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RobNorth

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Nov 24, 2016
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DX FIBRO
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Country
CA
State
ON
I have chronic pain in most of my joints (but very severe in my neck & lower back) and in the soft tissues or muscles near my joints (both forearms & shoulders, both calves & achilles heals).

My first symptom, almost 2 years ago when I was 57, was mainly fatigue. I couldn't understand why I was so tired all the time, when I have always been active with lots of energy. My doctor did a range of blood tests and had me do a stress test with a cardiologist, but she couldn't find anything wrong. I was concerned that it could be from alcohol as my career requires a lot of social activities, but the liver & blood tests all came back normal. So I went to a naturopath for the first time. She did a blood test (by MyHealth) for food sensitivities that found I had severe intolerances to wheat, blue cheese, bananas, aspartame & sugar. I have never been over weight and have a fairly balanced diet without over-eating sugar related foods, so I changed my diet to be mainly gluten-free (about 95%, still eat a few things periodically), eliminated Aspartame and stay away from blue cheese & bananas.

I felt better, it improved my fatigue by about 50% I would say, but didn't eliminate it. After about a year of this, with no new symptoms, I had a ski injury to my right knee. I went for physio for awhile and took Advil daily, as recommended by my doctor, to reduce swelling. Sometime around this time I developed Tinnitis in my left ear, which I still have now. I went to see my doctor who said I may have it forever or it could go away. My injury healed well and in April 2016 I felt fantastic. I took up road biking and was going for long rides about 3 times a week and started golfing about 3 times a week.

Then my major symptoms began. I started experiencing joint pain while golfing and after biking so I continued taking Advil before golfing and after biking. Then one day golfing I injured my rotator cuff in my shoulder. I went to the doctor about my injury and my other joint & muscle pain. My doctor wanted me have physio on my injured shoulder to see if that was causing the other pain. I did that for the entire summer and that injury healed well but the rest of my pain became chronic over that time period. So I went back to my doctor last month and she has now got me an appointment with a rheumatologist but not until late January. He specializes in fibromyalgia.

I'm sure everyone on this forum knows the frustration of trying to find a diagnosis. I also went back to my naturopath who still believes it could be diet related. There is also something called Leaky Gut Syndrome where a chemical of some sort has created a tear in your stomach, which causes a lot of symptoms including severe inflammation. That tear could be caused by over use of Advil. So for the last month I have been living with the pain, haven't taken an Advil, have almost eliminated alcohol and we also tried a non-dairy diet, but no change in my symtoms.

Sorry for the length of this, but that has been my journey. I've got 2 months before I see the specialist and don't know if I have fibromyalgia. I'm wondering if I should try going back on gluten. I had been mainly gluten free for about 12 months when this started and I'm wondering if that has caused my problem. Although I did have that initial symptom of fatigue.

Can fibromyalgia cause fatigue without the joint pain initially?

Has anyone else found out they had Leaky Gut Syndrome instead of fibromyalgia?
 
I would say the elimination diet is a good start.Sounds like you did that, to some degree.I can't do milk, it causes inflammation in me, also wheat, and gluten cause alot of trouble.I do an anti-inflammatory diet.When I can stick to it, I feel way better.I can't say for sure, but I don't think going back on gluten is going to help.I am not saying you are gluten sensitive, just that I think anything manmade is going to be counterproductive to what your trying to accomplish.Fybromyalgia is an energy sapping condition, not sure on the joint pain, just that it involves many, sensitive to touch, trigger points.
 
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