New to the forum, not to Fibro. Trigger fingers, achy tired arms

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Cbreeef66

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Hello all,
I wish I was meeting you somewhere possibly more fun but such is life. I was diagnosed in 2014, but suffering since mid 90’s.
I also have hashimotos and 16bsurgeries, mostly spinal fusions, tendon stuff. So last year my fingers started locking. Now they all do. Ortho says no arthritis (i’m 52 and male) but claims it is due to my thyroid condition. Gave me two shots in palm but says i need surgery in every finger. I lose half the day not being able to use my fingers.

so in 03’, i was sandong and painting and the next day my arms felt like 1000#s. over the years even using a pencil - fine motor skills causes it. Typing, eating flossing….. not ONE Dr has any idea whatsoever and Inhave been to tons. Does this sound2 like fibro symptoms?
any thoughts be great. Thanks 🙏
 
Hi there, Cbeeef and welcome in!

Always good to see other men being diagnosed and coming out into the open to talk!

Your description sounds more like it's your fingers, whilst you also say "my arms felt like 1000#s".
Not sure what 1000#s exactly means, but sounds heavy, and quite a few of us have that.
And I thought I don't have finger or hand problems, but did some hand exercise sessions in the fibro clinic and suddenly realized I do a bit, but esp. wrists, and also the hand exercises improve the arms.
You could look for hand / wrist / finger exercises on youtube. I never found the clinic exercises online, but I've written them down in posts or could describe them again.

I'm not sure if you also mean this, cos your description doesn't really fit:
My arms still quickly get heavy from doing things with arms up, worst is window cleaning, also blow drying my hair, yoga exercises, tai chi/qi gong. But it's got better and I'm not sure exactly how, but my best bet is acupressure and/or supps, whilst I don't think exercises improved it.
My workarounds are keeping it short, if necessary 20 second stints, so breaks, or task-switching, or putting a support under my wrists (kitchen work). I don't think I'd be able to paint at all. Flossing is very difficult, makes me impatient and not do it enough, now you say it. And teeth brushing I've changed to 5x 1 minute and my dental hygienist is fairly pleased. I can type well, often with my palms resting on the laptop. Eating I also often rest my elbows.
BTW if sandong and painting is a typo for standing, then the standing alone is usually a problem. There have been times where I can't manage 10 minutes. Since I'd been using a bar table for working pre-fibro which was great for my back, I now often use a swiveable adjustable bar stool. But actually I don't stand too long - praps when I'm feeling good and doing something that grabs my attention like making music with my keyboard and laptop.
Neither my arms nor my legs are a question of strength, my muscles still have all their power. I could always do quick strength exercises, if it weren't for the backlash. It's also not a question of stamina in the usual sense. On good days I have stamina. And my body feeling is it is all there, and I could go full throttle, just it's got both the hand brake and the foot brake on at the same time, so it's squealing.
 
Hello all,
I wish I was meeting you somewhere possibly more fun but such is life. I was diagnosed in 2014, but suffering since mid 90’s.
I also have hashimotos and 16bsurgeries, mostly spinal fusions, tendon stuff. So last year my fingers started locking. Now they all do. Ortho says no arthritis (i’m 52 and male) but claims it is due to my thyroid condition. Gave me two shots in palm but says i need surgery in every finger. I lose half the day not being able to use my fingers.

so in 03’, i was sandong and painting and the next day my arms felt like 1000#s. over the years even using a pencil - fine motor skills causes it. Typing, eating flossing….. not ONE Dr has any idea whatsoever and Inhave been to tons. Does this sound2 like fibro symptoms?
any thoughts be great. Thanks 🙏
HI THERE,

I recommend that you see a hand specialist. Surgery in every finger sounds extreme, and someone who works only with people's hands may have other suggestions.

Fibromyalgia is defined in part by having widespread pain rather than pain in only one part of the body, so from your description it doesn't sound like fibro to me, but of course I am not a doctor.

Best thing is to keep exploring the possibilities. I have "trigger finger" - locking fingers - occasionally and sometimes one finger or thumb has locked up for months at a time, but the hand specialist said that this is not arthritis but a different kind of condition caused by the joints being used a lot in a person's lifetime. You can get steroid shots for this although I strongly recommend against them because 1) steroids are very damaging to your health 2) I was told by the hand specialist that they are extremely painful 3) the effects don't last very long and it's not worth it.
A specialist may tell you completely different things and have better recommendations for you. Good luck!
 
Fibromyalgia is defined in part by having widespread pain rather than pain in only one part of the body, so from your description it doesn't sound like fibro to me, but of course I am not a doctor.
Yeah, I thought that too, but the thread title and "diagnosed 2014" to me seemed to suggest there's a lot more pain and other severe symptoms going on aside from the hand/arm thing?
 
I was diagnosed with Fibro in 2014 and confirmed more than once. I didn’t want to give my whole medical history, But I have been suffering with pain since 1977 after I was hit by a car. I’ve had two broken necks, multiple spinal fusions 16 surgeries. I have pain in most of my body all the time I haven’t had a pain-free moment since elementary school. So for the wondering if I have fibro and pain elsewhere absolutely. I have had started injections in my hands and they haven’t worked. This dr is a hand specialist and confirmed with multiple tests that tendons are overly enlarged. Not carpal not nerve related., but the arm pain and heaviness and weakness which is been going on for a really long time has not been diagnosed by anybody most doctors don’t even give me an answer he told me he never had witnessed and went describing what I have. It’s been so long and my ask is - is the heaviness weakness and pain possible from fibro?
 
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