How do you know its Fibro?

Hello,
I have been reading posts here about others with Fibro, pain and fatique. I have WLS back in 2004 (RNY) and this past year I have had an increasing amount of pain. When I've brought this up to my doctor she said "oh its not Fibro". What are the symtoms other than fatique? For me my lower back has the most extreme pain. I also have pain on several points which even hurt when I have a massage...I can't even have that area worked on without wanting to jump off the table.

Any info or info on where I can obtain additional info would be much appreciated. I have been on Lyrica for panic/anxiety attacks for over a year and this doesn't even touch the pain...I'm currently taking 400mg/day. What else has anyone found to relieve pain???

Thanks
LoriLee

The best way to get diagnosed is to see a rheumatologist as they are the ones who typically treat it. They ask lots of questions and check for pain at certain "trigger points" on your body then with that they can tell if it is fibro or something else. Fibro is also usually felt in the muscles not the joints like arthritis. I would suggest just get on the internet and start investigating, do remember that there are some odd ball things on the net and not all of it is true. As far as the Lyrica it did wonders for mine but also made me gain weight so I went back to taking my oxycodone that I take for severe lower back pain and works pretty well on the fibro pain too. Alot of PCPs still don't believe in fibro but I tell ya just knowing that I did have it and wasn't crazy made all the difference for me, then at least I knew what I was dealing with. Good luck and keep coming here with questions, it's not a real busy board so may take awhile to get answers but it's a good place to start.

I had my fibro diagnosed by a rheumy too. I was tranferred to pain management for trigger point injections and medication management. I am on hydrocodon and Fentanyl. I also have advanced osteoarthritis, DDD, and just had surgery for a ruptured disk. Hope your dr will send you for an MRI and a evaluation with a rheumy. Best wishes. I visit other fibromyalgia message boards to get insight.
Shannon

I was diagnosed in 1996 by a rheumatologist. He offered no treatment but I had a diagnosis. It was right after that when my pcp started treating me for pain. I have had severe fatigue since I was in high school. I was tested for everything and when I was finally diagnosed by the rheumo. it felt good to have something wrong. It is a struggle for me because I also have a form of rheumatoid arthritis so I have to be on auto immune drugs for that. I fired my last rheumo doc because he was trying to kill me with too many auto immune drugs and the final straw was he did not support my decision to have wls. I have a new appointment with a new doc on the 24th so we will see what happens.  There are some great websites for fibro that gives a lot of info. When you search for a rheumatologist, ask when you call if they treat fibro. Some don't. It is a real disease and a crippling one if the pain is not kept at bay. I was tried on Lyrica but it didn't help me at all and I blew up like a balloon and had breathing problems. I have also been tried on Cymbalta because they think that helps treat fibro and I had severe reactions to that. I also have panic attacks and am on xanax for that but luckily I only have to take that a few times a month. I am now on Opana and have only been taking it for about 2 weeks so we will see how that goes.
Sharon