I found out on November 1 that I have fibromyalgia, I need to know if anyone is familuar with this?
957943
I don't know much about fibromyalgia.  However, there is a 100% natural, whole food health juice that I heard has helped people wth fibromyalgia.  The product is called ViaViente.  I take it religiously as I used to have extremely high blood pressure (it is normal now as a result of adding it to my diet).  My wife also takes it religiously as it has weaned her off of 3 allergy medications.  There is a lot of clinical and 3rd party research on the product that proves it to be a leading health product.  Visit www.viabenefits.com to read testimonials from people who have added ViaViente to their diets as a result of fibromyalgia.
159163
I doubt very much it has to do with someone else's smoking habits.  You really should get that checked out by a doctor.  A couple of possibilites could be Fibromyalgia or Lupus.  Your mom would probably know if there is a history of these disorders in your family. But definatley have it checked out....Feel better girl.
203482
depending on how long....fibromyalgia?
1074886
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.  I haven't checked online for support groups.. but the RA has been dormant for about 2 years.  Took methotrexate for 4 yrs and am still taking various NSAIDS and anti-depressants for the pain of FMS.
1009355
I do and it is quite debilitating.\n\n“Fibroid myalgia” or fibromyalgia as it is better known is a common condition characterized by generalized pain and fatigue. This condition has nothing to do with fibroids, but is more a form of rheumatoid athritis.\n\nI regularly see a Chiropractor, Accupuncturist and a Massage Therapist and I take Naproxen and Norflex because the pain is so intense sometimes.   It affects my lower back and my shoulder blades are constantly aggravated.  I am usually in constant pain and stressed out about my back because it affects my daily living. My muscles are always sore and makes me tired and irritable.\n\nI am looking to see a rheumatologist.\n\nOh yeah -- symptoms include migraine headache, decrease in short term memory, cognitive dysfunction, blurred or double vision, hypersensitivity to sound and smells, shortness of breath, chest pains, palpitations, irritable bowel, irritable bladder, painful menses, painful urination, multiple drug allergies, multiple sensitivities to chemicals.
908810
Yes, it is possible for a 20 year old to have fibro. I was 17 when my fibro. started. If you think you have it, see a rheumatologist for a diagnosis. Interview them first to make sure they have had fibro. patients. As a rheumi. they should be familiar with the American College of Rheumatology diagnosis criteria for fibro. \n\nTo respond to the lady above, who seems to have encountered ignorant doctors: I wish fibromyalgia were a joke. I've had it for about 10 years, since I was a senior in high school. My doctor ruled out other conditions, like nutritional deficiencies, and sent me to a rheumatologist who did research for the Mayo Clinic to confirm my diagnosis. \n\nIf it were a joke, then why would peer reviewed medical journal searches bring back all sorts articles on it, including articles finding more evidence it is real. Like: "An increasing number of scientific studies now show multiple physiological abnormalities in the FM patient, including: increased levels of substance P in the spinal cord, low levels of blood flow to the thalamus region of the brain, HPA axis hypofunction, low levels of serotonin and tryptophan and abnormalities in cytokine function." \n\nPlus, (I looked the following up) The American College of Rheumatology, American Medical Association, The World Health Organization, and the National Institutes of Health have all accepted FMS as legitimate.\n\nI wasn't overweight when my fibro. became active. The people I have known with fibro. are not overweight either. I had a car accident that I walked away from with no injuries. Over the next month growing pains started and then became wide spread pain. I know other people who's fibro. has activated from periods of stress, pregnancy, or other events. \n\nHere's another quote from fmaware: "Recent studies show that genetic factors may predispose individuals to a genetic susceptibility to FM. For some, the onset of FM is slow; however, in a large percentage of patients the onset is triggered by an illness or injury that causes trauma to the body. These events may act to incite an undetected physiological problem already present."\n\nI don't put much stock in the nutritional healing or cure books for fibro. So far, none of that stuff has worked for me yet.
