Diagnose me, already!

Hi, East Texas Lady, and welcome! You can have both Fibro and lupus together. We have a member on this forum with both illnesses. Or you could have been misdiagnosed. These illnesses share many of the same symptoms and things like lupus and Lyme disease need to be ruled out before a diagnosis of Fibro is given.

They used to say you needed a certain number of tender points to have Fibro but now they are saying that's not important. Yes, it's all confusing because Fibro is confusing. That's why doctors still haven't figured out what is causing it.

Be sure to read Fibro 101...the first thread on the forum. There are links to good I go about Fibro and this might help you know what is going on. Good starting links would be 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 read it.

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

Thank y'all for the 4-1-1.
I did research the Fibro and I do fit just about everything except the "trigger points".
And, some of those places may hurt as is - w/o being pressed on. Anyway.
I forgot to get a copy of my lab work and am going to do that.
I'm also going to my go-to chiropractic/nutritionist guru and see what vitamins, minerals, herbs may help now that I know what's going on.
I've been on Herbalife for 22 years and can't help but believe that being on that for so long has kind of kept me from being too bad off (energy, etc). He said it was a good thing :)
I've been approaced about Essential Oils if anyone has any ideas, thoughts, experiences?
My MAIN concern (since my budget forces me to prioritize so much) is stupid concentration, forgetfulness issue. I'm still a reserve officer (will never work full time again) and am overseeing investigations (and cold cases). I can only "work" on those for about 2 to 3 hours and my brain is D.O.N.E.
When I look back esp over the last 2-3 years, I had noticed that. I would HAVE to go patrol, or just go outside. I also learned that fluorescents were killin me. I learned about that way before any DX. Got those covers for the ones in my office and it helped.


Okay, I rambled.
I AM a morning person - you know - those annoying morning people? Yeah ;)

You're welcome! People with Fibro have cognitive memory problems so you are not alone. Also, being deficient in vitamin B12 can do that, too. I'm having blood work for that in a couple of weeks.

Do be careful with herbs and some vitamins...especially if you are taking prescription medications. They can interact and cause more problems. A good pharmacist and perhaps your MD can tell you if you would have a problem taking a lot of herbal things with the medications you might be taking. Herbals could possibly interact with one another also. I'm not positive about that but it makes sense to me since some are very powerful.

I'm a morning person too. I love watching the sun come up. It's also the most peaceful part of the day.

Sherrine

Thank you, again, guys.

I grabbed some B12 earlier and started it this afternoon :)

Folic Acid is another supplement good for memory. My hey are starting to give this to Alzheimer's patients. Ive been taking it for years and believe it has helped me a lot.

I never start any supplement without passing it by my doctor. He can check to see if I'm deficient it things. I most likely am deficient in B12 because I have Crohn's disease and that can cause absorption problems, I'm older and older people can have B12 deficiencies, and I take Metformin for diabetes and that can inhibit absorption of B12. I have several of the symptoms too but I haven't taken any B12 yet because my doctor is checking my blood to see if I'm deficient. You can overdose on vitamins and that's not good either.

Sherrine

ETL, be careful of immunity boosting vitamins if you have lupus. Lupus is the overabundance of immunity and your body is attacking yourself. If you boost your immunity then your symptoms get worse.

PS. Lupus makes you photosensitive. UV rays make me terrible sick.

Sorry for any confusion. I don't doubt that it is helpful, I'm sorry if my comment came off that way. I was just pointing out that it may be the opposite of helpful for a number of people, and marvelling how it can either solve or produce the same problems. :)