84 Possible Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

84 Possible Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Of those who respect fibromyalgia as a legitimate medical condition, most of them associate chronic wide spread pain as the primary symptom. Some also recognized chronic fatigue and fibro fog as additional symptoms. But what many do not realize or appreciate about fibromyalgia is that there are more than 82 symptoms that go along with fibromyalgia, either as a primary symptom or overlapping secondary symptom.

Also consider that many of these symptoms can be unrelated to fibromyalgia and could easily be symptomatic to other types of illnesses or diseases. This list is presented as something to think about and as information you may want to talk to your doctor about.

This list of fibromyalgia symptoms are alphabetically ordered.

  1. Abdominal cramps
  2. Abdominal & Digestive Symptoms
  3. Awkwardness
  4. Bloating & nausea
  5. Bruising or scarring easily
  6. Chronic wide spread pain
  7. Clumsiness
  8. Confusion
  9. Coughing
  10. Cravings for carbohydrate and chocolate
  11. Delayed reactions to physical exertion or stressful events
  12. Depression
  13. Difficulty speaking known words, other language impairments (dysphasia)
  14. Diffuse Swelling
  15. Directional disorientation
  16. Earaches & itchy ears
  17. Fatigue
  18. Fibro Fog
  19. Fibrocystic (lumpy, tender) breasts (as an overlapping condition)
  20. Foot Stiffness
  21. Foot Pain
  22. Free-floating anxiety
  23. Frequent Chronic Sciatica nerve pain
  24. Hair loss (temporary)
  25. Headaches
  26. Hemorrhoids
  27. Hip Pain
  28. Impotence
  29. Inability to recognize familiar surroundings
  30. Insomnia
  31. Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome)
  32. Irritable Bladder
  33. Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  34. Light and/or broken sleep pattern with unrefreshing sleep
  35. Loss of libido
  36. Loss of ability to distinguish some shades of colors
  37. Migraine Headaches
  38. Mitral valve prolapse
  39. Mold & yeast sensitivity
  40. Mood swings
  41. Morning stiffness

fibro_symptoms2

  1. Muscle Spasms
  2. Muscle Twitches
  3. Nails that curve under
  4. Night driving difficulty
  5. Nose bleeds
  6. Other family members with fibromyalgia
  7. Pain that mimics heart attack, frequently from costochondritis
  8. Painsomnia – Insomnia directly related to pain disturbances
  9. Panic attacks
  10. Paresthesias in the upper limbs (tingling or burning sensations)
  11. Pelvic pain
  12. Pelvic Pain
  13. PMS (as an overlapping condition)
  14. Poor balance and coordination
  15. Post nasal drip
  16. Pronounced nail ridges
  17. Ringing ears (tinitis)
  18. Runny nose
  19. Sensitivity to pressure changes, temperature & humidity
  20. Sensitivity to noise
  21. Sensitivity to light
  22. Sensitivity to odors
  23. Sensory overload
  24. Sensory Symptoms
  25. Short-term memory impairment
  26. Shortness of breath
  27. Sleep starts (falling sensations)
  28. Specific tissue pain
  29. Specific muscle pain
  30. Staring into space before brain “kicks in”
  31. Stiffness caused by sitting in the same position for a prolonged period of time
  32. Sweats, usually night time
  33. Swollen Hands
  34. Teeth grinding (bruxism)
  35. Tendency to cry easily
  36. Tension Headaches
  37. Tingling Hands
  38. Tissue overgrowth (non-cancerous tumors. lipomas, ingrown hairs, cuticles, adhesions)
  39. Trouble concentrating
  40. Unaccountable irritability
  41. Unexplained weight gain
  42. Unexplained weight loss
  43. Urinary frequency
  44. Vision changes (including rapidly worsening vision)This list is for informational purposes and is not a diagnostic aid. Always consult your health care provider for any diagnosis or treatment of any of the symptoms.

