muscle spasms gone CRAZY!!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

I haven't posted in several months, but I've had one of those

FUN *rolls eyes* (I use sarcasm and humor as partial coping methods)

new developments. Wednesday night, I had basically full body muscle

spasms, with the ENTIRE left side of my body being MUCH more intense

than the right side. I was COMPLETELY concious the WHOLE time. It

lasted about 2-3 hours, and since my fibro had been acting up almost

all day, I can honestly say that at that time, it was the WORST pain

I had EVER experienced in my life.

No longer true :-( It finally calmed down enough for my

fiancee to get me to bed around 2am, and I managed to get maybe a

couple of hours of " sleep " (I don't really call what I did sleeping,

more like laying w/ my eyes closed praying for sleep to come & then

passing out from exhaustion only to be woken up (still exhausted) by

a frantic fiancee, b/c the power went out during the night and we

were an hour late to work). My entire left side still hurt (during

spasms, pain=10, when I woke up, pain=8), but I had to go to work

(started new job on 5/5/08 & probation doesn't end until 11/5/08), so

I got up and took a shower and got ready and went to work. Within an

hour of waking up, my entire left arm (shoulder dowm to finger tips,

incl. muscle under left boob, whatever that is) started spasming (not

sure that's the right word). The muscles kept tightening and

flexing, arm was shaking, almost shivering, wrist and fingers were

tightened to the point of turning red with white splotches with

swelling (to the point that several of my less observant coworkers

said " why's your hand all swollen? " ) and bluish purple under the

fingernails. The whole arm would make the little movements that

changed the position of the arm, for a while it would be bent, then

straight, then bent and almost touching the opposite shoulder. The

wrist got stuck at odd angles, and the fingers were horribly

contorted, my hand resembled a claw for most of yesterday (thurs).

It was during this time that I discovered my new " pain level 10 " . My

left side was already hurting so bad from its " activities " the night

before and the fibro, that I would just stop and think " Please God,

make it stop hurting, do something! Make it go away! Please have

mercy, and if I have to hurt like this for the rest of my life, then

please take me home to be with you, because I honestly don't think I

can take this anymore!! "

I have endometriosis, migraines, fibro, cfs, ovarian cysts,

pcos, and more (fog is acting up & can't remember the rest), so I am

by no means a stranger to pain. One doc told me that EVERY period I

have, puts me through more pain than childbirth (I wouldn't know, not

a mom, but I trust her opinion). I'm just saying that I never

thought that I would use the phrase " level 10 pain " , so the fact that

I am using that phrase should probably tell ya something.

Anyway, last night, Greg (fiancee) and I went to Walmart and

got me a sling, and my arm kept up like that until this (Fri)

morning. It's been doing the same thing periodically all day, but

thank God that it hasn't been constant. This is the second time that

I have experienced full body muscle spasms, although I tend to

experience more " normal " muscle spasms several times a week to almost

daily. The more " normal " muscle spasms can occur ANYWHERE on my

body, but some of the more frequent ones are the arch of my foot, my

eye or the area just under my eye twitching, my hand/wrist, my knee,

and my ankle. The spasms can occur on either side of my body. They

also tend to be twitching, tightening, or freezing, meaning that they

don't normally tend to contort the affected body part into odd

shapes.

I am currently (and have been since like Christmas) taking

5mg (half pill) Baclofen 3x/day, 5-325 Percocet 2x/day (as needed),

15mg mobic 1x/day, and 5mg (half pill) amitryptilline 1x/night.

Yesterday, I tried taking my meds like normal in the morning: 5mg

Baclofen, 5-325 Percocet, 15mg mobic, and singulair

(allergies/asthma) at 8am. Then, after that did little to nothing, I

tried taking my next dose of Percocet just like normal: 5-325

Percocet at 2pm, but instead of taking the normal dosage of Baclofen,

I took a whole pill (10mg). I was hoping, that since it's a muscle

relaxer, that it would help the muscle relax and stop spasming (or

whatever the word is for what happened to my arm). It helped a

LITTLE (it took the pain down from 10 to about 9.4 for about 30

minutes, then it went right back up to 10!!!). And, of course, I

skipped my nighttime dose of baclofen, since I had taken my day's

worth (15mg) by then and I didn't want to risk od-ing. I'm still

wearing my sling.

