does anyone know anything about fybromyalgia

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I have been having intense pain in the ribs, and of course the muscle fasiculations. Aweful back pain and knee pain- could this be fybromyalgia? Do you know what they use to test for that? I had a negative emg and do not usually have heartburn or anything like that.
 
Yes, I know because I have it. It is spelled Fibromyalgia. You will have tender points and possibly trigger points on your body that will hurt.

Here is something for you to look at:

The American College of Rheumatology bases the diagnosis of FM upon two major criteria: 1) widespread, diffuse pain lasting at least three months and 2) a minimum of 11 (out of 18 possible) specified tender points throughout the body. This is the strict definition for being included in a clinical study of fibromyalgia, but tender points may change from time to time, and may worsen or get better in the cyclical way that this syndrome seems to work.

These tender points will hurt when pressed, but the pressure will not cause pain in any other part of the body. The physician applies a standardized amount of pressure, about 4 kg (enough to turn the thumbnail white). Remember, a tender point has to be painful at palpation, not just "tender." When pressed, these areas tend to feel like bruises in various stages of healing.

http://www.nfra.net/fibromyalgia_trigger_point.php

Also, a tender point is different from what you may know as a trigger point. Tender points hurt, trigger points hurt and refer pain to other body parts. Trigger points cause myofascial pain syndrome, which often coexists with fibromyalgia, but can be treated with massage, physical therapy, or gentle stretching. When muscles feel hard and pressing on them causes a response elsewhere in the body, or even nausea, trigger points are responsible. Tender points are caused by an unknown mechanism, and their severity is often cyclic. Tender points do not generally respond to physical therapy, often becoming more painful with pressure.
 
pldo - I have had, for quite awhile now, intense rib pain with fasciculations and unbelievable back pain even from just sitting up. One of the first symptoms I had was knee pain where it hurt to even lift my leg to put on pants. My first neurologist tried going the route of fibromyalgia. Thank God my primary care doctor knew this syndrome was a farce. He said it's nothing but a catch all for symptoms a patient is suffering that the doctor doesn't know why! If he and my other neuro's hadn't disregarded that neuro's diagnosis, I probably wouldn't have gotten a real diagnosis and treatment. I believe the patient's that are suffering really have the symptoms, but they are for a real medical reason, not a made-up syndrome. Fibromyalgia is nothing more than a title for a group of symptoms that many of us suffer. You can touch me in any of the fibromyalgia points on my body and it will hurt. Not my idea of a diagnosis, but that's just my opinion! ~Leslie
 
Yes I Agree

ltr said:
pldo - I have had, for quite awhile now, intense rib pain with fasciculations and unbelievable back pain even from just sitting up. One of the first symptoms I had was knee pain where it hurt to even lift my leg to put on pants. My first neurologist tried going the route of fibromyalgia. Thank God my primary care doctor knew this syndrome was a farce. He said it's nothing but a catch all for symptoms a patient is suffering that the doctor doesn't know why! If he and my other neuro's hadn't disregarded that neuro's diagnosis, I probably wouldn't have gotten a real diagnosis and treatment. I believe the patient's that are suffering really have the symptoms, but they are for a real medical reason, not a made-up syndrome. Fibromyalgia is nothing more than a title for a group of symptoms that many of us suffer. You can touch me in any of the fibromyalgia points on my body and it will hurt. Not my idea of a diagnosis, but that's just my opinion! ~Leslie

I AGREE LESLIE,
MY DOCTOR TOLD ME THE SAME THING HE SAID DOCTORS NAME IT FIBROMYALGIA WHEN THEY DON'T KNOW WHATS WRONG WITH YOU . IT IS TRUE PAIN BUT THERE IS A MEDICAL DIAG THAT IS REAL. MY HUSBAND WAS IN SEVERE PAIN FEET JOINTS HE HURT SO BAD HE LIMPED I HAVE ALS AND I WAS WORRYING ABOUT HIM. I READ ABOUT ASPARTANE POISENING . HE READ IT CAME OFF APARTANE (SO DID I ) AND HE HAS VERY LITTE PAIN . DON'T SETTLE FOR THAT DIAG. JUST MY OPINION ALSO.,JAN.
 
Fibromyalgia is a group of many, many symptoms that make up the syndrome itself. I suppose they had to call it something.:confused: And just like ALS there is no cure, but Fibromyalgia is not fatal. Still, you can get treatment for the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, such as trigger point injections.

