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Where do your most troublsome FM symtpoms reside? From the neck up? Or from the neck down?

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Fibromyalgia
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Posted 6/20/2013 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
I feel that 99% of my FM "problems" center around my head versus my body.... (even though technically we experience all pain sensations from our bodies in our brains) I have slight aches and pains through out my body, but thankfully, thus far in my life, they are a nuisance only and not so distracting that they can eventually become unnoticeable. I've managed to keep my back pain to a minimum, although it has caused me great discomfort in the past. However, the problems in my "head" are really where the majority of my pain and frustration stems from.

My most uncomfortable and bothersome Fibromyalgia symptoms are: insomnia (centering in my brain) lack of restful sleep (centering in my brain) headaches (head) eye pain (head) fibro-fog, cognition issues (brain), trouble articulating myself sometimes (brain), vertigo (brain) Its really mostly all from the neck up, for me.

I know that the majority of FM survivors (I'll call us) have problems all over, and if I were to ask many of you to point to where you hurt the most, I'm assuming many of you would want to point to "everywhere" but if you had to name what 'hurts' the most, what really bothers you the most, where would you point? Is there anyone else out there that feels that pretty much most of their problems are felt from the neck up?
Posted 6/20/2013 1:43 AM (GMT 0)
Hi CharmCityLady, I'm not a professional of course - but it sounds to me that you are more likely to have chronic fatigue syndrome than fibromyalgia.

My worst pain is in my back, neck and shoulders. The next most bothersome symptoms are brain fog, cognitive dysfunction, insomnia, sleep problems, weakness and lethargy, sensitivity to touch, pain all over every single part of my body, and so on...
Posted 6/20/2013 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
It's the neck down for me. My back, shoulders and neck give me the most problem. If I had to choose one of those, it would be my back.

Sherrine
Posted 6/20/2013 2:37 AM (GMT 0)
@Sherrine, good point! I could have divided the body up into quadrants! Or head, neck&back, abdomen, extremities.

@Jasmine... yeah, technically I suppose CFS might be more appropriate since my most prominent symptoms are not overwhelming aches in the body and extremities, but I think my rheumy went with the FM diagnosis so that's what I label myself as. Plus I just abhor the term "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". It sounds like some joke/made up name for some couch potato that is too lazy to get up! haha. (and obviously its so much more than that and quite disabling) I would never tell someone I had that.. because it doesn't really communicate or express the true source of my problem... which I believe is mostly neurological in nature... or, I feel the effects of my condition in my neurological system, so that's what I wish to express.
Posted 6/20/2013 3:17 AM (GMT 0)
Hi CharmCityLady, I totally agree with you. Sometimes I'll need to tell someone that I have fibromyalgia. I rarely tell anyone that I have "chronic fatigue syndrome". The only reason that it's important to recognise if you have CFS is because there are a couple additional things to know about the condition that don't apply to FMS; I recognise that I have both so that I can be treated for both, because if I just received treatment for the FMS without considering the CFS, then I could hurt myself or just simply not get as healthy as is possible.
Posted 6/20/2013 5:30 AM (GMT 0)
CCLady,

For over 20 years, almost all my pain has been on the left side of my body. The most common places are 1) along the sciatic nerve pathway that goes from my butt to my toes, and 2) where my neck and shoulder meet. If one gets especially irritated, the other goes along for the ride (and since that shoulder decided to freeze, it's even more fun.)


Then there's back pain - I've had an awful lot of that since I was a teenager, but especially during the years I was having kids - and abdominal pain that comes and goes.


This isn't to say I don't have plenty of head symptoms too - you might say I'm a real head CASE (haha!):D - but as far as pain, I don't have much from the neck up - except for Migraines, and they don't bother me much anymore.

Debbie

Posted 6/20/2013 5:59 AM (GMT 0)
CCL, I resent being called a Couchtater. :))

Just joking with you....

I chose "couchtater" because my illnesses have turned me into a couchtater most of the time.

As for the most painful areas lower back and left elbow. I do get the nasty fogs and I've been told my brain processing skills is 14% because of the fibro and lupus fogs hitting me hard at times.
Posted 6/20/2013 1:30 PM (GMT 0)
Fibro pain is so weird how it just jumps around. Right now my foot is killing me so much that I'm silently screaming. But there's nothing wrong whatsoever with the foot.
Posted 6/20/2013 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
My worst pain is in my back, neck and shoulders. The next most bothersome symptoms are brain fog, cognitive dysfunction, insomnia, sleep problems, weakness and lethargy, sensitivity to touch, pain all over every single part of my body, and so on...

Im with you in that I get a lot of brain like symptoms...insomnia, cognitive difficulties, eye pain, don't get headaches, however my worst pain is in my legs and arms..especially my shins and thighs, especially when I have walked.

It started really bad in my back and neck and shoulders, but strangely havent had it in my back for about 2 months now...i also get skin pain, sensitivity to touch, burning and twitching (very annoying)

So i would say worst pain is lower and most bothersome is upper
Posted 6/21/2013 4:49 AM (GMT 0)
Ranking from Most annoying to not so annoying

Sciatica - gluts down to calves (very hard to managed, only recently manage to get it under control using norspan patch, but still very noticible.)

Lumbar area - L4,5 S1. Managed with Tramadol

Sleep. Can't fall asleep unless intervened with drugs.

Depression. Kinda under control, but mood swings do sometimes comes without warning.

Mid back - tightness... relaxation technique, acupuncture, massages

Upper back and shoulder - tighness, as above

Neck - pinching feeling... I crack my neck from time to time... not a good practise...

Headache - maybe 3 - 4 times a week.

Uncoordination. Lots of bumps and bruises; occasionally sprain due to hyper mobility.

Fibro Fog is not much of an issue to me lately, but sometimes I can be quite forgetful. I managed by using my trusty iphone. Journal, and I do recall exercise to keep me in check since I'm so dependant on Zolpidem.

Hyper mobility. I can bend by fingers backwards, some time that can hurt when someone tried to pull my hand and instead they pulled my fingers backwards.

Guts seems to be under control nowadays with low carbs/ processed wheat diet.
Posted 6/23/2013 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
My worst pain seems to be from neck down (neck, back, shoulders, and hips).
Posted 6/24/2013 5:57 AM (GMT 0)
Most troublesome and most painful or most upsetting are different things. I would say that my non-pain symptoms like fatigue, lack of energy/motivation, general malaise, etc usually have the greatest adverse effect on my quality of life. But my pain is normally the worst in my neck, shoulders and upper back. The pain can be extremely painful and distressing, but I think it would be a lot easier to deal with if I felt energetic, felt well-rested and refreshed after sleeping soundly all night, felt great and clear mentally, etc. But I don't know about the distinction between "above the neck" (as in brain) and "below the neck" (as in body), since we don't really know where a lot of these symptoms originate.

However, I have been diagnosed with both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Although many doctors consider these syndromes 2 sides of the same coin, some people do have chronic fatigue without pain or with more mild pain, or, conversely, fibromyalgia pain without much fatigue.
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