Fibromyalgia (FM or FMS or Fibro) is a debilitating chronic syndrome (constellation of signs and symptoms) characterized by diffuse or specific muscle, joint, or bone pain, fatigue...
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First dr in yrs to question my diagnosis of fibro
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I was diagnosed about 7 yrs ago with fibro. I have been thru the ringer with every kind of dr and rhuematologist, and I have have every kind of test you can think of. Just last week, I went to a pain specialist for chronic pelvic pain- from a hx of ovarian cyts and tumors and a recent hysterectomy- he questioned my diagnosis of fibromyalgia. I have always questioned this, because I tend to have more undefined symptoms that dont fit within the 'disease' criteria. When he was doing the exam, he noticed that the typical fibro pressure points were not tender on my body at all. In fact none of them were! Im confused no about what is going on and Im not sure if this is something I should look into since the treatments for other auto-immune diseases arent that different anyways??
Here is a list of my symptoms: -severe joint pain, swelling, stiffness -low grade fever -muscle weakness, aches -irriatable bowel syndrome -recurrent pleurisy -heart murmur -hiatal hernia -endometriosis -trochanteric bursitis -tendonitis in various places -red, raised, NON-itchy rash on legs and arms -nausea/vomiting -dizzyness -extreme flares of blurryness in eye sight -asthma -restless legs syndrome -extreme fatigue w/horrible imsomnia -mouth sores The only thing that happens in my blood work is that my sed rate goes high every once and a while, but other than that not really anything impressive! Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated :O) Posted on 07/23/08, 04:07 pm |
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I have most, but not all of those symptoms.. and I have definate diagnosis of Fibromyalgia/cfs/arthritis They say that joint pain is not associated with fibro.. but tendon pain is.. if you have joint pain its likely that you have arthritis. you should check this out with a doctor.Swelling and stiffness are also a symptom of arthritis.. I swell with fibro.. we fibros dont have all the symptoms all the time - just some of the symptoms some of the time..what did your doctor dx you with if not fibromyalgia/ 
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I have joint pain and was told that is was from the fibromyalgia. I recently had my ana levels checked as they were borderline a year ago and they are now normal. That means no autoimmune disease, no rheumatoid arthritis and no lupus. Lupus does have a rash, most commonly the butterfly rash on the face. Have you had your ana levels checked? Otherwise I would say your symptoms could definitely be fibro related.
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Just for the heck of it...have you been tested for Lymes or Hepatitis C? If you've ever had surgery (especially before 1992), or tattoos, or iv drugs (even once)....ears pierced....just have it checked. I don't much about Lymes but it's often mistaken for Fibro.
You probably have a combo of diagnosis like most of us. It is interesting that none of the Fibro spots were sore.... I feel your pain and frustration. Jennifer
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OK - last things first - fibro is not an autoimmune condition, even though you will hear that said from time to time. It's not true. So while some treatments, and even some symptoms may overlap, fibro isn't autoimmune.
For the rest, I expect, as others have said, that you may have other diagnoses as well that overlap with fibro, as many, but not all, of the symptoms you list are in the fibro spectrum. The ones that are NOT to my knowledge associated with fibro are: heart murmur, hiatal hermia, endometriosis, rash, and joint pain. I don't believe pleurisy is related either. If your doctor(s) have written off those symptoms as "just part of fibro" as so many do, you need new doctors. On the other hand, it is possible that you don't have fibro, and that the fibro-like symtoms are actually coming from something else. I'm sorry this is not much help, but at least perhaps we can help you sort out what is and isn't part of fibro.
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Thank you for the ideas and support! Im kind of in the dark as of now with all of this.....Ive done alot of research on fibro in the past and I have always just agreed with that as my "diagnosis." Up until now I never had a reason to question it! Im supposed to see my rheumatologist today, so maybe I can find some answers there. I have had tons of blood work done: ANA, RH factor screening, sed rate....etc. but they all tend to come back negative except the sed rate will go high sometimes. My PCP always writes it off that I just have a "cold" when that happens, but I seriously doubt Ive had the same cold for months at a time!! it just doesnt make sense. I have done a little studying up on Lymes.....I am tempted to press my dr to check, it wouldnt hurt anything!! My Hep C is fine too.....Hopefully Ill find out more later and Ill post again :O)
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Hi, sounds like Lupus or some sort of arthritis..This is a puzzler..They can find lupus in your blood work if they know what to look for and ra also. rheumatoid arthritis.
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It is important to treat arthritic inflammation before it damages your joints!
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Sounds a lot like RA which often doesn't test positive. My friend has RA, and is on Humira with great results.
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