bluedragonfly’s Profile

Close Fibromyalgia

I have always had physical problems. I had rheumatic fever as a kid and I guess you could say I was the "sickly" type. I was always getting this or that, but as I got into my last few years of high school, I began to go into a bad depression. This depression continued until I was into my second year of college when a professor and adviser realized that I was in a severe chemical depression, and I began to receive treatment. I will never forget the day I started coming out of it. The gray skies were actually blue! The grass was a radiant green - oh my but the world was gloriously beautiful. I had my ups and downs after, but did fairly well until the birth of my second son. At this time I went into a postpartum depression and I just kept sinking and sinking. I sought help, but it took two years before I actually started to get relief. I actually put myself into a mental hospital and was diagnosed with OCD and was put on medication that brought me out of that painful period. It was so nice to know I was going to get better - and with time I did. As the years went on, physical things went wrong. I had to have back surgery with cages and a bone graft. I had to have several other surgeries, too numerous to mention. I started to have muscle weakness and pain, and I began to become physically tired to the point of not being able to stay awake like a normal person. My legs always were so tender to the touch, and as I went from my 30's into my 40';s, this pain started to permeate my whole body. I now tire very easily. I cannot think straight - my short term memory seems to be almost gone. I have been back to the local mental hospital three times in the last year thinking I was losing it - but my doctor has been so supportive. She has been insisting, along with my medical doctor and a rheumatologist, that I have fibromyalgia and that this, along with my OCD, is causing my trouble. So that is my story. If I told you everything it would take forever. My husband has a hard time understanding. I was married to my first husband for 20 years, after which we divorced, so Chris and I have only been together 5 years. When we first met I was not this bad and was working full time. I feel so bad now that I am having to file for disability, but I just cannot keep up with the rest of the world. I want to , but I can't. I have been on every med you can try, including the ones for fibro, but they do not work for me. My pain med is Etodolac - I only use it when the pain becomes unbearable.

Treatments

Psychotherapy Somewhat Helpful

Positive Thinking Somewhat Helpful

Support from Friends & Family Somewhat Helpful