??? There is info on it on the "fibro 101" thread at the top of the page. Magnesium does feel like it hydrates the muscles a bit.

I really hope you get some help. I see you were on fentanyl... I missed that when I read it the first time...

I am sorry about the cigarette smoke, my doctor smokes so I don't have to worry about that... I don't think they should discriminate in that way. I don't think that was fair... I find though not smoking on the way to the doc helps with my blood pressure results...

Hang in there sweetie... Know we are all here for you. We all suffer together I guess. Not fun, but at least we aren't alone... Keep posting, it helps to talk about things.

Hugs, Karen...

Ok no pain meds are not the cause of fibro..i have a genetic form and have had it since childhood...although it got much worse in my 30's ....then better again...

We cannot say why you have the horrible hip pain , but in my case..i kept having trigger points in the hips that would lock up, and i could barely move and a therapist would have to release them. I was having to spend too much time with therapy, so i got the trigger point handbook and learned to release these myself..
My therapist had said i might be able to release these with a therapeutic foam roller, but it was much too hard and i use a pool noodle and it works without causing so much pain...and the book says use a tennis ball, but its too hard, so i use a rubber ball under the hip while i am laying on the floor....usually now i can release these locked points within minutes.

Just sharing this in case the locked trigger points could be a part of your issue...

Lj

I've never EVER heard of pain meds causing Fibro, either....I'm one who had it long before I was on anything at all for it.

Don't buy what your boyfriend is saying! It's so easy for him to talk - - he's still on pain meds, but yet he's looking down on you, because he can't see the cause of your pain. So he gets to have it all: relief AND superiority.

Good luck to you. I still say - believe in yourself. Trust what your body and that little voice inside you says.

Debbie

Fibromyalgia changed me Ksiler75,

But for the better. I learned to live in the moment and take life one day at a time. I also learned compassion too.

I know what you mean though about someone having worse pain. No matter how bad I am, my husband is always worse. Ha!!! I know we all experience things differently and I don't let it get to me...

Hang in there. You will see the light...

Hugs, Karen...