37713
hi there ,, this is what i could bring to u about fibromyalgia ,,,,, hope it's useful \n\nFibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that causes widespread pain and tenderness in the muscles and soft tissue ,,,\n\nsymptoms of fibromyalgia :\n\nMost people with fibromyalgia endure cycles of muscle, soft tissue, and back or neck pain, \nsleep problems, and \noften debilitating fatigue. \nFibromyalgia is also characterized by the presence of up to 18 specific tender points on the body—these are painful only when you press directly on them.\n\nAlthough less common than pain, fatigue, and sleep problems, a variety of other symptoms may occur as well. These include headaches, morning stiffness, difficulty concentrating, a circulatory problem that affects the small blood vessels of the skin (Raynaud's phenomenon), and irritable bowel syndrome. As with many conditions that cause chronic pain, anxiety and depression are common in people with fibromyalgia and may make symptoms worse.\n\nSymptoms tend to come and go. Periods when they are constant (flares) may be followed by periods when they are absent (remissions). Some people find that cold, damp weather, emotional stress, overexertion, and other factors make their symptoms worse
1170925
Hey my mom has had ms since before i was born i think and Im 16 now...it hasnt really affected my life. sure it restricts our activities together but I love her more than ever..A few of my friends family members have it too and they feel the same way..sure i get really frustrated when we're like..out and she gets tierd all of a sudden and we have to leave or if she has a mood swing because of pain but i cant blame her. id be angry too
972803
You learn to manage as best as you can, by using support from your doctor, family, friends and work place boss/colleagues, if your lucky enough to have their support and understanding. \n\nAttend a Pain Management clinic, or see a physiotherapist, and a occupational therapist, if your able to afford to see them.\n\nAlso a support group can be of some assistance, and you will find some solace in meeting with others who have similar problems and issues. I have made a few NEW friends through support groups.\n\nAlso a healthy diet, avoid alcohol and stress (yeah right like you can avoid stress), a little exercise, such as walking, swimming, or a specially designed exercise plan set out for you, by the physiotherapist.  \n\nAs for family, friends and boss/colleagues who have trouble understanding this crap condition, then feed them heaps of information, about Fibromyagia. (information overload) Those who really care about you, will read or listen to the information you give them. \n\nThe biggest thing I learnt was to be seen trying to be active in managing Fibromyalgia, by doing the above. Yes I have lost a few friends, but that is their loss not mine. \n\nMost of the REAL friends have seen me at my worst, and become very caring, and strangely very protective. My hubby and daughter being at the top of the list. \n\nI am lucky enough to work part time as a carer/Youth worker and teacher of 1st Aid, I work the hours I can, and if unwell then I don't work and my work places mostly accept this. I told them when interviewed I had a medical condition, which can impact on my work hours. I would also offer them information about CFS and Fibromyalgia, at the interview. \n\nI Currently work between 3 -18 per week, dependent on my health. \n\nI have included some links for you to check out, please take care of yourself, and your welcome to email for email support if you like.
432431
FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome) is a widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder for which the cause is still unknown. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons – the soft fibrous tissues in the body.\n\nMost patients with FMS say that they ache all over. Their muscles may feel like they have been pulled or overworked. Sometimes the muscles twitch and at other times they burn. More women than men are afflicted with FMS, and it shows up in people of all ages.\n\nTo help your family and friends relate to your condition, have them think back to the last time they had a bad flu. Every muscle in their body shouted out in pain. In addition, they felt devoid of energy as though someone had unplugged their power supply. While the severity of symptoms fluctuate from person to person, FMS may resemble a post-viral state. This similarity is the reason experts in the field of FMS and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) believe that these two syndromes may be one and the same. Gulf War syndrome also overlaps with FMS/CFS.\n\n(Back to top)\n\nSYMPTOMS AND ASSOCIATED SYNDROMES\n\nPain - The pain of FMS has no boundaries. People describe the pain as deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting, and stabbing. Intense burning may also be present. Quite often, the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning and you may hurt more in muscle groups that are used repetitively.\n\nFatigue - This symptom can be mild in some patients and yet incapacitating in others. The fatigue has been described as "brain fatigue" in which patients feel totally drained of energy. Many patients depict this situation by saying that they feel as though their arms and legs are tied to concrete blocks, and they have difficulty concentrating, e.g., brain fog.\n\nSleep disorder - Most FMS patients have an associated sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly. This condition was uncovered in a sleep lab with the aid of a machine which recorded the brain waves of patients during sleep. Researchers found that most FMS patients could fall asleep without much trouble, but their deep level (or stage 4) sleep was constantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activity. Patients appeared to spend the night with one foot in sleep and the other one out of it.\n\nSleep lab tests may not be necessary to determine if you have disturbed sleep. If you wake up feeling as though you've just been run over by a Mack truck – what doctors refer to as unrefreshing sleep – it is reasonable for your physician to assume that you have a sleep disorder. Many FMS patients have been found to have other sleep disorders in addition to the alpha-EEG, such as sleep apnea (as well as the newly discovered form of interrupted breathing called upper airway resistance syndrome, or UARS), bruxism (teeth grinding), periodic limb movement during sleep (jerking of arms and legs), and restless legs syndrome (difficulty sitting still in the evenings).