hey to all

[slickt]

I would like to introduce myself my name is slickt . I don't know if I have fibro ? I am just trying to get some advice on what is wrong with me . I have pain all over my feet ,legs,neck,upper back,lower back,headache and the worst is I am tired all the time.  I have tried to talk to my doctor about it and I don't think he believes me at all . He just looks at me like I am crazy. I am 49 years old and never felt this way in my life . Don't know what to do

[wmoore]

Welcome, this is a good place to learn about fibromyalgia, and all of it's weird add-ons. I hope with this knowledge you may feel better, at least to rest your mind about what will be, and how to start your attack against this affliction.

Good luck and get started.

[foxgrove]

Welcome slickt,

Sounds like your symptoms match ours pretty well.  It's going to take you some time and more than a few doctor visits to get a diagnosis but hopefully, what you're suffering from is cureable.  Fibromyalgia is sadly not something that modern medicine has any cures or good solid treatments for yet but we're still early in the fight. 

One of the things that I learned early on is that chronic pain is chronic pain, doesn't matter what causes it.  The general therapies that we recommend here other than medication should be good for you no matter what is causing your pain and fatigue.  The meds will have to be tailored to your situation as some meds for fibro just aren't called for with some other conditions.

Have you got a good doctor that you can work with to find out what's causing your issues or is that first thing on the shopping list?  The doc will have a number of blood tests and possibly a CT or MRI to rule out some other conditions.  You may also have to see a neurologist and a rheumatologist as well.  Generally, once you get to the rheumatologist stage and the other testing has come back "normal", which simply means they haven't discovered the cause yet, you're getting a whole lot closer to an answer.

Fibromyalgia fits a very specific list of diagnostic criteria, many of it's markers are what it isn't but there is also what it is... chronic body wide pain, fatigue, memory and cognitive issues, and a whole list of common problems that go hand in hand with fibro.  It's not an easy diagnosis to come up with due to the number of criteria that are required but it's well worth doing the testing.  If it's cureable, it would be so much better to get well again than to suffer with what you think is uncureable.

Remember that I said uncureable, not unliveable.  Hang with us... you'll understand pretty quick.  We like to howl at the moon a lot but we also continue to have our lives to live and share with each other.  It's a good place to be so sit back and dig in.  We're not going anywhere. 

Fox

[Robby]

Welcome, don't get discouraged, it took me 20-something years and probably that many dr.'s, and two 8 month "vacations" off work because of the pain and fatigue. Dn't let that scare you, I was diagnosed back in 1998, and like the cigarette advertising, "We've come a long way baby". 

Take some time and read old threads, and ask any questions you  have. There are no dumb or better than that no embarrassing questions except those you don't ask. There is a couple hundred years worth of knowledge and FIRST HAND experience here, you won't find a dr that knows as much as all of us put together, and we don't mind admitting when we are wrong 

[ronr]

Welcome slickt !

Of all the letters after my name, MD is not included but from what you describe FiBro is a definite possibility.  Was there any injury, change of jobs, or stress that happened right before this started for you or has it been a slow progression for as long as you can remember?

A new doctor that actually believes you will be something you need but you can go to a rheumatologist first, who can go about the blood tests and diagnosis the eliminate other potential causes.  Once that is completed then a regular doc can take care of the maintenance of your condition.

Start now with keeping logs of all the variables.  This will help the docs but more importantly it will help you to look back and track what is going on.  We can recommend some logs if you haven't already started one.

This area of our forums will give you lots of info to start sorting some things out for yourself.  http://menwithfibro.com/community/index.php?board=38.0

[slickt]

Thank you all for the advise and kind words !! I will keep you all updated on my condition and what the doctor are doing to help me . Thank you all so much!!

[looneylane]

Welcome slickt!

[Gearhead4Life]

Welcome slickt! I'm new here myself. There is a lot of really good info here.