Fibro questions

Hi

I just have a few questions.....about what you are feeling..

I Was diagnosed with fibromyalgia back in 2003......I am glad they diagnosed it in some ways because I thought I was going crazy.....I was so tired all the time....exhausted...feeling like an old dishrag....and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me......I have always found it pretty easy to read things and be able to take the info in but then everything changed.....I could concentrate or remember anything i was reading....I found myself reading a book and reading the same paragraph about 10 times..and nothing was sinking in.....I use to be like a sponge and the concentration thing was a big deal to me....

Not all of my symptoms were caused by fibro though.....In 1998 I went to my doctor about my snoring.....and the fact that I stopped breathing while Iw as snoring.....my doctor suspected it might be sleep apnea so she referred me to a "sleep doctor"......I went for the sleep test and had a very hard time falling asleep......first I was in an air conditioned room and I was cold all night....I had to keep getting up to pee......I was sleeping in a hospital bed which wasn't something I had done in many years and then I was wired up.....I  had 46 incidents in 45 minutes......However my doctor didn't write done that i had sleep apnea....SHe said I had Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome.....so Sunlife wouldn't cover the machine...and at that time I was living in NS so if you didn't have medical coverage the machine was $1800....I didn't have money like that so I never got one.....

Then in 2002 I went to my doctor because I was so tired....I would wake up in the morning to program my VCR and would fall asleep and wake up 2 hours later.....I fell asleep many times through the day...sitting up on the couch.....I was off work because I also had a chronic cough and larygitis...and my job was work at a call centre so I wasn't very good at talking on the phone in this state...so I went off on sick leave....It ws really a blessing since I couldn't stay awake during the day.......I think there were even times that my husband came in the room and i was sitting there with my mouth open....I think he thought I had died a few times.....but there was nothing I could do to stay awake...  My doctor decided to send me back to have a sleep study....When I went for an appt with the doctor that had diagnosed me with Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, she asked how the CPAP was working....I told her I didn't get one because sunlife wouldn't cover it....She immediately wrote a prescription for one.....It took me a long time to get used to wearing the mask....Most of the time I would wake up and the mask was beside me on the bed....I perservered though and things got a bit better....However there are days now that I still don't feel totally rested....

As I mentioned...for the first couple of years it was the fatigue and brain fog that bothered me but for the last couple years it has been the pain.....there are some days I get up and can hardly walk......and even some days when it feels like my arms and legs are made of lead and when washing my hair I have to keep resting because it hurts with my arms up in the air.....Does anyone else feel like this too...

I am morbidly obese and have asthma so walking is hard for me at the best of times.....and i have started to be lazy and use the scooter in the store....like Walmart or the grocery store....My family is embarrassed when I do this but on the times when there wasn't a scooter to use and I had to walk around with the cart....after sitting down for a few hours when I got up I could hardly walk...the pain was somewhat unbearable...

I am not on any meds for the fibro altough i am a lot of meds for other things.....blood pressure meds, meds for my hypothyroidism, asthma meds....anxieity meds etc......I feel sometimes that the doctor doesn't take my fibro seriously....I know others that are on medications for it and have even known something that smoked marijuana for it....she smoked it as often as someone would smoke a cigarette....

What is everyone else on if you are on meds....and has your fibro improved with having WLS...

Thanks

Sue

I take Trazadone for sleep.   Without it, I can't turn off my brain.  I also take flexeril if I'm having tight muscles in my shoulders.  Recently added Cymbalta.  I've had some issues with it, like headaches, but it really does help with the pain, allowing me to get a better night's sleep.  I also take hydrocodone when the pain gets really bad, but I have a pretty high pain tolerance and sometimes don't even realize how badly I'm hurting until I don't hurt. 

Water exercise can really help with the fibro pain.  But it has to be in a warm pool.  I understand the fatigue.  But you have to keep moving no matter how bad it hurts.  Inactivity will make it worse.  Gentle stretches, hot tubs, massage therapy all help keep me going.   Once you start to lose weight, get yourself to the gym.  I hate exercise, but force myself.  I feel better when I do.

As for it being better since surgery, not so much.  It's different, but not better.  The sleep apnea is gone but I still have the sleep issues - not restful.  But again, the Cymbalta is helping that. 

You need to see a rheumatologist for proper diagnosis and treatment plan.  Fibro is one of their specialties.  If there isn't one close, make a trip to get to one and then have them write the treatment plan and send to your primary doc.

Lyn

Thanks Lyn

I was orignially diagnosed by a rheumatologist in Nova Scotia....she didn't put me on anything though....She was more concerned with me getting treated for my sleep apnea first.

I will definitely check into that though Lyn....Thank you very much

You probably have  chronic fatigue as well as the fibro, they quite often go hand in hand. I also take cymbalta plus 30 mg of morphine 2x a day. I also have 5mg oxycodone for break thru pain. You might see if there is a pain clinic you can go to because they seem to be more apt to give you drugs for the fibro. Best of luck to you!

Thanks a lot

When i was diagnose years ago it was a disease back then.  I had to ask the GP if I was crazy please send me to a srink.  I was complaining so much about hurt all over, My twin would have away finish my sentence because she seen I was having trouble even thinking.

It was later I start having High Blood ,Cholesterol. Diabetes,thyroid , ASTHMA, ALLERGY, And to add it all I need was FIBROMYAGIA'

I just did a lot of walking and house work and I set off a FIRE STORM ( major crises ) and I have high pain tolerant but FRIBO.  RIGHT NOW I'M WALKING LIKE A YOUNG BABY TRYING TO LEARN TO WALK IN THOSE FLAT WALKING SHOES LIKE A DUCK.