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9 Tips For Coping With Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

9 Tips For Coping With Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia

1. Understand what else can trigger a fibro flare to avoid it.

2. Say no when you need to.

3. Don’t feel guilty for saying no.

4. You have a lot of limitations, don’t feel guilty for having limitations.

5. Remember you did not ask for Fibromyalgia.

6. You can always do something within the parameters Fibro has given you. Find out what there are.

7. Find something to laugh about, every single day.

8. Take time out to pray or meditate

9. Take time out for yourself each day

9_tips_coping_with_fibro

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Six Good Things About Fibromyalgia

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Six Good Things About Fibromyalgia

Is it even possible to have something good come from the pain and suffering of chronic pain, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia? I think so. Here is a legitimate list of things I can think about the are possible to learn from suffering from fibromyalgia.  Can you think or more to add to the list? If so, what are they?

six_good_things_about_fibro

1. Learn about who you really are.

2. A renewed or deepened relationship with God.

3. Learn more about empathy.

4. Learn or increase your ability to be grateful or show gratitude.

5. Understanding you internal capacity for pain and tribulation

6. Learn about your external capacity to bare pain.

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Not All Fibromyalgia Symptoms Are Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Not All Fibromyalgia Symptoms Are Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Most people discover that they have fibromyalgia after a long bout of chronic pain. Then it usually takes a year or more to get it correctly diagnosed. In the meantime and for the next several years they discover additional symptoms of fibromyalgia like chronic fatigue, fibro fog, IBS, chemical sensitivities, dizziness, impaired motor skills and the list really goes on and on.

I’ve heard that there are more than sixty symptoms related to fibromyalgia. I haven’t researched that statement yet but here are a lot of additional fibro symptoms to consider such as Chronic muscle spasms, or tightness, chronic fatigue and decreased energy, Insomnia, waking up feeling just as tired, as when you went to sleep, stiffness upon waking or after staying in one position for too long, difficulty remembering, concentrating, and performing simple mental tasks (“fibro fog”), abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and constipation alternating with diarrhea (irritable bowel syndrome), tension or migraine headaches, jaw and facial tenderness, sensitivity to one or more of the following: odors, noise, bright lights, medications, certain foods, and cold.

Even more fibro symptoms are feeling anxious or depressed, numbness or tingling in the face, arms, hands, legs, or feet, increase in urinary urgency or frequency (irritable bladder), reduced tolerance for exercise and muscle pain after exercise, a feeling of swelling (without actual swelling) in the hands and feet.

not_all_fibro_symptoms_are sympRemember, there are countless more symptoms of fibromyalgia. But here is the point, when you notice a new symptom don’t just assume that it is a fibro symptom, at least get it checked out before assuming anything.

My first example from my decades long experiences that illustrates this concept: I have been having problems recently being way more fatigued than usual. I went the doctor to check it out. It felt a little more than traditional chronic fatigue symptoms. To make a long story short, I found out that my heart rate was hovering in the mid 40’s. Sometimes and low as 40. That can make a person very sleeping. I am currently being monitored by a Cardiologist.

The second example is related to dizziness. Dizziness can be a symptom of fibromyalgia but it, like most of the symptoms of fibromyalgia can by symptoms related t other things. Occasionally I have dizziness with fibromyalgia. In the past I have had a few inner ear infections. I started getting much more dizzy than usual. Went to the doctor to finds out I have an inner ear infection and fluid build up behind both ear drums. I was able to get some Meclizine to help with the dizziness. I was told to take Mucinex to help get rid of the fluid.

Ten days later I went to my doctor again and the fluid was gone behind one ear and the other ear was infected. Got an antibiotic and after three days I am seeing improvement.

If I had not gone to the doctor then I would have got really dizzy and sick and suffered longer than needed.

My third example is that I take medicine for IBS, irritable bladder, anxiety, muscle spasms, to manage fibro symptoms. Always treat the symptoms if they are a part of fibro or not. Chronic pain is more than enough to deal with, manage your other symptoms the best you can.

Troy Wagstaff ©

This is not medical advice. This is for informational purposes and should not be considered medical advice. Consult your doctor for any questions about your health.

