Coping With Fibromyalgia

The first time I went to my Dr. with a complaint that "I hurt all over" she did an exam and bloodwork.  I found out after the exam she was checking out the trigger points of the pain and we would wait a few days for the blood test to come in.  The medications she prescribed didn't get rid of the pain and the bloodwork came back normal.  She then referred me to a rhumatologist for more testing. 

I was in his office in less than two weeks which is usually unheard of.  He drew 10 nice size vials of blood.  He said that was to check for 44 different auto-immune diseases.  Then he did an exam, once again pressing on the trigger points.  About that time I was ready to hit someone over the head with a chair if they didn't stop pressing on the areas that hurt so bad.  I was given an appointment for when my bloodwork came back and through the elemination of other diseases he came to the conclusion that I had Fibromyalgia.  He then put me on 50mg of Lyrica.  It didn't help so it was raised at my one month visit to 100 mg.  I started noticing something but it wasn't a relief in the pain but other things like forgetting things. 

After three months the Lyrica was raised to 150 mg per day in hopes of relieving the pain.  It didn't work but my cognitive ability was gone.  I would sit and stare at things.  One night my husband found me looking at my plate not knowing what to do with it.  At work I couldn't add simple things like 46 plus one.  I would just stare at the paper.  A friend at work would guide me through out the day until she said, get off the drug.  Go home, dump the drug and call your Dr.  It is about to kill you.  I did call my rhumatologist and left a message.  Finally, after a week, the Nurse Practioner called me back and asked if I was still on the drug and I said no.  She wanted me to come in so  she could put me on another drug and I refused.

The drug was Sevilla which can cause seizures.  That scared me half to death.  All I could think about was what if I had a seizure while driving and killed a family.  I would never be able to live with myself again.

I did go back to my family Dr. and told her what was going on and she agreed with me.  I told her I wanted her to treat me and she has.  I have one narcotic med that I take as needed and I only get 90 pills per year.  The other is a muscle relaxer, one a day.

This does help and I do keep the narcotic med for those days when nothing works and I can hardly move.  I am good with that because I wanted to learn to live around the Fibromyalgia and not give in to it.

Stretching the muscles does help and I do that daily along with riding short distances on my bike. 

First thing in the morning, before I get out of bed, I take two advil.  Then I start my day.  I slowly get things going and then when the Advil kicks in I can actually get things done.  If there is a soreness that is lingering I apply a ThermaCare patch to the area that really hurts.

Taking things a little slower does help me and I can do everything I could when I didn't have Fibromyalgia.  I cook, clean, walk, drive and anything else I want.  I refuse to let the pain get to me.  I get to the pain.  My little rituals do help.  Taking the Advil, getting my coffee and reading for about a half an hour before I start my day works well.  The pain isn't gone, but I try to just ignore it and live my life the way I want to, not the way the Fibromyalgia wants me to.

Today, I'm able to cope with the pain and always looking for more ways to help me get through the day without a lot of medication.  If you feel you are hurting all over and it never lets up you have it all day and all night, then check with your Dr. it could be Fibromyalgis or something that is more serious.  
 
I hope this helps you do learn what to use to help you through the pain and how to deal with it better.