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Fibromyalgia
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Posted 9/26/2008 3:36 PM (GMT 0)
I am glad to have found this forum that deals with fibromyalgia.
I mostly have a question and hope others can help me with it.
I have had fibro for several years but in January it started to
become a lot more intense.
Where I feel it the most is in my upper arm muscles especially
the right arm as I am right handed.
The pain radiated all the way down my arms and at times I
can hardly use my right arm.
I can feel the swelling in my arm muscles and they are very
sore to the touch.
I also have lupus, parkinson's disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis,
osteoporosis and degenerative joint disease.
As we all know most pain is hard to take but this pain in
my arm muscles is relentless and it there at all times.
I am a side sleeper and between the pain in my hips and
shoulders this arm pain thrown in makes sleeping so very
difficult.
Just wondering if others have this terrific pain in their
arm muscles and what they do to help it.
I have recently been started on Cymbalta and am now up to
ninety mg. of it daily but it is not helping much.
Would appreciate some input on this.
Posted 9/26/2008 4:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Groaner,

First of all, welcome to the fibro forum. As you can see there are a lot of understanding people here. I am sure that you will fit right in.

I have a lot of arm and shoulder pain. The best thing that I can recommend is moist heat. I have what is called a bed buddy. It is a bag of rice actually that you heat up in the microwave and you put it around your neck and it relaxes your shoulders and neck. I hope that this helps some and I am sure that others will come along with more advice. Also GENTLE stretching helps.

Best wishes for a wonderful day

Hugs, Karen...
Posted 9/26/2008 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Groaner and welcome.

 

I too have problems with severe arm pain.  Mine isn't constant, but is quite frequent.  Sometimes it seems related to overdoing it, but sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

 

I also use heat and massage, but what helps the most is just keeping it very still for awhile (very inconvenient).  I've even had to use a sling to keep the affected arm still while using only the other one.

 

I'm sorry you have to deal with such awful arm pain.  It can be quite a trial.

 

Austen

Posted 9/26/2008 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Groaner and welcome. I'm sorry you have so much on your plate to deal with. Fibro is not suppose to be progressive, well something is progressive cause I keep getting more and more knots in my muscles. I didn't use to have any in my arms and now I have them down to my elbows. On my legs they are now to my knees and on both sides of my knees. It is getting more difficult to find a comfy position to sleep since I have to sleep on my sides.

 

I'm not on narcotics and use tylenol and TENS unit for pain control. Moist heat in any form, soft bed and massage helps. I do take 100 mg of amitriptyline and 1 1/2 mg xanax at night to sleep. Without that I don't know how I would sleep.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Posted 9/26/2008 9:45 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Groaner, and welcome!  You have gotten some good advice already.  The moist heat does help me a lot.

 

Be sure to check out the Fibro 101 thread...the second thread on the forum.  There is lots of good information there.  There is a link about malic acid/magnesium supplements in that thread.  I started using these last December and they have helped me a lot with pain.  Read the link about that and see what you think.  Maybe this could help with your pain.

 

Meanwhile, read back posts and ask questions.  We are here to help you.  I'm so glad you joined in and I hope to hear more from  you soon.

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/27/2008 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the warm and informative *welcome* to this site.
I will be taking the advice up above and getting a "bed buddy"
to use for moist heat on my arms.
I am glad to know that others have difficulty with their arms and
the muscles between the shoulder and elbows.
I thought I was dealing with this strange feeling myself as
my Rheumatologist looks at me like I have two heads and just
recommends pain management as she feels I am already on
to much pain meds.
I have been to pain management twice over the years (for my
degenerative disc disease) both here
in the north and in Florida and all they do is try some procedures
and put one on medication that is way to heavy and keeps one
feeling like a zombie.
Now I was not looking for pain medication but for an answer as
to why the muscles in my arms hurt so and why my arms are
so weak.
I feel if things were like they used to be with the doctor's they
would look for an answer to your problems instead of just
brushing you off and scurrying off to the patient in the next room.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr ............. !!!!!!!!
Thanks again for the input and I am looking forward to being a
member of your group.
Posted 9/28/2008 5:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hi groaner and Welcome-

I get arm and shoulder pain and am a side sleeper also. I just got fibro this last spring and for a couple months I had a hard time getting comfortable at night because of my arm, shoulder and hip pain. I would have a hard time using my arms because of the pain too. It is better now. I take Tylenol 4,000 mg a day and Darvocet for backup. Warm baths help with the pain also.

Hope the bed buddy gives you some relief! GamJill
Posted 9/29/2008 6:32 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Groaner, welcome to the family.

The others have pretty much said all the same things that I was thinking of. And yes, I'm a side sleeper too with hip issues so it's a drag when the left hip is the worst and the it's the right arm hurting. lol

My savior for the upper arms has been a low power massaging shower head as well as rice bags. The impact from the cheap shower heads is too much and I had to spend more money than I wanted to, but it turned out alright. If I put it to the low level massage it doesn't make me feel bruised and I usually feel better.
Posted 9/29/2008 2:55 PM (GMT 0)
Groaner, I think doctors ignore our questions sometimes cause they don't have the answers any more than we do. There is still so much not known about fibro. Hopefully we will get answers soon.

 

I use an electric mattress pad warmer in the winter that might help your muscles. It's not moist heat but it's heat. I also have a moist heat heating pad that gives continuious moist heat.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Posted 9/29/2008 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
Groaner, welcome to the Healing Well family. I used to have issues with my right arm but it wasn't caused by fibro, the fibro just made it feel worse. I actually had an orthopedic issue in my shoulder that gave me symptoms very similar to yours. If you are having swelling in the muscles, it probably isn't caused by fibro because fibro isn't an inflammatory process. You might want to think about having an orthopedic dr take a look at your arm. Maybe he would be able to give you some help. Remember not every pain in the joints or muscles are caused by fibro. There could be a fixable cause. Good luck and keep us posted. Lisa
Posted 10/1/2008 4:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks to everyone's advice I have ordered a moist heat bed
buddy.
I do have a moist heating pad but you are not supposed to lie on it
and I think the Bed Buddy will be better as I won't have to worry
about falling asleep with it on as I do with the heating pad plus
I can kind of wrap the bed buddy around my arm.
Thanks so much for all your help.
Best wishes to everyone.
Posted 10/2/2008 6:32 AM (GMT 0)
HI, I too have the arm and shoulder pain. Every day I do arm exercises in the pool. THis does not get rid of all of the pain but it helps.

Donnaeil
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