Other Pain Conditions Common in Fibromyalgia

My CFS started about two years before my fibromyaglia was diagnosed. I also started having severe migraines about that same time. This was back in the 1980′s. Nowadays, the migraines are very well controlled on generic Topamax which I take daily. I’ve been on Lyrica for 5 years now for my fibromyalgia pain.

I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia since 1992, so about 20 years now. I also have chronic pain related to a cervical spine injury and fusion, have been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and adhesive capsulitis in both shoulders.

I have:
Fibro,
CFS,
Myofacial Pain Syndrome,
Sciatica,
TMJ,
migraines,
tendinitis,
endometriosis (sometimes causes pain),
multiple GI issues (sometimes cause pain),
Multiple Chemical Sensitivities & allergies (sometimes cause pain), Reynauld’s syndrome (sometimes causes pain)

I also have many other diagnoses in addition to these, but these are the ones that cause pain….oh and I have broken 22 bones, had three surgeries and three concussions, and have several other injuries and many of these still can cause residual pain.

Oh my, the co-morbid conidtions of FM… I have had leg pains, gnawing, hot leg pains since I was in elementary school. The drs in the ’60s always told my mom they were growing pains, which she dismissed then contributed by spanking me, since “growing pains” are all in the imagination. Imagine hurting, then getting spanked for hurting! I have TMJ, Hosimotos, EBV, Parvo, Pneumococcal Virus, Herpes 6 Simplex, Spinal Stenosis, Degenerative disk Disease, Spinal Sclerosis among asthma, IBS and RLS. I feel like a walking pharmacy, always having to answer to someone other than myself for help. I believe, as my FM dr says, that our adrenals turn on and just basically burn out… like other glands in our body— and it just goes awry! I have been in two life-crises emergencies with my adrenals going into failure. I can not control my temperature anymore, so it dictates IF and WHEN I get out in public. Is anyone else as severe in their symptoms as I am?

I have osteoarthritis, vertigo, plantar fasciitis in foot, and sciatica. I’ve acually had doctors tell me I have so many problems that I overwhelm them! Sometimes I cry because some part of my body is always hurting.

Please, please, please have your calcium, vitamin D and parathyroid levels checked. You may have a tumor on one of your four parathyroid glands. I have Fibro and Diabetes and just had two tumors in my neck removed. Still have the Fibro symptoms including pain, but the symptoms are better. Symptoms are identical to Fibro. Doctors don’t normally check for Hyperparathyroidism and you can have it without knowing it. Unlike Fibro, this disease can do damage to your body. It takes calcium out of your bones and messes with your brain, heart, kidneys and life span.

Tammie-Broken bones are a big red flag for this. So is GI issues. Better to see an Endocrinologist, most GPs never see it.

Mary – While I absolutely appreciate the advice, and I am happy for you that things have at least improved, the 22 broken bones have been over my entire life and from doing things like skydiving, having bicycle accidents, falling from playground equipment, etc…..I was healthy when most of those happened and if my bones hadn’t broken from the various causes, it would have been really weird because they were mostly seriously traumatic injuries.

I have had my thyroid thoroughly checked and I do have problems with converting T4 into T3, but otherwise my thyroid is fine. My vitamin D levels are on the high side and my calcium levels are fine, too. Actually, those are about the only things that are consistently ok in my blood tests. Most other levels are either on the low side of normal or too low.

The GI issues are from: gastroparesis, eosinophilc esophagitis, low digestive enzymes, low probiotics, low bile acids, IBS, and probably some other things – have been getting test after test run re these. (And, no I cannot take digestive enzymes or probtiotics without even worse symptoms….have tried more than once and my Dr actually agrees with me at this pt that taking them is really bad for me).

Shelley – I didn’t list all my diagnoses because she just asked about other pain issues. I actually have 27 different diagnoses at this point and some things like low digestive enzymes that don’t have an actual diagnostic name.

Some of the other things that really affect me that I did not list in my previous posts are: severe circadian rhythm disorder, orthostatic intolerance (the blood does not make it to my head when I stand), asthma, diabetes insipidus (not enough antidieurtic hormone so I have to pee all the time which really screws with my sleep and keeps my dehydrated no matter how much I drink), bottomed out levels of most of my hormones & many electrolytes, and dysautonomia (which messes up all sorts of things including my temperature regulation) . I have additional diagnoses, too, but I won’t list all of them here. Suffice it to say that yes there are others with very severe symptoms. Sorry you are in a similar boat, though – I wouldn’t wish this stuff on anyone!

Tammie and everyone,
So glad that you have had some levels checked.But, the thyroid has nothing to do with the parathyroids. You could have normal calcium, thyroid and vitamin D, but have elevated Intack PTH levels. Check out http://parathyroid.com/parathyroid-symptoms.htm . Frequent urination, constant thirst, being dizzy upon standing, temperature regulation, foggy brain, can’t make it through a day, exhausted all the time, skin itching, bones hurting, GERD, hair loss, high blood pressure, headaches and fast heart rate are some of the symptoms.

I didn’t have the broken bones or kidney stones that usually get doctors to look into it. But, I do have bone loss and have shrunk 1 inch. It is good to educate yourself and be tested. This disease is worse than high cholesterol. It is an easy operation that could take some of your suffering away.

