My pain started when I was 18 years old. It's funny I remember the moment it started, I remember exactly what I was doing. I think back now and it's like a moment frozen in time for me that I can see quite clearly, the moment that changed my life forever. Unfortunately I was not diagnosed for 30 years. I had the same family Doctor and because of my age then he diagnosed muscle spasms. So the long history of fibromyalgia begins. I was in severe pain in the neck and sholder area to the point that at times I could not move and had to wear a neck brace. After trying chiropractors, sports therapists, Message therapy, a physiologist, and someone my Dad called a quack, there was absolutely no relief. At this point several years had gone by and thousands of dollars. My Doctor was sticking to his dig. of muscle spasms, he had me on muscles relaxants at that point. All of a sudden I start getting what I now know to be linked conditions dig. with IBS. I had problems with UTI's since I was a child and had been hospitalized at the age of 5 for a week. Now the bladder infections came back with a vengence. I was on antibiotic everyday for 2 years because the second I didn't take it I immediatly got an infection. As I was pregnant for the second time I fell into a deep dark depression and had suicidal thoughts. So now the same family Dr is treating me for all these different conditions, I was in such terrific pain I could no longer function so he started giving me narcotics. I kept asking if I should perhaps go to see a bone specialist. He was adament that my mucles were spasming and told me that mixed with the IBS that was dig. by a GI specialist is what was causing so much pain. So it reached a point that I was being prescribed 320 emprecet and 180 dilaudid per month along with all the other meds. Next came a total thyroid disfunction. My Dr. is still not linking any of this together and still sticking with his original diagnosis. I can't even remember at this point if I had anything else that I'mforgetting to mention. Anyways This went on for perhaps 20 years then I said enough is enough, with the amount of narcotics I'm taking I'm going to die of that before anything else. I myself started very slowly weining myself off of them. With that done I went back to the Dr. and the best way to say it is I lost it. I told him I had been doing research over the years, (added that just to be snarky) and I wanted an MRI done and I wanted it done fast, and I asked him if he was waiting for me to pay for it. ( I live in Quebec and we have free health care ) I guess he realized that I wasn't going to be put of he said ok if that will reasure you we'll do it, it can't hurt. We'll do your back and your head. Make a long story short had the MRI's, 2 because they were done separately. I wanted to pick up the results, at that time the hospital still let us do that, no longer unfortunately. So about a month later I picked up the results and walked the 2 bloks to the Dr's office. Dr. looked at the results and said oh shit...... I don't think he meant to say that outloud. I had cervical degenitive disk disease spread over 4 disks, central stenosis nerve damage, conclusion was my neck was not in good shape. Could this have been prevented if caught before ????who knows. But I was not a happy camper. He finally referred me to a Neuro and a Rumey. 2 years after that the FM was Dig. I an now 50 years old and both conditions have gotten much worse and my neck gets worse every MRI. Prognosis is paralysis. I have been refused first by anistigiologist to have cortisone shot into my neck because I am considered to high risk. I have also been refused by 2 top Dr's to be operated on, their consensus is they will wait for paralysis and then go in and try to fix it. Until then I live day by day trying to stay as positive as I can but it is not always easy. My quality of life is little and I spend all of my time in pain.
Marcia Mockerman - 9 years ago
I started getting leg pains at night when I was 8. I remember my mom sitting on the side of my bed and rubbing my legs until I fell asleep. I was told they were growing pains. I was diagnosed with Junior Rheumatoid Arthritis in my right knee in 7th grade and my left knee in 9th grade. I am now almost 58 years old and besides arthritis and fibro, I also have Degenerative Disk Disease, Scoliosis, depression, migraines, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lactose intolerance, muscle spasms in my low back from a car accident 8 years ago which I believe kicked my fibro into high gear. Looking back, I see some of the same symptoms in my mom but back then there wasn't a name for it.
Alison L - 10 years ago
I started getting pains in my legs during the night. The pain would wake me up & I would cry in the dark. I recall many occasions when I needed to go to the bathroom but not being able to walk, I would crawl across the hallway. Mum called house doctors in the middle of the night, I got tests etc. & was told it was inky growing pain. I wasn't diagnosed until 21. I am now 32. I have been told I should quit my job because it's 'inherently stressful', but so is life generally, so I won't let this bring me down & I keep finding ways to be & do the things that I want to being aware of the 'limits'. I am now 'on watch' for rheumatoid arthritis, but until I have it, I keep ploughing on. The future scares me a little, but I do not let it deter me. My rheumatologist thinks it may have been triggered by the physical trauma I suffered in a car accident when I was young or the emotional trauma of when my dad left & I didn't see him for 23 or so years thereafter. I don't suffer from it as badly as others, but the biggest difficulty I face is that some people don't believe that I am in pain or that I am suffering on a daily basis & that I use it as an excuse not to do things, because it can't be seen. Just because I put on a strong facade doesn't mean that it's not that bad.
