I think e entisols I will have to stay home but my financially that isn’t an option right now. I really don’t know if it would be that much better as I would be chasing a 1 year old all through the house. I agree about my dr honestly my neurologist may have to go but we’ll see. My options are limited cause I have O-Epic so there are very limited specialist if I wouldn’t have seen the. Rhuemys PA it would have been June before I got in and there was only one other rhuemy they had for referral . So as you can see with dr s I am limited silver lining I have health insurance and I didn’t before all this:)
Hi Shila- First, get rid of your Dr.
He or she is not qualified to handle a Fibro patient. Fibro does cause depression but he needs to treat the Fibro not make judgements and treat u differently because u are depressed.
Separately, unfortunately many meds don’t work. They sometimes make things worse. Keep trying different things. With a different Dr. I do not tolerate Neurontin or a few other staple drugs but I do use Tramadol for pain and Klonopin for sleep. And positive thinking and exercise . It’s not easy
Shila,
Hello there. My name is Marc and I'd like to validate the pain, fatigue, frustration and helplessness you feel and to tell you that you are not alone. I've read your email two thousand times only it was written by two thousand other people. the story is so strangely the same, so eerily similar to my own story which started in 1991. I still have Fibro today. I want to tell you that a wonderful life is absolutely possible for you and your family, but it will not be like it was. The most poignant thing that you wrote (IMHO) that you would do "anything" as long as you were "able to take care of your family the way you once did."
My dear Shila...that is, most likely, not going to happen. Understand that I am not saying you can't take care of your five beautiful BOYS [(!!!!!) - good GAWD - FIVE BOYS - it's Eddie Cantor in reverse- no wonder you have FM!!!!!!]. You will be able to do that but there it will be different. For example
- your husband and boys (depending on their ages) may have to step up and do more to keep the house clean, to keep food in the house, to prepare meals, etc,.
- Again, you may need help if you are planning on hosting a holiday dinner at your home,
- You may have to accept a lesser state of cleanliness than before you had FM,
- Your hubbie better get used to giving massages to you (help him out by getting some peppermint foot lotion or oils). That is, if you can tolerate a massage from him.
- You may need to spend more time arranging your boys to be in carpools and be careful of driving while on altering meds. After years of saying no, no, no, my rheumatologist told me that unless I was willing to take low-dose methadone to get my pain under control, he would stop seeing me. So, for six years, I went around with 10 mg of methadone (5 mg 2x/day) and for a three year stretch, I was also on 20 mg of Vicadin (10 mg 2x/day). No matter how careful I drove (and I drive like a grandfather), were I to get pulled over or cause an accident or even stagger to my car with the handicap tags and a cop saw me, I could and would get a DUI (Driving Under the Influence). I shared this information with parents who wanted me to drive their kids in a reciprocal carpool deal. Most said no thank you.
- there will be SOOOOOOOOOOO many more examples as you explore life with FM
Back in 1991 when FM first knocked on my door, the notion that FM was caused by depression was already antiquated so to hear that a doctor in America (I'm assuming) is still dancing to that tired, old, "why don't you get a hobby dearie" tune is unbelievable to me.
So welcome to the world of fibrolyalgia. It's a wacky world where we do not know much and are in control of even less. We know it is a CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM disorder. We do not know how you came to have it. We know that your kids will love you because you are their Mommy. That is ALL THAT MATTERS TO THEM (from one FM parent to another, they will hurt when you hurt but it is a reality of life and you will only be able to hide for so long so be honest {"Mommy is hurting now"}). We do not know how to treat FM so that everyone with it will feel better (no uniform treatment guidelines). However, WE DO KNOW THAT MOVEMENT is a key to feeling better. I know you are laughing at me because with FM, often the very last thing we want to do is move. Just keep in your mind that movement is the most important thing I can do. We do not know if a cure for FM will ever be found.
I wish you the very best of luck. We are here for you.
