Possibly Fibromyalgia?
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From: zebulebu on 25 Apr 2006 07:56 I'm pretty much at the end of my tether. My symptoms have gone on for 18 months now, ever since I had a bad chest infection that lasted a couple of weeks at the end of 2004. >From that point on, I had moderate to severe acid reflux every night - it didn't seem to matter whether I ate long before bedtime - I would wake up each night with a burning sensation and a feeling like a lump in my throat. It went away after about half an hour usually, but was pretty incapacitating and I didn't get a good night's sleep for months. Then, in about January/February last year, I started to notice that the bottom part of my right leg felt cold whenever I was sitting down - most noticeably when driving. I also developed a pain at the base of my ribcage, around the site of the solar plexus/xiphoid process which was pretty constant. It felt worse when pressing it. Also around this time I started seeing my stools deteriorate - to the point where they were a sickly yellow/brown in colour and very, very loose. I estimate that since then I have had maybe five 'normal' bowel movements. Towards the summer I started to notice my right eyelid drooping and began seeing 'floaters' in there more and more often. This has gotten worse - to the extent that every day now I get to a point where looking at a screen for any length of time is impossible. Also around this time I had pretty much constant sneezing fits - which would last sometimes for hours - where I sneezed about ten times a minute, non-stop. I don't suffer from hay fever and don't have any known allergies. The sneezing fits went on for about three months. Once I sneezed so hard I thought I was having a heart attack - a massive pain radiated out from my chest to my arms and back - I had to stand still for about fifteen seconds to compose myself otherwise I would have collapsed in the street. Just before I went on holiday (September) I had failed root canal surgery on one of my teeth and eventually had to have it taken out. I took two courses of antibiotics - to eliminate the infection - and basically ever since then its gotten worse and worse. I feel tired all the time - absolutely all the time, from the minute I wake up to the minute I fall into bed at night. I have almost constant lower back pain and chest pain that is so bad I went to casualty to have an ECG, Chest X-Ray and blood work done (all perfectly normal). The numbness/coldness in my right leg started to migrate to my right arm as well - as I type this it feels like I am sitting under an A/C vent blowing cold air down my right side. My chest pain seems to come on when I turn to the left and sit still for any period of time greater than five minutes - as soon as I get up it feels like someone standing on my chest (hence the reason for me fearing heart disease - I was relieved to get the all clear from the ECGs!) About three months ago I started to notice that I had a little tremor in my head/neck that usually came on when I was staring at either the television or the computer screen (I work in IT so this made my job pretty much impossible). This comes and gaves with varying degrees of severity. I also had a week or so when it seemed like I couldn't lift a glass to drink some water - my head felt so heavy and it seemed a mammoth effort even to swallow. This has only recurred a couple of times, and never as bad as the first occasion. I am starting to get a strange sensation in my upper back - on the left hand side, right in the middle, about four inches to the left of my spine - it feels like a lump there. Also, down near the site of my lower back pain (right hand side, about an inch from my spine) I have noticed another, smaller lump. Finally, and maybe most bizarrely and frighteningly, if I look down at my feet and pull my belly in I notice that the top half of my body seems to point about fifteen degrees to the left of the bottom half! I'm not joking or exaggerating here - it seems like the top half of my body is pointing one direction and the bottom half is pointing in another!!! I recently had an upper UI Endoscopy done and was diagnosed with grade 2 Gastritis/Oesophagitis. This would explain my stomach problems, and maybe my IBS but surely not the numbness, tiredness, chest pain and floaters in my eyes? I've had an sigmoidoscopy and am awaiting the results of that and a barium swallow. The test for Helicobacter Pylori came back negative. Before all this came on I was a fit, healthy, normal bloke. I am about 30 pounds overweight and have been since I was about twenty (I am 32, 5 foot nine and weigh 190 pounds). I never take drugs, have never even smoked so much as a cigarette and rarely drink alcohol (maybe seven or eight times a year) Do any of these symptoms sound like Fibromyalgia? I must admit to being a little skeptical in the past about CFS/ME/FM type diseases - this admittedly was not helped by a mate of mine (who is the laziest ******* on God's Earth) being diagnosed with ME and using it as an excuse to get off work for two years - there was nothing wrong with him. However, I am starting to think that FM seems to be a good candidate for explaining all the symptoms I've got. Anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance!
