I had surgery in 2006 at the age of 40 that set mine off severely. But even before this I was starting to notice symptoms. I believe stress was a major factor throughout my life weakening my immune system. In 2002 my husband and I bought a business which proved very stressful for me, which also contributed I believe. But one thing I keep reading about is having mono. I had mono at the age of 30, is this when it started??
When u look back at your life what do you believe your fibro stressors were or were there none for you? Even so, I believe for myself that it took triggers in my life to set it off. I think it was dormant until I over-did it.
Wow, this is a REALLY good question! Both individually and collectively. I can't wait to see the responses that come in. Yours is already interesting because it indicates a major trauma as the onset, as well as the possibility of mono.
For me, my back issues started from a simple gym exercise gone awry. I was trying to squat with a giant gym ball behind me and when I got back up - well, horrible pain. But it seems that my full blown fibro came on after I started my last full time job which was not only very stressful but also involved long hours and a lot of pushing of people in wheelchairs and heavy tables. That did it. It killed my joints.
I've also been in several car accidents AND have also hit my head (hit by a wooden baseball bat as a kid, hit it on a stone when I feel last year, etc.) Don't know which of these things, if any, started the fibro but I wish I at least knew.
Though overlap syndrome and FMS were my first diagnosis, once the Autoimmune diseases started to be diagonsed, it was clear that those were the reason, though they were not really that noticable until I was rear ended in an auto accident that I could never get over. So that accident kicked it all up, but the Autoimmune stuff was genetic.
I can look back now and see those creeping up on me, but I was very busy, so pushed those aside, gritted my teeth, and kept moving...
There seem to be so many underlying things with Fibro and autoimmune, and they read almost the same as far as how you feel. But some of the things we all wonder about is low vit D3, stress, thyroid, trauma, surely mono, hormone or endocrine inbalance... surely there are dozens more that are not coming to mind at the moment! Imagine that! Ha!
Even though we are not the Drs, we all have such similar 'triggers' and just have to wonder if there was a predisposition or just a single event. Doubt if it comes down to a single thing, because it's all so very complicated!
This is the big question. Every doctor I know wants to know when and what was happening when you first started to have fibro symptoms? They tell me that they hear similar answers from all the patients. Some kind of trauma, emotional, physical, or high stress situations, long standing pain with no way out.
During my second marriage, 16 years ago had a tennis injury left shoulder, then divorced shortly after, had to make a long distance relocation, then got rear ended twice in two month, second time a big pickup hit me and I lost consciousness. Started heavy typing job as a nurse case manager and in six months I was out on workers comp with flaring tendons in both arms and neck strain. Tried to work through it all for nine years, during which I had to go through court for a whole year because two insurance companies were bickering over who has to pay for my treatment. So I had no treatment for a whole year. I think that really did me in. Fibro started spreading to other parts of my body. Then I got rear ended again three years ago. I needed that like a hole in the head.
Most of us seem to have traumatic past events and we may have just been susceptible or what the docs call predisposition. My first rheumy, who diagnosed with with fms, said " you are born with a predisposition and when conditions are right it can develop." In other words, if your body can't handle what is happening to it, it breaks down and that's when chronic disease occurs. Stress comes to us in many forms. In my case personally, I feel it all came down to physical and mental stress that was long standing, not just the short term type.
I have read the same, I did forget surgery on my list! So sorry for all of your pain and loss, I lost a baby brother to AIDS. It is a long way back from that, you are never quite the same, but have to go on! So glad you are here. Many strong, wise people to help you with info and to comfort you, and I know already that you have much wisdom and comfort to give to us! We are excited to have you!
Yes, seems we are all 'pushers', 'fighters', that pushed it aside and went on until one thing tipped the scale!
Hi avenk and welcome! This is a great site for information and support. It seems that so many of us come here feeling disenfranchised and end up feeling empowered once we know that we are NOT imagining things and we are OK even though physically we aren't.
I'm terribly sorry about the loss of your 2 sisters. I only have one sib, a sister, and it would kill me if anything happened to her. I can't even begin to imagine the pain you've been through. I think it does have something to do with triggering fibro. In the future, I imagine we'll see PTSD listed as a trigger for fibro.
I hope you find some comfort here and friendship and education. We all deserve a way forward, and we seem to be good at offering a hand there.
My test was negative too, but there are different strains of Lyme and the common test that you get does not pick them up. I have a friend who has fibro who also tested negative for Lyme, then she went to a Lyme disease specialist and he explained about all the different strains. She was positive for one of the other ones and had to start treatment for it.
I have PTSD from childhood trauma, then mono in college which caused CFS, several car crashes and back/neck trauma, shingles 4 times, had weird nerve damage from shingles, the fibro pain started after I began cholesterol medication and even though I stopped the statins the pain never went away…
I was tested for Lyme but there are better tests now and I hope to be retested soon. Had a tick bite a week ago, the tick was stuck to my shin. My dog has had Lyme disease as we live in a wooded area. I have heard that some doctors say fibro is just untreated Lyme disease.
A doc I saw in Colorado thinks my exposure to high concentrations of pesticides is to blame. My current rheumie blames fibro on PTSD. Who knows? My brother has fibro so there must be a genetic component. His fibro started after he had rabis shots from being bitten by a wild animal.
There is a history of depression in my family on both sides. I sometimes wonder if people thought fibro was depression. My grandmother was put in a mental hospital and given electric shocks and suffered other unspeakable “treatment” which was torture.