Re: Hello!/Annetta

[Guest guest]

Welcome Annetta. Don't despair. My 14 year old daughter was diagnosed when

she was 10 years old. In the 4th grade at school, she went through the

entire school year wearing shorts to school( in WI, mind you) because she

cannot stand to wear clothes where the seams irritate her legs. Skin

sensitivity is something that some have with FM, and others don't. I do

not, but as a mother I find this particular symptom in my daughter very

frustrating. Last school year, in 7th grade, she wore 2 pairs of pants to

school every day, one inside out, and another over them. Last year was her

most difficult year emotionally, and some of that had to do with a deep

depression that I was in.

This year she is in 8th grade and managing very well. She has

discovered that wearing tights under jeans is tolerable. So she feels more

like she fits in. Her attendance is much better this year and she is not on

any meds at this time.

Since your son is in quite a bit of pain right now, I would hope that

his doctor prescribes a regular pain reliever that he takes routinely to

stay ahead of the pain. Quite often this might be an NSaid type med. The

doc should prescribe a trycyclic anti-depressant such as amytriptalene or

trazadone for bedtime to help with sleep and maybe pain. And depending on

your son's level of depression, he might also be prescribed an

anti-depressant such as Zoloft. My opinion is the best anti-depressant for

FM is Cymbalta, but it isn't approved for under age 18 as of yet. Last

year, my daughter was able to take Cymbalta which was prescribed by a

psychiatrist who works with children. Before that, she had been on Zoloft

which we thought wasn't doing the job anymore.

So I guess I want to stress that even though things look grim right now,

your son doesn't have a life sentence of pain and misery. Often, kids who

are diagnosed learn how to live with it much more easily than adults do, and

can actually have relatively pain-free and active adult years. I hope this

helps you some. Take care and welcome to our group.

Jeanne in WI

> My name is annetta.I havea two children, both boys.My youngest son has

> spastic diplegic CP and last week my oldest aged 10 was diagnosed with

> fibromyalgia and chronic asthma.He also had blood work done to check for

> Arthritis but we havent recieved the results yet.

> All of this has me very afraid because he is so young.He says he hurts

> several times a day, usually with shooting pains down the claf muscles or

> chest pain or finger and wrist pain.He has pain in all areas at certain

> times but the ones listed are the most common.but he says it is

> tollerable.Anyway the doctor told me to limit his activites and change his

> diet.What I odnt understand is can someone this young with it grow up and

> have a normal life? Does it get worse over time? Can it be

disabling?And what do I need to do for him?Any help would be appreciated.