How do you figure out which system to check out first?

Of all the specialists I have seen, my family practice functional medicine MD is helping me the most.

CathyA,
I empathize with your confusion and frustration at not knowing where to start or what to emphasize to your doctor. I have chronic Lyme disease, and immediately manifested fibromyalgia, which my functional doctor said very commonly happens. Maybe, and I hope, it is purely fibromyalgia you are coping with. If you are confident of that, the previously dispensed advice to keep prioritizing each time you see your doc is good advice. If you think you need to eliminate Lyme as a source of some of your symptoms, Western Blot test is the most accurate and only test of value, along with finding a doc who believes in Lyme and particularly chronic Lyme disease (most think that a short duration of treatment is all it takes to eliminate Lyme. This is true of someone who knows they have been bitten by a tick, and gets immediate treatment. Any delay in treatment puts one in the chronic category). I have or have had all of the symptoms you describe, but I was told by my doc that particularly the buzzing or tingling in the extremities is Lyme induced. When I'm doing a good combination of prescription and natural meds for the Lyme (and simplifying my life as much as possible), my fibromyalgia is under better control. Maybe you want to do a little research to see if you resonate with any of this, or if not, please disregard and blessings with your healing journey.

Thanks everyone. I've used a cpap machine for about 9 years, and it definitely helped with the fatigue. I'm not really fatigued anymore.......just dealing with the pain. about a year ago I started waking up many times a night. I'm assuming it's my alpha wave intrusion getting worse.......but I don't have to get up to pee, and I can go right back to sleep. But I think it's interrupting some of my deeper sleep. I don't want another sleep test, and my numbers on my machine seem good every morning (AHI, leak rate, etc.)......and my sleep doc said the meds for alpha wave intrusion aren't the best.

It was my internal med doc who initially pointed me in the direction of sleep apnea. When I went to him a couple weeks ago, he asked how my sleep was doing. I know my numbers can be good, but still causing problems. I'm thinking about buying a recording oximeter, and I'll at least be able to tell if my O2 saturation is dropping during the night.

I can't take many pain/muscle relaxants because they make me so drowsy......plus, they don't really work on my pain. I can't take NSAIDS either. So all I take is tylenol........but this recent "flare" doesn't seem to be helped with tylenol. I do have a bad knee, which I ice several times a day. I use a heating pad on my back, and I do leg stretches, which help with the painful legs a little. I have TMJ and wear a MORA every night. I also have pelvic organ prolapse........which makes me wonder about that pressure on my legs, and I also wonder about osteoarthritis in the spine......since my legs and arms ache, tingle, and burn. I know all these symptoms can be FMS, but I certainly don't want to overlook something else that I could actually do more for........ I'm seeing several docs in the next month and a half. Bummer, that it takes so long to get in. I'll call every day for cancellations.

I have always been grateful that my spine never gave me problems.......but I might be having issues now.
So I'll have my app't. with my internal med doc fairly soon, and I'll try to figure out what I should check out first. Each specialist sort of has tunnel vision, and I don't want to spend a fortune on each one before ruling everything else out.

It's just very curious that it all went downhill after the diverticulitis, but mostly after the colonoscopy.
I'm excruciatingly sensitive to all meds, which makes me very cautious to take many of them.
I've recently switched from small dose of sertraline to Lexapro, and am on a small dose of metoprolol. I take Calcium, magnesium maleate, B12(the methyl type) and Vitamin D3.

I'm fairly active. We have a huge property and I have a big garden (which I've turned into a raised stock tank veggie garden), a couple small water gardens, and have lots of trees, flowers, bushes. I enjoy cooking and birdwatching and many other things........so I don't let the pain stop me. But I sure could be happier without it.

I recently really got into doing jigsaw puzzles. But now when I sit on a huge pillow in the chair, my legs ache sooooo badly. That's why I'm wondering about a lower spine problem. I have had several dozen ct scans in my life, so I'm hesitant to add to that radiology exposure.

I think the fact that I had so many tests earlier in my life, says that I probably have had something funky since childhood. Who knows. I know my mother took me to a doctor who gave me Radium treatments on my sinuses. Fortunately........no thyroid cancer.......yet.
We all have our crosses to bear. It would just be nice if they were just a tad bit lighter! :)

P.S. Rockon.........I don't know of any docs around here who believe in adrenal fatigue.....

Thanks Rockon. Lots to think about. I have to admit, after living 66 years, filled with lots of problems (that never show up on any conventional test), I've lost a fair amount of motivation. I guess I feel better just complaining about it. haha
Anyhow....I appreciate all the info you've given and I'll definitely check it out. I think most docs today are so busy and there's soooo much to learn new every day, that they try to fit everyone into the same slots. And unfortunately, some of us were born differently. I hope they can figure this out some day, so people like us can have less painful lives.
Thanks again!