Post by Lady~RavenHeart on Sept 10, 2005 22:04:42 GMT 2
Most people with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) say that the widespread pain drives them the most crazy. Sure, they don't like the fatigue or muscle aches, nor do they enjoy the fibro fog. These symptoms are common for many people with FMS. But they may seem minor league compared to the hurting-all-over pain, which can sometimes escalate from mild or moderate to severe pain.
Feeling aches and body pains — but unable to show proof
You probably find it hard to explain to people where you hurt. You can get some pretty strange looks when you say that you hurt everywhere. Not just in your back or in your legs or your neck or in other sites of your body. All those places may hurt, and maybe some other places, too. Nor do you have any visible damage that you can point to. No broken bones, no gushing wounds, not even one bruise that you can single out to show someone, "Here, this is where it hurts me the most. Look at this."
Laboratory tests can't diagnose fibromyalgia — at least, not yet. Tests can only tell you that you don't have other medical problems. You shouldn't, therefore, be alarmed or surprised if doctors can't find anything except some tender points, where you wince more when pressure is applied there than when they touch you elsewhere.
So you've got no hard evidence that you can present for your pain. And yet, you continue to hurt and hurt and hurt and hurt.
As an FMS sufferer, you're not alone in regard to a lack of specific laboratory findings. People with migraine headaches, tension headaches, and back pain have chronic recurrent pain. Many chronic pain conditions lack overt physical findings. Most important, you need to remember that you don't have to prove that you hurt. You know that you have pain, and that's good enough. Instead, you need to focus on finding a knowledgeable doctor who can diagnose your illness. In order to diagnose you with FMS, for example, he or she needs to consider several different conditions that may mimic this chronic pain syndrome. Just to reassure you, a doctor who takes a good history and performs a careful physical examination can diagnose most FMS sufferers.
Suffering from muscle stiffness (especially in the morning)
Many people with fibromyalgia say that the severe muscle stiffness and achiness is at its worst in the morning. You may wake up to a new day and feel like you've participated in a major marathon — or maybe gremlins were beating on you all night long. The stiffness may diminish as you move about, but it usually doesn't go away completely. People with arthritis also often experience muscle stiffness, and maybe in the past, doctors told you that your problem was arthritis.
You may have both arthritis and fibromyalgia. Having fibromyalgia doesn't (unfortunately) exempt you from other medical problems
Pinpointing the source of your pain: You can't
When you try to analyze exactly where all this pain is coming from — the master source — you just can't figure it out. Nor can you deduce why you're experiencing it. Your doctor may often be very puzzled by these questions, too.
Some experts believe that extreme exercise may induce FMS. But you probably haven't been exercising like crazy because you feel too bad to exercise a lot (or at all). You probably haven't just fallen or had some other accident or injury, either, although some researchers believe that a severe injury or car crash actually can trigger fibromyalgia in some people.
Chronically feeling your pain
Another key aspect of fibromyalgia is that the pain is chronic, which means that it's sticking around. Sometimes, it's better; sometimes, it's worse. But it always seems to be there, sort of waiting to ambush you when you let your guard down. Time to go out to the big annual dinner at work! All of a sudden, the pain escalates to newer, excruciatingly high levels. Stress often aggravates fibromyalgia, and as a result, the pain can flare up at the worst of times.
Are you suffering from oligoanalgesia? This word refers to the undertreatment, ineffectual treatment, or total nontreatment of pain — a problem that many people with fibromyalgia can relate to. Yet both nontreatment and inadequate treatment of pain can seriously weaken your immune system and can also impair your quality of life.
Migrating pain
Another truly maddening aspect of FMS is that the worst pain can be in your lower back today, your neck tomorrow, and maybe your upper back the next day. Or maybe your whole spinal column is doing okay right now, but you're having a serious problem with pain from irritable bowel syndrome or headaches — both common conditions for people with fibromyalgia. Or perhaps you suffer from a combination of medical problems, which happens frequently.
