FIBRO TYPE OF PAIN

Status
Not open for further replies.

Roxana Ra

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2020
Messages
20
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
02/2015
Country
CA
State
ON
Hello and l hope you guys had a better day than myself...
I've already spoken with some of this forum's members over the thread "SO MUCH PAIN".
Today l'm back with a new question.
This horrible disease, Fibro... What type of pain one can get, in terms of body location and organs affected. I've read so much about it and each individual feels it differently.
Myself l'm going through so much pain, of the nerves, muscles and joints... but not all over the body. Especially in the lower and mid back, hips, head and ankles.
BUT... the pain moves over, it migrates.
Should l expect that eventually it would catch the upper side of my body, too? I've started to feel it today, "climbing" up and l'm so depressed...
Also, l've been diagnosed with mild arthritis. Can l have them both, Fibro and Arthritis???
Sorry, but it's so little that my doctor can tell me about Fibro that l'm really scared of these diseases evolution on my body...
 
Hello :) Yes you can have fibro and arthritis. I too have mild arthritis. Like you my pain migrates around. I count my blessings that it doesnt hit all areas all at once!! All we can do is take it day to day. I dont even think about the future much anymore. I focus on the good one day at a time. Its about learning what works best for you, we all may have the same illness but its not the same for all of us. It also helps to have good support like this forum and other online support groups. Don't spend time worrying about what might happen down the road. Focus on today and focus on as much positive as you can. :)
 
I second what Sabrina says.

Try not to let it get you too far down emotionally. You can learn to deal with it and still have a good life. While nothing works for everyone, there are a few things that across the board do seem to help everyone in dealing with this.

Start now to implement these things, and get into good habits, and it will help you, pretty much guaranteed. Won't cure you. won't mean you never have a bad day or week. but it will help.
 
I was wondering if someone has experienced fears and anxiety, together or rather caused by the fibro pain.
My doctor is telling me that my psychological moods are causing the pain.
If l don't think about it, l won't get it.
To me this is not working. I'm not mentaly strong... Even if l have moments when l don't think at my pain, the pressure is there all the time, in my peripheric nerves, muscle and joints. Pain level 8....
Please help!!!
 
Roxana, I experience anxiety and depression a lot, so I know there are things you can do to help yourself deal with it.

****Now, for your doctor to tell you you are causing your own pain by thinking about it or being anxious is ridiculous and you should get a new doctor because that one is clearly into blaming the patient and knows very little about chronic pain conditions or fibro. What he is telling you is baloney.

However, if you succumb to anxiety and worry all the time, it is guaranteed you will make the fibro worse, because stress is the #1 thing that aggravates this pain. So, you do need to deal with this and you need to put your effort into doing your best to alleviate it. Please see my post about "advice for managing fibromyalgia". I posted that so I wouldn't have to retype it every time for new members of this forum.

It's not a prescription, and I am not saying it will all work for everyone or anything like that. But I suggest you try at least some of the things I mention. You don't have to be mentally strong. You don't have to fix all your anxiety all at once. But, just as with a person who doesn't have strong arms, if they lift a one pound weight every day for a week, then two pounds, and so on, by the end of six months or a year they will be much, much stronger, and able to life a lot more weight. Maybe not 100 pounds! But a lot more than when they started. It's the same thing.

Start small with practices that will help with the anxiety and build up from there. The other things I list in that post will support your efforts as well, so I do recommend you try a little bit of each one. don't stress about "doing it right", just do it. You can do it.
 
Roxana, I experience anxiety and depression a lot, so I know there are things you can do to help yourself deal with it.

****Now, for your doctor to tell you you are causing your own pain by thinking about it or being anxious is ridiculous and you should get a new doctor because that one is clearly into blaming the patient and knows very little about chronic pain conditions or fibro. What he is telling you is baloney.

However, if you succumb to anxiety and worry all the time, it is guaranteed you will make the fibro worse, because stress is the #1 thing that aggravates this pain. So, you do need to deal with this and you need to put your effort into doing your best to alleviate it. Please see my post about "advice for managing fibromyalgia". I posted that so I wouldn't have to retype it every time for new members of this forum.

