Fybromyalgia

[BrandyC]

Hi I am 31 years old and I am suffering from severe muscle pain. I have blood tests done and they turned out to be fine. It seems like i am having the hardest time right now dealing with the anxiety that comes when i start to get severe pain. I am also thinking that it could be something worse like cancer. Does anyone know if you have cancer would it show up on a blood test? It all started in one arm got really sore and then it moved to the other arm now its in the legs it just seems like it spreading everywhere in my body and I am really scared. Does anyone else get these symptoms? The doctors said that it may be fybromyalgia and I have seen like 3 so far...I went to the Emergency Room four times and they are now not even taking me seriously. They wont even see me there now, so now I am scared that if something bad does happen to me I will be just blew off.

Someone please Help!

Thanks, Brandy

[Notator]

Hi Brandy..
I wonder what comes first...is it possible that you start to tense up before you become fully aware of it and then when you feel the tension in your muscles the whole thing spirals? Tension /stress can cause all sorts of wierd and wonderful musculo-skeletal problems! Several years back I actually got a condition in the muscles of my chest similar to repetitive stress injuries due to me tensing up when i was (literally) up-tight...
No matter what the condition, try to calm -DONT start look up all the things it may be on Google!! - whatever it is will be best for you to deal with in a calm state...(easier said than done...I know!)
I think if you look around this forum you will see people with dozens of manifestations of stress and panic disorders that affect us in different ways, and many of us that often have catastrophic feelings of "what if it's...". You'll also see that that in the vast majority of cases it ISNT the "what if it's...." but our heads playing nasty tricks on us!

[BrandyC]

Thanks for replying and you are right...that is what i do i google every symptom i have and come up with all sorts of stuff from cancer to ms to lymes disease....it really sucks, but I have a hard time not to look up the symptoms. I even look up the side effects of the medications that I am prescribed and see a side effect that may be bad and then I refuse to take the med. What really upsets me is that I have a symptom and then want to go to the ER as soon as possible now they dont even want to see me there, now i do not know what to do about that! I see a pain specialist on Friday I hope he/she can tell me what is going on...but I do think it was stress cause of the holidays and me trying to get everything done and I over did it now I am suffering from it still. I stayed in bed for like 6 days depressed and in pain, i didnt want to even eat, I lost like 10 pounds in those days also. Now when i am out of bed my legs feel weak and I then panic that something else is going to happen...I know i have to get myself strong again but it is hard to do. If someone can help me on how to get strong again i will be most appreciated. I also love this forum...it really helps...I used it about 3-4 years ago after I had severe anxiety and depression!

Thanks for replying

[Southern_Belle]

Hi Brandy,

A Rheumotologist is the best doctor to see regarding Fibromyalgia. They both diagnosis and treat the symptoms. I know because I have been diagnosed with it and I didn't have a clue that I had it. Staying in bed for that long will make you physically weak. You need to start eating again and before you get out of bed do stretches and start taking walks. I don't know where you live so not sure if you are able to do this so if not perhaps you can manage some floor exercises. For me, very warm baths at night help my muscles relax and I put some lavendar in the tub too and it helps my mental focus also. A heating pad isn't bad some nights either :).

I agree with Notator never google. I do not suffer with health anxiety but still I don't google. This country has a terrible problem with advertising meds and telling on t.v. everything that can go wrong so try and ignore it. You will know if something isn't right.

I do think blood tests can tell if something isn't right pertaining to cancer due to white blood cells counts. So, if your blood work came back normal I would think you would be fine, ask your doctor if you are concerned.

As for the pain specialist. I have to say I've been there too for chronic pain that was sometimes acute. I'd steer clear of them if I were you. Just my opinion. I have a long long story but the end of it is I'm personally much better off without pain medication. Now, pain is not easy to live with every day but it does make you strong.

You do need to see if you are physically fit. Yes, anxiety does cause pain and some of your physical issues but then again perhaps you do have fibro. I would find out. In my case, I not only have anxiety but also quite a few real physical issues that I also have to deal with that include pain. So, it is not all in my head. Do take care and remember to stretch and those warm baths!

Laura xxx

[BrandyC]

Hi Laura thanks for the reply!! That was really helpfull! I went to the pain specialist today and he prescribed me Zoloft cause I am totally stressed out...and he also prescribed a whole body bone scan. I really liked him, he told me he is going to get to the bottom of this and was very reasurring (that is what I needed I think. But then I came home and could not calm myself down....and zoloft takes a while to work! So i headed out to my doctors cause I knew i was not going to make it with all this panic i was having....so he gave me something for that.

Thanks for all the help!

Brandy from Michigan

[HeatherMc]

Try not to google hun, believe me I've done it makes things worse.

Take care

Heather

[Southern_Belle]

Hi Brandy,

So glad you liked your doctor, it helps just to think they believe you and that they think fibro is a real condition!!! Zoloft will take probably 2 weeks to kick in and so you were smart to get something to help you until then. Glad he is also running some tests too. My pain specialist also ran some tests but all he did for me was to give me a ton (and I mean a ton) of pain meds which I eventually stopped and now I just go cold turkey and sometimes take motrin. Yes I will say it was easier on the pain meds but just not something you can take for life. There is a new med out there just for fibro, I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head (another symptom of fibro, lol) but if I do I will private message you.

You definately can't walk outside right now in Michigan but the stretching will help. I'd ask your doctor what he thinks is best. So glad you are feeling better, I can read it in your words already. Feel free to private message me anytime you have a question or just want to talk.

Take care,

Laura