Hi. I'm Amy. I'm 26, and I have Fibromyalgia.
Actually, today is the first anniversary of my diagnosis.
This is my story, or the first part anyway.
I remember the first time I felt the pain. I was sitting in Biology class in college. I was 19. I wondered why my back was hurting so bad. . .all the time. I blamed it on the classroom seats and/or my posture, and made an appointment with my doctor. The whole visit was probably about three minutes long, and he sent me on my way with a popular anti-inflammatory.
The pains came and went for a couple more years, and once more became painful enough for me to need to see a doctor again; a new one this time. After touching my shoulders, and upper back, she said I had stress related muscle spasms. At this time, I was juggling school with an almost full time job. She prescribed me two different muscle relaxers, one for day, and another for night.
It wasn't that much longer, six months or so, that I was back in her office in pain. A friend telling me that I felt like I had rocks under my skin urged me to go. I knew this wasn't normal. She wrote refills for the muscle relaxers. However, this time she said something different. She said "I'm afraid it might be Fibromyalgia, but you're so young that I doubt it." I agreed. One of my mother's friends has it, and it sounded so horrible, that I just knew that couldn't be the problem. I was 21.
It wasn't long after that that I moved from community college to a state university to pursue my degree in Theatre. I was also in a new realtionship, and was very happy about where my life was going at the time. I often hurt, and was anxious. I just assumed it was the stress from the changes that were going in my life.
A few months down the line, the relationship went sour, but I toughed it out. I couldn't talk about my pain, or fatigue, or anxiety, because I would get responses from him like "Shut up, I don't want to hear it, you're sick all the time!" Why I stayed past that point, I have no idea. It was probably because for the first time in my life, I was alone; save him. I hung in there, even though I knew he wasn't good for me.
A bit later, a saw a doctor at the university about the anxiety. She gave me about three months worth of Zoloft samples; and it worked. Unfortunately, I had no insurance, so I could not keep taking it.
A year after that, it was time to graduate. I felt so accomplished. I was the first of my Grandmother's Grandchildren to graduate college. That was more of an honor to me that going to pick up my diploma. Before graduating, I planned to put in my resume at a Telecommunications company in the next town, and just a couple weeks after graduation, they hired me. I was still in the toxic relationship, and I still hurt and worried constantly. I took over the counter meds for the pain, and toughed it out. We were living together at this point.
Then almost exactly a year to my hire date at work, all of the sudden, the toxicity ended. He left. One would think that all of the sudden an angelic sound would pour from heaven, and my pain would be lifted, and all would be well. Not in the slightest. I was hurting even more, and having full on panic attacks.
I remember the day well that I was in such pain that it was nauseating, and it is here that my road to diagnosis starts. That day, I was sitting at work, hurting, and so unbelievably sad. I decided that after work, I would go to the clinic that was in the town where I lived.
I only mentioned the pain, because I felt ashamed of the anxiety and depression. The nurse prac was the only one in the office that day, and she wrote me a mild narcotic like pain reliever, and the same muscle relaxer that I'd taken for years.
It wasn't two weeks later that I was back in the doctors office, and luckily she was in that day. I was still hurting so bad, and having panic attacks. I came clean about the break-up this time, and the anxiety. She was very sympathetic. She gave me Xanax to help with the immediate anxiety, Zoloft to take for the long haul, and Lorcet for the pain.
She also did some x-rays, which led to an MRI which led to me seeing an Orthopedic specialist, who said my spine and neck was fine, and said for me to go to a Rheumatologist. I called the clinic I had been frequenting, and got a referral.
She was quick, barely touched me, and didn't even touch me where I told her I hurt. She told me I had Chronic Myofascial Pain, and crammed some Lyrica down my neck. I hate Lyrica. I hate it with the heat of a thousand suns. It made me such a zombie, that I overslept for four hours, and missed a half day of work. Most importantly, it didn't work.
I saw her a couple of more times. She wouldn't listen to me. I told her how fatigued I was; she told me I was probably Narcoleptic. She also floundered between the diagnosis's of the Chronic Myofascial Pain, and Fibromyalgia. I wanted a diagnosis.
I got fed up with her, and chose my own Rheumatologist, and got a referral. He was wonderful. He did a full exam, including the trigger point test. He had a sneaky way of doing it so you didn't know when he was going to press on a control, or a trigger point to see if they were sensitive. He diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Myofascial Pain, and told me to get a good nights sleep, and get aerobic exercise; way different from a fistful of pills.
I still see him; and as I said above, today is the first year anniversary of my diagnosis.
Please keep checking for updates, as writing is my therapy, and I still have a lot to say about fighting the good fight.
