Re: Hello - new person Hi

[Guest guest]

Just saying welcome. I am just turned 51, have only been diagnoised 2 yrs.

But looking back know now that this is what I was dealing with when my last two

childeren, I have 3 were born, my boys are 11 mo's apart, and all though I was

at my best while carrying them, wonder if the pregnancies back to back, blood

clot, hemmorage, after the last one was not my onset. I at one time was nothing

but a big ball of bone wrenching pain, could not eat, could do nothing but sit

in tub 3x day, and not even let my little babies touch me without screaming in

pain, nothing was ever found, I was told it was my Graves Disease, it was

stress, it was trouble at home blah blah blah. I back then did get depressed

with it, as it was sad I had 3 beautiful babies and could not even hold them,

care for them directly, had a very hands on husband, and spent my days going for

test after test. I then for some reason after this stuff up until 1997 went

into a remission, of most all symptoms and

lived prettty well until 4yrs ago, starting with low back pain and exhaustion,

and my sleepliness nights got to a dangerous point, would go weeks with only

maybe 5 hrs! Now I am really bad. But my theory had always been and I stuck to

it, was push through, fight the pain, fight the fatigue, I would find myself

behind the wheel exhausted just driving for 10 mins. This was crazy. The pain

has gotten worse and worse with no let up. I though always worked and worked,

the more I hurt the more jobs I took on, and I worked in healthcare, lifting,

meds, stress of uncaring co-workers, then took on night time private care, so

never listened to my body telling me to slow down, take a break,and maybe I

would of got some relief. So the advice of listening to how we feel and not push

it is so right. I did not listen to my Dr.before even diagnoised with this

unreliable, no mercy, give it to us in anyway shape or form disease. My idea

was to never give in, never think SSD for me as

I look okay, I am quite tough, I loved my type of work and liked the money. I

now have been pummeled into a wimp, with pain, angry, restless, person who feels

useless!, I can't picture that I have to wait to get approved, get use to the

idea, I CAN NO longer work no matter what others around me believe by looking at

me, and listen to every suggestion my Dr's tell me, as I am lucky enough to have

understanding, caring, treating Dr. I saw her yesterday and she wants me to

think about going to the Fibro Center in Boston, I never new it was there, but I

don't drive that City!, and am anxious of just getting there. For those of you

who have to work, just take it easy, which is sometimes hard to do. But I knew

my time was up when I would wake to many morn's if I slept and unexpectable not

even be able to move a inch!, and this is not exaggerated, it was not fair to my

employment when it became to many times, as they were counting on me. I hope

you are able to do everything

in moderation, and you are doing it right, rest on days off if this is what it

takes to get you able to keep up working through week. And as mentioned this

disease alot of times fools you, it let's you do a task, trip etc., and lays you

out flat for a day, 2 days week for doing such a simple thing! I learned that

last summer by doing a little and I mean little as I don't like the job lol of

weeding. Was sore every inch of my body 3 days later. Same with the exercise I

had always done! So what was I thinking when I took a much excited kick boxing

class with my best friend 2 mo's after shoulder surgery!, the only kick boxing I

do these days is kick things around here at home either to move it to another

area, because I can't bend over, or just out of pure melt down days. Take Care

of yourself and hope u find the comfort of knowing you have several

understanding friends hear who let you feel whatever you need to on any given

moment. Hope you lighter days.

Sharon

in AZ wrote: Hi everyone, my name is

(I feel like I'm in front of a meeting LOL) and I have fibromyalgia! And I hate

that I have it - in fact I hate that any of us have it. I'm normally a very

upbeat, happy person. I shall try to convey that even though I am not feeling

that way at the present time.

I am 53 (very very very soon to be 54 which is perhaps the reason for my less

than happy mood), divorced and live with my 3 furbabies, Sophee and Sammee (9

year old whippet mixes) and a recent adopted rescue dog, Dayzee, 2 year old deaf

pomeranian who, when she isn't being a stinker, is a sweetheart.

