JudyBluEyes
Member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2017
- Messages
- 13
- Reason
- Undiagnosed
- Diagnosis
- 00/0000
- Country
- US
- State
- CA
Hello fellow sufferers. So glad to find this forum! So, some background to start. I'm a 61 year-old woman who has suffered from pain for a long time, some for a reason (degenerated discs in my lower back and neck) and some unexplained. But it's always there, sometimes quiet, sometimes screaming, but always there. I'd heard of fibromyalgia, but never knew what it was until about five years ago when I complained to my doc about constant pain especially in my lower back but also moving all over, and she said it was possibly fibro. Didn't think much at the time. She gave me Gabapentin, but it was for the pains shooting down my legs because of the discs in my back (I remember it worked well for that), I got the shot and it "fixed" that problem (not completely, but at least it's not debilitating any more). I quit taking the Gabapentin and mostly just used Ibuprofen for pain, and it worked ok, made it bearable usually and I just powered through. I did that until my sister started in on me about how Nsaids are bad for you and I shouldn't be taking so much of it. So I decided to wean myself off of them. That's when I really noticed how much pain I was really in. And it would move from one place to another, my lower back, my upper back, my chest (did you know there are joints in your chest?). A knee would start hurting, you would think it would be all swollen up but nope, no swelling just pain, my thighs, my hips, you name it it's hurt. I kept making excuses for each pain that attacked me. I shouldn't have been pulling weeds yesterday now my back is killing me, I twisted my ankle but I don't remember how or when, but I must have because it feels like I sprained it. Well, now I'm tired of making up excuses and started paying attention. It's not because I'm getting old that I wake up feeling exhausted and stiff, or can't remember where I parked the car half an hour ago! I just have a feeling something is not right with me. Twenty years ago I had severe Grave's disease. I had the same feeling. So I went to see my doc and talked to her about fibro. She agreed it is a real disease, but that a lot of doctors tend to use it as an umbrella and shove patients under it. She said that "most people who are diagnosed with fibro don't actually have it"!! She did have me do blood work and ruled out Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lymes and Gout. I got the results a couple of weeks ago, but have not heard from the doc. so I decided to write down all my symptoms and start keeping a pain diary. I have emailed her and asked for a referral to a rheumetologist. Anyway, thanks for letting me vent.