Sara tompkins - 10 years ago
First time I felt it it was in my shoulder it lasted for weeks, then it just got worse and worse, 5 years on and everyday I feel worse. Can't remember the last time I had a good day
kim - 10 years ago
I feel exactly the same way Jules Ruddock. I also was healthy one day and he'd no energy the next day! I got out of breath, and my legs felt like bricks! I found a class on how to manage fibromyalgia. I was so happy that day, because when I walked into the room there were a bunch of other woman who had this strange thing also !! The woman that taught the class was to me an angel! I finally got some answers on what might have caused this, and what I could do to make me feel better. In order to be in a place where you can find some relief you have to take this illness one day at a time. Don't get mad at yourself if you overdo. Just do what you have to do to get to a better place. Light eExercise and a hot tub helped me a lot to get back some of the energy. I found that a warm water pool works the best for me. I found a good physical therapist in a warm water pool. Now I go to a pool to do stretches and some walking and sit in the hot tub for a while afterwords. I hope That this information helps you! God Bless. Take care.
kim - 10 years ago
I was 43 when I went to the doctor to complain about this all over pain and fatigue I was having. My doctor pressed on certain parts of my body and that really hurt. I came back a month later and I was still feeling bad. She then diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I had to take Advil during the day and a muscle relaxant at night. I had never in my life heard about fibromyalgia! I wasn't even able to pronounce the word! Nobody knew what it was. I got treated very badly by some people who weren't believing me about my illness. At the time people called it a syndrome! I finally found some books about it in the library. After a while I got depressed. Very depressed!! I started to see a therapist, and she then sent me to a psychiatrist and he prescribed all the meds that I am on today. I hated when I was working and had brain fog. I had a hard time 'remembering things. I would go home crying because I knew I probably could not keep my job. I felt so dumb and I was so tired. My own husband didn't really know how I felt. I am now 57 and I believe it is worse than before.
Jennifer - 10 years ago
Suffered pain walking from 3yrs old but didn't know how to say it or what pain was so told my mum I wanted to stay in the pushchair forever. Got very exhausted when out with the family and would sob with tiredness and very painful cramps in my legs that nothing could get rid of. As I got to about 10 these only happened after exercise eg trampolining ot swimming but my feet always hurt and even proper fitting shoes made me toes feel on fire with lain and toes would go numb at school. By that age stairs became hard and ib ny teen years walking up stairs at school hurt badly as did carrying my bags abd ny legs would go totally numb after sitting cross legged on floor for assembly and would hurt for hours after. Had osgood schlatters in knees from 14. Always had borderline thyroid (low). Gall stones at 19, next 11yrs severe ibs and abdominal pain and at 30 I have tp walk with a stick, sleep hours a day and never have energy. Can't scratch an itch as the pain is like being stabbed. Always had terrible heavy excruciating periods. Have many increasing food sensitivities incl wheat and lactose and fruit and red meat.
Sarah Lloyd - 10 years ago
I had skied fairly regularly throughout my teens, but the last time, when I was about 17 was disastrous I came back with severely swollen joints and terrible aches and pains. My mother is adamant that my immune system was wiped by the family having Asian flu in 1958/9 when everyone was really really I'll and she was expecting me.
DK - 10 years ago
I remember being ill from around 8-10 yrs. of age. When I look back now, I believe it is when I had a tick bite, but Lyme tests have over the yrs. been negative. I still believe it's a big possibility since so many seem to be eventually diagnosed with Lyme.
I progress yrly. Going to try the Guai Protocol again. I never fully followed it the first time, but many are finding much relief & reversal of their Fibro. using it. It is hereditary from what I can tell. I have cousins on both sides with it, but theirs aren't as bad as mine. Hopefully there will be a cure for this in the near future.
Jules Ruddock - 10 years ago
I started to get unexplained horrible pains and fatigue around about the age of 58. Spent many a frustrating time at the docs being told nothing obvious was wrong! Previously I'd been very active, strong and outgoing. All of a sudden I went down hill. Finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the age of 60...I'd just retired. My mobility, strength and activity has been at least halved by this condition and I'm constantly struggling to make something meaningful of my life. It's relentless and has worsened over the past few years. I'm now coming up to 68 in Dec.