Marc
You guys are all extremely positive and helpful and make me feel more optimistic about what’s coming. I also feel better about the dr situation as that’s what I felt as though I would be judged about it.I guess when you have been to your PCP 20 times and been treated as a (drug seeker) the only way I know to describe it. I have my Neurologist who judges me for being on pain meds ( granted he doesn’t know about the Fibro) but now I fear telling him. Will he say I don’t believe you have that or oh it’s another it’s caused by depression. I guess you could say I have some anxiety over it.the statement from the pain management really messed with me cause I trusted him and other than my rhuemy he had been the first dr who up until this point hadn’t questioned me just believed me and knew there was something wrong. That all went went in the garbage with those words Fibro is caused by depression ! Some drs don’t even think it is real I do but your dr s need to be treating u for that . I don’t want to keep rambling about it but as you can see I was deeply offended. The point here was you guys have made me feel more confident in switching drs because his inability to understand my disease makes him incapable of treating me. I just didn’t want to feel as though I was switching cause someone didn’t do what I want. You know. I really think dr wise there are a lot of changes that need to be made and maybe medication wise too. But I wanted to say again thank u so much to everyone for all your kind words it’s nice to know I am not all in my struggle with FM or the Drs etc. Thank you:)
I understand your frustration. I take no pain meds prescribed by my pain management doctor. When I asked her if there was anything I could take for the pain (can’t take any Fibro drugs - make it worse ) she told me I should try taking cyclobenzaprine 5 mg. in AM and then at 2:00 pm. I just pacified her and said sure I’ll try it, even though she knows I’ve been taking a 10 mg when I get home from work due to the muscle spasms in my back, shoulders and legs. She said you know I can’t prescribe narcotics because they don’t work. Well, little does she know that I take sporadically on bad days a 5 mg. Norco remaining from my shoulder surgery. It takes the edge off, which I feel is better than nothing! I lived on ibuprofen and Aleve for years but it ruined my stomach.
Had an appt. with a neurologist on Friday to compare brain scans from a recent one to some from previous years, and he too kept telling me I should be seeing a psychiatrist because Fibro is mainly just depression! Well I gave him a piece of my mind and told him I get depressed when I’m so frustrated with the pain I have constantly. He told me 3 times that I was depressed because of the Fibro. Just another medical person who is old school. This is the place to vent - so never feel like you are imposing - it truly helps everyone. I wish you well. hugs~ Sandi 
Hi Shila, I feel for you!!! My pain management doctor wont give me more then 45 tabs of Norco a month and said a lot of my pain is caused from anxiety and that I needed to see a psychiatrist and he even had his nurse call me to say that if I said I was frustrated then not to bother coming in. He even ran scans on me to see if I was a drug abuser. I have never abused a drug in my life. I have had spinal cord surgery and was dx by the pain management doctor with fibromyalgia. He does not believe narcotics help the pain. He did put me on Lyrica after I had bad side effects from Neurontin. Lyrica really helps, and I am on Cymbalta, which is helpful also.
I finally had to give up my career because I could not do it anymore. Right now we are living a lot cheaper and I sold the car and we have altered our lifestyles. It is hard, but you can't put a value on your health. I just kept getting worse trying to keep up. I have not worked for three months and have learned to pace myself and not over do things to help keep my pain under better control. It is easier for me because my kids are grown now and one is at home but he is independent. I don't know how you do it with all the boys? and a full time job.
I agree that you need to find another doctor. I am a nurse and most people with chronic pain do suffer from depression it goes with the territory. Also, who would not be anxious when doctors act the way they do towards patients with fibro. There are some that are now just treating fibro patients and really want to help. Why put up with the ones that don't help or understand. The way I see it is, if I went to a mechanic and he didn't fix my car right then I would find a new one. You deserve to vent and what better way to do it is with people who understand what your dealing with. I had to finally accept that others without chronic pain don't understand. Try and take some time out to rest and take care of yourself-you deserve it. I will keep you in my prayers. God has a solution for you, just pray and talk it out with your loved ones.
like that part about Not depression causing fibro, Fibro causing depression! They don't seem to understand that
Sandi, I needed to hear that last paragraph you wrote. I get so tired of everyone thinking it's all caused by depression. "Oh just get outside and pick some flowers" or something silly like that. Yeah, like that's going to cure fibro.