cindylouwho
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WOW, I have been reading this forum for a couple of days now and the stories.......unbelievable how they resemble myself. I know it certainly hasn't sunk in yet. IN about 2 hours. I have an appt. with my regular doc to confirm the diagnosis of FM that a "neurologist 2nd opinion" gave me last Thursday. I am apprehensive, scared and nervous about this appt. I am 38 years old by the way, married with one 5 year old boy and live in WI. Here is my history. THANK YOU for being here and I'm so glad I found you! For years, as long as I can remember at the least since I was 20, I have dealt with fatigue. I can remember when I met my husband and got married at 23 I would come home from work (no kids at that time) and just collapse on the couch and nap for 1-2 hours every night/weekends. I was so exhausted. When I was 12 years old I got hit by a drunk driven in a car from behind and got severe whiplash/cervical sprain and wore a soft collar for a while. Starting at age 13, I sought out a Chiropractor's help for sore neck and back issues. This has continued to this day, 25 years later. I go 1x a month. I have with various pains in other parts of my body over the past 6 years (since my son was born). I have been running back and forth to the Dr.'s with different aches/pains/ailments/complaints/depression, you name it, I have complained about it because of the pain. The only REAL problem I have had that I had to have fixed was a prolapsed bladder and rectum from childbirth (had incontinence) and was fixed with major surgery. Otherwise, I have been to the Dr. for pain during sex, pain in the abdomen, pain in the incision from my surgery that should not have lasted as long as it did (incisional pain) he called it neuropathic pain. Back pain (but do have herniated disks but not radiculapathy at this time), neck pain (again, herniations, but not bad enough for surgery). Leg pain, burning feet (bilateral), left knee pain, foot pain, ankle pain along with absolutely no reflexes in ankles, stiffness, lack of flexibility, restless sleep, wake up not feeling rested after 8-9 hours of sleep, VERY oversensitive to loud sounds-really hurts ears, teeth grinding at night, vaginal dryness, definately have "lack-a-nookie disease" because I never want to, burning eyes, dry eyes, tired eyes, headaches, congestion, sore throat, dry skin, dry hair, constipation all my life (big issue for me). It's weird because you can touch any part of my body pretty much and it will hurt. My hips, my thighs, my calves, arms, sides, like if someone pokes me, it hurts and I say "ouch". I have been like that for years. I have had a very LONG journey thus far which brought me to a neuro as a 2nd opinion on the peripheral neuropathy the 1st neur diagnosed 12/5/07. This 2nd neuro last Thursday, said you do not have PN, I believe you have Fibrymyalgia. MRI was clean, said my brain looked great No spinal tap, he said not needed because of normal clinical exam and MRI. Had cervical/thoracic/lumbar MRI's, all have herniations/bulges some stenosis, but all mild/moderate. He had accountability for every symptom I have. The extreme fatigue, the sore throat, the sinus drainage, the burning feet, aching back/neck/hips/legs/feet/ankles/arms, and on and on. All these years I wish someone would have just told me "I have a lot of patients that ache all over the place". But no one did. Just last week, I started feeling like a true hypochondriac. My God, I have been through the gammit of testing since October and ALL has come back normal. I will include a list of what I have been through and you will see, all normal. I do believe in Fibromyalgia, I've read so much about it over the course of the this week and especially today, but how could something so simple be missed for SO many friggen years? I have been tested for Carpal Tunnel 3x, normal. I have had tingling/numbness of hands/fingers for years and years, but not all the time. It comes and goes along with my burning feet which only started last September. My fatigue is getting worse and worse with each passing week. I have acquired since December a swollen throat, scratchy and sore and it will not go away. I also have heartburn about 4 nights out of the week and have been snoring more. The neuro tried me on Gabapentin for the burning feet, had to go off cause that's when my throat started to get weird on me and then my blood sugars (not diabetic, we through all of that too LOL) crept up on me so I chose to discontinue it and I'm so glad I did, nasty, nasty drug. So, right now I am on Naproxen for generalized pain. Take one whenever, no set regimen as this was prescribed to me over a year ago when I was having breast pain Oh my , this is getting long, sorry! My Chiropractor has two done full evaluations on me, one in 04 and the other in 07. Both reveal significant myofascial pain and trigger points. The thing I don't get is my 1st neuro who was ruling out MS and ruled in Peripheral Neuropathy - did an exam for FM and said I didn't have it. This 2nd neuro last Thursday did NOT do a FM tender point exam and said I do have it. Anyhoo, here's the list of what came out normal, what I've been tested for, etc. As for what I DO have - well, I have been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis/Degenerative Disk Disease, Vitiligo and at one time, Carcinoma In Situ of the Cervix, but have been fine ever since Leep Surgery. SO, that's it. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder, so I assume I have the generalized autoimmune thing going on and am susceptible to other AI disorders as well. I'm hoping either my regular doc knows a lot about FM and can help me or he refers me to a Rheumatologist. Thanks! NORMAL RESULTS/Ruled Out: 08 – Diabetes (2 hr. Glucose Tolerance Test – A1C was 5.3-normal) 08-Bloodwork Ceruloplasmin (copper test). 08-Lumbar MRI – Compression right and left S1 exiting nerve roots. Dessicated L4/L5/S1. 07-Thyroid (several times!) 07-Brain MRI 07-Cervical and Thoracic MRI - No lesions but a mess with bulges and herniations. 07-Bloodwork: Lyme Titer, Lupus Panel, ANNA 1 and 2, VDRL, Immunoe/Extrophoresis, and B12 07-Ruled out Fibromyalgia 07-Nerve Conduction Studies - Normal. 07-SSEP (Somatosensory Evoked Potentials) 07-VEP – (Visual Evoked Potentials) 07-BAEP – (Brain and Auditory Evoked Potentials) 04-Ankylosing Spondylitis 99/04/07- Carpal Tunnel 05-Cholesterol 04-Rheumatoid Arthritis 90’s/07-Lupus 07-Low Blood Pressure 04/07- Diabetes (perhaps glucose intolerance) 96-HIV/AIDS (Insurance Co. required testing) 07-Disorder of the ear - (by Chiro) on 10/11/07 04-ESR Sedimentation Rate Normal in 2004 |
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