Have you ever gone to your doctor concerned about some new symptom, only to be told "It's just part of your fibromyalgia?"
We all know that fibromyalgia (FMS) symptoms are a bizarre conglomeration of things that cover pretty much every part of your body, and a lot of the time that new symptom is a part of FMS. Sometimes, though, it's not - and allowing your doctor to write off everything as "just fibro" can be hazardous to your health.
I recently talked to a fellow fibromite who'd had her symptoms blown off that way, and as a results, another disease was able to progress undetected. By the time it was diagnosed, it was far harder to treat and may have done permanent damage.
I'm telling you this not to scare you ... well, OK, it's a little bit to scare you, because I want you to push your doctor to look deeper into new symptoms and not give up when he or she tries to blow you off. If anyone knows their bodies, it's us! Really, do you know anyone else who can be awakened by even the slightest wrinkle in a bedsheet? We feel everything more than most people, so if you think something new is going on your body, pay attention.
Sure, the first nine times it might just be another fibromyalgia symptom rearing its ugly head, but the 10th time you demand a closer look, it could save your life.
Here are some examples of possible fibromyalgia symptoms that warrant a closer look:
- Chest pain
- Irregular heart beat
- Lumps in your breasts
- Shortness of breath
- New or worsening allergies or sensitivities
- Sudden or worsening confusion or disorientation
Have you had something go undiagnosed becuase your doctor assumed it was part of FMS? Tell your story here or in About.com's Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome forum.
Suggested Reading
- Signs & Symptoms of Fibromyalgia - The Monster List!
- Fibromyalgia & Overlapping Conditions
- My Clothes Hurt! How to Dress for Less Pain
This is really important. I had a heart attack that occurred in the midst of other Fibro. type symptoms. In my case it was severe neck and arm pain, at least that is when I think it happend. I even went to the hospital several times. I didn’t find out I had a heart attack until my chest was x rayed for bronchitis, possibly a couple of years after the attack. They noticed that my heart was enlarged, and asked me when I had my heart attack. I told them I didn’t know. I was then sent to a specialist and had extensive testing to see what the damage was. This scared the heck out of me. I still worry. How do we know – even with the information out there?
When I was first dx’d, my doc. asked if I had ever had an MRI done. I had not. After an incident where I lost 1/2 of my vision for about a minute, and began having tingling in my feet (both of which can be signs of MS), I inquired about an MRI. My docs reply was “Well, I certainly have no prob. ordering one, but since you’ve only had these incidents once…it really won’t do anything to rule out what is happening with your body now.” In other words, I have fibro. and it makes my body do strange things…so even if I had MS it wouldn’t change anything as far as the pain goes. I was very disappointed at this comment. Hey…if you had symptoms of MS, wouldn’t you want to know if you had it or not? I’m guessing I know what his answer would have been. No, lets just wait until the problem becomes severe and i’m hospitalized…then treat it. Sometimes, they do treat us like hypocondriacs and blame everything on the fibro. It’s wrong, wrong, wrong…did I say it was wrong?
Now that I have a fibromyalgia diagnosis I haven’t had the problem of people thinking every and all symptoms are caused by fibromyalgia. But when I was just getting diagnosed for fibromyalgia I already had Grave’s disease (hyperthyroid). I had several doctors dismiss my symptoms as being caused by the Grave’s disease. But I eventually went to 3 endocrinologists who said that the only way such symptoms could be caused by the thyroid is if is if my thyroid levels were way off the chart, and they weren’t; my thyroid levels were being controlled by methimazole. But the other doctors didn’t seem to pay any attention to the endocrinologists and kept asserting that it was just the thyroid. Needless to say, I don’t go to any of those doctors now who wouldn’t get off the “it’s the thyroid, stupid” treadmill.