From: mej on 25 Apr 2006 19:34 zebulebu(a)gmail.com wrote: > My symptoms have gone on for 18 months now, ever since I had a bad > chest infection that lasted a couple of weeks at the end of 2004. > > >From that point on, I had moderate to severe acid reflux every night - > it didn't seem to matter whether I ate long before bedtime - I would > wake up each night with a burning sensation and a feeling like a lump > in my throat. It went away after about half an hour usually, but was > pretty incapacitating and I didn't get a good night's sleep for months. > > Towards the summer I started to notice my right eyelid drooping and > began seeing 'floaters' in there more and more often. This has gotten > worse - to the extent that every day now I get to a point where looking > at a screen for any length of time is impossible. Also around this time > I had pretty much constant sneezing fits - which would last sometimes > for hours - where I sneezed about ten times a minute, non-stop. I don't > suffer from hay fever and don't have any known allergies. The sneezing > fits went on for about three months. Once I sneezed so hard I thought I > was having a heart attack - a massive pain radiated out from my chest > to my arms and back - I had to stand still for about fifteen seconds to > compose myself otherwise I would have collapsed in the street. > > Just before I went on holiday (September) I had failed root canal > surgery on one of my teeth and eventually had to have it taken out. I > took two courses of antibiotics - to eliminate the infection - and > basically ever since then its gotten worse and worse. > > I feel tired all the time - absolutely all the time, from the minute I > wake up to the minute I fall into bed at night. I have almost constant > lower back pain and chest pain that is so bad I went to casualty to > have an ECG, Chest X-Ray and blood work done (all perfectly normal). > The numbness/coldness in my right leg started to migrate to my right > arm as well - as I type this it feels like I am sitting under an A/C > vent blowing cold air down my right side. My chest pain seems to come > on when I turn to the left and sit still for any period of time greater > than five minutes - as soon as I get up it feels like someone standing > on my chest (hence the reason for me fearing heart disease - I was > relieved to get the all clear from the ECGs!) > > About three months ago I started to notice that I had a little tremor > in my head/neck that usually came on when I was staring at either the > television or the computer screen (I work in IT so this made my job > pretty much impossible). This comes and gaves with varying degrees of > severity. I also had a week or so when it seemed like I couldn't lift a > glass to drink some water - my head felt so heavy and it seemed a > mammoth effort even to swallow. This has only recurred a couple of > times, and never as bad as the first occasion. > > I am starting to get a strange sensation in my upper back - on the left > hand side, right in the middle, about four inches to the left of my > spine - it feels like a lump there. Also, down near the site of my > lower back pain (right hand side, about an inch from my spine) I have > noticed another, smaller lump. Finally, and maybe most bizarrely and > frighteningly, if I look down at my feet and pull my belly in I notice > that the top half of my body seems to point about fifteen degrees to > the left of the bottom half! I'm not joking or exaggerating here - it > seems like the top half of my body is pointing one direction and the > bottom half is pointing in another!!! > > I recently had an upper UI Endoscopy done and was diagnosed with grade > 2 Gastritis/Oesophagitis. This would explain my stomach problems, and > maybe my IBS but surely not the numbness, tiredness, chest pain and > floaters in my eyes? I've had an sigmoidoscopy and am awaiting the > results of that and a barium swallow. The test for Helicobacter Pylori > came back negative. > > Before all this came on I was a fit, healthy, normal bloke. I am about > 30 pounds overweight and have been since I was about twenty (I am 32, 5 > foot nine and weigh 190 pounds). I never take drugs, have never even > smoked so much as a cigarette and rarely drink alcohol (maybe seven or > eight times a year) > > Do any of these symptoms sound like Fibromyalgia? I must admit to being > a little skeptical in the past about CFS/ME/FM type diseases - this > admittedly was not helped by a mate of mine (who is the laziest ******* > on God's Earth) being diagnosed with ME and using it as an excuse to > get off work for two years - there was nothing wrong with him. > > However, I am starting to think that FM seems to be a good candidate > for explaining all the symptoms I've got. > > Anyone have any advice? In UK what you'll likely get with a diagnosis of FM is a pat on the head and a prescription for a sleep medicine, which is usually an anti-depressant, some help some with pain. Don't mention fibromyalgia to your doctor until the doctor's done some more digging (tests