Hey everyone

Hey everyone.  You guys have no idea how long it took me to type all of this . . . then again, maybe you do.  How awful is that? 

Anyhow, my name is Shawna and I live in the south.  I have one daughter (22 years old) who tries so hard to help me and a husband (who is 50 but acts 12 on a good day) who has no idea how to help in any way. 

I have a lot of medical problems right now with no end in sight it seems.  (there's really not a lot left to add, is there?)  I have just about reached the end of the rope.  For me, the Fibro is the most annoying and frustrating problem.  I have dealt with all the other stuff for about 5 years, but this is just about beyond my endurance.

I can barely move now because of the Fibro, that is WHEN I can find the engergy to try to move.   It is very frustrating for me.  I have fought through all the other stuff for so long and my medications can control them most of the time, but the medications for the Fibro are unacceptable for me.  I am very overly sensitive to Lyrica, Neurontin, and Sevella, or any drugs in that line.  I can not take Lexapro, Prozac, or any of those type either.  So, I basically just have to deal with this on my own.  It is becoming more than I can tolerate.

The heat here in the south is unreal.  I do not deal with it well.  I don't understand why the warm swimming pool feels so right, or a bath is so good but the heat outside makes me feel like a boiling hot dog.  I literally can feel my hands and feet swelling, but then you look and they aren't swollen, they just feel that way.  There has been many times when I have had to sink my hands into a cup of ice water while outside in the heat.  The shooting, hot stabs of pain feel like I am holding a hot poker in my hands.

The leg problems, already complicated by the sciatica problems, makes it very difficult now to walk.  I feel like I just want to chop them off when they start in with that infernal twitching, jerking, thing they do.  I do have a wheelchair now and hate it to the max.  I am getting a Jazzy soon.  Maybe that will help some, I don't know. 

I am not on disability yet, but I am going to start with it as soon as I can.  I have so many doctors that the thought of doing the paperwork makes me dizzier than normal.  I have a friend that just filed for her disability, she has parkinsons, and she was accepted on her first try.  I should be so lucky.

I hurt all over now.  Anywhere I am touched is so painful that I want to scream and then punch someone (lucky them, I can't make a fist).  I am so tired that I just want to crawl away to a dark corner and sleep until this goes away.  Does it ever stop?  Has my body just been put through so much that it can't take anymore and that's what brought this on? 

I am fairly new to all of this, only a few months.  It didn't come on all at once.  It was a gradual thing of something is going on and it's not the RA.  

I am still trying to read all of the posts here from everyone.  I have already had testing for vitamin deficiency and have gotten the B12 groups started and D.  Mine were way low.  I haven't noticed a difference yet. 

Thanks for being here, in a warped kind of way it makes you realize that you aren't crazy and there is someone else out there feeling the same things that you are.  That does help.  Like I said, warped.  I will continue to read, and hopefully I will be able to remember what I read today, tomorrow.  Not for sure though.  It escapes me so easily now. 

I loved your introductory post!  You sound just like all of us at one time or another but you worded it so great and I loved your sarcasm! 

Now for some help.  First of all, if you sit or lay too much you will be stiff as a board and have more pain.  I know you are using a wheelchair right now but perhaps with trying some things, you won't need it.  Time will tell.  Most people with fibro do not end up in a wheelchair but maybe you have other problems that caused that. 

I do gentle stretching exercises (found in Fibro 101) that you can do sitting down!  These do help.  If you can loosen up and are not in a lot of pain, try walking.  Even if it's just across the room.  It's a start.  If you do this frequently, you might see that you can go further.  You see, I never used to walk.  When I started to, I could only go four houses down and had to turn around.  But I didn't quit.  I went out every day and could go a little further.  Now, I start my day by walking my dog at least a mile.  Noooo, I don't feel like doing that...especially in the Florida heat....but by the time I get home, I have more energy and less pain so it is worth it to me.  In the summer, I'm out no later than 7:30 AM because it heats up quickly here.  You live in the South so  you know what I'm saying.  But give this a try.  Can't hurt and could help!

I don't take the medications for fibro either.  I use ibuprofen with food, extra strength Tylenol, malic acid/magnesium supplements and vitamin D3 to help with pain and fatigue.  Then I add the stretching exercises and the daily walks, gentle massages, and pacing myself.  All of the above helps me be in control of the pain. 

Be sure to check out Fibro 101...the second thread on the forum.  There are links to good info about fibro and you will learn a lot there.  Good starting links are Symptoms and A Thorough Explanation of Fibromyalgia.  I think you will see yourself there.  As mentioned before, there are links about the malic acid/magnesium supplements, the vitamin D3 supplements, and the gentle stretching exercises here, too.

Lastly, keeping a positive attitude really does help alot.  There is a good link about that in Fibro 101 also.  Your sense of humor will help a bunch, too!  This helps me with the fog.  Instead of getting all upset, which can cause more pain for fibromites, I laugh at the dumb things I do.  I used to get very frustrated and then I REALLY couldn't remember anything.  But, if I relax, the fog seems to "relax" and I don't feel like a complete moron anymore! 

So, stick with us.  I hope some of this will help you feel much better and hopefully get you up and around!  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