Hi, Intro but I'm long-winded..LOL

Hi there, I just wanted to introduce myself.  I had Lap RNY in Nov 2005.  I had many complications, but that's beside the point here.  I'm here to talk about what we all are...FIBRO!!! and how much we hate it!!  LOL.  I got my diagnosis in Feb of this year because I diagnosed myself to be honest.  I've always had pain in my neck and shoulders for at least the last 8-10 yrs that I can recall problly more.  But I was told that my pain was because ....hold onto your seat....because I was "fat"  why like I did't see that coming.  But that's the diagnosis forever.   Then I had my RNY had my complications and still had severe pain except now it was 10x worse..I could hardly see straight.  They then told me because of my problems my muscles were atrophied(sp?) from the malnourishment etc.  Well once we got me stablized, I was still hurting badly.  So they sent me to a Spine/pain Dr.  They did a cervical MRI/CT and found I have osteo-arthritis, degenertive disc disease, and narrowing of the spinal canal in which there was a reduction sometimes in spinal fluid....WELL HOLY CRAP NO WONDER I HURT!!  So we did steroid injections.  They did "nothing" for me..I mean zilch.  Well I was dying of pain.  I hurt so badly and I was already on loritab elixir for my ulcer and stomach problems, but I was also drinking it like water because of the neck.  So I started researching "chronic pain" and found 3 things mainly...Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, and of course Fibro...well my best friend has Fibro..I did not have fibro..I know the symptoms...But I looked closer and hmm..oh look I have that...oh look..that too...whatdya know I have that too!!  Oh look at the tender points (trigger points) out of 18 of them almost all of them hurt!!..  So next time I went to my Dr we discussed it, and the possibility of it.  He went over my history, an current stuff, plus the fact that y blood test showed no lupus, or RA, and said I think you hit the nail on the head for sure.  Let's go with this.  So he put me on Lyrica... Ahhh Lyrica, it's wonderful.  But I can't take pills (part of my complications) so he wanted to put me on that so I could open the capsules, and take the powder directly.  It worked wonders!!, but it hurt my bleeding ulcer so badly I didn't know which was worse...Fibro pain or ulcer pain!!    So I went back to my Dr and said lyrica is the bomb...BUT it's irritating my ulcer too much and my lortab intake was still up, but for the ulcer pain instead.  And personally after being on Lortab for almost 18 months I wanted OFF!!!  So we dscussed some options and talked about some things I'd looked at online for optins and we finally opted for the Fentynal Pain patch.. (Duragesic) that way I could wear it for 72hrs and it would take care of both ulcer pain, AND fibro pain. Guess what?  IT WORKED!!!  YAY!!  I was so happy.  =)   Now my pain levels still vary depending on the weather and other problems. I do get trigger points monthly because I still get migraines as well.  My other problems at this time are Chronic fatigue syndrome, epstein barr syndrome, and cytomegolavirus, and I'm still heading to a rheumatologist because  of the severe joint pain in the hands, fingers, elbows, knees. etc.  So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!.  Thanks for being here and I hope to get to know some of you.  =)

Hello and Welcome. We have alot in common. Would love to get to know you better! Hope we both get our pain worked out to a more tolerable level. I am on my 3rd Fentanyl patch  and they dont last the whole 72 hours. Does it have to build up in your system to have the affect? I am also on Lortab with it. I would not make it thru without the Lortab. I also have a ruptured disk on top of it so maybe once that works out or lets up pain will be more manageable. I have my surgery 6 days before you! Shannon

Heya Shanana, Good to hear from you.  As for the patches, what lvl are you on?  I started at 25mcg, but am up to 50mcg now. They started out fine for me. Maybe you just need a higher lvl of them.  Do you take Lyrica as well?  It might help some and get you off the Lortab.  Do you take anything else?  I take Elevil and rozerem to sleep at night, because as you know probably we don't sleep well.  LOL  How do you sleep?  I'm a major insomniac if I don't take my sleep meds.   Do you know that they've found that sleeping is part of our problem with the cause of our pain?  We have a tendancy to not go into REM sleep which is the restorative sleep that helps repairs basic nerve/muscle usage during the day.  But because we have a tendancy to not sleep we don't get the sleep to repair hence our pain continues and worsens.  So how long have you had Fibro?  and how long since you got actually diagnosed?  Hope to hear from you soon.  =)

Thanks for the reply. They decided against Lyrica for me because of weight gain side effect. Ill talk to them about it if i see that others here are not having that problem. I am on anxiety meds too and depression. I have sleep meds that absolutely make me drunk if i take them. Dr knows this and does not change them. I may change him lol. Its not my pain dr that prescribes them. I am on started 25 mg patch. Ill talk to you more after a couple days of rest and relaxation. Shannon