New to this site

Good afternoon. My name is Tammy. I am new to this community, and I look forward to getting to know you all. I have had Type 2 Diabetes for many years, and I am now embarking on a new journey to find answers to my body pain and other symptoms.
about 4 years or so ago I started having severe shoulder pain. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis. This pain was so bad that if I moved my shoulder a certain way, I would almost black out. I had limited medical care, so I had minimal treatment. Mostly I relied on over the counter meds. The pain woke me up EVERY night.
When I finally got health insurance this year I was referred to an orthopedist. He gave me a steroid injection, and sent me to physical therapy. That steroid injection worked magic! After several weeks of PT I noticed that it felt like I had a pulled muscle, and the back of my shoulder blades were in intense pain. I went back to the orthopedist this past week, he did an examination and told me that I needed to go see a rheumatologist, that he felt that I have a systemic issue.
I read up on what a rheumatologist might be looking for, and came across the symptoms for Fibromyalgia. I was surprised how many of these seemingly unconnected symptoms I have. I talked with a Dr in my church to tell her what is going on, as far as being referred to a rheumatologist. I didn't tell her I researched fibromyalgia. She began to press various places, and they hurt so bad, and I asked her to stop. Her response? Fibromyalgia. I know I need to wait for an official diagnosis. My ANA came back negative (from PCP). I don't know if there were any other tests she ran. Today I feel like I have the flu. Achy all over. Sore throat (not a typical sore throat, it feels more like swollen glands in there, or a pulled muscle. It is weird). I feel flushed. But no fever. And no flu symptoms. I am not sure if this will be the diagnosis I will receive, but I won't be surprised if it is. I read the post on the craziest, most hurtful things people have said, and I have already heard some of them too, just when sharing that the dr is testing me for an auto immune disorder. "Just stop thinking about it. You are going to be okay. You are making yourself sick by claiming the pain."
I thought the pain was a normal response to being overweight and getting older. So I have lived with it for years. Working. Going to church. Taking care of my family. Working in my church nursery. I am not letting the pain stop me. I look forward to meeting all of you, and learning more about Fibromyalgia.

Tammy

Post Edited (peanut0967) : 3/29/2015 3:58:49 PM (GMT-6)

Hi, Tammy, and welcome! You do sound like you could have fibro but you do need to have a myriad of tests done to rule out other illnesses that share many of the same symptoms as fibro. The treatments for these illnesses are different than the treatment for fibro.

I had a frozen shoulder and my doctor thought it was bursitis and wanted to give me a cortisone shot in my shoulder. I declined because that covers the pain but doesn't take care of the cause of the pain. Many times it comes right back again. I was able to fix this with trigger point therapy. I explained all about it in a post today started by a new member named Bree. The thread is called "newbie with a question". It's the second post I put in the thread. I'm too tired to type it again. LOL. Trigger point therapy helps me a lot and I do this myself.


It's really good that you keep busy and keep moving. If you have fibro, this is important. If you sit or lay too long you will be stiff as a board and have more pain so keep on truckin'!

Be sure to read Fibro 101...the first thread on the forum. There are links to good info about fibro and you will learn a lot there. Good starting links are called Symptoms, What Else Could It Be, and A Thorough Explanation of Fibromyalgia. You just might see yourself there. All of Fibro 101 is good so do check it out.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you better. Don't hesitate to ask questions because we are here to help you. Hope to hear more from you soon.

Sherrine

One symptom that I have had for years, that the drs pretty much have ignored, is pain in the bottom of my rib cage on both sides. I am not talking an ache, I am talking a deep, searing pain. I thought it was my liver. Whenever blood work was ran, the liver enzymes always showed normal. When I started on insurance this year they did a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvic area. Everything was fine. There was no answer as to why I had such intense pain. I was even told that a certain amount of pain was normal. I wonder if this is a symptom of whatever the diagnosis will be. Also, I never feel rested. I am sleepy and bone tired all of the time. I look forward to my daily nap. I am hoping to get some answers so I can get some relief.

I understand, Sherrine. But it is lumped in there with them all. I know that many people with auto immune disorders also have Fibromyalgia. I know that Drs rule out other auto immune disorders in the process of diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Thank you so much for your help.

A lot of us have a fair amount of rib pain..some of that could be trigger point pain..i have had physical therapy which helps relieve it..but on the right side...its there in the background..i use heat, topical pain relievers , and low dose pain meds..

It get worse with bad weather patterns for me.

Thats a great idea..

I cannot do a thing about the weather lol..but i know i am worse at the end of the day and esp if i have overdone things... So i will use acupressure points and maybe take a mini dose extra of my med on a bad night...

As it is , i take way under what my doc would prescibe..

Hope they get it all figured out and you feel better real soon..

Welcome Tammy!

A good thing to do is pace yourself. Unfortunately I'm still figuring out how to do that myself. I have a good day, so I tend to try to catch up on everything that needs to be done before the boys get home from school, and then exhaust myself too fast and things will pile up again. I've found this forum to be extremely helpful too. Reading what everyone else goes thru and how they deal with it is helping me learn a lot.

Hope you can get answers soon!