travelling pain?

From all the reading I've done on the board, I understand that fm pain is never static; what hurts can change from day to day, even hour to hour.  OK.  But what about pain that only lasts a few minutes?  Is this "normal" too, or as normal as fm gets?  Lately I've had a travelling pain that usually affects both sides of my body, and it only lasts a few minutes before it moves on.  So one minute my ankles hurt, then I get pain in my back, then the arms, back to my calves, etc, etc.  The longer I have this, the more convinced I am that it's fibro.  I used to think more ms, b/c so many of the symptoms felt neurological, like numbness, hot sensations, pins and needles and short stabbing pain with dizziness.  Those have all but gone now, and the pain is left.  It really does feel more like the muscles too, not phantom pain anymore.  But with such varying pain so often in the day, how do I keep up my pain journal?  I started it up again for when (if ever) I get to see a rheumy, but I'm finding it really difficult to keep it concise.  Right now I'm breaking it up in AM, afternoon, and PM, where I hurt and a number factor.  Should I try to include how the pain feels too?  Once it's gone, I have a tendency to forget how it felt.  My last appointment with the doctor left me really doubting how to describe how I feel.  Oh, and did I tell you that after prescribing me the amitriptyline (that was supposed to be monitored weekly until I saw relief) and saying that he was referring me to a rheumy, he didn't get back to me the next week, then went on holidays for two more weeks.  I am NOT a happy camper right now. 

Hi Mamanan,

 

If I were you, I would try to write everything that you can think of at the time when you write in your pain journal.  What you were doing even as to when the pain is bad.  It is so easy to forget how it felt.  Even how bad it was after it is gone.  I find keeping a journal of things helps so much.  With fibrofog, it is so easy to forget things.

 

Good luck at the rheumy.  When you get there, right?  I hope that the visit goes well.

 

Best wishes for a wonderful day.

 

Luv and hugs,  ...Karen

Mamanan, with elavil you can't skip doses or stop it abruptly. I've been on 100 mg for 10 yrs and tried cutting back this spring a little and ended up in a flare of burning searing pain for two weeks. I do have less pain than most people it seems so I don't know if it is the elavil/amitriptyline but I do know what happened when I tried cutting back on it. The side affects should go away. I do wonder if it contributes to my fatigue but unless they come up with something to replace it for the pain I will never know cause I'm not cutting back on it again.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

When I get severe pain, it can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. So yes, this happens to me as well. It's so strange to feel a sharp pain and then almost as soon as you've registered it, then it's gone. It seems to happen a lot with my feet. My foot decides it doesn't like the way I've stepped down on it and I get a sharp pain hurting enough to make me gasp and then it's gone.

I also have times where the pain will move from one spot to another, and it's so frustrating because I never know what's going to hurt next. It's also hard when you get pain in two different spots at the same time. Once day I was having bad pain in my right ankle and my left knee. I didn't know which leg to limp on and I think I was lurching around like the Frankenstein monster!

Another thing that happens is that I get something called icepick headaches. This is when you get sudden severe pain on one spot on your head and it hurts so much that you literally have to stop what you are doing and ride the pain out. There have been times I've actually screamed from the pain and scared other people in the room. Luckily these kinds of headaches only last 10 seconds to a minute or two. I'm so glad that I've only had this happen a handful of times in my life. I've no idea if this is related to the fibro or not, but thought I'd throw it out there.