Back pain-could be fibromyaligia-PLEASE HELP
Hello everyone-
I posted this a week ago or so on other boards before I knew there was a fibro board...
I just celebrated my one year surgerversary in April an have lost 115 LBS! Unfortunately i have been suffering for the last 7 months with severe back pain and spasms.I wake up in the middle of the night with muscle spasms and am SEVERELY stiff in the a.m. and throughout the day. I am only 27 years old and have had no prior back problems. It has spread to my neck and radiates down my hips and legs at points. If anyone can relate or has answers please help. Here are the facts of this long journey...
Started with what I now think was my quadratus lumbardum muscle. In Nov-Began working out intensely with a personal trainer and may have strained the muscle. Hospitalized in Dec. for what i thought could be kidney stones(i have a hx of them and the pain felt similar). Doctors couldn't find anything after CT and MRI's-only a herniated disc in my low back but said this was not the cause of my pain because I didn't have any nerve damage symptoms. The pain has only gotten worse over time... After seeing several doctors-PCP, neurologist, neurologist, urologist, gastroentoligist, back pain specialist, chiropractor, physical therapist (ongoing for months now), PM&R, psychiatrist... I still don't have answers. They are all puzzled as to what is causing these spasms and pain.
I have had epidural shots in low back, numbing shots in low and upper, TENS unit at physical therapy, exercising (lightly) and nothing has helped even a little. My metabolic panel was checked all normal except a slightly low vit D level (30).
Main symptoms: low back/flank pain, has gone into my upper back and neck, and hips.
Have been on pain meds and antidepressant-pain meds help me function but without them i would not be able to get through the work day. Antidepressant have helped with my mood however not the pain.
My own diagnosis of myself at this point is poor nutrition and as a result I have lost ALOT of muscle and my body is having trouble adjusting. Have contacted my surgeon and he wasn't much help-told me to go to my PCP.
If anyone has ANY suggestions please let me know, I am desperate at this point. I am going to see a rhuematologist next week, they think I may have fibromyalgia. I am currently taking tramadol, pristq (a newer antidepressant), neurontin and flexiril at night to sleep.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and help....Kristen
I posted this a week ago or so on other boards before I knew there was a fibro board...
I just celebrated my one year surgerversary in April an have lost 115 LBS! Unfortunately i have been suffering for the last 7 months with severe back pain and spasms.I wake up in the middle of the night with muscle spasms and am SEVERELY stiff in the a.m. and throughout the day. I am only 27 years old and have had no prior back problems. It has spread to my neck and radiates down my hips and legs at points. If anyone can relate or has answers please help. Here are the facts of this long journey...
Started with what I now think was my quadratus lumbardum muscle. In Nov-Began working out intensely with a personal trainer and may have strained the muscle. Hospitalized in Dec. for what i thought could be kidney stones(i have a hx of them and the pain felt similar). Doctors couldn't find anything after CT and MRI's-only a herniated disc in my low back but said this was not the cause of my pain because I didn't have any nerve damage symptoms. The pain has only gotten worse over time... After seeing several doctors-PCP, neurologist, neurologist, urologist, gastroentoligist, back pain specialist, chiropractor, physical therapist (ongoing for months now), PM&R, psychiatrist... I still don't have answers. They are all puzzled as to what is causing these spasms and pain.
I have had epidural shots in low back, numbing shots in low and upper, TENS unit at physical therapy, exercising (lightly) and nothing has helped even a little. My metabolic panel was checked all normal except a slightly low vit D level (30).
Main symptoms: low back/flank pain, has gone into my upper back and neck, and hips.
Have been on pain meds and antidepressant-pain meds help me function but without them i would not be able to get through the work day. Antidepressant have helped with my mood however not the pain.
My own diagnosis of myself at this point is poor nutrition and as a result I have lost ALOT of muscle and my body is having trouble adjusting. Have contacted my surgeon and he wasn't much help-told me to go to my PCP.