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Eight Tips For Dealing with Fibro Stress and Depression

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Eight Tips For Dealing with Fibro Stress and Depression

Stress can be a major trigger when you have fibromyalgia or other chronic invisible illnesses. Since you cannot always control when you’ll be in a stressful situation you cannot always control flare ups. So it is a good idea to learn to control stressful situations as much as possible to have some degree of control over your chronic invisible illness.

This article is a suggestion of eight types of stressful triggers and a comment on each item to give you some idea of what to think about in regards to managing the stress that comes into your life.

1. Avoid stressful situations when at all possible.

2. Wisely say no when needed, and don’t feel guilty.

3. Do the hardest things in the morning and take proper rest or naps in the afternoon.

4. Schedule something each day that is enjoyable.

5. Take time to exercise.

6. Read ten or twenty minutes each day from the Holy Scriptures

7. Start your day with prayer, end your day with prayer and say all the prayers you need from your heart throughout the day.

8. Set reasonable goals and prioritize them, but don’t obsess about them.

8_tips_avoid_stress_depressionBy virtue of living, each of us has some idea of thinking or activities that cause stress in our lives. Make a list of those known stressors and do all that you can to avoid them. However, don’t go overboard and create a stressful situation by obsessing on avoiding stress.

Learn how to say “no” and not feel guilty about it. Saying “no” for many people is as stressful as the activity they are saying “no” too. So it doesn’t do much good just to say “no” if you’re going to stress over it.

Sick or not, life goes on and there are things that have to get done. Make a list of those things and then rank them according to how important they really are. Start with the op of the list. This way, if you can only do two things one day, at least they’ll be the most important.

Being sick with chronic pain and other fibromyalgia symptoms is, in itself, stressful. To combat that problem, you need to plan in your day, happy, relaxing or soothing activities.

Exercise is a subject that stands on its own, but exercise, when done correctly, can help manage some of the daily stress.

Read from the Holy Scriptures or if you’re not a religious person read from some text that is inspirational and positive to you. Do this every day.

Take time to pray every day, especially morning and evenings and whenever the need arises, say a prayer in your heart. No religious? Try some meditation or positive affirmations.

Keep goals as a big part of your life without obsessing over them. They can serve as a reminder, but don’t let them serve as inspiration for a guilt trip.

There is a lot more to say about these items, but everyone’s situation is different and these ideas are designed as a starting point for you to help you avoid depression and stress.

What have you tried and how has it worked for you?

Troy Wagstaff ©

This article or list is not medical advice. It is private opinion to help you get started thinking and figuring out what is best for your situations.

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Inspirational Quotes and Memes

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Inspirational Quotes and Memes

Inspirational quote made into memes and though some are copyrighted, they are free to use as long as they are unaltered.

grudge_forgiveness

let_go_of_what_was

what_defines_us

wisdom_listening

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6 Fundamentals Of Coping With Fibromyalgia

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

6 Fundamentals Of Coping With Fibromyalgia

1. Accept the fact that you have it.

2. Accept the fact that, at the present time, fibromyalgia is incurable.

3. Manage the various symptoms as they come upon you.

4. Don’t be afraid to let go of the you, you used to be before fibromyalgia.

5. Look for a new you that you can be in spite of fibromyalgia.

6. Look for the spiritual strength you need to give you the energy to cope with Fibro.

six_fundamentalsIf you can accept the fact that you have fibromyalgia and that at the present time fibromyalgia is incurable you will save yourself a lot of money and a lot of stress. There are people out there that want to make money on peoples misfortune. If you knew, for an absolute fact, that doing a certain thing would, for sure, cure you of the chronic pain, fog and fatigue called fibromyalgia, would you be willing to pay almost any sum of money? I know I would. We can make easy marks for shysters.

Coming to terms with the fact that there are things you can no longer do because of fibromyalgia and that there is no known cure for fibromyalgia, then you can take that stress, and pressure off of you and focus it on dealing with the present, which is you with fibromyalgia.

