Just diagnosed

I have been suffering with pain for years but in the last few months it was like 5 times worse.  I have gone to the doctors before about pain and was told several different things which all of them were not true.  I have  been told I was wearing the wrong kind of shoes and then sent out the door i was told I pulled a muscle and sent out the door I was told it was anxiety or allergies and ....sent out the door.  Well the beginning of January i was in so much pain that I would have gone to the emergency room but I didn't because of the fact that ... I would be told some concocted story and sent out the door... so I made an appointment with my doctor which I hadn't been to very often(I don't go to the doctor until last resort).  When she came in I pretty much told her that i was not going to accept just being brushed off and that I really needed her to Listen to me.  I told her that I never admit that I am in pain but it is so bad that I am being forced to admit it. i told her that I have been in before about pain and was told some concocted thing and never had any followup. I told her that the pain is decreasing my sleep and now I am desperate enough to admit that I have it and something needs to be done.  So she did a whole lot of blood test and told me to call her back in a week.  I called back in a week still in pain and had to make another appointment.. she tried prednisone to see if it was something... surprisingly that didn't help anything except make me feel really weird.  She ended up sending me to a specialist and ta dah this morning i was officially diagnosed as having fibromyalgia... the doctor this morning got the full view of my morning pain because it was way early in the morning and I was not awake at all when I got there.

My biggest questions at this point is what do i have to look forward to? Does the pain get worse?  What can I do besides take pills that will help(not a fan of medications)?

   obviously new to this and full of questions

Hi Melisana and welcome to the family. Sorry you had to join our family but you will be happy you did. I'm glad you finally got through to your doc that something was wrong. I had to do the same thing before mine took the fatigue I was having back then seriously, wasn't even having that much pain yet but I knew the fatigue could no longer be explained away.

 

Be sure you read the fibro 101 thread, second on first page, it contains a lot of great info about many things.

 

I'm not a big fan of meds either, actually, I have a med phobia and go into an anxiety attack thinking about starting a new med. I take 100 mg of amitriptyline at bedtime, I was on this for anxiety and depression when I was dxd with fibro. I don't seem to have as much pain as many others on the forum so I think it does help. I tried cutting back almost two years ago and went into the worst two week flare I have ever had and not had one since. I have never tried Lyrica or any of the other meds that are out now for fibro. I did try neurontin (old version of lyrica) for a few days but didn't like the way it made me feel so stopped, but a lot of that is my medphobia. So I do know that I don't give meds a chance that might help me.

 

I did relent and started taking a little vicodin a few months ago out of desperation but only when I can't stand the pain any longer. I have osteo arthritis in my upper neck, hands and lower back and that drove me to the vicodin more than fibro did. I use heat in any form. Many of us use bed buddies you can buy or make your own out of a long tube sock filled with uncooked rice and tie the end shut and put it in the microwave for a few minutes to heat it. I try very hard to keep as much stress out of my life as possible but with my family that is impossible so there are many things I have to put in God's hands or I would have lost it years ago. I use distraction when I'm in pain by getting on the forum and try to help others or play a game on the computer that takes my mind off the pain. 

 

You have to keep moving no matter how bad you feel, sitting or laying all day will only make the pain worse. There are some stretching exercises on the fibro 101 thread that are very good. You will figure out in time how much exercise is good for you and how much is too much, we are all different.

 

These things are just what I do personally and not one treatment works for everyone so it is trial and error to you figure out what works and doesn't work for you. It would be nice if the treatment was cut and dried and the same for all but as weird as fibro is, it's not.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Hello Milesana,

It sounds like you are figuring out fibro.  Yes stress does really effect fibromyalgia.  It is our enemy.  So if you have any destressing techniques, do use them.  I myself meditate and do deep breathing when I get stressed out.  It centers me and relaxes me.

I do take pain medications, and adderall for the fatigue.  For me the fatigue bothers me more than the pain.  But I haven't had a flare in a long time.  So I am happy for that. 

I too have to take life one day at a time.  That is one of the positive things that came from fibromyalgia.  I find that taking life one day at a time and not worrying me has given me actually a better quality of life.  So I highly suggest that.

Where I live, we tend to have crazy weather and the barometric pressure bothers me.  Well, when it changees I should say.  When there is a weather front moving in it really effects me. 

I also take a lot of vitamin D3.  I have found that it helps a lot of us on the forum.  There is information on malic acid/magnesium supplements on the fibro 101 thread, that you might want to read about.  I have found that it really helps me.  I am working a part time job now after not working for seven years.  Actually I am on leave of absence due to the fibromyalgia and the weather right now, I am going back in the spring.  So I feel actually that I am doing better than I was when I first acquired this lovely disorder. 

Any way, I am rambling.  I hope that you continue to post.  We have many wonderful members here and I think you are going to like it here.  I hope that you are feeling well and having a wonderful day.

Hugs, Karen