Constant pain

[Trev]

Constant pain everyday all over including stomach problems doesn't seem to be any let up,all the usual tests done was refered to a rumatoligist who says it's arthritis but the appointment was by telephone only as there's no face to face consultation due to covid ,so I'm no farther forward after 8 months of pain ,so that's my intro to this forum

 

[Jemima]

Hi Trev,

I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time with little support. Hopefully, you'll also conclude that you've landed in the right place here, even if it's only virtual! Am I right in understanding that your fibromyalgia is a relatively recent development? If you're just starting to navigate it, you're likely feeling a lot of frustration - and loads of us here remember it well, so can do our best to help you get through it.

While a doctor may be able to help you in some ways with fibro, and some people do find prescription medications to be helpful, the majority of us get the greatest benefit from exploring how to manage the condition for ourselves. I found nothing but side-effects with the conventional medicine route, and was mostly bed-bound in my earlier days of fully-fleged fibro, but have since learned how to keep my symptoms in check and flares to a minimum. It never goes away, but with careful observation and experimentation, most can figure out how to make the beast a little more submissive!

As a starting point, I really recommend reading Sunkacola's pinned post at the top of the General discussion section of the forum, where she outlines some great tips on managing fibromyalgia. Things like stress and sleep management, pacing, changes to diet, alternative therapies, a strategic exercise routine, and certain supplements can all add up to make a pretty impressive difference. If you poke about in various forum threads, you'll be able to see what people are having success with and find ideas of what you can try.

Dealing with the emotional aspects of facing down fibro - including grieving changes in our capabilities and accepting the presence of pain - can also help to bring stress levels down, which in turn can ease symptoms. Fibromyalgia is self-propelling if we let it get the better of us, so the trick is to learn how to interrupt that cycle!

If you want to, please keep us posted on how you get on, ask questions, and vent whenever you feel like it. Glad to have you here.

 

[Trev]

Thanks for your quick response jemima and advice sometimes it's nice to have a moan and know people with the symptoms take care

 

[JayCS]

Hi Trev - Is your stomach hyperacidic? or hypoacidic? Your gut / IBS too? Tried finding & eliminating trigger foods yet?
Arthritis would mean it's in your joints. After a year of believing my orthopedist ('polyarthralgia') I checked it myself and realized my stiffness and that pain isn't in the joints at all, it's all the tendons around them. (The amino acid GABA has greatly improved that stiffness in my case.)

 

[Trev]

Hi jaycs Hyperacidic taking Omeprazole for along time as I know I have GERDS and IBS ,I'm taking that many pills I'm starting to rattle haha . blood pressure tabs colestersal anxiety pills painkillers sometimes I wonder if all this is making me worse. Have tried eliminating certain foods but to no avail yet .thanks for your response to my earlier message will try your Gaba

 

[JayCS]

Hope it's the pills & not the bones that are rattling...
"Yes there are two paths you can go by - but in the long run There's still time to change the road you're on..." ;-)
Not saying what your right path is, and it might be really hard to change it if you'd want to.
Mine was to get the GERD & IBS down with eliminating all triggers, my blood pressure (up due to the pain) with getting pains down, herbs & supps, my cholesterol (genetic) with a strict Mediterranean diet, social phobia with CBT & mindfulness etc. and for pain I did try quite a few meds, but too tough sfx, and actually pain is something I don't want to suppress, I prevent the triggers and learn to cope with the rest.
If you really do want to try the supp GABA and have GERD, then capsules, not tablets or powder might be better.
But it's not for everyone, it's better to do the amino acid questionnaire first and see which ones fit best.

 

[Trev]

Ok thanks for your advice take care stay safe I'll keep you informed

 

[Jemima]

it's better to do the amino acid questionnaire

Oooh, I've never heard of this JayCS. Do you recommend any particular website?

