Fibromyalgia, arthritis, normal aches and pains, something else?

Can anyone help?  I have had these aches and pains in my limbs and joints since childhood.  It feels like "my bones hurt," not at all like sore muscles but more like a gnawing, dull, constant ache.  I used to have terrible leg pain when I was a kid, which they said were "growing pains."

Now most days something in my body hurts.  Sometimes my leg, knee, and ankle will hurt.  Some days it will be my shoulder.  Sometimes it's my arm, hand, neck; it could be anywhere that has bones.  I usually notice it after getting up for the day.  Sometimes it gets better, but sometimes it hurts all day.  My daily routine is sedentary, and I almost never do anything out of routine, so day-to-day my life is very much the same. 

I also seem to need an excessive amount of sleep.  I need 9-12 hours to feel good, and I feel horrible on 7-8 or less.  My family is perplexed by my need to sleep, but I have to.  If I go about a week trying to get by on 7-8 hours like a normal person, I have to spend a day sleeping 13,14,15 (once 18!!!) hours to "recover." 

I've never mentioned this at the doctors because I thought it was normal to just have aches and pains, but now I wonder if it is not so normal.  At least not so often?  Whenever I have complained about it, people blow me off because I am otherwise young and healthy.

It is not normal to have aches and pains.  Please tell your doctor about your symptoms.  It could be an allergy to a food or your environment or it could be something else.

I had the 'growing pans' most of my life.  Turns out that by cutting out white flour and sugar out of my diet that they went away.  Sure cut down on my intake of pain meds.  The doctor had me on Nsaids for years, I no longer need them now.

Yes you need to tell your doctor. I have neurological pain and ache of course as well. I am not saying you have neuro issues but your gp can start to run certain tests and refer you to a reumo,ortho, neuro etc. It is hard to self dx or get what it could be here because many of the symptoms you have could be something like fibro or could be an auto immune issue etc. I hope you call and make a doc apt.

As the others have said please go to see your doctor it is not normal to be in pain as you are experiencing... I had some of the symptoms you are presenting (among others) and it turned out to be hypothyroidism and getting treatment has turned my life around.  So please go and see your doctor asap, I am sure that they will be able to diagnose you pretty easily and your life can begin to enjoy a long and pain free life God willing.  All the best xx

It's Lyme Disease!!!!

Go to a Lyme Specialist (LLMD) please, ASAP.  You can PM me if you want more info..

Original Post by alliebridge:

It's Lyme Disease!!!!

Go to a Lyme Specialist (LLMD) please, ASAP.  You can PM me if you want more info..

 Are you a doctor?  If you are, do you do all your examinations & diagnoses through a public forum?

Dangerous medicine , alliebridge.

Original Post by qaowk:

Original Post by alliebridge:

It's Lyme Disease!!!!

Go to a Lyme Specialist (LLMD) please, ASAP.  You can PM me if you want more info..

 Are you a doctor?  If you are, do you do all your examinations & diagnoses through a public forum?

Dangerous medicine , alliebridge.

Thanks for the warning. However, as a Lyme disease sufferer myself, I had those exact symptoms and it would be unethical for me not to tell the poster.

People too readily dismiss these symptoms (as did I, myself, unfortunately), excusing it, that it is within the realm of normal or it's just growing pains.

I would not make such a statement if I did not want to warn of the seriousness of these symptoms. And these symptoms ARE indeed attributed to Lyme Disease. I'm not making it up.

Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in the US and other countries as well and yet doctors are not informed that these very symptoms in this post ARE symptoms of Lyme disease. They're stuck in the dark ages, to quote my PCP who is one of the few familiar with Lyme.

If anyone has these symptoms they can go to a Lyme Specialist and that doctor can rule it out. But other than that a patient can do as I did--go one whole decade--going from doctor to doctor to doctor to doctor with misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis, getting sicker and sicker.

The easiest route, with symptoms pointing to a debiliating disease is to go straight to the expert to confirm or rule out the possibilty.

