do i have fibromyalgia syndrome

Hugh,

Get to a doctor fast, and I mean fast.  Some of what you describe could be Fibromyalgia, but if you are really loosing that much blood, it could be something more serious.  It doesn't matter what you think it might be, a Doctor will start the right tests and get you onto supportive medication.

See my story below, this can have many different results to simple tests.  Sorry to be possibly scare mongering, but your symptoms are ringing alarm bells ............

Don't thinkl you are imagining these problems, we all suffer things differently. go Man go to your GP.  Let us know how you get on, and if you want more support, come back and ASK FOR IT.

 

Hey Hugh, How is your progress so far? Any results?

You describe me exactly from 10 yrs ago. My life has been hell and now I am having issues with a hip and a shoulder due to the tightness of the large tendons. Had x-rays a week ago and still waiting for my appt. with an orthopedist to go to the next step. I have an appt. this afternoon with my primary dr. that I have to see every three months for follow up because of all the meds I take and do blood sugar test as being less active made put on pounds and now I have type 2 diabeties. I had been prediabetic since my second son was born because I ended up with preclampsia or however you spell it. All my slight symptoms came all together though when I had a really bad emotional smack in the head. My back had already started bothering me really bad at work I I had started noticing the chair which was well padded was making the backs of my thighs hurt. Then I started having alot of pain in my left knee. I also had started losing my cool more when speaking on the phone with clients and profesional people. Not like me at all. That's when I had the emotional up heaval. It was so bad I called my drs office and told them i needed to talk to someone because I was feeling suicidal. That trip I got diagnosed with GADD which is generalized anxiety/depression disorder, which I take meds for now. The reason I became concerned was because it had been 6 weeks since it happened, and I was still laying on my bed crying all the time. I had a son that needed me and I couldn't even rally to do that. I wasn't eating. I had lost 35 lbs. I was still acting like it just happened. I was fixated and couldn't get out of it. Now I find out that that condition usually goes along with fibro. Thats' why for awhile they dismissed it as a condition because they would latch on to the depression part and assumed that it cause all the other things so it was basically all in our heads and if we took our pills and saw a therapist we would be ok. Thank goodness they got over that and are now really trying to find out what goes wrong in the pain center of the brain to cause all these things. They know it must be in the pain center since so much of it causes pain. Then there is the fibro brain cloud.  My concentration and multi-tasking went all to hell. I worked in a State office dealing all the paperwork that goes with kids in state custody and foster children. Entering bills and such. Doing priorizations for there Medicaid, etc. I had been there for 2 months away from 30 yrs. I was the go to girl. Can't figure out  new problem, go see her, she has it all learned and knows some short cuts. I would be on the phone with a therapist, looking up what she needed to know and answering quick questions while I was searching. Well, that started to go away. I was getting way behind and the girl sitting beside me and hardly ever had much to do got all bent about helping me out. She knew the employee travel so she would just come over and grab a couple of those. I started being in so much pain by Wed. that I was taking sick time on thurs and fri. Then i ran out of sick leave and my super started getting notices from central office to council me. One day I just enough, I can't this any more. They were talking about changing the billing system again and knew damn well it wouldn't get through the fog in my head. Plus, whenever a new system started, the boss and I would have to go to the central offce and take a class then go back and try to teach it to everyone else. Which meant I would be the one to teach it to them. There was just no way, my anxiety was out ruling my meds. So i walked into his office and gave my 2 week notice but I couldn't even make it 2 weeks. I had earned some vaca time so I was out of there in 3 days. So, the only advice I can give you is first of all, if you get so you can't work anymore, make sure you find a place to live that your retirement will cover. Don't do like I did. I decided to take out my state retirement in cash and bought a small house for less than half of what I got. I figured with no car payment, all paid for, and soon to be new husband who was going to find a job plus my small death benefit from my mom that I get everymonth for life, we would be all set. Just my monthly payment would be enough for the phone and cable with some left over and of course that would be put away for property tax. Everything seemed to be working except the husband. Ended up on welfare. Had apply for heating assistance which the first winter there we were too late to sign up. All we had for heat was a propane stove in the living room and eventually we couldn' even afford the gas. We kept from freezing that winter with one donation of $250 from my son's school and then just two electric heaters. It was not pleasant and when you have arthritis it makes it even more painfull. The next summer the only electricity we has was what we could hook cords to in the garage. It had its own meter and we moved the micro, coffee maker, and the fridge into our bedroom at the other  end of the house so we could plug in. We even found a cord long enough so we could run our computers. Which we hadn't cause that's all he wanted to do was play second life and nothing else. Nothing around the house, no job hunting. nothing. When I got the notice from the town to vacate in 20 days I told him to find somewhere to go cause there was nothing left of us and no way was I staying in a homeless shelter with him. So, for the second time in 8 months, I was packing and stuff. He got his ticket to wherever and haven't seen or heard from him since. Made plans for my son to live with his dad and gf. I was going to just let them find me dead on the couch cause i was not going to a shelter, no effen way. But I think my ex's fg was worried he would kick her out(she was an abnoxious drunk) that she made the offer I could have the extra bedroom and they would find a way to put in bed for my son. Eventually they split and he and I are back together. Things are much better on that note. But still  hard as we are living paycheck to paycheck. Feeding a teenage boy is not cheap. Groceries are not cheap and we are only $200 over income to SNAP. I am on Mainecare to could be worse. At least I have insurance for myself and my son.   Also, for advice, see your dr. and be assertive with him or her. Mention fibro. They can't do the pressure point test anymore but they should send you to either a Neurologist or a rheumatologist. They have tests they can do now and they will also, I believe , do other tests first to rule out other things. With those things ruled out that pretty much just leave fibro. They never did that for me back then but with what I am going thru right now, I plan on insisting to my dr that these other things that have similar symptons and actually can be taken care of. Oh and hun, I can relate to the fatigue. The last week or so has been really bad. I am smoker and have fallen asleep here at the computer so many times with one in my hand or be so drowsy I don't notice the end is coming off. Burnt myself twice, melted 3 keys on my keyboard just a little and have hole in my nightgowns. I also am using an old keyboard I had laying around because I spilled my coffe twice on the new one that goes with the computer we are renting. Nice huh? Burn't myself that time too. All hubby cared about was the carpet. Men!  Just start with your dr and get pro-active. Even if you can't run anymore you can walk unless like me your back starts hurting too bad. All I can do now sitting down excersizes and lots of stretching except right now of course because of the should and hip thing I got going. Hoping all it takes is drawing out some fluid and giving me a shot of cortison or something but sounds like from what the nurse said that I make have to have some boney growths either ground down or cut off. Does not sould like fun at all. Luv and hugs to you girl and wishing you success.

