New to board, glad to have found it.

 Hi, I am so glad to have just noticed the fibro forum.  I am 39 and have had fibro symptoms for several years, just couldn't put it all together and realize it had a name.  It seems to have started out with arthritis symptoms which I also have and has progressed over the last several years.  I was wondering if anyone else has noticed a corelation with traumatic events and fibro.  I have tingling and numbness, shoulder, hip and knee pain as well as widespread pain and sensitivity and body aches.  The hip pain and achiness became bad enough to mention to my doctor around 2002, but the widespread pain where I cringe when my kids want a "bear hug" became a huge problem in the last 4 years.  My balance has been affected as well.  I feel weak when I had always been such a strong person both physically and mentally.  I cant get to sleep at night and sometimes sleep til noon.  I feel so guilty for not getting things done.  No one can see what's wrong with me and I think sometimes my husband just thinks I am lazy.  I want to be normal so badly.  I used to be so outgoing and just loved to be out and about.  Not anymore.  I had the gastric sleeve in March of this year and was so hopeful weight loss would help.  Strangely, the initial shock to my body of a 48lb weight loss seemed to help so much, but shortly after that, even though I have lost a total of 69lbs, my fibro and arthritis pain caught up with me and I am still in the same pain as before.  I am very leary of pain killers although my Dr. has prescribed loratab.  It doesnt do much for me at all.  Even when I have something as painful as a kidney stone, even morphine doesnt work.  Other pain meds do work such as percocet but I have never wanted to take pain meds due to my mom being addicted to loratabs.  I am at my wits end with this way of life.  Now I know how my mom felt and I really hate that she was dealing with the same thing while I was growing up and no one knew how bad she felt.  Sorry for the rambling, that's also part of my fibro.  I thought it was ADD but I guess that just ties into the fibro diagnosis.  I have also begun to believe that fibro may be like a physical form of a nervous break down??? Just trying to figure out where the traumatic part ties into the physical ailment, but I do know that my symptoms increased dramatically around the same time I lost my job of 15 years and got divorced the same year.  Any thoughts on traumatic events and fibro association?  Thanks for letting me spit all that out, it seems no one understands.... Julie

Welcome jujube! So glad you found us. Yes trauma of any kind can start the ball rolling and usually causes a flare anytime you have stress or trauma whether it's physical or emotional. There are some drugs specifically for fibro treatment such as lyrica, cymbalta and savella. I think many of us have to take the narcotic pain meds to really get relief. I've been on morphine and oxycodone for several years and they seem to be what helps the most.I also take cymbalta but that doesn't work as well as the narcotics. I feel that as long as a person isn't abusing the pain meds and using them to get high rather than just for pain relief then there isn't a problem. I haven't had to increase my dosage at all since I started taking them and take them according to my docs directions. I don't want to get where no pain meds work for me so I try to stay on a low dose and use as little as I can and so far that seems to work for me. You might try seeing a rheumatologist or pain clinic for help, they both treat fibro. I wish you luck and gentle hugs. Please feel free to ask any and all questions, we have a pretty knowledgable group here!

Welcome julie and glad you found us.
One thing you will find here is true understanding. We all know what fibro pain is and all the other stuff that goes with it.
pain pills do not make the pain go away. they just help take the edge off. You have to do what you can and not feel guilty what you can't do.
I am 64 and have severe arthritis with the fibro. I have two knee replacements asnd had a right shoulder replacement last year.
I HURT all the time all over.  BUT I try to stay as active as I can. never could do exercises  though.
keep us posted how you are doing.
Pam

hi julie.  glad you found this board.  it really is a great place for understanding and info.  the fibro pain seems to be worst, for me, in the areas of my body which have had surgery.  so i think your theory about trauma is probably accurate.  and i also agree that stress (life events) bring on flare ups.  something i'm working to control better. 
the meds for fibro do keep the pain in check for me.  i''m currently on cymbalta and neurontin, with flexoril for flares.  that's what i think my memory loss is from, but i'm not sure if that's it. 
for me, losing the weight (200 lbs) brought into focus where the pain was from.  i've always blamed my extremely overweight body for the pain i had, but once the weight was lessened i was better able to identify the pain origin.  that's when i was diagnosed with fibro.  and i've been in a downward spiral for about six years now. 
in any case...welcome to the forum.  there really is some great information here, as well as true understanding.  glad you found us.  (((gentle hug)))  take care

 Thank you all for your welcoming responses.  It is really nice to know I am not alone in this.  I was getting tired of everyone telling me how my weight was the source of my pain.  Of course being overweight doesn't help, but I had always been overweight and had not experienced anything like this before.  Also, my shoulders and neck are not fat!!??!!  I realized the weight bearing joints were being effected by the increased pressure, but I hardly ever walked on my hands, lol, so I couldnt solely contribute my weight as the problem.(neck and shoulder pain).  I was so happy to have gotten a diagnosis.  I also wondered if a social securtiy judge would view my weight problem as my main source of discomfort.  Oh well, I am losing steadily and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  Thanks for the kind words and support.   Julie

I was diagnosed with fibro last year so I hear what you are saying.  Have you ever been tested for the Epstein barr virus???  I have it as well and it is triggered by traumatic events.  I know through researchig it that it is a life long infection that can remain dormant in your body for long periods without even knowing it is there, and then when something traumatic happens (especially a family event, so the dr tells me) it will rear it's ugly head.  Mine has remained active for over two years now, which makes it  a chronic condition and in my studies I have found a lot of people who have the chronic epstein barr and fibro together.  So I am not sure if this helps but this is what I have found........Good luck, it is definately a struggle and I am medication free at this point because the Lyrica helped the fibro pain but made me feel crazy..............And I have been afraid to try anything else yet.