Yesterday and today both, I didn't have the option of slowing

down at work. I work at a genealogical and research library, so I

had to shelve microfilms and books, go get microfilms and books, fix

microfilm machines, fix printers, work 11 hours on Thursday (w/out a

sling), work 8 hours on Friday (with the sling), answer phones, look

up obituaries, run errands, try to please and entertain irate patrons

who were upset because our microfilm machines weren't working, get

yelled at by patrons for same reason, try to carry my luncg tray at

the cafeteria, and not get to sit down for more than 5 minutes

(except for lunch), all with one hand, while in that much pain and

trying to be nice and polite and keep a smile on my face.

I didn't go to the ER, b/c last time I had the full body

muscle spasms, I went to the ER, and they told me that there was

nothing wrong, that I just needed to relax my muscles, and to learn

that an emergency room is for TRUE EMERGENCIES and not just for

attention-seeking hypochondriacs. That happened during my senior

year of high school, 2005. Earlier in my senior year, 08/2004, I was

dx'd w/ migraines. I had my first laparoscopy for the endometriosis

in 06/2005, and my second in 12/2005 (was dx'd with late stage

II/early stage III endo). Then, I was dx'd w/ ovarian cysts in

09/2006. Dx'd w. polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in 11/2006.

Then, I was just dx'd w/ fibromyalgia, cfs, myofacial, & tmj in

11/2007. Also dx'd w/ vertigo on 12/26/2007.

It seems like stuff just keeps piling on, so I can only

ask, " What's happening to me now?? " I looked on webmd, and my

symptoms seem to closely follow those of Paroxysmal Dystonia &

possibly the dyskinesia. Obviously, I don't know if that's what it

is or not, and it looked like it's supposed to be rather rare. I'm

not sure if I should even mention it as a possibility to my doctor.

Although, it does seem to be somehow related to parkinson's, and both

grandpa's, plus a great-grandma had/have parkinson's. I just don't

know what to do. My gyno said that he thinks I have an autoimmune

disorder.

Have any of you experienced anything like this before? Do

any of you have dystonia? What meds are you guys on? Do the meds

that I'm on sound like what is normally prescribed for this stuff?

Mainly they're prescribed for fibro, except for the singulair. Do

any of you have vertigo and/or motion sickness? Right now, I take

25mg Meclazine (non-drowsy dramamine) 1x/day for this, as needed.

It's not helping much. They tried apem (Vallium), but I'm

allergic to it. What do you take for that? Also, if any of you

experience almost daily nausea, what do you take for that?

In case it matters, I'm only 21. Oh, and the fave phrase at

work is, " You're too young for all these problems. " It's said in a

disbelieving voice, as if to say, " Now that I've told you that, stop

this act and look like you feel better! " They only say this when

they can actually SEE/NOTICE that I feel like cr*p (in other words,

pain is worse than an 8.5 or so). This is like 4 times a month. AND

I've NEVER missed a day of work! They call in when they get a

headache or they're tired or their throat hurts, etc. They have each

called in about 2-5 days PER MONTH!!! At least I go to work each day

and work as hard as I can, and usually end up doing their work too

(b/c they tell me to, but then they get mad, b/c I'm " showing them

up " ), all while dealing w/ this cr*p! Since around September 2007, I

haven't had a single day with less than level 6 pain! Unfortunately,

I stress about things if they're my responsibility at work and they

don't get done, so I tend to work harder than I should. I push my

body, and then I'm usually paying for it before, during, and after

work and on the weekends. So, I don't get much time to relax. :-(

Well, now that I've typed this only using my right hand, and it now

hurts, I think I'll go ahead and post this message. Sorry for

writing a book!

Thanks for being here and listening to my rants, complaints, &

worries!