I think it’s to do with anxiety and my panic disorder which goes under the umbrella of fibromyalgia rather than it being a fibro symptom in its self.
"Umbrella" still sounds as if anxiety and panic somehow "belongs" to fibro, while I'd've thought it's a separate co-morbidity, but unfortunately associates and exacerbates.
No problem either way, except: I hear your doctor putting everything down to fibro, rather than separating, and that would fit in that vein. Whilst in my experience it has got me much further to separate symptom and symptom areas and tackle each in itself.
Maybe a test question for more clarity would be if the anxiety and panic disorder started
with or later, e.g. as a result of fibro, or it was clearly there
before.
I do understand your doc too however, not trying to find a root cause, he's just trying to simplify a complex, overwhelming matter to one thing, fibro, even tho no one actually knows what that is, before he feels incapacitated himself...
But you thinking that is masking it is exactly my attitude.
Even following his idea tho of masking, there's a route he doesn't seem to see, that it's central sensitisation (nociplastic) on the one hand, or neuropathic on the other.
If it seems more like sensitisation what I'd try is electrotherapy, like a TENS or more specialized: microcurrent, to "tickle" and "trick" and distract your nervous system with a different trigger. (This actually is a similar principle to people who want to avoid self-harming by distracting with various "skills".)
If neuropathic as meds seem viable, then praps to try gabapentin or something along that vein.
But good that you're trying to increase acupuncture, hope that helps, because that too might "tickle" the right places.
Spawned by the distracting idea, you might actually some of the many techniques / alternatives there are for people to help them stop themselves from self-harming. These might work even better for you than for them, because there's is often personality rooted and mainly emotionally triggered, whilst yours is more an actual physical stimulus / sensation than the emotional one causing you to freak out. Also because you the "self-harm" aspect is resonating with you, seems to be fitting and something then to take "seriously".
But again that is masking it.
So turning back to looking for a trigger and not seeing anything the days before, it'd seem the hours before are the place to look and your description: Restless legs you say - but you haven't had
restless legs syndrome, RLS, checked, it seems? I'm even just thinking it might all be just that! If so levodopa / L-dopa is a med that might help. That was something my sleep lab doc tried on me altho my sleep lab results didn't show any RLS. Didn't help tho.
But if that doesn't turn out diagnostically or therapeutically fitting, I'm wondering if you feel it's coming from your nerves (you say pins and needles) or your skin (dry or irritated?) or back/spine, esp. lower spine as you (legs) or 2 or 3 of those. That yucky itchiness in my 20s I mentioned above was a combination of dry skin, back pain/irritation and nerves overreacting, so I had to tackle all 3 (I think it was 4 actually, can't remember).
The better you learn to describe the feeling, the better a possible trigger can be identified. The more you mask it and dull your brain, the less that's possible.... So the route depends on your preferences, but can be changed any time when you feel it's not what you want.
- but I'm sure doctors should be able to help at least corner roughly what it's from, e.g. by measuring your brain waves whilst you're doing it and before, while you're sleeping. That can then help you decide what you want to do about that.
