Fibromyalgia

[JBaby]

For those of you with fibromyalgia, you diagnosed you? An family doc or a rheumatoid arthritic doc or someone else. I dont want to hop thru hoops to get this done. Just want the diagnoses and be done with wondering. I am pretty sure I have it bit i have no insurance, so straight to the right person would be cheapest.

[txplowgirl]

My dr sent me to a rheumatologist. From what i understand rheumys are usually the ones who dx fibro.

[tarnalberry]

my GP suspected, and sent me to a rheumy. she diagnosed/treated.

[JBaby]

Thanks ladies.I forgot to ask also, Is there blood work involved or just pressing on the potential discomforting areas?

[txplowgirl]

There are no blood tests for fibro, doc mainly listens to your symptoms then does a lot of checking the trigger point areas to see how you react. But will run blood tests for other problems like lupus, thyroid, etc. At least that's what mine did anyway.

[Judy3]

Same for me, regular doc sent me to Rheumy, pressure points and blood tests for B vitamin deficiency (he was suspect at the time). Mine is gone or in remission if that's possible since I stopped consuming aspartame (Equal artificial sweetner) it's in many things diet soda, some diet juices, even regular gum!!! So if you are a diet soda drinker try that first. It's listed on my charts as an allergy now based on that. Rheumy was flabbergasted when I had no sign of it 2 months after stopping that junk! I'm diabetic so I was eating it in jello, pudding, soda, juice etc... pre gluten free.

In some people it's evil stuff.

[GlutenFreeManna]

My primary doc wanted to diagnose me with fibromyalgia, but she wanted to run a ton of other tests first. From what I understand there is no exact test (like a simple blood test) they can do for fibro. They diagnose it based on your symptoms and by ruling out other things first. Apparently that makes it controversal in the medical field. I went to the ER once in really bad pain with a high fever and when I told the ER doc that my primary care physian suspected fibro, the doctor replied that she didn't beleive fibromyalsia existed.

Either way all my "fibro" pain went away with the elimination of gluten, soy and dairy so I never received that diagnosis. I still have a little chocolate with soy in it sometimes (hard to find good soy-free chocolate) and I will be stiff and have some pain the next day. Based on my experiences I think everyone that suspects fibro should do an elimination diet first to see if something they are eating is causing the inflamation. I'm not saying I doubt it could be a real conditon like the ER doc, but I do think there's a likely connection to celiac or other food intolerances.

[mushroom]

I have vacillated on the issue of whether fibromyalgia is real or not. I was diagnosed with it in my early 50's, had all the pressure points (but a lot of others as well), had poor sleep, was given Elavil (which made me so depressed I was crying ) and still not sleeping so I stopped it. As time went on other things became more important and I just ignored the fibro, so-called. Before I self-diagnosed my gluten intolerance I had developed joint pain in feet, hands and wrists, but also 'other' pain in my neck, shoulders and upper arms, also psoriasis, and was diagnosed with first polymyalgia rheumatica because my dad had been diagnosed with that. and then when the psoriasis appeared, with psoriatic arthritis. Now, unfortunately, the gluten free diet (and nightshade free) has not had any effect on these, and the only medication that works for me is Humira.

After this diagnosis and my discovery that most people who are gluten intolerant are at some point diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I thought it was probably a junk diagnosis like IBS, for when they can't figure out what else is causing your pain. BUT: I still have pains, which are practically identical to those of my gluten intolerant sister, which cannot be attributed to arthritis. And these pains are in the tendons and connective tissue and muscles, particularly in the extremities, but also on my hips. With both my sister and me, we cannot bear for anyone to touch our legs or arms And we cannot sleep on our sides due to pain in the hips. Doctors will reach out and grab my ankle to test the swelling and I will scream in pain. I have no idea why this is so - it must be genetic is all I can figure. I do not believe it is fibromyalgia, but I have no idea what it is. Most of the time it is only the hips I notice unless I am touched. But I don't even bother mentioning it to the doctors any more. I do remember some of the fibromyalgia pressure points, and I still have those.... but in the bigger scheme of things this is something I can cope with, as long as no one grabs my legs

[tarnalberry]

A good dr. will do a number of blood tests to rule out other conditions that can be similar to fibromyalgia. Definitely an important part of the testing.