New here - Fibromyalgia and other Health challenges

Hi Everyone: New to the posts and live in Canada. Have a number of health challenges, including Fibromyalgia. Head pain is the worst pain. Dentist at a TO Hospital said it is Neuralgia. I have OA in my neck and mild in other joints. Have posted in Chronic pain and Osteoarthritis. I have read some of the posts and can sure relate to what everyone is living with. I had to stop working at my 90% data entry job and I am on Disability. I do have a Husband who helps now with shopping, laundry, lifting, opening cans etc. Chores are very difficult. I have found some tools to help such as grabbers and a very light vacuum. The dustpans with long handles are useful. I do go to a local Physiotherapy in a heated pool once a week. I cannot drive but do use our Wheel Trans to get to Doctor Appointments. I hate relying on my Family but I figure that I looked after them for many years and they are giving some back. It is a full time job looking after me. I still do my share. My Husband does not cook. What caused all this - I was born with stomach problems and have I.B. Had a couple accidents. 2 life threatening infections - C. Diff and H1N1 (I always get a flu shot but one year I was told to see my FP in Dec. for it and I came down with flu in Nov.) I have hit nerves twice. Meds to rid of infection may have caused nerve damage?
Meds: Omeprazole, Naproxen, Baclofen, Nortriptyline, HRT. Was on Lyrica but off now. Nightly nerve spasms and Restless legs have come to a halt with Nortriptyline and I have a deeper sleep. Pain meds tried too and use pain cream - H535 with Capsacin.

Hi loring, welcome

The heated pool sounds great...one step at a time!

I am blessed with a hubby that helps... When i feel good..we work together..but when i don't he takes over our shopping, vacuuming...today he vacuumed the sofas and chairs , it was on my list a couple weeks..i always cook, he cleans up kitchen...

I love the topical pain relievers also, save me a lot of pain...

Hi, Loring, and welcome! I am profoundly deaf in the high ranges of sound and was diagnosed with auto-immune inner ear disease. Yes, not being able to communicate normally is challenging. I need a captions telephone, closed captioning on the television, and also I need to lip read along with using context clues to understand speech. I'm blessed in that I am very good at that and many don't even know I'm hearing impaired...unless you get me in with a group of people. UGH! I'm sooo thankful that my eyes are healthy and I plan on keeping them that way.

You have tried many things already. Have you tried vitamin D3 and magnesium malate? These have helped me and others with the pain and fatigue of fibro. I know you have been directed to Fibro 101 and in there are links about these and how they work in the body. You might find that you can get off some of your medication. The magnesium should help with the restless leg problem. Also, a muscle relaxer has helped with that for members, too. I take a muscle relaxer and it has helped significantly with pain.

Walking daily, my gentle form of exercise, has helped me a lot, too. I couldn't walk far at first...only four houses down. But I didn't give up. I went out the next day and was able to walk a little further. Now I walk my dog every morning for at least a half an hour and when I get home I have less pain and more energy. Gentle daily exercises like walking, swimming, and yoga are highly suggested to help with fibro pain.

I don't give in to fibro. I find ways to work around this illness. Pacing myself when doing things is a huge help to me. I am able to do a lot that I never thought possible by pacing myself. I always try to do things, too, and find there aren't many things I can't do. This weekend I spent steam cleaning the carpeting. I am a widow and am by myself so if it's going to get done, I have to do it. I'm glad because this will keep me independent.

Just wanted you to know that Omeprazole (Prilosec) can possibly cause osteoporosis. This happened to me. Before starting this PPI, I was given a bone scan. No bone loss...not even osteopenia.
After seven years of taking Omeprazone, I had another bone scan and now have a moderate case of osteoporosis. I don't think this happens to everyone but I sure wish someone had told me it could happen!

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

Loring,
Twenty years ago I had such bad neck pain that I couldn't lift my head off the pillow. I had a job for almost a year where I spent all day in an awkward position, and it did damage my neck. I had to quit my job and spend 10 months in bed. Got diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I did muscle relaxers and some physical therapy and went into complete remission from pain, until now. I just got sick again, this time worse. But have hope, despite what doctors tell you, you can go into remission.

Look into a good chiropractor, sometimes they offer pain relief with lasers and things like that

Hi Loring,

Glad that you have joined our group. You will get lots of good advise and support.

Anytime you are having a bad day, go ahead and vent away. Someone will usually be on to give a friendly ear.