debhib
New member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
- Messages
- 3
- Reason
- 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.
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.