etc). Beisides, you haven't mentioned a lot of what I'd be looking for in fibromyalgia, although some have some of your problems. Besides, even if it was fibro, we have to work on these problems anyway. Has your doctor prescribed a proton pump inhibtor for your esophagitis? If not, why not? On the face of it, many of your troubles could be coming from computer work. Being tall and poor posture or bending over can cause lower back pain. Pelvic tilt exercises daily can help some lower back pains. Costochondritis can cause rib pain and is often spoken about here and other newsgroups. I've seen the cold feeling mentioned on the MS newsgroup. In addition, what comes to mind are the questions: **** did your doctor check your pulses in your groin to see if blood flow is being limited to your leg? Clots are also possible - I don't know the name of the test to check that from your groin up to through to your heart. If you're eating much the same every day / some foods affect the stool colour. So vary your diet every day' if the colour remains the same *****, ask your doctor to check your liver, your pancreas and your gallbladder. During a painful attack pancreatitis will show up on a CT scan and tumours can show up on same for the liver and parts of the pancreas. My gall stones were found with an x-ray. but maybe a CT scan would find some problems there, ask the doctor. http://www.afraidtoask.com/bowel/color.html stool color Ask your doctor to do a culture to see if you have candida from having had the antibiotics. If so, there's a medicine for that as well.http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001153.htm Esophagitis If so, next time you have to take antibiotics eat plain acidophillus yogurt (2 or 3 times a day) to balance your stomach gastro flora. if your job's bothering you, learn relax techniques and use them, even during the day. Don't eat sugary foods late in the day and use Biotene to keep balance in your mouth. Practice good teeth hygiene. You don't say what's gotten worse, and I don't know root canal. Reflux: You might have a hiatal hernia. They only operate on large ones. Raise the head of your bed (put something under the legs at the head) so that your upper body is higher while you sleep. Inquire from others as to how and where to get an overnight sleep study, to evaluate if you have a sleep disorder (apnea, restless legs). Breathing equipment for apnea, medicine for RLS. Floaters can occur from eye strain (too much computer and/or TV) Get your eyes checked and see if there's glasses that reduce eyestrain. Sneezing can be due to allergy to dust including paper dust in the environment. If someone's not cleaning the home or workplace, get someone to do it. Sneezing can also be caused by a long nose hair, a hair tickling the ear drum. Or a polyp or tumor in the nose area. I've put *** on what I think is urgent and the rest you have to work with doctor and/or troubleshoot some on your own. Report back after you've made some headway with a lot of this. It can take some time to troubleshoot and improve some of the problems. Let the group know. I read here but rarely post. I'll be watching for your update.
From: Matt on 26 Apr 2006 11:10 Sorry to hear you are going through all this. Just to show that you're not alone, here are some of my problems. Now feels like a good time for me to whine. Severe TMJ pain, skull pain, headaches, numbness/tingling up the left side of my head, face and jaw, upper back pain that works synergistically with my neck pain (herniated disk in neck). Middle back pain (herniated disk there as well). I had stomach bloating and a seemingly gnawing pain by my left lower ribs. Thinking it was my stomach, they did an upper endoscopy that only came back with minor gastritus/no h-plyori. So it is thought that the pain from my herniated disk in my thoracic is wrapping around to my rib. Severe lower back pain. Allergies-have gotten allergy shots for 7 years and only minor relief. Had a fusion surgery 5 months ago that has only made things worse. Burning and sore pain from my groin down my legs to my ankles and feet. Can't stand up without feeling pain. Can only walk for about 20-25 min, then I'm shot for the day. Laying down only makes the lower back pain worse. Often total rib cage soreness/pain. Aching joints...tests for inflammation all came back negative. Went to Rheumy who basically told me there is nothing visably wrong with me since my joints were not "inflamed"...tried to blame everything on my bad back and blew me off. Thyroid and all other blood tests came back negative. I have been to multiple doctors who don't believe in fibro. Bipolar/anxiety since childhood. I don't mean to minimize your pain...you suffer from many things I don't. But you've come to the right place. Multiple symptoms and health problems abound here. Do you have fibro? Don't know. I don't remember you mentioning muscle or joint pain. That is usually the hallmark of fibro. Hope you figure out what's going on. Not having a diagnosis to validate your pain to others can be frustrating.
