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Drs don't seem to have a clue

Posted , 6 users are following.

Sammy1507
Sammy1507

I have been suffering with different symptoms now for nearly 7 months, all Drs have done so far is taken blood tests which have shown nothing and they seem confused as to what I am suffering from. After coming across some information about fibromyalgia I was just wondering how other people started with it, I'm desperately trying to get some answers so I can do something to help me. I get very worn out sometimes without even doing much, I get muscle aching which has at times turned into continuous pain in chest, neck and down my arm (which is quite scary) painkillers didn't help 1 bit and neither did my doc just said it's nothing prob just your muscles getting tired. At times my arms have felt that heavy it caused my hands to shake (Dr says this is me getting stressed) and after having this 7 months now I'm noticing a cycle where it builds up til I can bearly stand it and brings me to tears some days then it will calm down til it builds up again. Sorry for writing so much but just wondered if what I have could reflect fibromyalgia

2 likes, 20 replies

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  • deborah07681
    deborah07681 Sammy1507

    Posted

    I completely understand where you are coming from I'm going through same thing. I have neck, back and leg pain with a horrible sunburnt feeling all over my back. Some days I can hardly get out of bed and its starting to affect my work as a nursery nurse. I've been back and forth to drs for 6 months with blood tests MRI scans you name it I've had it. Only test that turned anything up was a vitamin D deficiency. I've been given high dose of bit D but no improvement. Back to drs tomorrow. Stay strong you know your body, I've found it helpful to keep a diary of my symptoms each day or I would forget and its easier to get the Dr to read than try to relay it all again. Thinking of you x
    • Sammy1507
      Sammy1507 deborah07681

      Posted

      Thankyou, I just need to know what it is can't believe I've been to the docs so many times updating them on my symptoms an they just seem stumped, 1 doc said it could be chronic fatigue it's all I can come up with but can't be diagnosed til 4 months of having it and this was at the start of it, so decided to change doc coz thought I'm not letting someone diagnose me by just picking something out coz they haven't a clue. I know what you mean about the sunburnt feeling aswel I went through a week of constant aching and burning sensation down my neck arm and chest, didn't do anything to start it off and nothing would make it go away, couldn't get comfy in any position, I've got to go back to the docs tomoz for yet another blood test update which will prob be a waste of time and say everything is normal, only other test I've been asked to go for is a neurology test but still got a couple of weeks to wait for that one
  • susan88130
    susan88130 Sammy1507

    Posted

    hi sammy - most of the people on this forum have been on the same journey as you to find the right diagnosis for their many symptoms. G.P's will eventually send you to a Rhuematologist who is in the best place to rule out other conditions with  simular symptoms - Fibromyalgia diagnosis is given after a process of elimination that is often frustrating when you are going thru it.

    There are some common symptoms such as:-

    Pain - widespread- Unlike the joint pain of osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia pain is felt over the entire body. The pain can be a deep, sharp, dull, throbbing, or aching, and it is pain that's felt in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the joints. The Arthritis Foundation describes the muscle and tissue pain as tender, aching, throbbing, sore, burning, and gnawing.Along with the deep muscle soreness and body aches, people with fibromyalgia may have painful tender points or localized areas of tenderness around their joints that hurt when pressed with a finger. It's the tissue around the muscles and joints rather than the joints themselves that hurts. These tender points are often not areas of deep pain. Instead, they are superficial, located under the surface of the skin.

    The location of tender points is not random. They are in predictable places on the body. If you apply pressure to tender points on a person without fibromyalgia, they would just feel pressure. For a person with fibromyalgia, pressing the tender points can be extremely painful.

    Anxiety

    Concentration and memory problems -- known as "fibro fog"

    Depression

    Fatigue-Fatigue in fibromyalgia refers to a lingering tiredness that is more constant and limiting than what you would usually expect, you are tired even when you should feel rested, like when they've had enough sleep. Some people say the fatigue of fibromyalgia as being similar to symptoms of flu. Some compare it to how it feels after working long hours and missing a lot of sleep..

    Headaches- in my case Migraines which came on suddenly in my 50's

    Irritable bowel syndrome

    Morning stiffness

    Painful menstrual cramps

    Sleep problems

    Numbness, and tingling in hands, arms, feet, and legs

    Urinary symptoms, such as pain or frequency

    These are only some of the symptoms everyone has their own story -but  keep on at your dr, stress only makes it worse - keep a diary- they will get to the bottom of it and then you have to try to pace yourself.

    Thinking of you too x

     

    • Sammy1507
      Sammy1507 susan88130

      Posted

      Thankyou xx most things seem to be matching up there's things that I've prob had from the start that I didn't take notice of before but the longer it goes on the more I'm putting things together, I've looked at many different things trying to find out what could be wrong and nothing seemed to match, I wasn't even searching at the time but came across something about fibromyalgia and wondered what it was and to my astonishment it pretty much fits, the only thing I couldn't fit with anything I've read with different conditions is unexplained weight loss which at the start wouldn't stop going down but now it keeps going up and down, don't know if it's just me getting stressed out that's causing it or something else, just trying to cross everything out to get the right answer, even got myself worked up and worried about my smear test incase something was wrong there but thankfully that was clear. I Keep saying aswel I'm sure ppl think I'm putting it on aswel coz I just try and get on with things as hard as it is some days so I prob look perfectly normal and when I go to the docs I feel like I'm wasting their time coz my blood results, blood pressure and heart rate are all normal when tested
    • denise51762
      denise51762 Sammy1507