\n\nIrritable Bowel Syndrome - Constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas, and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40 to 70% of FMS patients. Acid reflux or gastroesophogeal reflux disease (GRED) also occurs with the same high frequency.\n\nChronic headaches - Recurrent migraine or tension-type headaches are seen in about 70% of FMS patients and can pose a major problem in coping for this patient group.\n\nTemporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome - This syndrome, sometimes referred to as TMJ or TMD, causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain in one quarter of FMS patients. However, a 1997 published report indicated that close to 75% of FMS patients have a varying degree of jaw discomfort. Typically, the problems are related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the jaw joint and not necessarily the joint itself.\n\nOther common symptoms - Premenstrual syndrome and painful periods, chest pain, morning stiffness, cognitive or memory impairment, numbness and tingling sensations,
247953
What a terrible situtation for you! As if having Fibro isn't enough. The two answerers above seem to have forgotten that there's a little law called the Americans with Disabilities Act.  \n\nDoes your employer know for a fact that you have been diagnosed with having Fibro? If not, speak to your doctor about the situtation and have him/her send your employer's Human Resources Department and your Nursing Supervisor a letter explaining that you have Fibro and provide recommendations, be sure to get copied in on the letter for your records. Next, create a paper trail by keeping a journal of what happens each day at work and how you feel at the end of the day. Next share with Human Resources your situtation and see what they have to say. This gives them notice that the hostility needs to be addressed immediately.\n\nA study explains why we feel so much pain and you may want to share it with Human Resources also.\n\nFibromyalgia pain, isn't all in patients' heads new brain study finds. \nJune 7, 2002 \nfMRI scans give first objective measure of mysterious ailment, provide road map for future study\n\nANN ARBOR, MI - A new brain-scan study confirms scientifically what fibromyalgia patients have been telling a skeptical medical community for years: They're really in pain.\n\nIn fact, the study finds, people with fibromyalgia say they feel severe pain, and have measurable pain signals in their brains, from a gentle finger squeeze that barely feels unpleasant to people without the disease. The squeeze's force must be doubled to cause healthy people to feel the same level of pain - and their pain signals show up in different brain areas.\n\nThe results, published in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, the journal of the American College of Rheumatology, may offer the proof of fibromyalgia's physical roots that many doubtful physicians have sought. It may also open doors for further research on the still-unknown causes of the disease, which affects more than 2 percent of Americans, mainly women.\n\nLead authors Richard Gracely, Ph.D., and Daniel Clauw, M.D., did the study at Georgetown University Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health, but are now continuing the work at the University of Michigan Health System. In an editorial in the same issue, Clauw and U-M rheumatologist Leslie Crofford, M.D., stress the importance of fibromyalgia research and care.\n\nTo correlate subjective pain sensation with objective views of brain signals, the researchers used a super-fast form of MRI brain imaging, called functional MRI or fMRI, on 16 fibromyalgia patients and 16 people without the disease. As a result, they say, the study offers the first objective method for corroborating what fibromyalgia patients report they feel, and what's going on in their brains at the precise moment they feel it. And, it gives researchers a road map of the areas of the brain that are most - and least - active when patients feel pain.\n\n"The fMRI technology gave us a unique opportunity to look at the neurobiology underlying tenderness, which is a hallmark of fibromyalgia," says Clauw. "These results, combined with other work done by our group and others, have convinced us that some pathologic process is making these patients more sensitive. For some reason, still unknown, there's a neurobiological amplification of their pain signals."\n\nFurther results from the study were presented last year at the ACR annual meeting. The project will continue later this year at UMHS, joining other fMRI fibromyalgia research now under way.\n\nFor decades, patients and physicians have built a case that fibromyalgia is a specific, diagnosable chronic disease, characterized by tenderness and stiffness all over the body as well as fatigue, headaches, gastrointestinal problems and depression. Many patients with the disease find it interferes with their work, family and personal life. Statistics show that far more
32185
I have had fibromyalgia for over 10 years and when I first got it, I felt pretty much how you described.  \n\nIt took me years of research and application to find what works best for me.  Every person is individual, so you will have to go by trial and error, but here is some of what I do...\n\n1. Take an antidepressant. I've tried many prescribed by my doctor and found that even St.John's Wort works very well.  The antidepressants raise your seretonin levels, (the feel good chemical in your brain,) and you just generally feel better all over.\n\n2. Get some exercise every day. Not too little, but not too much.  Too little will allow your muscles to become stiff and sore but too much will make them ache like crazy.  I find yoga and walking to be the two best exercises for me. I do them every day and my body feels 1000% better.\n\n3. Eat a healthier diet.  Too much sugar, white flour, fat and carbs, seem to exasperate the condition.  