Piplup
New member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2016
- Messages
- 5
- Reason
- Other
- Diagnosis
- 00/0000
- Country
- AU
- State
- NSW
Hello,
I'm posting here because I would like to get thoughts as to whether or not I should get some of the symptoms I have checked out.
I'd never heard of fibromyalgia before I started googling random pain. Thing is, I am a pretty anxious person and wonder if a lot of the symptoms I have aren't just to do with that.
A little about myself:
- 21 year old female
- Never been diagnosed with any kind of medical thing. I've seen a psychologist before because of feeling anxious and depressed but I don't think I've ever heard them give a diagnosis. I'm considering looking for a psychologist again because I've been feeling very stressed and low lately, but that's because of some stuff going on, like coping with an alcoholic family member that I live with.
So, the reason that I've been feeling a bit worried and wondering if I should see a doctor are because of these symptoms:
1) Main one is pain. I always assumed that it was totally normal to have random pains all over the body at random times (maybe it is, as long as it doesn't have a significant impact on your life?). I can remember, at least from mid high school up until now, being a bit startled by either sharp, stabbing pains or dull, throbbing pains. The pains were never as a result of hurting myself; I'd just suddenly stop for a second what I was doing and realise that I was hurting. It never worried me too much because the pain wasn't always in the same spot; so, sometimes I'll get a random pain in places like arms, legs, hands, ankles, feet, fingers, back, neck, or head. And it would usually go away within minutes although sometimes, especially lately, it either stays for at least 20 minutes, or just keeps coming and going throughout the day.
It also didn't worry me too much because it wasn't exactly incapacitating. It's still not, really. I feel like the pain has increased in intensity a bit, but maybe that's just because I've been thinking about it more?
But most of what I read about fibromyalgia indicates that the pain is really, really bad. Usually it's just irritating. Sometimes, if I'm not too busy, I'll just take some panadol and lie down. Usually it's at its worst at night, and the pain starts in one spot and feels like it's spreading all over my body. I'm not really sure I could give an indication of how bad it is; pain seems so relative, which is partly why I haven't gone to the doctor. I get worried that I'm just being a hypochondriac who needs to relax and it will go away.
2) Sensitivity - Is it normal for it to sometimes hurt if someone pokes me? Maybe I just need to toughen up :wink: Not as sure about this one.
3) Headaches - I've always gotten random, stabby pains in my head. Usually not in the same spot. Like the random pains though, they aren't incapacitating; it's usually just an acknowledgement of "ouch, that was random" and then waiting for it to go away, which is does after a minute or too. I don't really get migraines or anything like that.
As a side note, I happened to see a neurologist/get an EEG and also get an MRI because I was a little concerned about the headaches and thinking that I was smelling smells that weren't there (there's a history of epilepsy in my family and my doctor thought I should get an EEG and MRI) This was a few years ago, and the MRI showed up nothing. The EEG they did twice because they said something looked abnormal but after doing a sleep-deprived one, they didn't really find anything and weren't concerned. The headaches were exactly the same as they were then so I'm sure I don't need to worry about anything big like a brain tumour. I'm also pretty sure that headaches are a symptom of anxiety anyway, so it COULD just be that.
4) Restless legs while lying down - I sometimes have a lot of trouble getting to sleep because it feels like I have to constantly move my legs when lying down. I'm a pretty fidgety person in general though.
5) Tingles and twitching - I often get a slightly tingly feeling in my hands and feet. It's not painful or anything. It also sometimes feels like my muscles are sort of twitching, if that makes sense. Like there's this sort of ticking; the ticking feeling is usually after doing physical activity though.
I guess it's the random pains in my body that concern me the most. But I'm just not sure if it warrants getting checked out. I feel reluctant because I'm not sure if the pain warrants it. It's annoying and some days/nights I will just lie down because it hurts, but I would say as a whole it's not a huge problem. I haven't had to take time off from things like uni.
Is it possible to have a mild case of fibromyalgia? Or do you think this is just from anxiety/possible depression and I should rather try to get help for that specifically?
I don't really have anything to measure the pain against, which is why I think maybe I'm just a baby when it comes to pain and don't want to embarrass myself by going to a doctor.
I've been thinking about keeping a pain diary to see if I notice anything, like after having eaten a certain food, or if something really stressful came up that day.