My pain started when I was 18 years old. It's funny I remember the moment it started, I remember exactly what I was doing. I think back now and it's like a moment frozen in time for me that I can see quite clearly, the moment that changed my life forever. Unfortunately I was not diagnosed for 30 years. I had the same family Doctor and because of my age then he diagnosed muscle spasms. So the long history of fibromyalgia begins. I was in severe pain in the neck and sholder area to the point that at times I could not move and had to wear a neck brace. After trying chiropractors, sports therapists, Message therapy, a physiologist, and someone my Dad called a quack, there was absolutely no relief. At this point several years had gone by and thousands of dollars. My Doctor was sticking to his dig. of muscle spasms, he had me on muscles relaxants at that point. All of a sudden I start getting what I now know to be linked conditions dig. with IBS. I had problems with UTI's since I was a child and had been hospitalized at the age of 5 for a week. Now the bladder infections came back with a vengence. I was on antibiotic everyday for 2 years because the second I didn't take it I immediatly got an infection. As I was pregnant for the second time I fell into a deep dark depression and had suicidal thoughts. So now the same family Dr is treating me for all these different conditions, I was in such terrific pain I could no longer function so he started giving me narcotics. I kept asking if I should perhaps go to see a bone specialist. He was adament that my mucles were spasming and told me that mixed with the IBS that was dig. by a GI specialist is what was causing so much pain. So it reached a point that I was being prescribed 320 emprecet and 180 dilaudid per month along with all the other meds. Next came a total thyroid disfunction. My Dr. is still not linking any of this together and still sticking with his original diagnosis. I can't even remember at this point if I had anything else that I'mforgetting to mention. Anyways This went on for perhaps 20 years then I said enough is enough, with the amount of narcotics I'm taking I'm going to die of that before anything else. I myself started very slowly weining myself off of them. With that done I went back to the Dr. and the best way to say it is I lost it. I told him I had been doing research over the years, (added that just to be snarky) and I wanted an MRI done and I wanted it done fast, and I asked him if he was waiting for me to pay for it. ( I live in Quebec and we have free health care ) I guess he realized that I wasn't going to be put of he said ok if that will reasure you we'll do it, it can't hurt. We'll do your back and your head. Make a long story short had the MRI's, 2 because they were done separately. I wanted to pick up the results, at that time the hospital still let us do that, no longer unfortunately. So about a month later I picked up the results and walked the 2 bloks to the Dr's office. Dr. looked at the results and said oh shit...... I don't think he meant to say that outloud. I had cervical degenitive disk disease spread over 4 disks, central stenosis nerve damage, conclusion was my neck was not in good shape. Could this have been prevented if caught before ????who knows. But I was not a happy camper. He finally referred me to a Neuro and a Rumey. 2 years after that the FM was Dig. I an now 50 years old and both conditions have gotten much worse and my neck gets worse every MRI. Prognosis is paralysis. I have been refused first by anistigiologist to have cortisone shot into my neck because I am considered to high risk. I have also been refused by 2 top Dr's to be operated on, their consensus is they will wait for paralysis and then go in and try to fix it. Until then I live day by day trying to stay as positive as I can but it is not always easy. My quality of life is little and I spend all of my time in pain.
I started getting leg pains at night when I was 8. I remember my mom sitting on the side of my bed and rubbing my legs until I fell asleep. I was told they were growing pains. I was diagnosed with Junior Rheumatoid Arthritis in my right knee in 7th grade and my left knee in 9th grade. I am now almost 58 years old and besides arthritis and fibro, I also have Degenerative Disk Disease, Scoliosis, depression, migraines, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lactose intolerance, muscle spasms in my low back from a car accident 8 years ago which I believe kicked my fibro into high gear. Looking back, I see some of the same symptoms in my mom but back then there wasn't a name for it.
I started getting pains in my legs during the night. The pain would wake me up & I would cry in the dark. I recall many occasions when I needed to go to the bathroom but not being able to walk, I would crawl across the hallway. Mum called house doctors in the middle of the night, I got tests etc. & was told it was inky growing pain. I wasn't diagnosed until 21. I am now 32. I have been told I should quit my job because it's 'inherently stressful', but so is life generally, so I won't let this bring me down & I keep finding ways to be & do the things that I want to being aware of the 'limits'. I am now 'on watch' for rheumatoid arthritis, but until I have it, I keep ploughing on. The future scares me a little, but I do not let it deter me. My rheumatologist thinks it may have been triggered by the physical trauma I suffered in a car accident when I was young or the emotional trauma of when my dad left & I didn't see him for 23 or so years thereafter. I don't suffer from it as badly as others, but the biggest difficulty I face is that some people don't believe that I am in pain or that I am suffering on a daily basis & that I use it as an excuse not to do things, because it can't be seen. Just because I put on a strong facade doesn't mean that it's not that bad.
