A questions for the ladies

Symptoms & Treatments
1

Ok, so when i went to see the pain management psychologist the other day, she asked me when i first noticed symptoms of fibro and depression.

Me and my Mum both agreed that it was around the time i started secondary school, so aged about 11.

She then asked when i started puberty, and i answered at about 10/11 years old.

I can't stop thinking about that sentence now, and that it never occurred to me before that my symptoms started soon after puberty began!!!

I suffered terrible periods as a girl. Very heavy, very painful, and irregular. So bad that by aged 14 my GP put me on the contraceptive pill, to try and calm them down a bit (and back then it was very unusual for a young girl to be on the pill, especially as i was a virgin). My breasts developed very quickly, and i was the first girl in my class to start wearing a bra. I was also the first to have to start shaving my legs.

I used to get the most awful PMS as well. I sometimes had to miss time off school, and frequency had to sit out of gym classes. I guess nowadays it would have been diagnosed as PMDD, but it wasn't back then.

At one point i had a period that lasted continuously for 3 months!

My GP tried me on virtually every contraceptive pill that there was. Then i went onto the depo injection. Then onto the contraceptive patches. And now for the past 7 years i have been on the implant.

For me this seems to be the best of the bunch, for the fact that now it has virtually stopped my periods all together. I just have to odd bit of spotting, and i bleed for a few months when it has to be replaced, but that's it.

Though it does concern me what the implant might be doing to my body. Especially as i haven't had children yet.

So anyway, i started researching to see if there was a correlation between hormonal problems and fibro/depression. But tbh, i'm getting really swamped down by the search results, as i'm having a bad fibro fog day!

So i thought it may be easier for now if i asked you if you had (or still have) problems with puberty and hormones, and if you think it relates to your diagnosis. Or better still, if a doc has told you it does, or if you have a link to a page confirming this or something.

Any info, whether personal advise or known facts, will be gratefully received.

Thank you :)

2

I've never really put that together like that. But it could be possible. I too have terrible periods; irregular, heavy, painful, just awful. I am on birth control for them and to help prevent ovarian cysts since I get those, too. I started getting more pain in middle school, which is when I started my period.

3

Hello Purple Crystal,

Hope this helps

http://www.sharecare.com/does-fibromylgia-effect-endocrine-system

it also asks the question in reverse. You will get more info if you use 'endocrine' because some think it could be an underlying thyroid problem, also an endocrine gland. Who knows if any other of those glands play a part as well, one may throw the entire glandular system out of whack.

So many theories! Good luck!

SK

4

Hi Purple Crystal…I’m kind of wondering about the correlation between hormones and fibro myself. Right around puberty I started having severe chest pains, but no other real symptoms that I couldn’t attribute to something else (tired because I stayed up late, or hurt because I lifted something wrong, etc). Chest pains continued and worsened with age…until I got pregnant. I’ve gone to countless doctors and specialists, to no avail. When I became pregnant, the pains stopped immediately, but came back after I gave birth. Then ceased again with my second pregnancy. I also used to have headaches where my vision would go completely black. Those have long since stopped, but last year I suffered what was diagnosed as an occular migraine. Then 4 months ago I had to have a hysterectomy. Since then my symptoms have exploded…extreme fatigue and terrible pains all over. My ovaries were left in, so It’s not menopausal…my doctor finally suggested fibromyalgia and started me on savella…just wondering if this has been my problem all this time…

5

No, but I have just realised that I haven't been "on" for about 6 months now. Lol. And was "on" for abut six months before that. I've probably got the hormonal cycle of an elephant!! (Not saying I've got a fatty fatty bum bum but it's true. I think have). Anywho... Nope I'm defo not pregnant because I think I have turned back int a virgin.

I think it is the hormones and I did have a depo injection last June (the last time I had "some" lmao) and I've been all over the place since. The doc did say to go back for an "investigation" but I pretended not to hear him.

Sorry for the TMI but we love to share on here lol.

6

Back when I was a kid, puberty started somewhat later. I was the first girl in my class to get my period at the age of 12. Like you, I had terrible cramps. But back then you just pretty much suffered with it or took Midol, the end.

My fibro didn't start until somewhere in my mid-30's, I figure now. I recently counted back and realized my back issues started several years before the gym accident. They were more subtle but still very limiting.

So no, I don't think my fibro started in puberty. The earliest possible fibro symptoms, my bad feet, started after I got pregnant, at around age 26.

It'll be interesting to see others' answer though. It's certainly an intriguing line of thought.

7

Oh, Jenn, how absolutely terrible! Your migraines sound awful, awful! How badly I feel for you!

Thinking back, I too had chest pains, from when I was a little girl. Also, that horrible shoulder pain that made it feel almost frozen at times. Maybe early fibro hints?

8

You might want to reconsider and have this looked into. Could just be the depo injection. I know it took me about a year to get my mense back after coming off hormones. But still, Jo, you don't want to wait until you want a child to look into what's up. Just my 2 cents, luv.

9

Yes you're right. I did have some hormone pills to bring it back to normal after but I just realised when I saw this discussion, I realised I'm not normal again. (I should be used to this lol). Thanks for your thoughts Petunia. You're a star as always!