      Posted

      Hi Sammy, susan is right,  Mine started a month after I had out patient surgery to remove a boil which turned out to be MRSA. Which is a whole other discussion in and of itself.  But I started having pain in my neck and shoulders which is pretty common for a Nurse Assistant, but then I started having it in one hand it looked like the joints were swollen and the pain so bad I couldn't even hold my toothbrush. Then it started in the other hand and then my . I was also tired more then usual and couldn't seem to remember things. I'm only 45 so I was concerned. The infectious disease Dr. I was seeing at the time said I had a cyst to see a hand surgeon. He was suppose to refer me to a Rheumatologist but never did.  My chiropractor said i had moderate artheritis. But how could I have moderate artheritis if I've never even had any symptoms of any joint or muscle pain, no history or family history of it.  He also was suppose to refer me to  Rheumotology and never did .. It's been a year awyers and such because I thought it could be related to the MRSAnow and I finally saw a Rheumatologist who did a artheritis and Rheumatoid work up and everything except my neck came back negative for artheritis.  He called me the next day and told me it was Fibromyalgia.  Iv'e worked with patients that have this and never really understood it till now.  But it all makes sence now. I truly thought I was going crazy.  Just know that your not alone and the fibrofog and pain are very real not psychological like some Doctors would have you believe.  I now have pain pretty much all the time some days worse then others and it's hard for people to relate.  We just have to know there are others going through the same pain and fustration and then learn to deal with it and manage the pain so we can have long productive lives.
    • Sammy1507
      Sammy1507 denise51762

      Posted

      Hi Denise, as far as I can remember this came out the blue for me I had a pretty stressful start to last year but then things calmed down and then all of a sudden I started having symptoms and couldn't work out what was happening, it started off that I just needed a nap in the day an that alone got the alarm bells going because I never do that unless I'm bad so at first I was expecting to get a cold or something but instead just started getting more tired and more symptoms I couldn't explain It took me about a month before I decided to go to the doctor, to be honest I normally avoid them but I knew this time I had to go, I hate trying to explain to people what's wrong because as I have said many times people probably look at me and think I'm fine and that I'm just exaggerating which I really wish I was but I'm not, as I've had it 7 months now I can see a cycle forming where my Symptoms go through stages but I'm now going to start writing things down so 1 I can remember exactly what I go through each day and 2 I can seeif anything I do triggers anything
  • susan88130
    susan88130 Sammy1507

    Posted

    hi sammy - when this started for me I thought I was going mad - how could someome who had been perfectly well for 49 years suddenly start with all these symptoms - it helped my gp knew me when I was well but still I never saw a consultant for a year - then it took 3 years to get my diagnosis - sent me to see Rhum for pain, gasto for bowel, neuro for migraines and uro for bladder problems, no one looked at me as a whole - even when I got diagnosed with fibr.( FMS) /.chronic fatique syndrome (CFS) I didnt belive it thought it was a crank diagnosis but the more I read and looked into it I thougth - Yes it prob is - but I am so much further down the line than you -you have to find out what it is - don't give up - you were once healthy and you know how that feels and now you feel different so it has to be something?

    I came to the conclusion that whatever it is "called" I have to learn to live with it not fight it anymore, try to work with it and have the best life that I can.

    Someone told me to go on the internet and look up "spoon theory" I am ill just look ok and that helped

    Take care x sue 

    • Sammy1507
      Sammy1507 susan88130

      Posted

      That's exactly right just got to learn to live with it which hard when it gets bad, I'm only 28 but I've never had health problems never take anything for colds just let my body fight it and never used to feel the need to nap or rest in the day I could just keep going so when this started I knew something wasn't right. In the last 7 months I've been to the docs more than my whole life. Doc said she won't give me anything til I'm diagnosed with something and keep myself active through the day which is easier said than done sometimes. It's been really hard for me to explain the way I've been feeling it's like you can only really know if you've had it so docs don't realky seem very sympathetic, last time I went I felt silly coz is was getting to me that much at the time I broke down and started crying in front of the doc.
    • susan88130
      susan88130 Sammy1507

      Posted

      hi sammy - learn to live with it when you know what it is! I have to because I have had it 8 years. 7 months is a long time to put up with feeling terrible. You are only young you need to see a specialist in the field - also there are Fibro support groups in most area's of GB don't know were you live but its worth a try to see if anyone lives in your area and sees a specialist you could then ask your g.p to refer you to them.

      Don't give up x

    • deborah07681
      deborah07681 Sammy1507

      Posted

      Don't be embarrassed about crying in front of the dr , its just another way of showing them how bad its making you feel x
    • Sammy1507
      Sammy1507 deborah07681

      Posted

      I don't like going to the docs at the best of times try an avoid them as much as possible so felt like a right tit cryin lol but Yeh at least she cud see how much it was affecting me
  • HOTpicks99
    HOTpicks99 Sammy1507

    Posted

    Hi if i was you i would push to see a rheumatologist cos i didbeen sufferingfor years he thinks its fibromyglia good luck
  • HOTpicks99
    HOTpicks99 Sammy1507

    Posted

    Hi if i was you i would push to see a rheumatologist cos i didbeen sufferingfor years he thinks its fibromyglia good luck
    • Sammy1507
      Sammy1507 HOTpicks99

      Posted

      Seems like the way forward everyone is saying the same, going back to the doctors tommorow so see what she says
    • deborah07681
      deborah07681 Sammy1507

      Posted

      Keep pushing for a rheumatology appointment, after 7 long months of exactly the same trials you are having, my Dr has finally admitted defeat and recurring me. Hopefully I'm a step closer to finding out what's wrong. I wish you luck x
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