From: Matt on 26 Apr 2006 16:37 Sorry to hear you are going through all this. Just to show that you're not alone, here are some of my problems. Now feels like a good time for me to whine. Severe TMJ pain, skull pain, headaches, numbness/tingling up the left side of my head, face and jaw, upper back pain that works synergistically with my neck pain (herniated disk in neck). Middle back pain (herniated disk there as well). I had stomach bloating and a seemingly gnawing pain by my left lower ribs. Thinking it was my stomach, they did an upper endoscopy that only came back with minor gastritus/no h-plyori. So it is thought that the pain from my herniated disk in my thoracic is wrapping around to my rib. Severe lower back pain. Allergies-have gotten allergy shots for 7 years and only minor relief. Had a fusion surgery 5 months ago that has only made things worse. Burning and sore pain from my groin down my legs to my ankles and feet. Can't stand up without feeling pain. Can only walk for about 20-25 min, then I'm shot for the day. Laying down only makes the lower back pain worse. Often total rib cage soreness/pain. Aching joints...tests for inflammation all came back negative. Went to Rheumy who basically told me there is nothing visably wrong with me since my joints were not "inflamed"...tried to blame everything on my bad back and blew me off. Thyroid and all other blood tests came back negative. I have been to multiple doctors who don't believe in fibro. Bipolar/anxiety since childhood. Flares of Eczema on my hands. Multiple floaters in both eyes. Oh, can't forget the hemorrhoids. Feels good to complain sometimes. Validate to yourself, yeah, I do have a lot going on. You've come to the right place. Multiple symptoms and health problems abound here. Do you have widespread muscle and/or joint pain? I think that is usually the hallmark of fibro, but I know it manifests itself in different ways. Hope you figure out what's going on. Not having a diagnosis to validate your pain to others can be frustrating.
From: hully on 27 Apr 2006 05:43
Hi Zebul, my name is hully. I started to get similar symptoms to you back in Jan 2000. I had untold tests done in hospital and like you they could find nothing wrong. My pain was getting worse and in multiple locations but still I was told that I have nothing wrong with me. After three years I, as you, was at the end of my tether. I turned to the Internet and found sites that offer symptoms and possible diagnoses. Try looking up www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk They have a list of everything from A to Z. The only way that FM can be diagnosed is by rulling everything else out. You might find that you have to have more tests done to rule out other possibilities. Mention Fibromyalgia to your GP and see what they say. No one in any of these chat rooms can tell you that you have FMS. Only your GP can send you for tests and to see specialists. Although your symptoms sound similar to FMS, there are quite a few other possibilities. Talk to your GP some more, if need be write everything down and send your GP a letter telling them how you feel. I can allways explain things better in a letter because you are not rushed. You can take your time and remember all of your symptoms. I hope I have been of some help to you. Please let me know how you get on. zebulebu(a)gmail.com wrote: > I'm pretty much at the end of my tether. > > My symptoms have gone on for 18 months now, ever since I had a bad > chest infection that lasted a couple of weeks at the end of 2004. > > >From that point on, I had moderate to severe acid reflux every night - > it didn't seem to matter whether I ate long before bedtime - I would > wake up each night with a burning sensation and a feeling like a lump > in my throat. It went away after about half an hour usually, but was > pretty incapacitating and I didn't get a good night's sleep for months. > > Then, in about January/February last year, I started to notice that the > bottom part of my right leg felt cold whenever I was sitting down - > most noticeably when driving. I also developed a pain at the base of my > ribcage, around the site of the solar plexus/xiphoid process which was > pretty constant. It felt worse when pressing it. Also around this time > I started seeing my stools deteriorate - to the point where they were a > sickly yellow/brown in