Hello. I just turned 50 and was just diagnosed about a month ago with Fibro from my primary physician. Additionally working with Rheumy - confirmed fibro and diagnosed “inflammatory poly arthritis” but all blood tests have come back negative for RA. Will follow back up in a month and a half to see next steps for diagnosing there.
I work and really need my brain for my work so am concerned about prescriptions. So far am on Gabapentin (600 mg - supposed to be moving up to 900) and Naproxin 750 mg / day for the arthritis. I am experiencing memory issues (scares me because of work as I am a school district administrator and need to be on top of my mental game!). I am also extremely worried about being able to lose weight as the scale keeps creeping up even though my eating habits stay the same.
Still trying to wrap my brain around what it all means. Works my on simple life style changes and trying to stay positive as I struggle with all of this. Glad to find this group to learn from as I go through all of this and hope to eventually help others as I see many of you are doing!
We’re glad that you found us, LL! This is a really supportive group, and you will find there’s a lot of help here, especially when you’re just trying to get your head around all of this.
Please persist with looking for an inflammatory arthritis connection. Just because you are not testing positive for RA, doesn’t mean that you don’t have a form of arthritis:
There is such a thing as Seronegative RA that does not show up on RA testing.
There are dozens of other rheumatological diseases that have symptoms in common with RA, and still need treatment. Please don’t let them write every symptom off as fibro, instead of considering alternative possibilities for your symptoms. It’s too easy to be dismissed that way.
I don’t have fibro (I work in support on the Ben’s Friends network, and don’t usually post here) so when my GP tested me for RA years ago, I came up negative. That was proof that my problems were all because of menopause, and all would be well if I were to lose weight, exercise more, and eat better. What? Me cynical? One miserable pain-fog-and-fatigue-filled decade and two joint replacements later, I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. (By the way, the clincher for that diagnosis was the dry skin, eczema and toenail fungus that my GP shrugged off for years: it was all psoriasis!)
So please continue to rule out other conditions that you may have as well as fibro. Unfortunately, when you have a condition such as an inflammatory arthritis, or fibro, part of your challenge is becoming your own advocate with respect to your diagnosis and treatment. The irony, of course, is that when you have one of those conditions, that’s a very difficult thing to do.
Thank you so much for your response and sharing your story. I appreciate it as being my own advocate isn’t always easy to do for me. Sometimes I feel like I am going a bit crazy ! Thanks again.
Hi! I worked in the Education field too and once Fibro hit not only did it limit my physical limitations but my mental too. It came to the point that I had to quit working. I wasn’t able to do my job and I was becoming more of a liability to the school and myself working with children. This was devastating for me as I kept trying to find a pill that would just “fix” everything and that of course wasn’t the case. That was 4.5 years ago. I was 43 when Fibro hit me hard and charged at me like a bull. I tried and was on many meds/injections/supplements etc. but very highly sensitive and strong reactions so I don’t take anything now and do everything naturally.
I also found that most meds put on weight no matter what you do and that was unacceptable for me when I was fit and worked hard at being healthy.
I wish you the best and maybe taking some time off like a few months to try and get the meds and your body under control and to come up with a maintenance plan would be beneficial to you. You also need to pace which is going to be hard when working.
Thank you blue1. The work balance and management is one of my biggest worries as far as managing. I appreciate your suggestion of taking some time off to figure it out… something I will keep as an option if I find I need that. It is a bit intimidating trying to figure all this out. Very thankful to have found this site and people who have done this journey!
! Thanks again.