Fibromyalgia. Anybody here got it?

[A207X2]

I was just diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Apparently I've had it for about 3 years now, but only within the last six months has it really hit me.

It just hurts all over. They're going to try to start me on Cymbalta, but I first have to back off some other meds that have contraindications to it.

For those of you who have it, how has it changed your hunting? Can you still do a stalking hunt with a backpack? What have you found that helps with the pain, and what have you found to be just snake oil? Many thanks in advance.

 

[noharleyyet]

That sounds miserable...hope the Cymbalta works for you. Keep us posted.

 

[elkduds]

A207x2, glad you brought this up, sorry you had to. Below is a link to a concise and accurate web summary. There are members reading this who are living w fibromyalgia, undiagnosed, and wondering why so much they try to do hurts so much. The WebMD syndrome reminds us not to self-diagnose because of something read online.

Here is what has been most helpful to those I've worked with. First and last on the list, optimism and sense of resiliency. Assemble a team of medical professionals, including a rheumatologist well-versed in fibromyalgia. Meds are useful tools, even for those that haven't previously needed them. It is the norm in chronic pain treatment to try a series of different combinations of meds, rare for the prescriber to get it right on the first try. Keep moving, even when you have to adapt your physical activities. The ways you've done things in the past can and should be adjusted to keeping pain @ a manageable level. Chronic pain is like a wildfire, it is hard to get it back in control once it breaks out. Those adjusting to this reality find themselves shifting priorities. Adjusting a life to this new paradigm is challenging for the person, their family and friends. That may be where talk therapy has a place on your treatment team. Over time, most people shift their focus from what has changed, what they've lost, to how is they can live their best life today and going forward.

Sorry this link is not helpful. I bing searched fibromyalgia treatment men, skipped the bogus medication ads, and found a website w this information embedded:

Fibromyalgia​

1. Also known as: fibrositis, fibromyositis
   
   • OVERVIEW​
   • SYMPTOMS​
   • DIAGNOSIS​
   • TREATMENT​
   
   
   
   Main focus of treatment is to reduce the pain and improving the quality of life. Treatment includes medication and lifestyle changes.
   Medication
   Therapy
   Self-care
   Nutrition
   

   ​

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Sometimes it's hard to separate it from my joint pain but this last year I also have muscle pain, mostly in my legs. Ibuprofen helps some but there's days I'm just not much good. My wife was diagnosed with polymyalgia and is on prednisone. Every time she tries to wean herself off it she has a flareup. Golden years.

 

[A207X2]

@elkduds thank you for that information. It was greatly appreciated. I’m hoping that the Cymbalta will do the trick because the pain meds work ok, but there’s got to be something better.

Yeah, Golden Years my ass!

Thanks!

 

[Bluffgruff]

I'm not as well versed as I once was, but don't let anyone prescribe you opiates for fibromyalgia. The negatives faaaar outweigh the positives and then you just have to deal with dependence, withdrawal, stigma, and you still hurt, so escalating doses of hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc, will never be enough.

 

[stevejfarms]

Do some research on cymbalta before you start. There are some pretty serious side effects for some.

 

[NR_Hunter]

While I haven't been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I have been dealing with on/off chronic pain issues for some time. My regular doctor thinks I might have it, but told I need to see a rheumatologist for confirmation, and that was..... years ago. I don't seem to be as debilitated as other people who have chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia, but every now and then I have days where I feel like I got hit by truck for no reason and then I slowly climb out of it over the course of a few days or a few weeks.

When I'm feeling good, I have basically no issues. I got an elk off the mountain this year and I'm generally the one having to slow down to let my buddies catch up. When things are bad I have to just ride the low and remind myself it's not gonna last forever. It hasn't changed my hunting, but it does give me anxiety before a hunt because there is always the worry that I have a bad spell right before or during a hunt. Excitement as a hunt nears always comes with a little bit of dread now as well.

I really hope you can get it figured out. It's incredibly frustrating and I'm sure it probably feel like nobody else can relate.

 

[A207X2]

I'm not as well versed as I once was, but don't let anyone prescribe you opiates for fibromyalgia. The negatives faaaar outweigh the positives and then you just have to deal with dependence, withdrawal, stigma, and you still hurt, so escalating doses of hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc, will never be enough.

I’ve been on Hydrocodone (Vicodin) for the last 4 years and it’s been a miracle drug for me - so much so that my avatar is the chemical composition for it. I’ve just successfully backed off it (thankfully with no problem), and am taking Tramadol now, but it’s not handling the pain as well as the Vicodin did.

 

[Bluffgruff]

I’ve been on Hydrocodone (Vicodin) for the last 4 years and it’s been a miracle drug for me - so much so that my avatar is the chemical composition for it. I’ve just successfully backed off it (thankfully with no problem), and am taking Tramadol now, but it’s not handling the pain as well as the Vicodin did.