It's not a prescription, and I am not saying it will all work for everyone or anything like that. But I suggest you try at least some of the things I mention. You don't have to be mentally strong. You don't have to fix all your anxiety all at once. But, just as with a person who doesn't have strong arms, if they lift a one pound weight every day for a week, then two pounds, and so on, by the end of six months or a year they will be much, much stronger, and able to life a lot more weight. Maybe not 100 pounds! But a lot more than when they started. It's the same thing.

Start small with practices that will help with the anxiety and build up from there. The other things I list in that post will support your efforts as well, so I do recommend you try a little bit of each one. don't stress about "doing it right", just do it. You can do it.
Yes, Sunkacola, I read so many of this forum's threads today and l do have now a better understanding of the FM's issues. It is a horrible disease!!!
Unfortunatelly many doctors don't know much about it and, as my fam dr. do say that "it's only in our heads"...
I've learned from you about taking 1 Advil with 1 Baclofen. I'll try it myself tonight.
I also like the ice on my sore areas.
Lately l bought a machine called "body shapper" - a platform that vibrates.
It sooths my pain a little bit, as long as it is on a low mode.
I'll keep in mind all your other advices.
Thank you so much! It is a blessing to have you on this forum.
 
Hello again.
I just wanted to share with you that l'm having difficulties visiting certain places where l've been asked these specific questions about Covid 19.
Most of the symptoms are similar for both, FM and Covid 19, except for the feaver, in my case.
People like us, with long years of suffering from FM know exactly that the symptoms are not because of the Covid, yet how can we respond to these screening questions regarding Covid 19???
 
Hi Roxana,

Yes, the Covid thing can put some people like us in a hard spot. I had a hard time with this at first because I have a strong ethic against lying under any circumstances.

Here is what I do, but you have to choose your own path. I have a dry cough that I have had for years; it's nothing more than reaction to all of the dust that is always in the air when you live in a desert. I also of course have chronic pain, sometimes headaches, etc. I struggled with it at first, and would say "I have a cough, but I have had it for years, it's dust....blahblahblah" The people asking these questions really don't want to hear all that. So now, I just say "No" to all the questions because I know I am not experiencing symptoms of Covid, and that is all they need to know.
 
Hello. I hear you loud and clear, and wish I had answers. I am amazed that some doctors still have not
gotten the word that Fibro is very real and very debilitating. My primary-care doc is very sympathetic
and supportive, but acknowledges that for now there's no effective treatment except exercise. Please
stay tuned, hopefully there's some comfort in knowing we are not alone, although we would probably so choose
were that a choice! The thing that depresses me sometimes is just that most suffering, perhaps ALL suffering, is
so useless. Serves no purpose I'm aware of, except to remind us, possibly, that our bodies do their own thing,
for better or for worse.

Oh boy. This is not the heartening piece I want to say. Could anyone use a good hearty chuckle or two: . I do find laughing helps, so I laugh a LOT :O)

As for the Covid symptoms being so similar, I just try to parse out what will trigger a false positive, just say no to all the questions, unless, of course, I'm not sure. It seems most people asking those questions are happy to have a blanket answer, which I
completely understand. One time I did try to explain the similarities, but it just confused things.

In a perfect world . . . !!!!
 
Hello. I hear you loud and clear, and wish I had answers. I am amazed that some doctors still have not
gotten the word that Fibro is very real and very debilitating. My primary-care doc is very sympathetic
and supportive, but acknowledges that for now there's no effective treatment except exercise. Please
stay tuned, hopefully there's some comfort in knowing we are not alone, although we would probably so choose
were that a choice! The thing that depresses me sometimes is just that most suffering, perhaps ALL suffering, is
so useless. Serves no purpose I'm aware of, except to remind us, possibly, that our bodies do their own thing,
for better or for worse.

Oh boy. This is not the heartening piece I want to say. Could anyone use a good hearty chuckle or two: . I do find laughing helps, so I laugh a LOT :O)

As for the Covid symptoms being so similar, I just try to parse out what will trigger a false positive, just say no to all the questions, unless, of course, I'm not sure. It seems most people asking those questions are happy to have a blanket answer, which I
completely understand. One time I did try to explain the similarities, but it just confused things.