Everyone-Get tested.

I have had diagnosed FMS for 12 years now, and generally consider it quiet most days unless I have triggered a flare. Too Much … insert trigger (lack of sleep, emotional stress, physical work, poor pacing, medical tests, etc) will bring on a flare that puts me to bed. I have daily continuous pain, with only 3 pain free days in the last 5 years, which was when I was hospitalized from drug reactions causing stroke like symptoms (Cymbalta & Gabatril). Today, I am having so much nerve chatter that even the soles of my feet hurt; I had an EMG test on my arms and legs yesterday afternoon to determine nerve damage in my neck and lower back. I have damage (from bulging discs to stenosis) at L1 thru L 5-S1 (lower back) and C1-C7 (neck) with nerve damage at c5-6. Basically my pain doc focuses on treating these sources of pain (easy to define) and generally accepts my requests for meds to help w/ FMS. I have a pretty good relationship w/ him, I have demonstrated that I am not “drug seeking” over the last 5 years; and even if he doesn’t seem to grasp the intensity of FMS, he is receptive to requests when I want to try something I learn from this group. Micro-dosing w/ Flexeril for sleep is the last thing I tried, and for now it is helping. I find the constant pain exhausting, I need nearly 12 hours of sleep so that I can function at a semi-normal level, that is get up, do mild effort tasks for a couple hours or so, rest, then repeat. Living like that I can cope with the pain, it sits in the background constantly wearing my strength away but doesn’t stop me cold until I get a FMS flare.

I have had fms for 20 years and tmj for most of that. Last couple of years I have developed costochondritis , which is by far the most difficult to manage and most debilitating.

I have had fibro for quite a few yrs, I am always tired and the fibro fog is terrible, especially when i don’T get a good night sleep. I am still working full time but it is getting harder, a lot of the time I cannot deal with the stress and pain. Oh yes then all the sensitivities to foods, envirement and so on. Friends and family try to understand but they don”t have a clue

Wow! I can relate to so much of what you have said. Yes, my myofascial pain is secondary to the fibromyalgia. I too most likely have had these illnesses since I was a child and they have been undiagnosed until 3-4 years ago. I have all three: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and extensive Chronic Myofascial Pain. Yes, they all need to be treated differently. What is good for the pain may not be good for the fatigue, etc.

I have had Fibro since April of 1999. This is just horrible! Right now (for the last 7 months) my legs feel like I have been doing squats! They burn and hurt so bad that I can hardly walk!! I have a chiropractor appt once a month and a massage with a girl who works with the chiropractor. She worked on the muscles of my legs for hours and I felt GREAT, for about 3 days, then all the pain is back.

This pain is all new to me. I have never had this pain before! The Dr. says the muscles are inflamed. SO FIX IT!!!!

anyone with the muscle pain like symptoms or even sometimes other nerve pains might benefit from a few minutes in the tanning bed. you can avoid sun damage risks by wearing a good quality sunscreen during. But the all over ambient heat can be a major blessing when it seems everything hurts. Just wanted to let you know because i have CMT, with which one of its symptoms is identical to fibromyalgia, so much so that it is even treated in the same way by doctors and is where the first “off label nerve pain” drugs were actually used before fibromyalgia was recognized by the medical community as a whole. hope i could help some. Good luck all

sorry forgot to mention that a TENS unit can also be extremely helpful, in add ition of course to medication and or other therapies. As it is used at home as needed by the patient, and the patient has complete freedom to control how it operates (some trial and error is necessary at first till u find your niche so to speak) it is one of the more convenient therapies i’ve encountered. Plus it can actually end up having the long term benefit of making the nerves no longer over fire as strong or often, reversing symptoms by almost overstimulating them without you really feeling it so the are no longer acting like a bunch of spoiled needy children, lol, I know you catch my meaning. At any rate it might be worth asking Doc about as it is reusable and most places wioll let you try for a couple weeks to a month before charging insurance and more importantly YOU.

Yes my legs r the worst. u can’t do anything without them. like I said in another post. takes about an hour tokick in so u can take a quick shower. Never the hair, ot hurts too much to hold my arms up that long to blow dry and curl and style, save for another day. I was told by someone on line terry cloth robes absorb the rest of the water the towels might miss. so u can lay down for 5- 10 min. befoe getting dressed. drive all the way to the rhematologists office or on this one day before he referred me. he obviously thought I was just looking for attention, like why would I want to get it from him I don’t know why. He thought he was so funny. each time I would come see him because he said recheck apt. not cause I wanted to.
he would say, I have patients who r seriously sick, like it was my idea to show up and make him late. So I was left with my child who had a legemate pain issue and who had been crying all morning cause he had an inner ear infection. we sat in the waiting room 45 min. put in an air conditioned room for an hour. It was 85 degrees I didn’t thing I was going to need to bring a coat! and so I had to lay down on t he table and
be miserable and stiffen up. I had t o ask for a blanket. rn said she was just fine. she had 3 layers on. my pain meds were wearing off. then he implyed my son was fine.!!! I have had an inner ear infection, they really hurt! he gave him some antibiotics and once again told me he was busy with more important things.

Have any of u have your husbands put u in a mental instatution because of fibro fog?