33 year old man diagnosed this week

[Altior]

Hi everyone. I’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia this week after years of going to doctors and specialists. I’m a 33 year old man so I’ve got a long time to have to deal with this. I’ve suffered with back and neck pain for about 6 years now. I’m a plumbing and heating engineer so I’m in weird positions fitting sinks or radiators etc. At first they just said it was overuse of my spine being in a physical job. The pain just kept getting worse. I was going to a well known physio that’s known for fixing everyone but they just couldn’t get my back and neck right. I would only get relief for a few days when it should’ve be a few weeks/months.
I had an MRI scan 2 years ago that was clear then I had another one last month that was also clear. I’ve had cortisone injections, facet joint spinal injections and going to a masseuse once a month but nothing was taking the pain away longer than a few days. A group of doctors and specialists had a meeting about me last week and they all came to the conclusion that I’ve got fibromyalgia.
I genuinely don’t know where to start with it all, I’ve read there is no cure. The specialist said that they use duloxetine for it, but then said (off the record) that strong CBD oil will be the best treatment for it. What do you all use or find best that lowers the pain levels?
My symptoms are: Severe back pain that only eases off by applying heat, feeling tired but not extreme fatigue, dizziness/unbalanced (I find that if I get less than 6 hours sleep the dizziness is really bad the next day. I also stopped drinking alcohol because the next day I would constantly feel dizzy and unbalanced) and finally memory loss and not being able to concentrate properly. I was a bit concerned about this because the past few years my short term memory has become really poor, my long term memory is fine. I also find it hard to concentrate on things like I used to.
Anyway I don’t want to bore you all by blabbing on all day but any advice, help or good books/ websites to read would be great.
Thanks

 

[Allglory2God]

I have had fybromyalgia for over 25 years. But was only diagnosed in 2012. Everyone is different and what works for one may not work for another. jayCS quoted, "I'd rather have pain with a brain than no pain with no brain." A great quote to keep in mind as you trial and error through your journey with the blessed diagnosis of fybromyalgia. What I have found that works for me is relaxation techniques. Really focusing on getting lots of oxygen in to your body while exercising your relaxation techniques. My go to all time fav from 1981 is Lamaze. It's a relaxation and breathing exercise often used in labor to take the edge off of labor and transition. Men also can use this method to manage pain. It takes a bit of practice to master. But worth out. Good luck to you. You are in the right place to learn valuable information and share the journeys of others in your same boat.

 

[JayCS]

Welcome, Altior!

I genuinely don’t know where to start with it all,

Here . And best basis here is sunkacola's advice post pinned at the top of the forums (here).

I’ve read there is no cure.

Yeah, 100s of workarounds that everyone has to find out for themselves tho, like AG2G said.

The specialist said that they use duloxetine for it, but then said (off the record) that strong CBD oil will be the best treatment for it. What do you all use or find best that lowers the pain levels?
My symptoms are: Severe back pain that only eases off by applying heat,

Duloxetine, pregabalin and amitriptyline are the meds with the "least bad" medical evidence. But all these as well as the others can have pretty dire side effects. Which to try first depends a bit on the specific constellation of symptoms, according to recent studies, if you want to try meds at all.
There is no "the best" treatment, as AG2G says it varies greatly. I'd definitely try CBD oil, but I couldn't tolerate it at all, it zombified me so strongly that I didn't think it worth trying another sort.
Since your pain seems to be mainly your spine that is what I call a local pain. For that it's possible to try all the many manual treatments: experts like osteopaths, chiropractors, acupressurists, and/or self via youtube. At the same time first watching where / when / how the pain develops, learning to describe it, watching for and influencing triggers. Videos can also help with this, and tracking via some sort of diary. Additionally you could try more general things, relaxation like said, healthy diet, environmental (air like said, clothing) and supps for pain.
Actually for fibro the pain needs to be widespread in 4 of the 5 body areas: arms / legs / spine.

feeling tired but not extreme fatigue, dizziness/unbalanced (I find that if I get less than 6 hours sleep the dizziness is really bad the next day. I also stopped drinking alcohol because the next day I would constantly feel dizzy and unbalanced) and finally memory loss and not being able to concentrate properly. I was a bit concerned about this because the past few years my short term memory has become really poor, my long term memory is fine. I also find it hard to concentrate on things like I used to.

So sleep seems to be a major issue and possibly part of the cause of the dizziness and that brain/fibro fog. There's loads we can influence there, triggers, sleep/wake patterns, supps for more effective sleep....

 

[johnsalmon]

I'd definitely try CBD oil,

yep for a lot this seems to be the medicine of choice - however down here it is legal; to prescribe it but if you are drug tested on the road by police then it is not legal - a major side effect being loss of licence and fine no matter how many doctor scripts you produce. I was given the choice of it but I can't afford to lose my licence to drive,

 

[Altior]

I’ve spoke to a CBD company today. They do 2 types. A pure one or a broad one. The broad one has absolutely no THC in it so will not show up on a drugs test. The pure one is stronger but no company can guarantee it hasn’t got THC in it so that one would fail a drug test

 

[sunkacola]

Hope the CBD works for you. I, like many others, find that it does nothing unless it has THC in it as well, but you may be one of the people who can benefit from just CBD. I hope that works out for you, and please let us know.

 

[SpoonieWarrior]

I am so sorry that you have this disease. I've had it for about 28 years. Everything you've described is the way it is for just about all of us. I would recommend that you start seeing a Pain Specialist. Good days will come and go, try to find what works for you and stick to it. I use a heated blanket along with a weighted blanket. It really brings me some relief until the middle of the night. I wish I had more information for you. Also, see if there's a fibro support group in your area. I wish we had one and I'd be willing to facilitate the darn thing but my fatigue gets in the way of everything.

 

[FibroWhatsTHAT]

I’ve spoke to a CBD company today. They do 2 types. A pure one or a broad one. The broad one has absolutely no THC in it so will not show up on a drugs test. The pure one is stronger but no company can guarantee it hasn’t got THC in it so that one would fail a drug test

I tried CBD oil as well and found relief from some of them. My job requires random drug tests so to be careful I tested myself after using them. I came up positive with many of them, not surprisingly the ones that made me feel the best! So just a heads up that when using CBD oils that advertise "No THC" many often do have THC in them at testable levels. Testing is cheap and easy and I recommend testing yourself if using CBD so you're not surprised by a positive test or collect more complications in your life than we already deal with...