Fibro. sufferers. Listen to your gut instincts.

I've suffered with fibro. for over 20 yrs. I started having severe neck and arm pain with numbness about 12 yrs ago. Each time it acted up I was told it was my fibro. flaring. In Dec. it hit again. Pain was excrutiating,felt like needles shooting down arm into fingers. Arm and hand would go completely numb. Again told was fibro. No xrays were done at first. After suffering for a mo. I finally decided to see a orthopedic surgeon. First he was surprised no one had a xray done to rule out different things. He did xray, damage noted. Had mri, emg done. Severe nerve damage noted. Finally he gave me a diagnosis of Thoracic outlet syndrome. Like finding out I had fibro., it was a relief to have a name to it. I'm in extensive physical therapy to hopefully ease it up so I won't have to have surgery. We need to be our own advocates for our well being. My neck and arm and hand may be forever damaged. Take care, Kathy