After many years of constant and severe muscle pain and spasms, and having been referred from doctor to doctor, to get test after test--as only HMO's can do, I was diagnosed in 1997 with Fibromyalgia by a specialist in the field of the central nervous system.
I opted NOT to take prescription pain medication; and chose rather to learn to deal with pain as part of my life. The downside of prescription pain medication is that slowly you become less affected by it, so you take more powerful drugs. Then, you find you are still very much in pain, and addicted to the pain killers. I decided right up front not to go that route. Once when we had planned a vacation, and I literally was wondering how I would walk from here to there and find any pleasure, my doctor gave me a two week supply of Celebrex. It really worked, but I went off it when I got home. There are side affects.
There have been times that my severe attacks leave me nearly like a robot without any oil in the joints. It is a labor to do even the most menial tasks. However, I have been determined from the beginning to keep moving; to get up in the morning and all through the day, as I go to work and do the best I can with chores at home. Most around you don't understand your limitations, and the labels come out like "lazy", or "mental". This comes from those who don't know, and it causes additional stress because of the emotional end of things. They don't know what initially causes this malady to present, but sometimes extreme emotional or physical duress starts it. It is a chemical in the brain that isn't sending or receiving the proper messages to your nerves in your muscles. Then, your body reacts to what it believes to be happening, and your joints begin to swell, etc.
While Fibromyalgia is NOT Multiple Sclersosis, it is every bit as painful and dibilitating. There is no cure. I have endured so much pain over the years, and I'm certain no one else, save my doctor and others who suffer, truly understand. What we need to do is keep moving, to keep ourselves as flexable as we can. Exercise is a must, and I have learned since last July, when I joined a fitness center for women, that building strength and stamina will help us endure.
The thing is, that is very difficult to do, when you cannot even bring your hands up over your head to wash or fix your hair, without tears streaming down your face, due to the pain. The first several exercise sessions left me in total pain, head to toe, and I had done so little. And the pain doesn't ever go away totally. It's like getting stuck with a knife that stays in, and then someone twisting it on whim. It can last days, weeks and months in the critical stage. It can move from one area to another area over night, with no left-over residual pain in the former site. It can mimic severe illness, which is the scary things--but after awhile, you become more in tune with your body, and you learn to listen and accept the "twinges" and "numbness" as signs of an "event". If you aren't sure, then it's off the to ER for an evaluation to eliminate anything serious that needs medical attention.
I am so very sorry to hear that you have this "thing". But, at least you have received a diagnosis. There is lots of information available, you just have to dig in and check it out.
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