Turns out that in addition to fibromyalgia, I have high levels of inflammation in my body. The blood tests were nonspecific (why, thank you body), so it will take time to figure out what exactly is wrong with me. It does mean that I now have to take more drugs, and that in addition to having all my muscles hurt, my joints will keep hurting too. The inflammation is likely contributing to the fatigue.
The good news is that this may be temporary. Want to know what I think about the odds of my body doing the temporary thing?
Screaming language so foul your ears would melt if you heard it!
The bad news is that it may be permanent, as in rheumatoid arthritis or something worse. Must all of my health problems develop in PAIRS?
allergies, then asthma
generalized anxiety disorder, then bipolar disorder
fibromyalgia, then "condition stupid"
generalized anxiety disorder, then bipolar disorder
fibromyalgia, then "condition stupid"
Be very happy that you are not my roommate. I'm very foul right now, as you may have guessed. My social skills are on the level of the rage-infected monkeys from 28 Days Later. I've wanted to write a post for several days now, but can't control the crankiness. Sigh.
21 comments:
You just need a second, anonymous blog where you can rage all you want. People will just think you're a right winger and (probably) offer to give you lots of money. It'd help if you threw in a looney conspiracy theory about secret government interment camps or the Apollo moon landings being hoaxed every now and then.
I'm sorry to hear you're having even more difficulties. :-(
It is OK to be *cranky* why supress it? Crankyness is a safety valve... sparkle*hugs
It's fully understandable that you are not in a happy mood, S.E. I'm so sorry you are going through all this and I certainly hope the inflammation is *not* permanent. If it is, I hope you get some good meds that help you a LOT!!
And remember - it's your blog and you're allowed to write about what you're going through!! People want to offer their support :)
I'm sending my best wishes your way, S.E.!!
Take good care,
Z
Damn, SE, that's just chock full of sucktitude. I have to say that if you WEREN'T cranky over it, then you'd have yet another issue to deal with. So, take crankiness as a sign that something is still working the way it's supposed to. Celebrate crankiness! :)
Cranky is a natural right. Crank away!
TNG-Didn't I tell you my theory about rabbits logging on to the internet at night and spamming every site they can? The government supports them in this because they're modeling a new lapine model of warfare in which rabbits are surgically altered so that they can disperse chemical agents through their ears.
Wow, that was fun. :)
Sparkle-You're enabling me!
Z-Thanks for being so supportive. It is my blog, I just get sick of hearing about my problems, you know?
Manxome-Wow, that's an excellent point. No crankiness would probably = depression, so hey, I'm firing on all cylinders.
RE-Ha-a natural right! I'm going to use that.
Y'all are encouraging me to continue in the crankiness. Not fair since you don't have to live with me. ;)
totally rock the cranky--you're so entitled to it.
i thought fibromyalgia kind of was related to inflammation? had something to do with inflammation? pardon my ignorance. i know it's an autoimmune thing.
Belledame-I thought the same thing, and tried to convince my doc that the inflammation was just a side effect of the fibro. But, fibro doesn't show up on any blood tests or scans (one of the reasons no one took FM seriously). If I just had fibro, my blood tests should be normal. Ha! So the damn inflammation is definitely "something else".
Crankiness or creakiness? That inflammation must be making you painfully creaky. Then there is just plain old crabbiness. Alliteration is mighty annoying, too.
Wishing you speediest road to feeling better.
Whoo, nonspecific! Man, I love those. "I'm sorry, something's wrong with you, but we don't have the slightest idea". Thanks!
I really really really hope that this is temporary, but I know the feeling of "Temporary. Right. Let me lay some odds on that right now..."
I agree with others, it's your blog, get your cranky out.
Julie & Madame-THanks for the good wishes.
Witchy-woo-That Sally is spamming me on both posts that have the word "fibromy*lgia" in them. Grr.