In a perfect world . . . !!!!

Thank you, Lizzy!!!

I love the picture with your dog. So cute!!!

You're so right, but when l have this painful flares (more and more often, lately) l think of what's worse it's really going to happen...
My Fibro has evolved so fast lately, from the month of March, this year. I've had it for 5 years but the pain was mild, on the lower part of my body. Now it went up too, on my mid and upper back, head and even my gut.
It radiates inside my body, from a few areas that have permanent pain at level 7 or 7.5.
I'm still not 100% this is Fibro. I worry a lot that l might have a simple nerve pinch that could be corrected by surgery....
Unfortunately, fam dr & specialists dindn't help me much. They all blame it on the Fibro... and sent me home with prescriptions for antidepression pills and tones of painkillers.

Thanks and stay safe!!!
 
Izzy, thanks for that video....love it! Is that your dog, or did you find the video on the internet?

Roxana, remember that worrying about the future is not only futile but also will make your current life and condition worse. Put your energy into relaxing and learning to curb your worrying. That is what will help.

Work on making your lifestyle as thoroughly healthy as possible -- diet, exercise, etc. Even if it doesn't immediately help with your pain, it will make you stronger and better able to handle whatever comes along. Same thing with your mind. work to make yourself as mentally healthy and resilient as you can. there's nothing else that is worthy of the time and energy as much as your health.
 
Izzy, thanks for that video....love it! Is that your dog, or did you find the video on the internet?

Roxana, remember that worrying about the future is not only futile but also will make your current life and condition worse. Put your energy into relaxing and learning to curb your worrying. That is what will help.

Work on making your lifestyle as thoroughly healthy as possible -- diet, exercise, etc. Even if it doesn't immediately help with your pain, it will make you stronger and better able to handle whatever comes along. Same thing with your mind. work to make yourself as mentally healthy and resilient as you can. there's nothing else that is worthy of the time and energy as much as your health.
Hi Sunkacola.
You're absolutely right but what worries me the most is the new stage of my disease.
I've got to the point where over the counter painkillers don't help me anymore, no matter the dosage. Same for the meds with a prescription. (Never tried Tramadol though...)
Yesterday l went to the Emergency for the bad pain l've had and they've given me a shot with Ibuprophen. I didn't feel any improvement.
It's scarry to not react and nor find a way to sooth the pain with a med.
My only hope is the cannabis oils, which l've purchased and wating now for them to be delivered.
Is this part of the Fibro symptoms to not react over time to the painkillers?
Or maybe l have one of this rare syndroms / diseases, hard to diagnose and impossible to treat?...
Now you all have a better understanding of the horror l'm going through. :((((

Be all blessed!
 
I do hate how this disease progresses and seems to look for new opportunities to make bad situations worse. I just had my ACL replaced last week. It's painful enough, but we've already determined my pain is much greater thanks to fibro. It has been unbearable at times, and I've always handled pain pretty well. This is the first time in my life that pain caused me to be nauseated.

Fibro mostly affects my upper body - chest, back, arms. I have chronic costochondritis (inflammation of the chest cartilage) that creates constant pain in my chest and shoots lightning bolts across my torso and up and down my arms. I also have arthritis in my ribs (and other joints) that give me daily pain. The fibro takes those pains and magnifies them, rides down my nerves and digs its claws in. Adding insult to injury, I have genetic heart disease and am dying of that disease as it is progressing in my LAD. I've had 3 heart attacks. Think about it. My chest hurts all the time and I get shooting pains down my arms. This causes me a lot of anxiety and depression, as my heart is always the first thing that pops into my head when I feel those things. It's torture. And of course, anxiety can ramp up the fibromyalgia and create more anxiety, which isn't healthy for the heart. It can be a vicious cycle.
 
I do hate how this disease progresses and seems to look for new opportunities to make bad situations worse. I just had my ACL replaced last week. It's painful enough, but we've already determined my pain is much greater thanks to fibro. It has been unbearable at times, and I've always handled pain pretty well. This is the first time in my life that pain caused me to be nauseated.

