Symptoms question

I've not be diagnosed with fibro, but I'm beginning to think I may have it. What were your early symptoms, and what criteria did the doc use to diagnosis you with fibro? I've had severe arthritis for more than half my life, but over the past few years I've started having a different sort of pain, and it's in the mucles not the joints.

Just lookin' for some clues here!

Wow there are soooo many symptoms for fibro that they could fill a book but yes one of the main ones is constant muscle pain and I was told for years my pain was arthritis even tho I kept telling docs it was my muscles. It feels like the worst flu pain ever but it doesn't go away! You know that pain where even your hair hurts? You don't want to touch or be touched cause it's too painful. Also very common with fibro are chronic fatigue and fibro fog where it's hard to think straight. I've found I can take things for arthritis that don't touch the fibro pain and vice versa things for fibro don't work on the arthritis pain. I recently started taking neurontin for my fibro and so far it's working well. That's another big problem with fibro, what works great for one person does nothing for another so it's very much trial and error finding pain relief and some try everything and still get no relief. Your first step should probably be to find a rheumatologist who deals with fibro because there is a "touch point test" they can do on you and if you are sensitive in a certain number of touch points then they confirm you have fibro. I would also suggest looking on the internet for info just remember not everything is true and alot of people push herbal things that really don't work, you need to get a good working relationship with a specialist and it'll be an on going life long relationship because it never goes away. Good luck and come here for support too. This board isn't real busy but I usually check in every day just to see if anyone posted. Feel free to PM me too if you want.

Tired and sore all over . I said I always felt like I was walking in a vat of wet cement and it was drying fast...A Rumetologists actually did the dx.

What every one else said just about covers it. Fibro is hard to explain. It HURTS unlike any hurt you have ever felt before. Nothing else compares to it. It ruins your life basically because there is not a damn thing that can be done for it other then pain meds. Then you get the docs that say "oh its all in your head" I have had this horrid disease since I was a small child. I am now 32 an have passed it on to my adorable little daughter. I have been told so many times it was all in my head that if one more tells me that I will punch them!! The rhumy doc will do a pressure point test like one of the other ladies said and ewwweeee it HURTS. My doc poked me so hard I seen starz!! And if you have enough pressure points in the right areas and pass all other tests meaning everything else was negative and you have all the other symptoms like the extreme fatigue, depression, anxiety, alot of  us suffer from irritable bowl syndrome also along with a LONG line of other problems. Cronic fatigue is one of the major ones along with depression. You wake up one day when the thought of someone even looking at you hurts. A hug can cause excrutiating pain enough to kick everyone out of the house so noone will touch you. laying down hurts but yet sitting hurts, clothes at time hurts to touch you. I have days where my glasses hurt my face so bad I cannot wear them. Somedays I cannot leave my house because it hurts to wear a bra because it presses against my skin. hugs from my child hurt to the point I have to tell her no. Taking a shower sometimes hurts when the water hits my shoulders when I am in a flare up It is a horrid disease that noone should ever have to face. You will be ok one day and think ya know I can cope with this, then the next you cannot move to even get out of the bed and that can last for weeks. I hope for your sake it is not FM. Then they have to rule out everything else and then after they do that they will diagnose you with FM. I would not settle though, make them dig and find out that is truly what it is. Alot of docs are using it as a blanket diagnoses just so they can get rid of you. Make them dig and make sure that is what it is.
I wish you the best of luck and I hope you find some pain free days.

How is it diagnosed? Usually by a knowledgable doctor pressing on particular places on your body to see if you have to be peeled off the ceiling from jumping in severe pain.

What were my first symptoms? Debilitating fatigue and pain. I felt like I'd never done heavy yard work before and went out and did all the landscaping for a huge estate. You know that feeling of overusing muscles? Multiply that to the 'n'th degree. Not so much in the joints, per se, just all over my body. A good day is when my eyelashes don't hurt.

Google fibromyalgia to get more, better info on how diagnoses are made. BTW, I go to a rheumatologist for it. If you have arthritis already, see your rheumy about your suspicions.