Try to stick to natural foods, whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables.\n\n4. Get enough sleep and rest.  Try to get 8 hours of sleep each night if possible. If you have what I do, and wake up each night and toss and turn, try taking a herbal sleep remedy.  Valerian and passionflower worked very well for me. They sell sleep remedy blends in health food stores and I find they really help. \n\n5.  Mediation and relaxation...even if it's only for 5 minutes a day, will make a big difference.  I know you said you have 4 children, and I have 5, all boys, so I know it's really hard to get any time to meditate or relax, but it's really, really, important if you are going to be any good to them.  You have to take care of yourself.\n\n6. Journalling. Again, I know this takes time, but it is the best way to get your feelings out of you.  If you don't have someone you can share you feeling with, then write about them.  Holding all your feelings inside causes a lot of tension, and I believe that's where and how Fibromyalgia starts.  Once I started writing, and crying, releasing some of my pain and withheld emotions, I really started feeling better.\n\nI wish you all the best of luck. You are living with a difficult chronic condition.  Take good care of yourself.  That's always the best place to start.\n\nTake care.\n\nKathy
422361
What is fibromyalgia?\n\nFibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that causes widespread pain and tenderness in the muscles and soft tissue (including tender points) as well as sleep problems, fatigue, and a variety of other symptoms. These problems can be severe enough to disrupt a person's work and daily activities. Fortunately, the condition does not permanently damage the muscles, joints, or internal organs.\n\nFibromyalgia is a syndrome of chronic pain, not a disease or a psychological disorder.\n\nWhat causes fibromyalgia?\n\nThere are theories as to what may cause fibromyalgia, but at this point there is not enough evidence to support any single cause. Some theories suggest that fibromyalgia may be related to oversensitive nerve cells, an imbalance of chemicals in the brain (neurotransmitters), or an inability of the brain or spinal cord to dampen pain signals.\n\nWhat are the symptoms of fibromyalgia?\n\nMost people with fibromyalgia endure cycles of muscle, soft tissue, and back or neck pain, sleep problems, and often debilitating fatigue. Fibromyalgia is also characterized by the presence of up to 18 specific tender points on the body—these are painful only when you press directly on them.\n\nAlthough less common than pain, fatigue, and sleep problems, a variety of other symptoms may occur as well. These include headaches, morning stiffness, difficulty concentrating, a circulatory problem that affects the small blood vessels of the skin (Raynaud's phenomenon), and irritable bowel syndrome. As with many conditions that cause chronic pain, anxiety and depression are common in people with fibromyalgia and may make symptoms worse.\n\nSymptoms tend to come and go. Periods when they are constant (flares) may be followed by periods when they are absent (remissions). Some people find that cold, damp weather, emotional stress, overexertion, and other factors make their symptoms worse.\n\nHow is fibromyalgia diagnosed?\n\nFibromyalgia can be difficult to diagnose because there is a lot of variation in the combination of symptoms it causes and how different people experience the symptoms. Also, its symptoms are similar to those of many other disorders and diseases.\n\nFibromyalgia is often diagnosed after other conditions have been ruled out; there are no tests that can confirm the diagnosis. The presence of specific tender points as well as chronic, widespread pain on both sides of the body above and below the waist can help confirm a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.\n\nHow is fibromyalgia treated?\n\nWhile there is no specific cure for fibromyalgia, symptoms of this syndrome can be treated and controlled. If you have fibromyalgia, taking an active role in your treatment is very important to managing your condition.\n\nTreatment may be different for each individual. It can include:\n\nRegular exercise to help with muscle aches and stiffness. \nChanges in your routine, schedule, and surroundings to improve your sleep habits and reduce stress. \nTaking medications to help you sleep better and to relieve pain. \nGetting counseling to help you manage chronic pain and find better ways to handle stress. \nSome people with fibromyalgia also find complementary therapies such as acupuncture, massage, behavioral therapy, and relaxation techniques helpful.
895530
I have fibromyalgia, and have a great deal of difficulty getting restorative sleep....I usually get about 6hrs, but it's not "good" sleep, pain in my "trigger spots" wakes me often, and I have chronic migraines as a result of my poor sleep rhythm. Praise the Lord, other than that life is WONDERFUL!   ;-)\nEDIT:\nOh...did I mention, Hubby's a big SNORER?   LOL
750127
i have it.it feels like someone is pouring boiling hot water down my back.then some takes me by the head and keeps beating me into a brick wall..this illness really sucks.go to fibrohugs.com.and look for letter to normals.that about sums it up!
837068
You need to go to the doctor.  There are a number of things that could be wrong: thyroid, fibromyalgia, etc.  You need an MD to make a diagnosis.
1056890
Fibromyalgia is a soft tissue rheumatism problen.  It causes severe pain from the top of your head to your feet.  The arthritis foundation is realizing the severety and you can find much good\ninfo on this.  I have had it since 1985 and have suffered but\nI never gave up and tried anything and everything.  At this time I am taking rioboost and last week the Dr. said to go to corvalen.\ncom and use a product with ribose and mallic acid and magnesium.  I have not started this yet but will order it asap.\nI also have MG and arthritis so the money for OTC and prescriptiondrugs holds me back sometimes but I keep going.\nSometimes I have to choose which is the most important.,\nbut the pain of fibro rules most of the time.  I can't take steroids\nbut they will pull you out of pain fast while you research what will be best for you.  Good luck and God bless.