 

[JayCS]

Well as always I keep turning over the amino acid stone and the ones under it again & again, this week I've been researching what others say about balancing serotonin & dopamine.
But up to now the website that seems most useful to me & fits best to my own experiences despite the name ;-) is Trudy Scott's antianxiety blog everywomanover29. People like drjockers and Cynthia Perkins seem to have impressive knowledge about them too. But my excerpts of what they say (e.g. on my blog under "Up next") always boils down to the fact that the things they might do or say things differently, but those are all things I've tried already. She for instance disputes the theory that if GABA works you shouldn't take it, because it means your brain is leaky, and her argument fits for me, the alternatives don't. Reading her debate with the main proponent of the leaky brain theory is interesting. I've skimmed thru her book, but it didn't help me. The important stuff is there on the website, incl. her version of the amino acid "questionnaire", which she has developed further from someone she cites. 1-2 other therapists also mention "the questionnaire" positively, not specifically hers. It's nothing big or spectacular, just a list of symptoms with suggestions with which amino acid to start.
Said it before I think: I was lucky that the 750mg GABA I started with is still a good dosis for me, and less isn't, a colleague didn't do the test, but started with 100mg as I/Trudy Scott suggested, which was good, she added, but too miuch more was too much, so is now on 300mg.
Whilst my acupressurist didn't do the test and even 100mg was bad for her, so she did the test, then read the book and now has success with tyrosine instead. They are both opening capsules as she suggests, but that's too acidic for my stomach, so I bought empty capsules and powder and encapsulate everything. Her blog is also interesting because of the user questions and experiences on it, so much information.
She also comes across/words as a kind, considerate person, not someone throwing advice at your head, which is refreshing.

 

[Flexecif]

Hey Trev. Hope you're feeling great. Hang in there, All will be well.

 

[Trev]

Hi flexecif thanks for your message Bad day today pain in every part of my body feeling ill some times struggling to walk been to football match tonight to try keep my mind off thinking too much

 

[sunkacola]

Hi flexecif thanks for your message Bad day today pain in every part of my body feeling ill some times struggling to walk been to football match tonight to try keep my mind off thinking too much

Honestly, although it doesn't really help anything to get better long term, sometimes the only thing to do is distract yourself. I actually do that a lot. If it makes it easier to get through a particularly bad day, I say go for it.

 

[Auriel]

Hello trev, what are the symptoms of gerds? I had my gallbladder taken out 4 years ago, have you had the same as me? My dr is trying me on omeprazole again cos I have upper tummy pain and I’m off my food , I’m afraid of gerds, I’ve read about people getting it after gallbladder outers, cos gerds can lead to serous oesophageal problems and that’s scary, they told me having my gallbladder out wouldn’t cause problems but they lied, anyway welcome to the forum, hope you find it educational

 

[Trev]

Hi auriel my gallbladder was removed about 25 years ago give or take a few years . Never had any trouble , all GERDS is excessive acid from a weak valve in the stomach, Omeprazole works fine for me keeping under control, do you have bad heartburn sometimes I used to feel a bit nauseous and when I laid down could feel acid creeping up to my throat.
I don't think it should be a problem plenty people I know take these nowadays try not to worry watch your diet.even now I get symptoms just like gallstone pain it's a mystery see how it goes it's easy to get checked out if the symptoms persist just a tiny camera down your throat check your stomach lining for inflammation I had it done it's nothing I hope I haven't scared you ,I'm not very good at writing this sort of stuff give them ago and let me know how your getting on ,I wish I could find a pill that gets rid of the rest of my body pain take care stay safe

 

[Auriel]

Thankyou trev, yes I’ve had endoscopes before , the 1st didn’t go too well, now I’ve learned the trick to them , breath while they’re happening, I’ve never really had heartburn ,bit of a bile kind of thing 3 times since it,, I dunno they might end up giving me another endoscopy( now I’ve learned the art) hope I don’t get gerds ok, thanks for replying, hope you like the forum, some people have left , I don’t know why? Can’t get to know them tidy ? ok stay safe too