Hi All,

I am new here. Hello

Well, I'll be straight to the point as I am as frustrated, angry, depressed, etc as you guys.

From the age of 20 or so, I have had this very slight achy sort of pain in my left arm which I can't pin point it's exact location. I would twist and turn in bed as it wakes me and if I'm awake when the ache stats, I will be fighting with myself to go to sleep for at least three hours of punching my arm, slapping my arm etc. That went on for years.

Now I am 31 years old and in the last year or two, I have had lower back pains which literally disables me. I cannot walk straight, I would be walking sideways like I'm in some horror movie where these sort of monsters are walking sideways etc. It is that painful, I can't get out of bed etc. I also have constant headaches. Neck pains. Shoulder pains. Chest pains. Left and right leg pains particularly in my calf and feet. Numb, tingly, pins and needles on my left foot. Back of neck pain. Etc. All of it I suppose. And on top of that, my left arm is worse than ever. It is now my 8th straight night that I have not slept at all as it is now painful, it's excruciating and unbearable. It is that bad that I want to just rip my arm off just so I can sleep. My left hand also gets numb and pins and needles whenever this left arm of mine aches. It happen at night all the time. During the day, I am exhausted from walking to the shops, my back would ache to the point where I have to stop. My left leg would hurt so had I have to stop walking for a few minutes.

I have seen my GP several times but have been suggested that I have mechanical back pain, sacroiliac joint dysfunction and herniated disc because of my severe back pain which lasts 2-6 weeks at a time and no pain killer seem to work.

Like Hugh, I seem to have most of his symptoms and have trigger point issues though I am not sure yet as to how many exactly but I have trigger point pains in my neck, shoulders, arms, chest, hips and back and though I haven't tried all, I'm pretty sure they all hurt.

Guys, I need help. I don't sleep anymore as I simply can't. What do I have? Have I got fm? I just want to rule out the things that several doctors have told me as they seem to disregard my arm pains and sleeplessness.

Like you I went from being a person who loved walking.  That changed and on particularly holiday 2 years ago  I struggled to take a walk along a beach I ached all over  and went back to our holiday apartment and fell asleep basically struggled the whole week.  Sometimes if I have my arm slightly raised it is very painful to lower it and the same can happen when my arm is at my side and it hurts to lift it. You do need to get an appointment with your GP especially because of the bowel problem.

Take Care