First time I felt it it was in my shoulder it lasted for weeks, then it just got worse and worse, 5 years on and everyday I feel worse. Can't remember the last time I had a good day
I feel exactly the same way Jules Ruddock. I also was healthy one day and he'd no energy the next day! I got out of breath, and my legs felt like bricks! I found a class on how to manage fibromyalgia. I was so happy that day, because when I walked into the room there were a bunch of other woman who had this strange thing also !! The woman that taught the class was to me an angel! I finally got some answers on what might have caused this, and what I could do to make me feel better. In order to be in a place where you can find some relief you have to take this illness one day at a time. Don't get mad at yourself if you overdo. Just do what you have to do to get to a better place. Light eExercise and a hot tub helped me a lot to get back some of the energy. I found that a warm water pool works the best for me. I found a good physical therapist in a warm water pool. Now I go to a pool to do stretches and some walking and sit in the hot tub for a while afterwords. I hope That this information helps you! God Bless. Take care.
I was 43 when I went to the doctor to complain about this all over pain and fatigue I was having. My doctor pressed on certain parts of my body and that really hurt. I came back a month later and I was still feeling bad. She then diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I had to take Advil during the day and a muscle relaxant at night. I had never in my life heard about fibromyalgia! I wasn't even able to pronounce the word! Nobody knew what it was. I got treated very badly by some people who weren't believing me about my illness. At the time people called it a syndrome! I finally found some books about it in the library. After a while I got depressed. Very depressed!! I started to see a therapist, and she then sent me to a psychiatrist and he prescribed all the meds that I am on today. I hated when I was working and had brain fog. I had a hard time 'remembering things. I would go home crying because I knew I probably could not keep my job. I felt so dumb and I was so tired. My own husband didn't really know how I felt. I am now 57 and I believe it is worse than before.
Suffered pain walking from 3yrs old but didn't know how to say it or what pain was so told my mum I wanted to stay in the pushchair forever. Got very exhausted when out with the family and would sob with tiredness and very painful cramps in my legs that nothing could get rid of. As I got to about 10 these only happened after exercise eg trampolining ot swimming but my feet always hurt and even proper fitting shoes made me toes feel on fire with lain and toes would go numb at school. By that age stairs became hard and ib ny teen years walking up stairs at school hurt badly as did carrying my bags abd ny legs would go totally numb after sitting cross legged on floor for assembly and would hurt for hours after. Had osgood schlatters in knees from 14. Always had borderline thyroid (low). Gall stones at 19, next 11yrs severe ibs and abdominal pain and at 30 I have tp walk with a stick, sleep hours a day and never have energy. Can't scratch an itch as the pain is like being stabbed. Always had terrible heavy excruciating periods. Have many increasing food sensitivities incl wheat and lactose and fruit and red meat.
I had skied fairly regularly throughout my teens, but the last time, when I was about 17 was disastrous I came back with severely swollen joints and terrible aches and pains. My mother is adamant that my immune system was wiped by the family having Asian flu in 1958/9 when everyone was really really I'll and she was expecting me.
I remember being ill from around 8-10 yrs. of age. When I look back now, I believe it is when I had a tick bite, but Lyme tests have over the yrs. been negative. I still believe it's a big possibility since so many seem to be eventually diagnosed with Lyme.
I progress yrly. Going to try the Guai Protocol again. I never fully followed it the first time, but many are finding much relief & reversal of their Fibro. using it. It is hereditary from what I can tell. I have cousins on both sides with it, but theirs aren't as bad as mine. Hopefully there will be a cure for this in the near future.
I started to get unexplained horrible pains and fatigue around about the age of 58. Spent many a frustrating time at the docs being told nothing obvious was wrong! Previously I'd been very active, strong and outgoing. All of a sudden I went down hill. Finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the age of 60...I'd just retired. My mobility, strength and activity has been at least halved by this condition and I'm constantly struggling to make something meaningful of my life. It's relentless and has worsened over the past few years. I'm now coming up to 68 in Dec.