Why chronic pain for 4 years?
If you don't mind me asking?

 

[A207X2]

It’s got to do with mysterious Fibromyalgia (FM). I’ve had this pain that would start in my lower back, so they prescribed Vicodin for the pain and sent me to PT thinking it might be a pinched nerve. That didn’t help it. I had some more pain in my neck, and they discovered that C5/C6 disc had herniated so they did an ACDF to correct that. In the meantime I was sent to a Pain Management Doctor who had some additional testing and performed an RF Ablation procedure on my lumbar L4/5/6 that would deaden the nerves in that area temporarily. As most of my pain seemed to start from there it made sense. It helped some, but after about 3 months the pain came back. In addition during that time C6/7 had herniated so another ACDF to fix that, which it did.

Two years ago I injured my left shoulder (rotator cuff, labrum, and bicep tendon) while we were at our summer campsite in N. Georgia. I was able to continue to use it, but the pain was there. When I went back home I talked with my pain management about the shoulder. He did a couple of range of motion tests and suggested I hold off on surgery, and that he didn’t think it was associated with my back pain, so I held off with the surgery. He said continue with the Vicodin for both the back and the shoulder. In the meantime he ordered full MRIs of my cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of my spine. They showed nothing out of the ordinary.

Last year the shoulder got worse while we were up in GA so I scheduled the surgery. We have a 44’ fifth wheel that I tow, so with the shoulder getting worse I started to baby it until we got back home. Big mistake. When I went to see the surgeon for pre-op blood work he said I had a “frozen shoulder” and that before he could operate on it to repair the rotator cuff, labrum and torn bicep tendon, he had to put me under to correct the frozen shoulder. When I came to, I was in horrible pain. I had to do 8 weeks of brutal PT, and only THEN, could they now operate on my shoulder. I had a torn rotator cuff, torn labrum, and torn bicep tendon which he fixed.

So 12 more weeks of really brutal PT. It was at this time that all the pain in my body appeared to explode. I can’t really describe it; it just hurts. The pain is cumulative in that I wake up stiff and sore (pain #2), then as the day progresses so too does the pain. By mid-afternoon it’s about a #5 and by evening it’s a #8.

I was discussing this with a doctor who was camped next to us for the summer and he said that it sounded like FM. We talked about symptoms and as we went through them he said I pretty much had all the symptoms and that it would explain the pain.

I’ve made an appointment with my GP for this Friday to get me with a rheumatologist and get tested. Apparently there’s a new test now that is 99% accurate (www.fmtest.com) so hopefully there will be some answers.

In the meantime it’s just more of the same.

 

[A207X2]

While I haven't been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I have been dealing with on/off chronic pain issues for some time. My regular doctor thinks I might have it, but told I need to see a rheumatologist for confirmation, and that was..... years ago. I don't seem to be as debilitated as other people who have chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia, but every now and then I have days where I feel like I got hit by truck for no reason and then I slowly climb out of it over the course of a few days or a few weeks.

When I'm feeling good, I have basically no issues. I got an elk off the mountain this year and I'm generally the one having to slow down to let my buddies catch up. When things are bad I have to just ride the low and remind myself it's not gonna last forever. It hasn't changed my hunting, but it does give me anxiety before a hunt because there is always the worry that I have a bad spell right before or during a hunt. Excitement as a hunt nears always comes with a little bit of dread now as well.

I really hope you can get it figured out. It's incredibly frustrating and I'm sure it probably feel like nobody else can relate.

I’ve since learned that a traumatic event to the body could trigger it, and in my case I think it might have been the back to back procedures on my shoulder that set it off.

 

[BearFoot]

Dr Joel Wallach, dead doctors don't lie​

 

[kansasdad]

I have discovered that most of the medication prescribed for chronic pain have a significant drying effects for the mouth. This will significantly increase tooth decay rates and gum disease problems for people that may have never had any dental disease prior to their mouth drying out.

Very commonly people with chronic pain also have very poor sleep results. You might feel like you are sleeping at the appropriate amount of hours, but it may not be restful productive sleep. If there is any chance that you are not sleeping well, getting a sleep study done and figuring out a way to sleep better can significantly improve daily chronic pain levels.

 

[MTThrower]

I'm not as well versed as I once was, but don't let anyone prescribe you opiates for fibromyalgia. The negatives faaaar outweigh the positives and then you just have to deal with dependence, withdrawal, stigma, and you still hurt, so escalating doses of hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc, will never be enough.

In addition, chronic opioid use commonly leads to a phenomenon called opioid-induced hyperalgesia. Essentially the opioid receptors being constantly occupied leads to compensatory changes in the body that make you more sensitive to pain - sometimes permanently.

As hard as it is when you are tired and in pain, adequate sleep and keeping up or increasing exercise are some of the best things you can do to reduce symptoms of fibromyalgia.