New Member

Hello,

I was diagnosed with FM in June 2013 after a long battle with trying to figure out what was wrong. I had back surgeries in 2006 and 2008. I felt much better for a while. Then the pain was increasing again and spreading around. Parts that never used to hurt started hurting. I thought I would have to go through more surgery and that was a terrifying thought. I was in another state away from my orthopedic surgeon who did such a wonderful job for me and was even now un-insured. The health practitioner at the local clinic sent me to University Hospital where a rheumatologist finally diagnosed me with FM and said it's cause/trigger could be the long endured chronic pain from my back issues. Ugh!

So now I am feeling really really bad with this weather in the midwest causing all kinds of problems for me and my mood is atrocious. My husband is having a hard time dealing with my mood swings, but remains supportive. God bless him! He thinks I should go to counseling. The stress of adding one more appointment to my already busy and painful life causes me more anxiety. I am hoping this will help me vent so I'm not so moody with the people I live with.

Hi Brittneyjordan,
I'm sorry you had to go through the pain and trauma of back surgery only to be saddled with this. I understand your mood swings too. I get very very irritable when the pain flairs up. I find people try to be understanding but have no idea what it's really like. Your husband sounds like he's trying to be supportive. His idea about counselling may not be totally off track. Many people with fibro also suffer from some form of depression. The silver lining to that cloud is that many antidepressants help with the pain of fibro. I'm not saying that's the route you should go. It's just one possible alternative to explore.
I totally understand the reluctance to add one more thing (appointment) to the list of things you're probably struggling with already. My doctor suggested group therapy and I think I could probably benefit from it. Unfortunately it's a huge commitment to meet everyday for 10 weeks and there is no way on earth I have the energy for that, especially in this frigid weather. I might think about it in the spring when it's easier to get around. The catch here is that this is the time it would probably do me the most good because I always feel better in the spring.
If you decide to do the counselling, I'm sure it will be worth it.
Hopefully