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debhib

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Joined
Sep 15, 2015
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Other
Diagnosis
01/2013
Country
US
State
KY
I started having pain back in 2011 after I began a part-time job that was more physical than I had performed before. I was just into my 40s, so not a good idea I guess since all my jobs had been sedentary before. I was in decent shape though and it was just part-time, so I didn't think anything of it. I had never had any issues with pain, just fatigue, which I attributed to the anxiety and depression I had been treated for since my early 20s. One doctor once said he thought I might have chronic fatigue syndrome because I tested positive for Epstein Barr, but I think they debunked that theory years ago. This was also in my early 20s and he said there was no cure and offered anti-depressants. I thought it was his way of treating depression without really having that discussion with me. Funny thing, now the depression and anxiety are mostly gone, but I live with pain every day and still feel tired a lot. I have often wondered if the meds I took for anxiety and depression all those years changed my brain chemistry, making me more susceptible to pain? I only take Cymbalta now. I left that job in 2013 and am working at a full-time sedentary job again.

At any rate, my family MD has performed tender points testing and I never feel the tenderness. Uncomfortableness yes, but not particularly tender. I've told her that I have a relatively high pain tolerance and I take 800 mg of ibuprofen every morning, so I'm not sure I would feel very tender when she does the testing. She has done general blood work, nothing to test for rheumatoid arthritis or anything like that. I do have xrays showing early arthritis in my neck, hips, and knees, but I don't think that could account for the all over muscle pain that I feel everyday. She's sent me for PT and that just made the pain worse. She does prescribe muscle relaxers, as well as the Cymbalta. They help, but I still take up to 1600 mg of ibuprofen a day. She said she could refer me to a rheumatologist, but I wonder what they would do differently for me. Is this something I'm just going to have to live with? Would seeing a rheumatologist be more helpful than my family MD? Thanks for taking the time to read all this and for any advice.
 
My primary care didn't have a clue about fibromyalgia. We even tried ADHD meds for a bit to help the brain fog. For years before being diagnosed with fibromyalgia I had weird food intolerances that docs didn't understand either. Finally got diagnosed with IBS which is a brain gut issue that they also don't understand just like fibromyalgia. I've read that many people with fibromyalgia have IBS also. Get to a specialist like a rheumatologist or a neurologist. They may have a better idea of what can help. The general docs just don't know anything about this issue.
 
Yes get referred .,my Dr told me what I had ,but then he study's it.I didn't have the tender points still don't .the tender point test is really a thing of the past.but a lot of Dr still do it.
 
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