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Birgitb

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I am 67 years old and in hindsight have been suffering with symptoms of fibro for years now. At the moment I have a flare up with headaches, severe aches in my legs and arm and ankles. It is difficult to sleep at night because of the pain and I wake most mornings still tired and depleted. IBS is also a problem at the moment if I'm not constipated I have diaherra. I am going to see my GP on Monday to ask what I can do a d to hopefully get a diagnosis. I have not been diagnosed by a doctor and hope my doctor is able to make a diagnosis when I see her. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I should approach her about this. Also any suggestions for medication that might help me with this flare up? I take 60mg Cymbalta at the moment but that was prescribed for depression.
 
Re: General questions

Ask her outright.say something like,dr I think I maybe fibromyalgia.or dr do you think maybe I have fibromyalgia.
Blood work would be a good idea to rule out other things you may have.you need to make sure you get your dr to rule out anything else.
Or has your dr done that?.
 
Re: General questions

Ask her outright.say something like,dr I think I maybe fibromyalgia.or dr do you think maybe I have fibromyalgia.
Blood work would be a good idea to rule out other things you may have.you need to make sure you get your dr to rule out anything else.
Or has your dr done that?.
 
Re: General questions

Go in with a list of your symptoms so that you don't forget to tell her something, and write down what she says, because fibro fog makes it difficult to recall things a day or two later. It also makes you look serious, thoughtful and organized. Depending on your relationship with your doc, it can be helpful to bring a partner or someone close to you along. It's not right, but sometimes they take you more seriously if you have another person there backing up what you're saying, relating their concern about how you've been suffering and getting progressively worse. It makes it very difficult to treat you like a hypochondriac. Finding the right help, medication wise, can be a long process, so be open to her ideas.
 
Re: General questions

Thanks for those ideas. I will go in and just ask her, especially as I have seen her quite frequently with one or the other of these symptoms. Often when I say am I feeling pain and very depleted she sends me to test my thyroid. I have an under active thyroid and take medication for that. I had a full blood screen on Friday and she will have the results of that when I see her tomorrow. I will let you know how I get on.
 
Re: General questions

Sounds like you've got a good relationship going with her. Best of luck at your appointment!
 
I am just back from my GP and she is querying polymyalgia or fibromyalgia, I am waiting for blood test results for inflammation, increased iron levels as i have haemocromatosis and she has also asked for Tumor/cancer marker blood test because of the IBS i should have results by tomorrow. If there is increased inflammation then she wants me to begin steroids tablets. Can anyone comment on any of these.
 
All my blood tests have come back ok. I saw my GP this afternoon and she has diagnosed FM. She has changed around some of my medication. Increased the Cymbalta from 60mg to 90mg a day, prescribed an anti inflammatory for 4 weeks, and changed my HRT medication. She agreed she was at a loss with my symptoms particularly as they seem to be recurring regularly. So I will try all of these and hope for some positive results.
 
Sounds like a positive appointment! I just had a thought reading back about your pain and trouble sleeping. I'm finding that having a variety of pillows and rotating them helps. I have an orthopedic, hard foam one (one of those cervical shaped ones), a feather one that's quite firm, a latex one and one that is thinner and softer. Usually I have my cervical pillow under my neck and my feather between my legs to keep my hips straight (knees to ankle), but when the hip pain is really bad, I'll switch it up and put my cervical pillow between my legs (the firm foam seems to help) and use the feather or latex under my head. Sometimes my neck starts hurtin and I switch from the cervical to the latex and for awhile that works better. Sometimes I also hug and pillow to my chest if my arms and shoulders are hurting or if I'm waking up with numb hands.
 
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