Original Post by alliebridge:

Original Post by qaowk:

Original Post by alliebridge:

It's Lyme Disease!!!!

Go to a Lyme Specialist (LLMD) please, ASAP.  You can PM me if you want more info..

 Are you a doctor?  If you are, do you do all your examinations & diagnoses through a public forum?

Dangerous medicine , alliebridge.

Thanks for the warning. However, as a Lyme disease sufferer myself, I had those exact symptoms and it would be unethical for me not to tell the poster.

People too readily dismiss these symptoms (as did I, myself, unfortunately), excusing it, that it is within the realm of normal or it's just growing pains.

I would not make such a statement if I did not want to warn of the seriousness of these symptoms. And these symptoms ARE indeed attributed to Lyme Disease. I'm not making it up.

Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in the US and other countries as well and yet doctors are not informed that these very symptoms in this post ARE symptoms of Lyme disease. They're stuck in the dark ages, to quote my PCP who is one of the few familiar with Lyme.

If anyone has these symptoms they can go to a Lyme Specialist and that doctor can rule it out. But other than that a patient can do as I did--go one whole decade--going from doctor to doctor to doctor to doctor with misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis, getting sicker and sicker.

The easiest route, with symptoms pointing to a debiliating disease is to go straight to the expert to confirm or rule out the possibilty.

 The symptoms do fit some of the symptoms of Lyme but also many other conditions. To state that "It's Lyme Disease" is jumping to conclusions. She should make an appointment with her family Dr. who can do some testing and send her to a specialist if needed. Many diseases can cause muscle aches and pains and fatigue. Not just Lyme Disease.

My similar symptoms were from a severe vit. D deficiency. Go to the doctor explain your symptoms and check it out. Vit.D is linked to all kinds of things including making it difficult loosing weight. After 2 years of therapy my D is ok, but I still have PCOS, and insulin resisitance. But after all these years I am trying the weight lose thing again.

yes as everybody pointed out, it can be a number of things. The one thing I think we all can agree on is it is not normal to feel what you are feeling. I was correctly diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and I have had all those symptoms but it does not necessary mean that that is what you have.

you need to go to your doctor and make sure they can refer you to a specialist or start some of the lab tests him/her self. I had a very good doctor who knew me (i.i meaning he knew it just wasn't all in my head) well so he was able to send me to for some of my tests, MRI, cat scan, blood, lupus, MS etc. It is a rule out diagnosis meaning they can't actually pin point it so they have to make sure it isn't anything else. He actually diagnosed me and then I went to a rhumetologist. (sorry about the spelling!!) However, I was very concerned over the rhumetologist wanting to deal with everything through pain pills, medication and nothing natural.   (that was my experience- I went to 2).

However, most importantly, first get a proper diagnosis, and then you can deal with whatever it is. Once you know then you can take your next step. One more thing, please don't let them tell you it is just hormones, you are tired etc. if you don't feel comfortable with what one doctor says go get a 2nd or 3rd opinion if you need to.

Good luck and I will say a prayer for you. I totally understand right where you are regardless of what it may be.

Elaine  

Thank you!  I mostly wanted to know if it was normal to have these pains.  I hate going to the doctor because I feel like they don't take you seriously, or at least that has been my experience.  Every time I go, I feel like they think I'm a hypochondriac, and I am always afraid they won't find something and think I'm making it up, so I just don't go.  Maybe I will go in for this if I feel especially brave.

DUDE. I have the exact. same. things. Since I was little too. I'm in crazy pain all the time, exactly like you described. Except I apparently have degenerated discs, which accounts for the pain in my back. I also have the exact opposite sleeping problem; I can barely sleep, and always wake up.

I've gone to the doctor and after multiple tests they still don't know what's wrong =/ 

yes be brave. you know you are not a hypochondriac and you know very well that this "phantom pain" is not in your head!!! Very nicely but strongly let the doctor know that this is not made up, you are "not nuts" and somebody needs to help you move forward so that you can get to the bottom of what is going on. 

