Arthritis or Fibromyalgia? Posted: 10-15-06 16:28pm
I am at my wits end and would love to know
what is causing this pain. It runs along
the right side of my body and feels like
the worst flu pain I have ever felt. I
have been to my family Dr. (since the
1990s), 2 neurologists, a pain management
Dr. and a rheumatologist. every test that
i know of has been done and the only thing
i have been told was that it is
fibromyalgia. I am on cymbalta (since
last jan.), lyrica (which is the only
thing that seems to take the edge off the
pain, but it makes me sleepy and i cant
think straight when i take it) and now am
taking an anti-inflamatory called
salsalate, which has seemed to help. i
have been taking it 2x a day for a couple
months. but i had to cut back to once/day
due to stomach problems. My family dr.
keeps saying it is a migraine from stress
and anxiety, but i have been told by
others that it could not be migraine. i
have bursitis in my right foot (diagnosed
by podiatrist)fluid was drawn off the foot
around 1999 and he wanted to remove (or
grind off) the bone growths on that heel.
i decided to just live with it and cut the
back off my shoe.. at the time i couldn't
afford the surgery. this all flares up,
then goes away for awhile. recently it
hurt so bad that i had to call someone to
take me to the emergency room where the
dr. prescribed ultram, which i do take
sometimes when the pain is really bad. I
don't know what triggers the flare ups.
(i did suffer from migraines in the early
90's and took imitrex, but havent had a
bad one in a long time) also, the
rhematolgist prescribed ambien for my
sleep because, apparently, some
fibromyalgia sufferers do not go into
stage 4 sleep which helps with repair of
tissues. everything i have read about
fibromyalgia says that it is all over the
body. my pain and weakness is only in my
right side. it is gradually getting worse
and i am afraid that it will eventually
get too bad for me to work. this already
affects me alot in my work and at home
taking care of my kids.
i almost forgot...i am adopted and have
met my birthmother. they all suffer from
arthritis which has not shown up on blood
tests. birthgrandmother has knots all
over her body and is in constant pain. i
don't know any health history on my
birthfather. why wouldn't arthritis show
up on blood test? and why is my pain only
on right side of body? lupus test was neg.
also.
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DoctorAnswer
Doctor Answer
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Arthritis Answer A1671 Posted: 10-23-06 09:26am
Fibromyalgia is a disorder with an unknown
cause, characterized by chronic muscle
pain, fatigue, and tenderness. It is hard
to establish its diagnosis because there
are no specific laboratories or X-ray
images that can confirm fibromyalgia. This
disorder is diagnosed according to its
clinical symptoms and by excluding all
other possible diseases that may share the
same symptoms.
Diseases that share the same symptoms with
fibromyalgia can be confirmed or excluded
with specific laboratory tests or X-ray
imaging and include: rheumatic diseases
(systemic lupus erithematosus (SLE),
rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing
spondylitis, polymyalgia rheumatica;
degenerative diseases (osteoarthritis,
osteoporosis) etc.
Fibromyalgia is often followed by fatigue,
headaches, irritable bowel syndrome,
irritable bladder, cognitive and memory
problems (often called “fibro fog”),
TMJ-syndrome, pelvic pain, restless leg
syndrome, sensitivity to noise and
temperature, and anxiety and depression.
All these conditions also have unknown
causes and their severity varies over
time, just like the symptoms of
fibromyalgia. Stress and anxiety worsen
the symptoms and that’s why anxiolitics
and antidepressants (in addition to
painkillers) are used for treatment.
You can consult an orthopedist for
surgical removal of chronic bursitis on
the right foot. Arthritis may “not show
up in the blood tests” if you are
actually experiencing arthralgia (pain in
the joints like in fibromyalgia) that is
not caused by inflammatio. the symptoms
of rheumatic diseases are due to
inflammation that can be confirmed with
blood tests (increased sedimentation and
elevated C-reactive protein). Structural
damage of the joints and bones can also be
confirmed with X-ray imaging to diagnose
possible rheumatic conditions.
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