does this sound like Fybromyalgia?? bit long sorry...

[OhWhatAPalaver]

right i'll try and keep this as short as i can! basically i have had joint and tendon/muscle issues since not long after my DD was born - she is ten months now. when i first went to gp with joint pain and stiffness in the mornings, every joint on my body was in pain and cracking all the time. The blood tests showed that i had a high rheumatoid factor and was therefore referred to rheumy. she was quite good and thorough but all further tests were inconclusive and appeared normal. i had been worried about Rheumatoid Arthritis so this was reassuring.

However, i'm still experiencing problems. The symptoms seem to get better for a while to the point where i think i'm fully recovered but then they seem to come back again after a few bad nights sleep, which with DD is fairly regularly due to teething or a cold or something. They then take weeks or months to get better and i'm just getting really fed up with waking up in the morning with terrible pain in my wrists and having to hobble down the stairs one at a time. My wrists and ankles are the worst. My joints seem like they have too much movement in them, it almost feels like my wrists dislocate with the slightest movement of my thumb, i can actually feel the bone popping out of its socket and going back in again, my wrists feel permanently bruised :(

The pain is much worse after rest, short or long. I am currently waiting for an appointment with Occupational Therapy at the hospital as the Rheumy thinks i might have DeQuervaine's Tendosynovitis in my wrists but this doesn't explain the problems with my ankles and other joints and a general feeling of muscle weakness/fatigue. Ok i'll stop now as this is long!!! Any advice much appreciated, i don't know much about fybromyalgia so would like to hear from anyone with any experience of it really. thanks folks :)

[Groovee]

I don't really have joint pain it's more muscular for me so my thighs/calves tend to be worse than it being my ankles.

It could well be Fibromyalgia. Patient.co.uk was where I printed off the info leaflet and then highlighted it all. My gp then did the pressure point test.

[cravingcake]

I'm not sure about fybromyalgoa but you could be hypermobile. Pregnancy makes this worse, when your body produces more relaxin which if you are already a bit 'bendy' dont really need.

[OhWhatAPalaver]

craving i am still bfing as well, i thought this may be the cause but would it come and go? i am hoping that when i stop bfing it will miraculously disappear!

i forgot to mention i also get bizarre sore/sensitive patches of skin that almost feel sunburned, usually on my thighs or back.

[BoysBoysBoysAndMe]

You sound similar to my friend who has fybromyalgia and connective tissue disorder.

Have you been tested for lupus?

I think there can be a huge range of symptoms for any autoimmune disorder though, and I'm under the impression that the symptoms change with the sufferer?

I could well be wrong. Hope you get a diagnosis soon op

[OhWhatAPalaver]

i think the rheumy did test for lupus, she has discharged me now on the basis that my results were all normal.

i have had some bizarre symptoms over the last ten months or so. hypersensitivity seems to come and go all the time. i think it does change from person to person, making it even harder to make a diagnosis i suppose.

[cravingcake]

There's every chance of your symptons being worse some days than others if your hormones are busy with breastfeeding and settling back to normal after pregnancy. Please note i know nothing about fybromyalgia (sorry) but my mum has 2 autoimmune diseases which some days her symptons are a lot worse than others for no apparent reason.

Only thing ican suggest is to try keeping a diary of when you at at your worst and maybe some sort of pattern (ie sleepless night or too many busy days close together) will emerge.

[debinaboat]

Nerve damage can cause a sunburn feeling ,perhaps a neurologist referral ? Sometimes it's almost the afterthought symptom that can give the biggest clue ,if that makes sense.

[wishiwasonholiday]

I feel like this and have been tested for lupus, vasculitis etc all have come back clear. My wrists are getting worse and worse and keep me awake, i also feel like my arms are being crushed at night. i managed to fracture my hip and it took the rhuematologist 2 months to diagnose! I am now having tests for vitamin d deficiency which can apparantly cause fatigue and joint pain but I also get a weird rash when the pain is getting better. I have gone through all sorts of tests a lot of things have the same sort of symptoms so its taken months for them to rule things out.