colour and very, very loose. I estimate that > since then I have had maybe five 'normal' bowel movements. > > Towards the summer I started to notice my right eyelid drooping and > began seeing 'floaters' in there more and more often. This has gotten > worse - to the extent that every day now I get to a point where looking > at a screen for any length of time is impossible. Also around this time > I had pretty much constant sneezing fits - which would last sometimes > for hours - where I sneezed about ten times a minute, non-stop. I don't > suffer from hay fever and don't have any known allergies. The sneezing > fits went on for about three months. Once I sneezed so hard I thought I > was having a heart attack - a massive pain radiated out from my chest > to my arms and back - I had to stand still for about fifteen seconds to > compose myself otherwise I would have collapsed in the street. > > Just before I went on holiday (September) I had failed root canal > surgery on one of my teeth and eventually had to have it taken out. I > took two courses of antibiotics - to eliminate the infection - and > basically ever since then its gotten worse and worse. > > I feel tired all the time - absolutely all the time, from the minute I > wake up to the minute I fall into bed at night. I have almost constant > lower back pain and chest pain that is so bad I went to casualty to > have an ECG, Chest X-Ray and blood work done (all perfectly normal). > The numbness/coldness in my right leg started to migrate to my right > arm as well - as I type this it feels like I am sitting under an A/C > vent blowing cold air down my right side. My chest pain seems to come > on when I turn to the left and sit still for any period of time greater > than five minutes - as soon as I get up it feels like someone standing > on my chest (hence the reason for me fearing heart disease - I was > relieved to get the all clear from the ECGs!) > > About three months ago I started to notice that I had a little tremor > in my head/neck that usually came on when I was staring at either the > television or the computer screen (I work in IT so this made my job > pretty much impossible). This comes and gaves with varying degrees of > severity. I also had a week or so when it seemed like I couldn't lift a > glass to drink some water - my head felt so heavy and it seemed a > mammoth effort even to swallow. This has only recurred a couple of > times, and never as bad as the first occasion. > > I am starting to get a strange sensation in my upper back - on the left > hand side, right in the middle, about four inches to the left of my > spine - it feels like a lump there. Also, down near the site of my > lower back pain (right hand side, about an inch from my spine) I have > noticed another, smaller lump. Finally, and maybe most bizarrely and > frighteningly, if I look down at my feet and pull my belly in I notice > that the top half of my body seems to point about fifteen degrees to > the left of the bottom half! I'm not joking or exaggerating here - it > seems like the top half of my body is pointing one direction and the > bottom half is pointing in another!!! > > I recently had an upper UI Endoscopy done and was diagnosed with grade > 2 Gastritis/Oesophagitis. This would explain my stomach problems, and > maybe my IBS but surely not the numbness, tiredness, chest pain and > floaters in my eyes? I've had an sigmoidoscopy and am awaiting the > results of that and a barium swallow. The test for Helicobacter Pylori > came back negative. > > Before all this came on I was a fit, healthy, normal bloke. I am about > 30 pounds overweight and have been since I was about twenty (I am 32, 5 > foot nine and weigh 190 pounds). I never take drugs, have never even > smoked so much as a cigarette and rarely drink alcohol (maybe seven or > eight times a year) > > Do any of these symptoms sound like Fibromyalgia? I must admit to being > a little skeptical in the past about CFS/ME/FM type diseases - this > admittedly was not helped by a mate of mine (who is the laziest ******* > on God's Earth) being diagnosed with ME and using it as an excuse to > get off work for two years - there was nothing wrong with him. > > However, I am starting to think that FM seems to be a good candidate > for explaining all the symptoms I've got. > > Anyone have any advice? > > Thanks in advance! |