I work full time, as there is only me, I have no choice. I would love to be able

to stay home and fight with SS/disability but I can't afford to fight with them

for 3 years and not get paid. I have one son who is 29, married and they have

blessed me with my first grandchild who is almost 8 months old. She is the light

of her Nana's life. She makes me laugh, she makes me smile, she sometimes gives

this Nana a reason to go on.

I may be able to retire in 2 1/2-3 more years if they don't fire me for

absenteeism before then. I've been there 21 years this July.

Fibro was diagnosed about 4 or 5 years ago. Didn't get really bad until

neuropathy appeared in my legs and feet in January. Now I just seem to hurt

constantly all the time. I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes so have been sticking

pretty close to a low carb lifestyle in an effort to keep it from going into

Type I or Type II (although technically my MD informs me I AM Type II even

though I only had one reading a bit over 100).

Several years ago my doctor switched me from Celexa to Cymbalta and that helped

my fibro-shoulder-upper back pain a lot. Last August I started on a low dose of

Lyrica for the fibro however at this time they were thinking my leg/foot pain

was neuropathy even though I hadn' t had a high glucose reading yet. We've been

gradually increasing the Lyrica (nasty side effects but my legs/feet hurt so

much I was desperate to stay with it). After I hit the 200mg/day mark the side

effects were not as harsh. I am now up to 400 mg/day and I can say it has made a

marked difference in my leg/foot pain and I also noticed a few weeks ago, the

insides of my elbows knees were very much less painful. Cost is becomming a

factor even with insurance so I asked him to switch me back to the Celexa and

see if I can do that (much cheaper). So I stopped the Cymbalta on Sunday and

started the Celexa last night (which could also account for my less than joyful

mood tonight LOL). I also take Tylenol

#4 and Tramadol and Soma for pain as well as a number of other supplements. Will

not take Tramadol now until I go back to my Doctor in May because the druggest

warned me of some thing that could happen with the Tramadol and the Celexa?

At any rate - I suppose all things considered, it 'could' be much worse. I am

also a very strong Christian although I have not ventured to church in a long

while. Weekends for me are mostly spent catching up on sleep so I can work

during the week.

Hoping to get to know some of you much better. Thank you for having me

in Phx, AZ

Sherry wrote:

I recently joined this group myself. Here are a few paragraphs from

my fibro book.

it says...It's critical that you heed what your body is telling you,

which is " Stop - I need rest. " That means you may need to find new

ways of doing things, strategies that will conserve your energy and

minimize your pain.

One of the Difficulties with fibro is that you often won't know

youv'e overdone it until the next day. When this happens, look back

on your previous day's activities, and try to get sense of how you

overdid it. Then, avoid doing too much in the future, even though you

may not feel tired at the time.

For some people, doing routine household vhores can become quite

daunting in the face of fibromyalgia. And if your'e accustomed to

having a clean house, you may need to readjust your standards in

order to cope with the rigors of managing your house.

Of course, the best answer to housework might be hiring outside

help.Of course most of us can not afford that luxury. You will need

to adjust your housecleaning and standards to meet your health needs.

Hope This helps Sherry in Arkansas.......

P.S. If you can...get Friends and/or Family to help.

1. While it is wonderful to share our experiences with everyone on the list as

to what treatments do and don't work for us, pls always check with your dr. Some

treatments are dangerous when given along with other meds as well as to certain

health conditions or just dangerous in general.

2. If you are in a difficult situation (doesn't matter what it is) pls don't be

afraid to ask for help. It is the first step to trying to make that situation

better.

3. To unsubscribe the e-mail is:

Fibromyalgia_Support_Group-unsubscribe

4. Also, it is not uncommon for more than one member to be feeling bad at the

same time when it comes to flares and b/c of that potentially take something

another member says the wrong way. And that includes the things that one member

may find funny (even if it's laughing at fibro itself) even though we who deal

with illness whether one such as fibro or multiple illnesses try to keep a sense

of humor.

5. Pls let's be gentle with each other, and if you are having a bad day pls let

us know so that we can do our best to offer our support.

Have a nice day everyone.