Fibromyalgia isn't the only chronic syndrome. The fact is, many medical problems that people suffer from today are chronic ones. High blood pressure is a chronic problem for many people; diabetes is another. Many people also suffer from chronic back pain. You're not alone is experiencing a chronic disease.
Feeling aches and body pains — but unable to show proof
You probably find it hard to explain to people where you hurt. You can get some pretty strange looks when you say that you hurt everywhere. Not just in your back or in your legs or your neck or in other sites of your body. All those places may hurt, and maybe some other places, too. Nor do you have any visible damage that you can point to. No broken bones, no gushing wounds, not even one bruise that you can single out to show someone, "Here, this is where it hurts me the most. Look at this."
Laboratory tests can't diagnose fibromyalgia — at least, not yet. Tests can only tell you that you don't have other medical problems. You shouldn't, therefore, be alarmed or surprised if doctors can't find anything except some tender points, where you wince more when pressure is applied there than when they touch you elsewhere.
So you've got no hard evidence that you can present for your pain. And yet, you continue to hurt and hurt and hurt and hurt.
As an FMS sufferer, you're not alone in regard to a lack of specific laboratory findings. People with migraine headaches, tension headaches, and back pain have chronic recurrent pain. Many chronic pain conditions lack overt physical findings. Most important, you need to remember that you don't have to prove that you hurt. You know that you have pain, and that's good enough. Instead, you need to focus on finding a knowledgeable doctor who can diagnose your illness. In order to diagnose you with FMS, for example, he or she needs to consider several different conditions that may mimic this chronic pain syndrome. Just to reassure you, a doctor who takes a good history and performs a careful physical examination can diagnose most FMS sufferers.
Suffering from muscle stiffness (especially in the morning)
Many people with fibromyalgia say that the severe muscle stiffness and achiness is at its worst in the morning. You may wake up to a new day and feel like you've participated in a major marathon — or maybe gremlins were beating on you all night long. The stiffness may diminish as you move about, but it usually doesn't go away completely. People with arthritis also often experience muscle stiffness, and maybe in the past, doctors told you that your problem was arthritis.
You may have both arthritis and fibromyalgia. Having fibromyalgia doesn't (unfortunately) exempt you from other medical problems
Pinpointing the source of your pain: You can't
When you try to analyze exactly where all this pain is coming from — the master source — you just can't figure it out. Nor can you deduce why you're experiencing it. Your doctor may often be very puzzled by these questions, too.
Some experts believe that extreme exercise may induce FMS. But you probably haven't been exercising like crazy because you feel too bad to exercise a lot (or at all). You probably haven't just fallen or had some other accident or injury, either, although some researchers believe that a severe injury or car crash actually can trigger fibromyalgia in some people.
Chronically feeling your pain
Another key aspect of fibromyalgia is that the pain is chronic, which means that it's sticking around. Sometimes, it's better; sometimes, it's worse. But it always seems to be there, sort of waiting to ambush you when you let your guard down. Time to go out to the big annual dinner at work! All of a sudden, the pain escalates to newer, excruciatingly high levels. Stress often aggravates fibromyalgia, and as a result, the pain can flare up at the worst of times.
Are you suffering from oligoanalgesia? This word refers to the undertreatment, ineffectual treatment, or total nontreatment of pain — a problem that many people with fibromyalgia can relate to. Yet both nontreatment and inadequate treatment of pain can seriously weaken your immune system and can also impair your quality of life.
Migrating pain
Another truly maddening aspect of FMS is that the worst pain can be in your lower back today, your neck tomorrow, and maybe your upper back the next day. Or maybe your whole spinal column is doing okay right now, but you're having a serious problem with pain from irritable bowel syndrome or headaches — both common conditions for people with fibromyalgia. Or perhaps you suffer from a combination of medical problems, which happens frequently.
Fibromyalgia isn't the only chronic syndrome. The fact is, many medical problems that people suffer from today are chronic ones. High blood pressure is a chronic problem for many people; diabetes is another. Many people also suffer from chronic back pain. You're not alone is experiencing a chronic disease.
