Sunday, February 14, 2010

What is fibromyalgia?

Just what exactly is fibromyalgia? In my personal experience, fibromyalgia has turned out to be the diagnosis I have received after going to the doctor year after year for deep muscle pain, deep tissue pain, throbbing pains in my hips, shoulders, legs, lower back, feet, elbows, ankles, knees. Sometimes, the pain is a searing or burning and sometimes it is just a mild pain that is only surface deep. I hate tags in my clothing because they hurt my skin. I thought I must be allergic to the thread they used.
Along with the pain comes the fatigue, the brain “fog”, the weight gain, the sleep problems, constipation one day, diarrhea the next. On and on go the symptoms, the depression, the doctor appointments, the wondering, the waiting, the wanting to know just what your problem is!!
I wanted to know…what exactly is wrong with me?? Am I a hypochondriac or could all of this be connected somehow?? I went to the doctor with a list of my symptoms accompanying my depression. He told me we would need to work on a few of these at a time. Most importantly we needed to work on the depression, because, surely, if we took proper care of the depression, we could surely eliminate most of the other symptoms as well.

2 comments:

Carrie said...

Stopping over to say hi, especially when I saw the name of your blog. I think I might have fibro too... I'm undergoing testing for other things to rule them out, but I'm pretty sure I know it's fibro. I have pain just like you described (and have for years), and have never been able to sleep because of it. Good luck, I look forward to hearing more about your experience!

Anonymous said...

I can relate. Especially the aching joints and the tag irritation! Doctors blame my "fog" and depression on my thyroid. Told me as soon as we "regulate" that I will feel better. Well, it's been over 30 years. Let me know if we're getting any closer!
I do think writing about it helps.