I know, been there, done that. As much as my own husband was suportive for awhile I wasn't sure if he even thought I was just complaining.  Especially because from one day or one minute to the next you can go from great to terrible in a matter of 60 seconds!!!

You just keep telling yourself you wouldn't sit there this long to just make it up. Your pain is real and it is not normal.

Good luck again.

Elaine     

I actually have to disagree with most of you about the doctor part.  All the doctor is going to do is label you with a trendy disease,  pump you full of meds and give you a false sense of security and never solve the problem, just the symptoms.  Most doctors have no training in nutrition, it's not part of the program and I think most only have a layman's knowledge of the link between nutrition and overall health.  Doctors are not Gods and they are not all knowing.  Their field of study is actually quite limited and most of what they do is prescribe pills or cut you open...that's how they are trained to solve problems.

You've lived with this your whole life, so obviously it's not life threatening.  What I would do is go see a nutrional consultant or dietician, perhaps a referral from your doctor if you must, and eliminate all the processed foods from your diet and move towards a whole, unprocessed foods diet and see where that takes you in six months or a year.  I bet most, if not all the symptoms will go away.   A dietician might also suggest eliminating certain food groups for a while to see if you have some kind of allergy.

I did not have your pain, but I suffered from a myriad of problems through my life, from chronic headaches, hemerroids, back pain, cramps, severe indigestion (now called Acid Reflux Disease) and a host of other issues.  All gone permanently through diet and exercise.  

Your problem may be more complicated than that, but if you have to eat right and exercise first, to eliminate the possibility that the main cause of your symptoms is what you are putting into your body.  Only then should you consider medication of any kind...in my opinion.

Original Post by johnnypenso:

I actually have to disagree with most of you about the doctor part.  All the doctor is going to do is label you with a trendy disease,  pump you full of meds and give you a false sense of security and never solve the problem, just the symptoms.  Most doctors have no training in nutrition, it's not part of the program and I think most only have a layman's knowledge of the link between nutrition and overall health.  Doctors are not Gods and they are not all knowing.  Their field of study is actually quite limited and most of what they do is prescribe pills or cut you open...that's how they are trained to solve problems.

You've lived with this your whole life, so obviously it's not life threatening.  What I would do is go see a nutritional consultant or dietician, perhaps a referral from your doctor if you must, and eliminate all the processed foods from your diet and move towards a whole, unprocessed foods diet and see where that takes you in six months or a year.  I bet most, if not all the symptoms will go away.   A dietician might also suggest eliminating certain food groups for a while to see if you have some kind of allergy.

I did not have your pain, but I suffered from a myriad of problems through my life, from chronic headaches, hemerroids, back pain, cramps, severe indigestion (now called Acid Reflux Disease) and a host of other issues.  All gone permanently through diet and exercise.  

Your problem may be more complicated than that, but if you have to eat right and exercise first, to eliminate the possibility that the main cause of your symptoms is what you are putting into your body.  Only then should you consider medication of any kind...in my opinion.

 While I agree with most of what you say. Most Doctors do not know alot about nutrition and I am a firm believer in you are what you eat. But just because someone has had symptoms all of their life and they have not died from it does not mean it is not  something they need to treat. Whether it be through diet or medication. There could be an underlying medical condition that may or may not be helped through diet and exercise but blood tests and other testing needs to be done to rule out anything that should be treated by a Doctor. A thyroid condition for example can be undiagnosed for years. So can heart disease, hormone imbalances, arthritis and so on. Many diseases can cause us problems for years before we finally feel sick enough to seek treatment.  So I would start by ruling out a medical condition that should be treated and then I agree a visit with a nutritionist is a good idea.

Did you read my post Shelly?  I did not say that because he had the symptoms his whole life and they should not treat it.  I said,

"Your problem may be more complicated than that, but if you have to eat right and exercise first, to eliminate the possibility that the main cause of your symptoms is what you are putting into your body.  Only then should you consider medication of any kind...in my opinion".

