Re-introduce me

[Guest guest]

Hi Everybody, I've been around for a while, but I don't remember if I

posted the indroduction originally, and I thought some of my intro

information might respond to some of the questions of late.

My name is Raenell, and I'm in Arlington, TX

I'm 34, and I was diagnosed about 5 years ago by the 1st doctor I saw

when I started really paying attention to my body. I had been in

pain and fatigue for about 6 months at the time, and waited until my

insurance kicked in and covered the visit. Fortunately, I already

knew the doctor as he also treats my mother's myriad of conditions,

and had been treating her for several years and through several

hospitalizations.

My original treatment consisted of Elavil for sleep. After about a

year, that quit working, so he switched me to Pamelor, and eventually

added Effexor for me to take during the day. In 2000 I found myself

without insurance again, and unable to pay for the medications, but

found that I felt fine without them, and was sleeping properly, so I

quit taking them. For about a year, everything was ok, but then in

2001 things changed again and I got into a flare that came on so

gradually that I didn't even realize it was happening until I had

lost entire days of events. Because of my insurance, I had to change

doctors again, and fortunately found one who validates the fibro

diagnosis, and accepts that I know my body better than he does. My

current course of treatment is 75mg of Effexor in the morning and

early afternoon, and 5-10mg of Ambien as needed at bedtime. I'm

finding that if I do enough during the day, and don't take in

caffeine after 3 pm, then I sleep fine at night and wake up rested.

Most nights I take nothing, or maybe 1 otc sleep aid. I have learned

to listen to my body and slow down when I have to. I have not tried

the cuddleewe products, but I did find that getting one of the

foam 'eggcrate' things from wal-mart has improved my rest greatly

I am not on disability, and I do know how very fortunate I am to be

able to work

Something that is very relaxing to me is being in the pool, whether

I'm swimming, exercising, or just floating in the water.

My major complaints are the fatigue, and muscle pain especially in my

neck and shoulders, which is where I carry my stress and tension. My

flares are definitely triggered by stress, but fortunately I've been

flare free for several months now.

Good support is important too, and I've found that except for some of

the people I know who suffer from it too, I don't get a whole lot of

sympathy when I'm having a flare, just because if you've never

experienced it, you have no clue!

Sorry it's so long, but I'll stop now. I hope everybody's having a

good day and has a good weekend.