Could it be Fibromyalgia?
I am 28 and have had quite a few health problems in the last few years.
These include:
*muscle/body pain
*sleeping problems
*IBS
*chronic headaches/migraine
*TJM
*bladder problems
*skin irritations
*dry mouth/eyes
I have been trying to seek help for a lot the these problems without much sucess. I didn't even know there was such a thing as Fibromyalgia until I was looking online today and it matched my EXACT symptoms. I do have stiffness and pain, it is bad but I wouldn't class it as severe. Any insight would be grateful because I'm at my wits end with all my problems and feel like I'm going crazy.
Public Comments
1. There is a lot of debate if Fibromyalgia is real disease or just a label for people with multiple symptoms.. have you been to the doctor, and when you do ask them to test your ANA ask about lime disease, lupus, mono and epstien bar.2. I was exactly the same as you. I had no idea there was such a thing as Fibro until about 2 years ago (when I was 17) I was searching online and came across it. Pretty much all my symptoms matched and I knew that I had it.
I had a lot of issues with doctors. I went to about 5 specialists, at least 15 physios and 5 different GPs before I even discovered what Fibromyalgia was. None of them brought it up as a suggestion. After discovering it I saw 4 different doctors who were beyond rude, before I got a referral to a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia.
It's difficult to diagnose though. Because a lot of the symptoms are the same symptoms as other illnesses (like the lady above said). You should go to your doctor and get your ANA levels, Rheumatoid factor and a full blood count (and anything else the doctor suggests). That'll help ... (Fibrofog.. forgot the word).. rule out anything else that could be causing the symptoms. But be prepared to put up with some VERY rude doctors.
Good luck.
Email me if you'd like to talk
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3. 1st of all---the symtpoms of fibro match a lot of thinsg
despite what some websites say dry mouth/eyes andskin irritations are not really symtposm of fms--its a slight possibility---but ---- is more likely due to soemthing autoimmune liek
sjoregens
FMS is a neuro disorder
4. It could be Fibromyalgia... but it could be a bunch of other things. Fibromyalgia is diagnosed by eliminating everything else. If you are going to pursue this, brace yourself for a long road, a lot of tests, many doctors, and a lot of medicine trials. It will be arduous but worth it in the end. It took over 3 years for them to diagnose me, but in the end it's worth it to find out that you DON'T have lupus, Lyme disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc.
Depending on your doctor, you might also get treated like you're nuts. Don't take that crap either and switch doctors if need be. My first doctor treated me like I was making up my symptoms since all my tests came back normal and yet I was complaining of pain, as if I was drug-seeking (which I wasn't, especially since I wasn't asking for drugs!)
You cannot diagnose this by yourself. See your doctor, and ask to be sent to a rheumatologist. They will most likely run a ton of blood tests and joint scans, and if those come back okay, they'll start you on some anti-depressants to get you sleeping better.
Throughout all of this, make sure you keep a journal of the date of each test you undergo, the result, the medicines you take, the side effects, the docs you see, etc. Get a copy of the results if you can. You will need all of this as you progress, especially if you go for 2nd and 3rd opinions. Or sometime down the line, someone will ask you what meds you've been on, and you can then easily produce the list.
Hopefully it is Fibromyalgia and not something worse. Good luck with everything and see your doctor as soon as you can. And do NOT let them push you around. Remember that you're paying them; they work for YOU.
Good luck.
