to think I may have fibromyalgia?

[Pieandpeas3]

I experience regular pain in my shoulders, neck, face, jaw, arms, lower back and knees. The worse affected areas are my neck and shoulders which feel as if they are very sore, achey, throbbing and bruised.
I feel like I am wading through mud sometimes when walking. I also get brain fog, struggle to concentrate and feel exhausted. I also suffer from migraines and have a b12 deficiency which is managed by 12 weekly injections.
I don't feel the above constantly and feel fine some days but always feel it on work days (I work part time) and it seems to generally be linked to work stress. I have been to the doctors a few times regarding these symptoms but it has been put down to stress and muscle tension and that's all. I remember it first starting after returning to work after my second dc 5 years ago and it has flared up at times since then.

I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia by a rheumatologist and what you are describing is more or less exact the same ,i had it a least 2yrs before i was diagnosed .There are trigger points on the body you can look up and check off.Stress will definitely make it worse and mine will worse some days than others when you can have a fibro flare up where the pain can be really bad .I had mentioned to one our GP's and got told it cause you are getting older yeap honestly .It was only when i was referred to the rheumatologist about something else he picked up on it as soon as i described my symptoms. He did blood tests to rule out anything else and i hit all the trigger points.
I would go back your gp op arm with information , such as trigger points and ask for a second opinion, i have absolutely no medicial knowledge but your symptoms do match a lot of fibro symptoms. There are also some excellent groups online like FMA UK where you can get excellent advice and information .But definately don't suffer in silence.

Thanks very much for your reply. I suppose getting a diagnosis can be difficult depending on your doctor.
Are you medication for fibro? Are you glad that you got the diagnosis? I am worried that it will negatively affect future employment opportunities but I am struggling to work at times anyway so it may make employers be more supportive or maybe that's wishful thinking!

Have you had your thyroid tested?

Livid21, yes I have although not for a while so may be worth retrying.

I have b12 deficiency too and 12 weekly injections are rarely sufficient to manage it well. You also should take folic acid alongside the b12 too - your body needs more folic acid to use the b12. Have you looked at the pernicious anaemia society website or a Facebook support group? Loads of info on those on managing the condition. It's not to say that you don't have something else as well but I'd look into that first and ensure your b12 is properly treated.

I take co -codamol on a really bad day but try to avoid because they only dull the pain so try pace myself so i don't over do it .I was offered Duloxetine but decided against because of the fact they can come with some not so nice side effects .It was a relief if that makes sense because i went from being a really energetic work lots of hrs to being constantly in pain and constantly tired .If you get a diagnosis of a chronic illness which impacts on your daily living then your employer has to offer adjustments to help you to stay in your job ,they can refuse if it is proved it is not feasible but they certainty have to look at all options.I have dropped my hrs right down i used to be full time in quite a demanding job and my employer has been really supportive. Livid21 is right about getting your thyroid checked ,i also have an underactive thyroid,fibro and hypothyroidism often go hand in hand or if your thyroid is low it can mimic fibro symptoms or it could on the opposite hand make fibro symptoms worse .

This might be a red herring because the symptoms aren't exactly the same, but maybe polymialgia? Constantly aching all over, severe pain in shoulders, neck, upper arms, and thighs. Also getting very tired, and I had to have a nap in the afternoons, before it was diagnosed and medicated. It's not as scary as fibro because there is treatment, and it can be cured permanently (sometimes). At least the pain can be eradicated, and the tiredness goes.

single, how did you get a diagnosis of polymialgia? do you feel better now?

I am going to make a doctor's appointment as soon as possible to discuss my symptoms. I do feel that I may get fobbed off though. I am finding the demands if work so difficult with all these symptoms but it seems no one understands.

See GP and ask for referral. Good luck OP.

Don't dismiss stress as a cause.

I say that with someone with Fibro and who is in recovery from CFS.

My symptoms get better when I use anti-stress strategies.

I'm just a bit concerned that you want medication, when your body (and brain) needs relaxation.

I agree that the Vit B12 is barely enough every three months, I'm also on that.

What's your diet and lifestyle like?

pieandpeas my friend recognised the symptoms because she's got it too, so when I told the doc, they had a blood test done. It's one of those auto immune diseases and if you've got it, there are markers in the blood. It tends to affect women, and usually older women (although not always).

Have you been tested for gluten sensitivity? I was like this from 19-23/24, really ill with it, managing to work but basically had no life outside of work. I was convinced that I had fibro as I had all of the symptoms of it but getting doctors to take me seriously with even one symptom at a time was a nightmare, didn't even mention that I thought I had fibro but I think that they thought I was just a hypochondriac!

I was dismissed by doctors from 4 or 5 different practices over the years, told that none of the symptoms could be connected, that I was "just tired" from work (working with children, so yes a bit tiring but not enough to need a nap when I got home and a 2130 bedtime!) and so on. I was tested for various things that came back fine apart from vitD. Taking that improved it a bit but I had a friend whose kids were sensitive to gluten, she bugged me for months to just trial giving it up for a few months to see if it helped and eventually I did because I was desperate and it actually made me feel significantly better. The brain fog disappeared within weeks, my joints still hurt but were more manageable, the tiredness almost disappeared and the bladder urgency issues I had became significantly more manageable and so on. I dos find a doctor who referred me to the cfs and fibro team a few years later but then I got pregnant with DD and the few symptoms I had left disappeared through pregnancy. They came back a little after when I had gluten/wheat but I'm mostly well now.

Queen** I have been tested for gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease but tests came back negative.