Fibro mostly affects my upper body - chest, back, arms. I have chronic costochondritis (inflammation of the chest cartilage) that creates constant pain in my chest and shoots lightning bolts across my torso and up and down my arms. I also have arthritis in my ribs (and other joints) that give me daily pain. The fibro takes those pains and magnifies them, rides down my nerves and digs its claws in. Adding insult to injury, I have genetic heart disease and am dying of that disease as it is progressing in my LAD. I've had 3 heart attacks. Think about it. My chest hurts all the time and I get shooting pains down my arms. This causes me a lot of anxiety and depression, as my heart is always the first thing that pops into my head when I feel those things. It's torture. And of course, anxiety can ramp up the fibromyalgia and create more anxiety, which isn't healthy for the heart. It can be a vicious cycle.
Hi Rummy.
I'm so sorry to hear about what you've experienced with the fibro.
Myself I'll fight with the disease, l'll do anything to sooth the pain and remain optimistic.
I'm from Europe and the doctors there have a different perspective about chronic pain.
Hopefully this Covid pandemic will end one day and l'll definitely fly out there and take some serious tests in a hospital.
Many of my friends had pain and with a surgery they've got better.
In North America, they don't operate, unless it's cancer or you've been hit by a truck.
(To be honest, this is exactly how l feel most of the time...)

Be blessed and keep praying. We're all in God's hands.
 
Hi Sunkacola.
You're absolutely right but what worries me the most is the new stage of my disease.
I've got to the point where over the counter painkillers don't help me anymore, no matter the dosage. Same for the meds with a prescription. (Never tried Tramadol though...)
Yesterday l went to the Emergency for the bad pain l've had and they've given me a shot with Ibuprophen. I didn't feel any improvement.
It's scarry to not react and nor find a way to sooth the pain with a med.
My only hope is the cannabis oils, which l've purchased and wating now for them to be delivered.
Is this part of the Fibro symptoms to not react over time to the painkillers?
Or maybe l have one of this rare syndroms / diseases, hard to diagnose and impossible to treat?...
Now you all have a better understanding of the horror l'm going through. :((((

Be all blessed!

Hi Roxana,

I have understood all too well the horror you are going through, and many of us on this forum can also. Your case is not at all unusual, I am sorry to say. Many if not most of us have had the experience of having no success with multiple pain medications. This is one of the reasons that I believe so strongly in the other things that you can do to help yourself, and do not ever recommend relying on medication.

I know it is scary. I was terrified at first. It took me a long time to come around to where I am now, and be able to give advice to others.

One problem is that we in the western world have been trained to expect a quick solution to everything, especially to pain. Advertising has done this, as well as the proliferation of narcotic pain drugs, which do give a high frequency of relief. But for a condition such as this, those drugs are not the answer.

If you have a simple headache and take an OTC drug and it makes the headache go away, that's one thing. But when you have a systemic syndrome, treating it with drugs and expecting that to solve your problem is not realistic. You have to approach the entire health of your body and make changes in how you handle that on a day-to-day basis in order to have a better quality of life.

This takes time. It is not an easy or quick fix. there is no easy of quick fix for Fibromyalgia. It will benefit you if you stop expecting one. Understand that this is something that will take time, but that you can learn to manage and you can lesson the effect it has on your life.

If you were in an accident and lost a leg, you would not expect to be able to run in a prosthetic leg in a month. It takes time. But it's possible to learn to do that; thousands have. This is similar.

Take heart. You can learn how to manage this. I have. I spent three years taking narcotic prescription drugs and hardly being able to get out of bed many days. Now I can lead what has become for me a reasonably normal life, even if it is not what I used to have before fibro. Are there still days I am in abject pain and cannot accomplish a single thing? Yes! Are there days I am racked with pain and nothing helps? Yes.
But those days are not the majority of my days any more.

I am glad you are going to try medical grade cannabis. I found it helps me a lot, and you don't have to worry about addiction. Let us know how it goes for you.

My last piece of advice, and I hope you take it to heart, is do not take narcotic drugs like Tramadol. It will seem like a miracle at first if it works for you (that's how I felt at first). But soon one pill won't be enough and you'll have to take two. Then three. And then soon you are addicted and for most people coming off that addiction is like coming off heroin. Just don't go there.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top