Is Fibro a possibility?

[mnmn]

Hi.

I'm just wondering your thoughts on whether I have Fibromyalgia.

I initially had a sharp pain/bloating in my upper abdominal area. I assumed it was gallstones and so did the doctor. I had all my bloods done and they were absolutely fine.

Since this initial pain, it has become more widespread and now includes the whole upper abdominal area and sometimes lower. I often get electric type pain in my stomach, and now experience aches in my flank area, lower/mid spine, joints (particularly wrists, elbows, hips, knees, ankles). I also get headaches particularly at the back of my head/crown area which feels tender to touch. I have also had a burning type pain in my lower spine.

I have a past history of anxiety and depression and within the last year, have experienced a highly emotional/stressful event after the death of a loved one.

As for other symptoms, I'm generally tired although my sleep has only been affected a few times. I usually sleep right through.
I have awful concentration levels, and certainly suffer from brain fog. I would say I also have an increased sensitivity to heat and perhaps touch.
I should mentioned that I don't often find the pain I'm experiencing debilitating, it's often mild and just uncomfortable but still completely new and not something I've experienced before.

Apart from my bloods being all normal, I haven't had any other tests. I know a lot of these symptoms are characteristic of fibromyalgia but understand it could be something else. I wonder if you have any ideas of other conditions that should be ruled out, or if I should push my GP for other investigations as I've been told they don't know which avenue to go down.

Many thanks for your help.

 

[sunkacola]

Greeting, and welcome to the forum.
Yes, fibromyalgia is a possibility, but as you already know there are many other possibilities as well. If you want to find out what other things cause symptoms similar to fibro, just seek for that online and you will find a whole list of them.

some of these things your doctor may be able to eliminate without testing, if you don't have a symptom that is known to appear in all cases of that disorder or syndrome, but many of them are similar enough to fibro that you should be tested for them. Definitely ask your doctor to investigate as thoroughly as possible, because if you do have another condition instead of or in addition to fibromyalgia, you need to know about that.

The abdominal pain is not a common symptom seen with fibromyalgia, so I suspect there is something else going on that is causing that, but note that no one here is a doctor so this is only an uneducated guess and your doctor needs to investigate it with you. If your doctor cannot find any cause for it, I am wondering if a very careful and thorough review of your diet, with experimentation in what kinds of foods might be causing this might be in order. We can help with this process if you decide to pursue it.

Whatever the case turns out to be, you are welcome here on this forum and we are here to offer our support.

 

[MissNeverWell]

Hi.

I'm just wondering your thoughts on whether I have Fibromyalgia.

I initially had a sharp pain/bloating in my upper abdominal area. I assumed it was gallstones and so did the doctor. I had all my bloods done and they were absolutely fine.

Since this initial pain, it has become more widespread and now includes the whole upper abdominal area and sometimes lower. I often get electric type pain in my stomach, and now experience aches in my flank area, lower/mid spine, joints (particularly wrists, elbows, hips, knees, ankles). I also get headaches particularly at the back of my head/crown area which feels tender to touch. I have also had a burning type pain in my lower spine.

I have a past history of anxiety and depression and within the last year, have experienced a highly emotional/stressful event after the death of a loved one.

As for other symptoms, I'm generally tired although my sleep has only been affected a few times. I usually sleep right through.
I have awful concentration levels, and certainly suffer from brain fog. I would say I also have an increased sensitivity to heat and perhaps touch.
I should mentioned that I don't often find the pain I'm experiencing debilitating, it's often mild and just uncomfortable but still completely new and not something I've experienced before.

Apart from my bloods being all normal, I haven't had any other tests. I know a lot of these symptoms are characteristic of fibromyalgia but understand it could be something else. I wonder if you have any ideas of other conditions that should be ruled out, or if I should push my GP for other investigations as I've been told they don't know which avenue to go down.

Many thanks for your help.

My sincere condolences on your loss; I know what a life-changing experience that can be. I can relate to such an event, having experienced the death of my mother, whom I lived with and cared for over a long period of time. Grief can manifest itself in very physical/somatic ways. While anxiety and depression can be exacerbated by the event, grief is an entity of its own. The night my mom died and for a period thereafter, I felt a very tight band of tension, particularly at the back of my head, near, if memory serves me correctly, the occipital lobe, which is the region that controls vision. I also felt an extreme tightening of what I refer to as the solar plexus (the nerves in the abdominal cavity). My facial muscles became so tight that I developed very painful malocclusion when eating, as if my cheekbones were being crushed. Digestive problems, muscle tension, dizziness and a host of other symptoms are not uncommon when it comes to the grief response, which is different for each person and depends on the relationship with the deceased. While it is important to check out symptoms, I would also suggest getting some grief support, either group/self-help or individual.