Most people find out that they have fibromyalgia from chronic throbbing pain and then with differing speeds, other symptoms start to afflict you. Don’t just assume that it is par for the course. Treat each and every symptom that comes your way appropriately with the doctor. The additional symptoms, if left untreated, can become as bad as or worse than the chronic pain.

You’ll find that, like most people with fibromyalgia, you can’t do what you used to do. You should accept that, and take the energy you would spend fighting the fibro disease and apply that energy to becoming something that you can do with the give and take of fibromyalgia.

Often, when you are spending so much energy dealing with the pain of fibromyalgia and the many other symptoms associated with it, you can slide away from the spiritual energy you need most. Keep aware of that possibility and try to keep or get that spiritual energy to help fighting the hated monster, fibromyalgia.

Perhaps there are more fundamentals in fighting fibromyalgia. What have you found to be a fundamental in your fight with this terrible disease?

Troy Wagstaff   ©

This is not medical advice, just my opinion.

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A Day In The Life Of Fibromyalgia: Exercising

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

A Day In The Life Of Fibromyalgia: Exercising

I know that talking about fibromyalgia and exercising in the same sentence is a turn off for many fibromites but before you tune out this topic, please remember, I have had fibromyalgia for thirty-one years. I have experience about this subject and that experience may surprise you.

Over the thirty-one years I have had fibromyalgia I have been on a roller coaster of success and failure with trying to establish an exercise program. I will save the details for another post. In short, though, I’ve only found three forms of exercise that I have been able to do for any length of time, walking, swimming and weight lifting. Again, the details are worthy of a separate post. I just want to say I have found appropriate exercise to be beneficial to partially manage fibromyalgia and here is my story that drives that point home.

a_day_in_the_life_of_fibromylagia_exerciseI have had several sicknesses unrelated to fibromyalgia over the past month or so, but in the middle of all that, I have managed to spend some time, less time than normal, on the treadmill. The past eight or nine days I have had a middle ear infection or a large fluid buildup behind my eardrums. It makes me dizzy and seriously distorts my hearing. One day I hear better than I have for thirty years and the next I can hardly hear anything. One day almost all noise bothers me and the next day I can watch TV. All the while my equilibrium is out of whack. This means that it’s very hard to exercise, for anyone and especially me where my primary exercise is walking on the treadmill. Even holding on to the bars, no way.

So for about that last eight or nine days I have not been able to exercise with one small exception; I managed to walk about seven or eight minutes on the sidewalk with my walking sticks and my daughter walking along side of me in case I fell. That small amount of time didn’t help much.

Yesterday I noticed my abs was sore, along with my thighs, buttocks, and most of my back was sore. It was the kind of sore I didn’t have while I regularly exercised. Those of us with fibromyalgia are expert at reading the different types of pain. This pain wasn’t the type that makes you think “I’m going to die” pain, but rather, it is the miserable and uncomfortable pain. Normally, it is a tolerable pain, but for us fibromites it is way too much pain.

For the last two years of exercising, I have felt physically good about exercising but never wanted to find out if it was helping my pain levels, to do so would mean I deliberately stop exercising for a while. Exercise is good for you no matter what, so I just kept going. Now that I have been benched for enough time to notice, I can see that to some extent, my pain has been relieved by exercising.

But here is the main point. In spite of the increase in pain caused from not exercising, I have not felt the need to increase my pain MEDs. Yet, as soon as my dizziness is over, I will resume my walking on a treadmill or on the sidewalk. It does make me feel better enough to want to keep exercising, but doesn’t affect my pain levels enough to influence my pain MEDs up or down.

Troy Wagstaff ©

This post is not medical advise or medical suggestions. It is just personal observations and opinions.

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My Journey With Chronic Pain and Fatigue

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

My Journey With Chronic Pain and Fatigue

I still remember when I was just tiptoeing through chronic pain and the journey I took getting to the point where I was completely submerged in chronic pain and fatigue. At first I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and, for two decades, I spent my life trying to manage a disease I didn’t have.

