Fybromyalgia?

[BrigitBigKnickers]

Ok so this is in my family. My cousin has it, my DD (aged 13) was diagnosed with it (mild symptoms thankfully) and many of my other relatives suffer from unexplained achiness.

I have had joint/ muscular pain/ headaches since I was 17 when the doctor helpfully diagnosed rheumatism and told me that warm baths might help.I have never spoken to a GP about it since, thinking it's one of those things I just have to live with (I also don't like going to the doctor and "aches and pains" just sound a bit pathetic!)

About 15 years ago I felt as though I had slight weakness on one side in my arm and face. I was sent to a neurologist who did lots of tests ( he was looking for MS) but found nothing;he said it was a post viral thing as I had recently had some very serious bouts of tonsilitis.

For years I have had occassional days where I feel fatigued but for the last few weeks I have felt like death warmed up. My muscles feel weak, I ache and I am so tired no matter how much sleep I have. My brain doesn't want to seem to engage with my mouth (which aint very helpful when you are a teacher!)This feeling has never lasted this long before.

I have had a blood test last week(DR was looking at thyroid) but that showed nothing and now I am scaring myself silly thinking I have some sort of neurological thing (damn Google!)I am going back to my GP next week but dread being put through a battery of tests again(lumbar punctures are not nice!)

However I was talking to a friend of mine who has fybro yesterday and I am wondering whether this might have been my problem all along. Many of her symptoms sound very familiar to me.

Any fybro sufferers here? What are your symptoms? Do my symptoms sound anything like yours?
TIA

Your symptoms sound very similar to mine. I have M.E./CFS. My aunt has fibro and the symptoms are very very similar. I'm not really sure what the difference is tbh.

The way to be diagnosed with M.E./CFS is to eliminate everything else first. I had all the blood tests to rule out thyroid etc. Saw a nuerologist to make sure it wsan't MS (although he was a horrible patronising git who told me I was just depressed). I also saw a phychiatrist after this to make sure it wasn't 'just depression' and he said it definitely wasn't and it is M.E./CFS.

You need to make sure youhave a sympathetic doctor who believes you. I never wanted to go to the docs saying I felt tired etc. My DH nagged me for ages and it took me seeing 3 different doctors before I got anywhere. The first 2 did all the blood tests, they came back clear so they said nothing was wrong, but I knew there was so I just kept seeing a different doctor until I found one that was actually interested in finding out what was wrong.

I don't think fybro runs in families either.

M.E./CFS often starts after a bad infection or virus (not in my case though) where you just don't recover properly. They don't really know why but from you saying you had that bad bout of tonsillitus, it could be a result of that.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/900150-Any-Gp-39-s-that-can-help-please

There are some posters on this thread with fibromyalgia, I was reading it the other day.

I am definitely not depressed!

I have a great GP who is never patronising. He is the same GP who referred my DD to a paediatrician when she started showing strange unexplained symptoms which could so easily have been written off as hormonal or "growing" pains. (The paed suspectd fybro in my daughter from her symptoms even before she had examined her.)

As I said I did see a neurologist but it was a long time ago.

Coldhands Fybro does run in families- The first question DD's paed asked after she had heard her symptoms was " Has anyone in your family been diagnosed with fybromyalgia..."

Does it? Didn't know that.

Not sure if this is helpful or a distraction,but ive been reading about attention deficit in women (understanding women with ad/hd-nadeau and quinn).In it they discuss a link between fibromyalgia and a disfunction in the cns notibly the limbic system. Im still reading, so dont have any great insight between the two, but if you gooogle it it might help.

Sorry girl scout you've lost me-cns? limbic system?

No bloods came back normal for thyroid.

Bump

any more?

Not sure what the numbers I was just told that the blood test results were satisfactory and no further action was needed.