Had his condition onset recently and suddenly of course I would have suggested something different, but it's not life threatening and if it were me, I'd do exactly what I suggested to him, and have done the same.  Most doctors these days are just pill pushers that run you through their office as fast as possible to collect their paycheque and that's the truth.  There are exceptions but in my experience and the experience of those around me, it's very rare.  You get caught up in the medical system, in the pill popping merry go round, and you are doomed.

Original Post by :

Did you read my post Shelly?  I did not say that because he had the symptoms his whole life and they should not treat it.  I said,

"Your problem may be more complicated than that, but if you have to eat right and exercise first, to eliminate the possibility that the main cause of your symptoms is what you are putting into your body.  Only then should you consider medication of any kind...in my opinion".

Had his condition onset recently and suddenly of course I would have suggested something different, but it's not life threatening and if it were me, I'd do exactly what I suggested to him, and have done the same.  Most doctors these days are just pill pushers that run you through their office as fast as possible to collect their paycheque and that's the truth.  There are exceptions but in my experience and the experience of those around me, it's very rare.  You get caught up in the medical system, in the pill popping merry go round, and you are doomed.

 Hi Johnny, Yes I read your post and said I agreed with most of it. But I don't agree that she should not start with a Doctor. Find a good Doctor. I have several Doctors in my family and none of them are pill pushers. One is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to diet, exercise and nutrition. I think she should have testing done, blood tests and other tests if necessary to rule out anything serious and get to the bottom of the problem. A heart problem for example can cause you problems for years and years and go undiagnosed. So can a thyroid disorder, Lyme disease, autoimmune diseases and so on and they can be life threatening so that is why I would start there. My husband was sick for over 15 years and it tuned out he had an autoimmune disorder that went un-treated that entire time so now he is a chronic/un-treatable case.

Cleaning up her diet is also key. Cutting out processed foods is an excellent idea. And I do believe a lot of people are sick and don't feel well due to a poor diet and lack of exercise. So we agree on most points just not all.

I am not a Physcian however, I have had fibromyalgia for quite a few years and it sounds to me like you have it as well. Beware. there are allot of Doctors out there who do not believe in fibro though. So, please do not get dicouraged. You will be told there is nothing wrong with you or all of this is in your head and you are crazy or you are just a hyprocondriact. If you live in the Portland area, there is a place that speacializes in fibromyalgia. It it located at the Oregon Health Science Center.

Be sure to call around and ask the doctors you speak with if they believe in fibro. It will save you time frustration and lots of money. Believe me I went through it.

My symptoms started last winter. AT first I just thought my wanting to sleep so much was due to the cold weather and being stuck inside all the time (I hibernate in the winter). Then I started notcing that my finger tips were turning white and going slightly numb. Still didn't think much about it.  A month or so later my foot started hurting, and got worse and worse till I could barely walk sometimes, I also had a stiff neck and swollen glands. Finally broke down and went to see Doc. She ordered bloodwork and when we got results I had all kinds of inflammation, so she referred me to a Rheumatologist. In the meantime I went to Chiro to see if he could do anything to help. He did physical therapy on my foot and within two weeks I was able to start running. Rheumatologist ran some more bloodwork and after getting results, she believes that I have Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD). Our symptoms sound similar. I have the migratory pains, one day here, next day there. Some days I can hardly function I feel so tired and other days I feel "normal". I feel better in the mornings but by evening when I sit down to watch TV, I start to tighten up and get stiff and sore. I have found that for me staying active all day helps and taking a walk at night instead of watching TV helps keep some of the soreness to a minimum. I am glad that I found out that I have this early on so that if it progresses we can treat it early on. So please do not hesitate to go to the Doc.  There are many different auto-immune disorders that have similar symptoms but they can rule some out just by doing bloodwork. It's worth it to know and maybe you will get lucky and it will be something they can correct (possibly an infection or minor inflammation).