I'll be cranky with you, then! ;)
Hope your body will go for the temporarily version. And feel free to be as cranky as you like. That's wat blogging is for. Beside that, being cranky here probably enhances the life quality of your room mate.
look at it this way: crankiness is fuel for blogging. I am sorry to hear about your condition. Sometimes I think that is the medicine would start askign itself why so many people have so many health problems in the civilised world instead of getting busy with naming said problems, they migth actually find SOME cures.
Yeah. I definitely favor a "holistic" approach rather than "throw out all conventional medicine in favor of New Age/'traditional' cures" (hey, whatever works, works, in my opinion, and -everything's- worth trying).
But I do agree that there is something about the whole approach of "Western" (for lack of a better term) medicine that's rather fucked-up. Don't think about preventive health; don't put anything in a greater context of -overall- health (mindbodyspirit, entire body); just wait till the symptom shows up and then hone in on the offending part, often with the equivalent of a flamethrower used for toasting a marshmallow. then when -that- doesn't work, come up with an impressive-sounding Latin name for "we have no idea what this is really, and by the way your insurance isn't covering any further treatments."
meh.
and to add to that "overall" health, of course: add "social, environmental, things like "poverty and/or overwork-caused stress" and "eight billion fucking chemicals in everything you eat, drink, wear or breathe" or...
Thanks Bloggingmone-I really hope it's temporary.
Soopermouse and Belledame-It seems as if western medicine is taking tiny steps toward prevention instead of throwing meds after things have gone wrong, but it's too little too late.
Belledame-Oh my, don't bring up things like poverty and environmental toxins-the whole frigging thing will explode! ;)
Sometimes I think Fibro is a somatic form of depression. Like all the psych meds can alleviate the mental symptoms of depression but if the underlying causes, or if not causes then the underlying issues that developed as a result of depression, are never addressed - then you will start manifesting pain in the body. Like it has to get out somehow...This is not to say that I think this is the case for everyone. This is an understanding that I came to regarding myself, and a few friends that I have talked with about it who also have fibro have agreed with me.
Also, the way my doc explained it to me is that fibro is muscle/joint pain in the absence of inflammation, and that they could test for elevated levels of "substance P" which could support the diagnosis. Funny how if you talk to ten different doctors you'll hear ten different things.
Anyway, I hope you're feeling as well as you can. Please email me if you want -
rush.allison@gmail.com
I also think I will check out your depression support group.
beansa-That's a really interesting perspective. With depression, you can develop pain throughout your body, but not *everyone* does, so it would be interesting to see how that ties in with FM.
And yeah, isn't that "diagnosis depends on the doctor" thing fun? Really-in reading about fibro, I found that if I'd gone to an internist, immunologist or infectious disease dr., my diagnosis would be chronic fatigue syndrome. Grrrrr.
I hope you do check out the group.
Ah, condition stupid. That's a killer.
Hope the "I want a fucking diagnosis" vortex is less strain on you than I. It's making me want to stab out my eyes.
You know, I am a big believer in mood disorders (among other things relegated to "mental") often taking the form of somatic manifestations.
(and of course, not feeling physically good will add to depression...)
really I think bodymind is the best term; it really is all connected.
the friend I had who had fibromyalgia, she...well, I don't want to sound glib, I don't know what-all caused her physical stuff, obviously. Without positing that there is any cause or effect here, though, I will note that she was also "carrying a lot," psychically. oh, and worked tirelessly as a volunteer for a million causes and favors for people, along with her dayjob.
do you go to or know any sort of alternative medicine practioner, by any chance? particularly a bodyworker?
There is actually a school of psych that works physically ("somatic psychology.") I was thinking of going into it, or at least as a sideline, probably not my main focus, but a tool for the toolbox. Unofficially I've been doing a lot of work(shops) along those lines.
I'm trying to do a home version by doing yoga. Money's pretty tight now.
But I agree with you on the bodymind. Mental illnesses appear when there's too much stress, so why shouldn't other physical problems appear when there's too much stress? I could see it being caused directly or indirectly by depression/anxiety.
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