Back when I was diagnosed with fibro, I looked up everything I could find on the subject. But this was 15 years ago and althought there was some stuff out there their wasn't a lot. From time to time a go looking again and as time passes there is more and more information. Some is helpful, some is not. Some is true and some is very doubtful. But the think that really gets my attention is that over time the information available sounds more and more like the fibro I have. At first, when I read discriptions of fibro symptoms I said that just doesn't sound like me.
I guess what I've taken the long way around to say is that the medical community has finally gotten around to understanding that all fibro is not created equal. And in doing this reading I can at least find out that I am not and alone and completely weird.
I'm going to talk a little about my symptomalogy, it might help someone else. Who know?
Since I was a child I have had sharp shooting pains all over my body. Of course as a child everyone said they were growing pains. As I got older doctors would shrug and say they didn't know what caused them and if they didn't last more than a few seconds there was no point ind trying to find a cause. I have also for most of my adult life had transatory pains. You know the ones where your elbow or side or you ankle will hurt so bad that you can't perform normal task, but they only last hours or some times a day or two.
I started having migraines the summer I graduated from high school. The first few years they were very bad; sometimes 1 or 2 a week and often lasting 2 or 3 days. This was in the 60's and at that time there were no magic pills for migraines. The only medication available was Cafargot. Sometimes it stopped the headaches and sometimes it didn't but it always made me sick as a dog. So after a few months I refused to take it any more. The only other help was Demerol and all it did was let me sleep through the headache. Until Maxalth came along a few years back I had never taken anything that actually stopped a headache. Now I take Toprimate to prevent the headaches and I have very few. I have to say its one of the few things the doctors have ever been able to improve.
Back when the migranes were so bad I used to tell people that as long as I could sleep through my pain I would survive. Back in those days I never had any trouble sleeping. In the last 15 years the only time I have slept through the night is when I have been drugged. For a while I took Ambien and it really did help me sleep but it left me sleepy in the daytime and I walked in my sleep when I was taking it. The first time I woke up and found my kitchen rearranged it really freaked me out. I quit taking the Ambien after I realized that it was causing as many problems as it was helping. For the last 3 or 4 years I have been going to bed for about 10 hours a night. And I do sleep most of that time but I am up and down all night. Needless to say I don't usually feel very rested.
There is a ton more stuff. Like most fibro sufferers I have had and still do have all kinds of medical problems. Ill talk about some of them next time. I hope some of this can help someone. If anyone wants to comment I'd be glad to hear from you.
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