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Fibromyalgia

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flyfisher

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I served in the Persian Gulf during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I have been recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia/ Myofascial syndrome by two seperate nurse practioners one of them being my primary care provider and the other in the pain clinic. My primary care provider filled out a Disability Benefits Questionnaire where she stated by pain was not responding to treatment and that her opinion that it was least as likely as not related to my service in the Persian Gulf and exposure to possible environmental causes. I have filed a claim with my VSO and still waiting on a decision. My primary care provider has completed all the blood work to rule out other causes such as arthritis. I have been referrred to neurology and rheumatolgy but have been denied to be seen as they tell me to be treated for chronic pain in response to the referrals.

Has anyone else who served in the Persian Gulf claimed fibromyalgia as a presumptive illness and been granted service connection. I am trying to gain information in case my claim gets denied. Any help would be appreciated.

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Forttiudine,

you should mention all this to your Dr, even tho there's no cure you need to let the Dr know about your symtoms and what all you been going through this can cause depression really bad my friend and not sleeping and in pain all the time is bad on the old heart and can cause other bad disease.

I also have Fibro.&Arthitice and Osteroperois <ms

I tried almost everything under the sun diet exercise stretches ect,,ect,, ..trigger point injections,epidural injection & pain meds, the moist weather is bad for this condition also.. the only thing that seem to ease it up was Acupuncture I was skeptical at first but when I had that done at the VA it seem to help for a little while anyway couple weeks...so now I'm going to try it on monthly bases.

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Hi everyone! Sorry I have been signed off for so long! I have been on Lyrica for several months and I am having decent results. I still have pain but it is not the level it was before this all started. I have never seen a rheumatogist for the fibromyalgia. I was diagnosed by by primary care doctor and by the pain clinic NP. I am currently rated at 50% for the fibromyalgia. I had DBQ's filled out by my primary doctor and that was enough for my claim. My pain provider told me to excercise until I sweat and also keep my mood up! There is new studies by the VA that show antidepressants helping also so don't be surprised if they recommend that also. As a VA RN I would tell you to try one med at a time and see how it goes because they can always add something a few visits later.

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Forttiudine,

you should mention all this to your Dr, even tho there's no cure you need to let the Dr know about your symtoms and what all you been going through this can cause depression really bad my friend and not sleeping and in pain all the time is bad on the old heart and can cause other bad disease.

I also have Fibro.&Arthitice and Osteroperois <ms

I tried almost everything under the sun diet exercise stretches ect,,ect,, ..trigger point injections,epidural injection & pain meds, the moist weather is bad for this condition also.. the only thing that seem to ease it up was Acupuncture I was skeptical at first but when I had that done at the VA it seem to help for a little while anyway couple weeks...so now I'm going to try it on monthly bases.

I agree make sure you document everything! I have also been through acupuncture but that was useless for me!

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Guys, I'm in the final stages of ruling out everything else, hopefully at Thursday's appointment. My Rheumatologist was talking FibroM about 4 months ago, my PCP did back in February when she sent me to the Rheumatologist. I've had the muscle and joint pain pretty much every day since mid-'93 at a level of 5-8 on that "damn scale" The Dr. has me on Hydracodone right now so those 3 times a day and a couple of Aleve twice a day at least take the edge off. Once he says, "Yes, it's Fibromyalgia." I intend to ask him for a DBQ.

I'm currently at 70% for PTSD with depression and anxiety. Gastro and fatigue issues still under investigation.

The reason I mentioned all that is because, please don't take offense, but in some weird way I find a little comfort in knowing that there are others in this same boat with me... I guess that's completely f - ing insane. I found myself thinking Wow, these guys know exactly what I've been dealing with for 20 years.

Try to stay away away from narcotics as VA RN I have seen way too many young soldiers addicted and having to deal with that and everything else. I know it might sound negative but believe nothing is worse then the added pain of addiction. Hang in there and keep in touch because we all care!

Flyfisher -

If you don't mind, what med is helping you?

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Just received my total and permanent rating for fibromyalgia and PTSD! I had letter from my providers stating that each was static and permanent! My vet rep notified me this morning but I am still waiting for the official documents from the VA!

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