Fibromyalgia

[jim n ok]

can anyone tell me if they have been dx with fibro and what the percent is? i will be having an exam this week for it.

[jim n ok]

thanks,my problem with the exam is that i am already taking gabapentin and it sort of relieves the fibro.will this affect the test for fibro??

[pacmanx1]

Gabapentin is used to relieve nerve pain like muscle pain, tender points and paresthesias (numbness and tingling), but fibromyalgia is a cluster of problems. Do you have migraines/headaches, Irritable bowel symptoms, depression, sleep disorder, fatigue, or stiffness. I have been on gabapentin for years with no real relief but I have to take separate medications for IBS, Migraines, Depression and sleep disorder. I really think sometimes that I am losing my mind and falling apart and I was told about six years ago to go at my own pace and try not to over do it. The fatigue along with the medications are horrible to focus or concentrate so I have to do some things more than once but hang in there

Edited April 30, 2009 by pacmanx1

[Pete53]

Pete:

Have you investigated just plain old depression for causing these symptoms. My wife has fibro and takes gabapentin with good results.

I also take gabapentin with good results and no major side effects.

[jim n ok]

Gabapentin is used to relieve nerve pain like muscle pain, tender points and paresthesias (numbness and tingling), but fibromyalgia is a cluster of problems. Do you have migraines/headaches, Irritable bowel symptoms, depression, sleep disorder, fatigue, or stiffness. I have been on gabapentin for years with no real relief but I have to take separate medications for IBS, Migraines, Depression and sleep disorder. I really think sometimes that I am losing my mind and falling apart and I was told about six years ago to go at my own pace and try not to over do it. The fatigue along with the medications are horrible to focus or concentrate so I have to do some things more than once but hang in there

i have ibs,urinary problems{big time] i use a cpap but still awake in pain,i have shooting,burning,tingling pain moveing all over my body in rapid succesion[never in the same place]. i get down but can't get up,i need to get down and can't. i shuffle when i walk,i no longer take strides.i have had 4 nerve block surgeries and none have helped. sometimes when i move too suddenly,it triggers a spasm that starts in one area and moves over my whole body....i hope this isn't old age..cause i'm not quite 60 yet.

[Pete53]

Jim:

I am no Doctor but I think that you need to be evaluated for meds and perhaps take a higher dosage or something else.

Just my two cents as a layman who has a lot of the same problems you do but thankfully some relief from 2400 mg of gabapentin every day

Good Luck

[pacmanx1]

Pete my gabapentin is not that high, I am about 1800 mg and my rheumatologist is reluctant to increase it because they have tried me on Cymbalta and lyrica and I ended up in the emergency room with worst conditions. I should have said I have been on and off gabapentin over the years with no real relief. Depression may play a part for me but I did a sleep study that came back negative for sleep apnea but positive for sleep disturbance due to pain. Not really sure but doctor says that my body still feels pain and is uncomfortable even when I sleep (crazy as this sounds but what else can you do but take it one day at a time). My conditions have all been diagnosed separately, even though some doctors believe some patients symptoms are not really there, mine have been diagnosed several times over the last few years. They even tell me that I could have been exposed to some contaminant from gulf war even though I did not deploy. I was hospitalized after the first gulf war on and off for six months and came back with no real diagnosis of why I was getting sick. A year after I got out I was diagnosed with ten of the thirteen symptoms of gulf war and have been having problems ever since that time. Even the Gulf War examiner I saw told me I had the most symptoms he has seen so if this is all due to depression, I would sure love to kick myself in the head and say get over it but MRIs, EMGs, EGDs. Bone Scans are not in my head so depression can't influence these results.