I believe it is important for one to know the difference between the syndrome of Fibromyalgia and ALS, since one has very dire consequences and the other can be tolerated to an extent.

So, if you are worried about ALS, go to ALS specialist. If you are worried about Fibro, go to a Rheumotologist knowledgeable in that syndrome.

At least naming it Fibromyalgia is better than telling you it is all in your head! Go home and take an aspirin and don't call me in the morning becuase we don't know what's wrong with you.
 
In my experience calling it fibromyalgia isn't much better than telling you it is all in your head. Once given this diagnosis the docs stop trying to find out why a person is sick and in pain....and they could miss something life threatening.....like my myopathy. Also, after getting that diagnosis my doctor told me he has a picture of people with fibromyalgia.....overweight complainers who say nothing helps them. I told him that maybe it is because nothing does help them. Because they don't need their SYMPTOMS treated, they need the real medical condition treated. He agreed and thus my REAL diagnosis! Leslie
 
Leslie,

I'm glad the doc didn't give up on you and you were diagnosed. And I agree, that in most cases a diagnosed of Fibro is a catch all for some practitioners, used to dismiss the patient.

I would urge anyone that isn't satisfied with a diagnosed from their doc, to seek help elsewhere in order to find an explanation for their particular condition.
 
Working in the medical field for 30 years I can tell you most MD do not believe in FM they usually give the patient Antidepressions and or anxiety drugs And to tell you the truth they usually improve I dont know what comes first the chichen or the egg ARe they depressed because of the aches and pain Or do they have ackes and pains from deprssion PAt
 
When I had a back injury several years ago, I was given a low dose antidepressant to treat the pain. These meds are supposed to act as a pain reliever by acting as neurotransmitters, or so I was told. For me, they did little to relieve the back pain which was interfering with my sleep, and to top it off, the side effects of dry mouth was so bad, I got a sore throat and couldn't sleep at all. Antii-inflamatories did help.
 
Hmm...? I don't know because I was told definately not ALS- but that does not explain all the rest of the stuff. I went to a leading ALS doctor who said there was really no reason for more tests- so I am trying to figure it out on my own I guess. The symptoms seemed to fit because it included irritable bladder syndrome, which I have.

Thanks again for everyones help
 
hboyajian said:
When I had a back injury several years ago, I was given a low dose antidepressant to treat the pain. These meds are supposed to act as a pain reliever by acting as neurotransmitters, or so I was told. For me, they did little to relieve the back pain which was interfering with my sleep, and to top it off, the side effects of dry mouth was so bad, I got a sore throat and couldn't sleep at all. Antii-inflamatories did help.
Why would a doctor give someone a antidepression for a back injury. Its time to find new doctor.
 
Look, guys, I have Fibro and I know this forum is for ALS, but if I can help someone, no matter what the problem, I want to do that.

As it was explained to me by the rheumatologist (well respected in his field and he has it) that diagnosed me, one of the factors that causes Fibro is non-restorative sleep. Therefore he prescribed Elavil, which is an anti-depressant and a side effect is drowsiness. I can report that when I took this at night I felt better physically in the morning because I was able to sleep. And by the way, I wasn't depressed when I first presented symptoms.

I feel confident in my diagnosed and my treatment has helped me personally. So, what may work for one may not work for another, as the human body is very complex.

pldo, if the shoe fits...find a rheumatologist that deals with Fibro.
 
When I was diagnosed with fibro the neuro nurse practitioner that diagnosed it gave me amitriptylline for pain and sleep. I have been so sensitive to drugs and had such incredible fatigue from the myopathy, that I was scared to take it. The rheumatologist never said whether she believed in fibromyalgia or not, but she did say that Cymbalta, an antidepressant, is used to treat the pain centers in the brain. I tried it for two days and had such incredible lethergy and was such a wet noodle, that I never took another one. Plus, when I checked out the side effects to see why I was feeling that bad, all I found was really bad stuff about it. I still wonder if the amitriptylline would help with the pain or not. I have seen posts where pals use it, but I think that is for the dry mouth effect it gives. So, they do use antideperssants to work on the pain centers in the brain. I don't think they are saying the pain is from depression, it's just the mechanism of the medication that is used for both.
 
Depression is the leading cause of pain.They are now treating chronic back pain with antidepression instead of back surgery in some cases and it works.
 
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