Fibromyalgia, Part I
- by , on Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:19am PDT
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Comments 1-8 of 8
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Posted by Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:41am PDT
Report AbuseI sent you a nice long comment and it hasn't shown up. Can you see it while logged in?
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Posted by Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:08pm PDT
Report AbuseI've been disabled with fibromyalgia and a connective tissue disorder for 12 years now. I've known for years that there was something else wrong with me besides just the FM and I just recently got a diagnosis that's a fit. It's so hard to find MD's who'll listen to you without assuming that it's a psychological problem. It's changing though, slowly. Keep fighting.
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Posted by Sat May 10, 2008 1:26pm PDT
Report AbuseI am 26 as well and have Fibromyalgia. They told me he same thing... "Your stressed" One time it hurt so bad, I could not walk or even put my arm up above my head. By body just woukd not let me. Today, I have a constant mild pain. The doctor put me on pills and they helped but made me such a zombie, that for now I can deal with the mild pain.
I see it all the time, people look at me and think I am a basket case. Its in my head.
You know what? Even if it is in my head, the pain is real. Being tired is real. Waking up at night with so much pain but you cant turn because that hurts too, is REAL.
Sometimes I am ashamed because people dont believe it and most of the time I try to hide it. I avoid things just so i dont have to explain.
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Posted by Sat May 10, 2008 1:45pm PDT
Report AbuseI think it is wonderful to see people share their stories on Fibromyalgia. As a massage therapist, I see many clients a month with this condition, and I have been working on learning more about it as it develops. Thanks for your story!
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Posted by Sat May 10, 2008 2:06pm PDT
Report AbuseAs a massage therapist I have delt with this disorder regularly in both men and women, although women seem to have it a greater deal of the time. I highly recommend regualr massage therapy as part of the treatment. A therapeutic (or "medical massage") twice weekly by a qualified, licensed therapist would help most of these patient's enormously. As an alternative healer, I would recommend a 'standard' treatment of chiropractic adjustment, followed immediately by an accupuncture treatment, followed by a 60-90 minute therapeutic massage. These treatments should be covered by medical insurance, as least to some degree, and many therapists do a sliding scale fee for indigent patients w/o medical coverage. Prayer helps too, as does yoga, pilates, and transendental meditation. Good luck and good health to all....
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Posted by Sat May 10, 2008 2:06pm PDT
Report AbuseAs a massage therapist I have delt with this disorder regularly in both men and women, although women seem to have it a greater deal of the time. I highly recommend regualr massage therapy as part of the treatment. A therapeutic (or "medical massage") twice weekly by a qualified, licensed therapist would help most of these patient's enormously. As an alternative healer, I would recommend a 'standard' treatment of chiropractic adjustment, followed immediately by an accupuncture treatment, followed by a 60-90 minute therapeutic massage. These treatments should be covered by medical insurance, as least to some degree, and many therapists do a sliding scale fee for indigent patients w/o medical coverage. Prayer helps too, as does yoga, pilates, and transendental meditation. Good luck and good health to all....
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Posted by Mon May 12, 2008 5:34am PDT
Report AbuseI too have fibromyalgia and I have found pills that work for me. In fact my chiropractor told me, "take these and you'll feel better in a day," -- and I did!! When he told me that, I said to myself, "Right. . ." as I had heard this sort of comment before. The name of this wonder pill is Fibro-Ease. It is about $20/120 pills. You take two twice/day. The first bottle came from Dr. Dennis Craft at his Creating Wellness Center in Charlotte, Michigan. After that, I have ordered from FRE, Inc. (www.fenixstoppain.com). Try it! You too may feel better in a day. I want to offer a disclaimer here. I am not advertising for chiropractic, although this specialty helps me immensely. I am simply bursting to share my good news. I don't have the pain and stiffness that have plagued me for years (I'm 66). I feel like some sort of walking miracle to myself. How about that!
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Posted by Thu May 15, 2008 12:33pm PDT
Report AbuseI'm so glad someone else is writing about this. I'm 22 right now and undergoing evaluation by doctors to see if I have fibromyalgia like my mother. I'm a college senior and right now it's really tough to figure out how to work through something like this. They don't have me on muscle relaxers but did prescribe some sleeping pills to try and see if it will help. I have my good days and my bad ones but more than anything I'm just trying to understand what's going on. I'm studying to be an archaeologist so when the days come that I'm just so sore that I don't want to move it makes me wonder if I will ever get to work in my own field. Everyone says to try acupuncture but I think I'll pass on that treatment...(no more needles for me right now thank you!)
Comments 1-8 of 8
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