If anyone has ANY suggestions please let me know, I am desperate at this point. I am going to see a rhuematologist next week, they think I may have fibromyalgia. I am currently taking tramadol, pristq (a newer antidepressant), neurontin and flexiril at night to sleep.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and help....Kristen
Welcome to the forum you'll get lots of good advice and support here. We're not a very busy forum so answers may take awhile. Sounds very much like you may have fibro and seeing the rheumy should be able to get you a diagnosis. For your sake I hope it is something else because I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. My pain feels like I have the worst case of the flu where your muscles ache so bad you don't want to move, ever! I also had some back pain that I was sure wasn't fibro but lo and behold when they put me on meds for the fibro the back pain was much less so I guess live and learn! I take cymbalta (30mg 1x day) and (30 mg morphine 2x day) that seems to work for now but one thing I've learned with this disease is you often have to change meds as they become ineffective after awhile and switching helps to stay on top of the pain. If you have any questions I can help you with I'd be happy to give it a try. Just an FYI my pain started about your age and has only gotten worse with age so this is a life long situation until there is a cure. I think attitude is also extremely important, we can't stop the pain altogether usually but we can choose how we react to it. I find anything that helps me destress is vital as stress of anykind tends to make it worse. Do keep working out as much as you can because even tho it hurts like blazes it's the best thing for fibro. Keep us posted as to what the rheumy says, good luck!
Hi Kristen,
Oh my, it sounds so familiar. I started with my lower back, so I had xrays, they found arthritis. Okay, good finally after 20 yrs they found it. Then it goes to my hips. I thought arthritis.......my shoulders, hmmm what is going on? Arthritis. Xrays showed nothing. Then my body started losing a lot of muscle (more than after RNY 3.5 yrs ago). I thought to myself, why I am withering away. I was weak too. I couldn't stand for very long, my legs would feel like limp noodles. Then my body started feeling like a had a bad case of the flu. My neck hurt, my shoulders hurt and my hips were stiff as all get out. I couldn't get moving for about 2 hours after waking up. I was just in bad shape. So my doctor after me complaining to him for a long time came to the conclusion that I had Fibromyalgia. It attacks your muscles and tendons. All this time I thought it was my joints. But it isn't. My doctor referred me to a pain clinic and I am now on the Fentanyl patch 25mcg and Norco as a back up and Cymbalta, to help with the pain and depression. This combo works very well for since I don't malabsorb the patch I get all of it and I can jump out of bed and get on my husbands motorcyle. We just went on a 2,000 mile trip. I wouldn't have been able to do this without my meds. Best wishes and I hope this helps. Please feel free to email me if you have more questions. Kristy
Oh my, it sounds so familiar. I started with my lower back, so I had xrays, they found arthritis. Okay, good finally after 20 yrs they found it. Then it goes to my hips. I thought arthritis.......my shoulders, hmmm what is going on? Arthritis. Xrays showed nothing. Then my body started losing a lot of muscle (more than after RNY 3.5 yrs ago). I thought to myself, why I am withering away. I was weak too. I couldn't stand for very long, my legs would feel like limp noodles. Then my body started feeling like a had a bad case of the flu. My neck hurt, my shoulders hurt and my hips were stiff as all get out. I couldn't get moving for about 2 hours after waking up. I was just in bad shape. So my doctor after me complaining to him for a long time came to the conclusion that I had Fibromyalgia. It attacks your muscles and tendons. All this time I thought it was my joints. But it isn't. My doctor referred me to a pain clinic and I am now on the Fentanyl patch 25mcg and Norco as a back up and Cymbalta, to help with the pain and depression. This combo works very well for since I don't malabsorb the patch I get all of it and I can jump out of bed and get on my husbands motorcyle. We just went on a 2,000 mile trip. I wouldn't have been able to do this without my meds. Best wishes and I hope this helps. Please feel free to email me if you have more questions. Kristy
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