With every excruciating step it felt as if every bone in my feet were brittle sticks being broken at every step as well as catching fire like kindling. My calves felt so tight it seemed as though they would snap with every stride. I had to rally every ounce of will power to make the next step forward. With every bone crushing step forward I was one piercing pain closer to crawling on my knees.

31_year_journey_chronic_pain_fatigueBack in 1984, I was excelling as a salesman at a home improvement store. I was the leading in store salesman and occasionally the regional sales person of the month. After I decided to go to the doctor about the pain, it took six months and three or four doctors before ending up with a Rheumatologist diagnosing me with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). Given the time period and the symptoms, it was as good a diagnosis they could make.

Chronic pain wasn’t really, to my knowledge, recognized as an issue or a diagnosis. At least not with the community of doctors I was around. I read a lot of literature about managing arthritis. One of the things I read was that there are a lot of unscrupulous quacks out there preying on those who suffer pain from various types of arthritis. They make outlandish claims about treatments that will take away your arthritis or manage it completely pain free. People are so desperate that they will pay any amount of money at a shot of relieving the pain they are going through.

My treatment was primarily an anti-inflammatory and when needed, Tylenol. Other than flare ups from time to time through those two decades, the treatment worked. Occasionally my doctors would update my anti-inflammatory as a new one came along. Occasionally they would give me steroids for flare up pain.

During those years I got married and a few years later started having children capping off with three adorable girls. I had a great job and things were going well in spite of the occasional flare up, where pain would come from the front my pelvis and hip region. The pain was exquisite, but fairly short lived. Usually two or three days tops.

In the fall of 2004, I had reached a climax of pain. It was at that time period, about the time the Vioxx was taken off the market, that my pain started to flare up and transitioned into severe chronic pain and chronic fatigue. Only this time, the pain was twenty times worse than in 1984. I was virtually paralyzed with pain. Thank goodness for a recliner. My back hurt too badly to lie prone all day, and I couldn’t sit all day long without raging pain. So with a recliner I could move into many positions to try to relieve that infernal chronic pain. A heating pad seemed to help some of the time.

31_year_journey_chronic_pain_fatigue_2I was skipping around from doctor to doctor like a flat stone skips on the water only to have my hope of a diagnosis sink like the flat stone sinks, into the deep cold water of pain and misery. My body was a prison of pain that I didn’t have the strength to escape.

I spent more than a year with chronic pain before I found another Rheumatologist who diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. Great diagnosis. The problem was symptomatic of the times, around 2005. Some doctors were generally understanding the syndrome, but at the same time, generally lacking the ability to treat it. So with a correct diagnosis and no treatment I was right back where I started from, the only difference was, now I had a name to call my suffering.

After that diagnosis, it took two or three additional doctors before I started to get treatments that worked. The doctor that finally came through for me was Dr. George. He was a pain doctor who specialized in treating chronic pain. Several months later I found a ND who added to my diagnoses several additional illnesses like Epstein Bahr Virus and Cytomegalovirus along and Chronic Fatigue syndrome. After about three or four months, my pain started to improve and the other symptoms improved somewhat, but I was still lousy with pain and other symptoms, but now with a correct diagnosis and a couple of treatment protocols, I finally had hope to face the future with chronic pain and fatigue. It wasn’t smooth sailing, but at least there is hope and less pain and fatigue. Sadly, the pain, fatigue and additional symptoms will not allow me to work as I once did, and that’s where I find myself now.

Troy Wagstaff ©

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Ten Tips For Dealing with Fibro

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Ten Tips For Dealing with Fibro

ten_tips_dealing_with_fibro1

1. Let go of any guilt

2. Recognize the contradictions of fibromyalgia

3. Manage your expectations of yourself

4. Manage the expectations of others

5. Allow for rest

6. Pace yourself

7. Understand the illness

8. Forgive

9. Exercise and move around

10. Don’t give up

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