Can I ask about Fibromyalgia please?

[BarenakedLady]

Hi. I've namechanged for this, purely because it feels a bit personal.

I have been estranged from my mother for over 15 years, however I have discovered through my grandmother that my mother has Fibromyalgia. As a former nurse, I know a little about the condition but not a great deal.

I do know it's thought that 25% of sufferers have children who also have the condition; it's not clear if it's inherited per se, but roughly 25% of sufferers have children who also have Fibromyalgia. I also know that there seems to be a notable link between mothers and daughters both having the condition.

Now for the paranoid part. For the past year or so, I have spells where my DH and I joke that I've lost my mojo. I lose all of my motivation and suffer from extreme fatigue. I feel a bit low at these times, but it's the lethargy rather than my mood that means I could easily spend a week in my pyjamas on the sofa. I also suffer mild joint pain at these times. I've always put this down to hormones (the spells aren't on a particular cycle, but neither are my periods) however now I wonder if I have the underlying Fibromyalgia Syndrome and that the Fibromyalgia could be triggered in the future by somehting.

Does anyone have experience of this, or even just a wet fish that they could slap me with please?

Get yourself checked out by the doctor is the best advice.

Do you have any of the trigger points at all? Again another indicator - on top of the fatigue - that doctors use to diagnose the condition.

In the mean time take things slowly, stay away from citrus, caffeine and alcohol and basically all artificial preservatives as they, for some reason, make the sluggishness worse.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Thank you.

I don't know much about the trigger points TBH, and I don't seem to have any other symptoms. I'm a bit worried that my GP might laugh me out of the surgery, particularly as I have a history of anxiety which manifested itself as a constant fear that I was dying I have had no anxiety problems for some time now (although, as my mother was the root cause of it, I am a bit worried that her constant attempts to communicate with me may trigger it) but I am very conscious that the GP sees me as some kind of freaky hypochondriac.

Thanks for your reply, I'm a bit over-emotional today for various reasons and I appreciate you taking the time to respond

Sorry the trigger points are areas of the body where, when pressed even lightly, cause a fair bit of pain. Another factor is if you are, say, pinched rather than going "ow" and forgetting about it the pain lingers for a couple of minutes and is disproportionate to the injury.

here's a body map of the main trigger points

www.mefmaction.net/Portals/0/docsFMSOverview08.pdf This document has diagnostic guidelines, details of symptoms and signs, and details of other conditions that should be ruled out.

Hi!! I'm a fibromyalgia sufferer :( i'd say get checked out by a doc, and just let them know what you're thinking, it took me 4yrs to get a proper diagnosis.
Before and during periods, i always hit a slippery slope, where i could literally sleep for scotland, achey as hell, and feel like shit in general oh and slightly depressed!!

Do go get yourself checked out tho, and any questions ask any of us fibro women on here :)