Thoughts?
Thank you
I'm posting here because I would like to get thoughts as to whether or not I should get some of the symptoms I have checked out.
I'd never heard of fibromyalgia before I started googling random pain. Thing is, I am a pretty anxious person and wonder if a lot of the symptoms I have aren't just to do with that.
A little about myself:
- 21 year old female
- Never been diagnosed with any kind of medical thing. I've seen a psychologist before because of feeling anxious and depressed but I don't think I've ever heard them give a diagnosis. I'm considering looking for a psychologist again because I've been feeling very stressed and low lately, but that's because of some stuff going on, like coping with an alcoholic family member that I live with.
So, the reason that I've been feeling a bit worried and wondering if I should see a doctor are because of these symptoms:
1) Main one is pain. I always assumed that it was totally normal to have random pains all over the body at random times (maybe it is, as long as it doesn't have a significant impact on your life?). I can remember, at least from mid high school up until now, being a bit startled by either sharp, stabbing pains or dull, throbbing pains. The pains were never as a result of hurting myself; I'd just suddenly stop for a second what I was doing and realise that I was hurting. It never worried me too much because the pain wasn't always in the same spot; so, sometimes I'll get a random pain in places like arms, legs, hands, ankles, feet, fingers, back, neck, or head. And it would usually go away within minutes although sometimes, especially lately, it either stays for at least 20 minutes, or just keeps coming and going throughout the day.
It also didn't worry me too much because it wasn't exactly incapacitating. It's still not, really. I feel like the pain has increased in intensity a bit, but maybe that's just because I've been thinking about it more?
But most of what I read about fibromyalgia indicates that the pain is really, really bad. Usually it's just irritating. Sometimes, if I'm not too busy, I'll just take some panadol and lie down. Usually it's at its worst at night, and the pain starts in one spot and feels like it's spreading all over my body. I'm not really sure I could give an indication of how bad it is; pain seems so relative, which is partly why I haven't gone to the doctor. I get worried that I'm just being a hypochondriac who needs to relax and it will go away.
2) Sensitivity - Is it normal for it to sometimes hurt if someone pokes me? Maybe I just need to toughen up :wink: Not as sure about this one.
3) Headaches - I've always gotten random, stabby pains in my head. Usually not in the same spot. Like the random pains though, they aren't incapacitating; it's usually just an acknowledgement of "ouch, that was random" and then waiting for it to go away, which is does after a minute or too. I don't really get migraines or anything like that.
As a side note, I happened to see a neurologist/get an EEG and also get an MRI because I was a little concerned about the headaches and thinking that I was smelling smells that weren't there (there's a history of epilepsy in my family and my doctor thought I should get an EEG and MRI) This was a few years ago, and the MRI showed up nothing. The EEG they did twice because they said something looked abnormal but after doing a sleep-deprived one, they didn't really find anything and weren't concerned. The headaches were exactly the same as they were then so I'm sure I don't need to worry about anything big like a brain tumour. I'm also pretty sure that headaches are a symptom of anxiety anyway, so it COULD just be that.
4) Restless legs while lying down - I sometimes have a lot of trouble getting to sleep because it feels like I have to constantly move my legs when lying down. I'm a pretty fidgety person in general though.
5) Tingles and twitching - I often get a slightly tingly feeling in my hands and feet. It's not painful or anything. It also sometimes feels like my muscles are sort of twitching, if that makes sense. Like there's this sort of ticking; the ticking feeling is usually after doing physical activity though.
I guess it's the random pains in my body that concern me the most. But I'm just not sure if it warrants getting checked out. I feel reluctant because I'm not sure if the pain warrants it. It's annoying and some days/nights I will just lie down because it hurts, but I would say as a whole it's not a huge problem. I haven't had to take time off from things like uni.
Is it possible to have a mild case of fibromyalgia? Or do you think this is just from anxiety/possible depression and I should rather try to get help for that specifically?
I don't really have anything to measure the pain against, which is why I think maybe I'm just a baby when it comes to pain and don't want to embarrass myself by going to a doctor.
I've been thinking about keeping a pain diary to see if I notice anything, like after having eaten a certain food, or if something really stressful came up that day.
Thoughts?
Thank you