Fibro ? | Arthritis Information

For those with fibromyalgia, how did you get diagnosed? I have suspected for awhile that I may have it. Yesterday my body went nuts and my pain level was about as bad as anything I've had since my diagnosis. I paid a visit to my massage therapist today to try and get my muscles calmed down. I asked her to check out the trigger points that are associated with fibro. I had pain in all but one of them. My next rheumy appointment isn't until April, so I am wondering if I should go to my pcp to see what he says. I have brought up the fibro issue before with my rheumatologist and he has never had much to say about it so I don't really want to wait until April to ask him. Obviously my massage therapist can't diagnose me, but she does know all of the trigger points to test. Does a doctor do tests beyond identifying the trigger points? I am in awe of how much pain I am in right now. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Tell your ruemy. My orthos refered me to a ruemy years ago. Ruemotologist are the only doctors that are supposed to give you a dx for fibro also thats who you get treatment from for fibro also.

I didn't have have much luck with my rd getting a diagnosis but I see a nurse practioneer and she diagnosed it in about two minutes using the pressure points. I tested positive for all but 2 of them. She put me on meds and I began to see an improvement almost immediately. My rd didn't say anything one way or the other, that is one of the reasons he is no longer my dr. See your pcp and at least get a start then your rd can make the necessary changes. April is a long time to wait with that kind of pain.

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I was actually diagnosed by my Internal Med doc several years ago--but my rheumy at the time did agree with my regular doc. So I was lucky--I didn't have any trouble getting diagnosed, but I have heard the horror stories.
Good Luck to you.wysone2008-02-26 07:37:52I was Dx'd by my PCP who also has Fibro herself.Well actually there is more to it then just the pressure points. They are supposed to test you for everything else that could cause it to make sure it isn't something more serious or something that could be treated. Thats why it is best to tell the RDI have mentioned it in passing to my rheumy but he didn't really bite on it. Of course I didn't ask him directly I was telling him about the different things that were going on and said maybe I have fibro too? This was earlier in my treatment and we had not yet tried all of the meds. But now that I am on plaquenil, mtx and humira (now enbrel), and have been for 6+ months the aches and pains I mentioned are not being addressed. Yesterday it felt like all of my muscles in my back were firing off. I felt like I had been working out for about 5 hours (trust me that wasn't the case). I doubled up on my Lyrica dose for the first time before I went to bed (my pain doctor said that was okay) and that really helped. I felt less sore today, but after I dropped the kids off at school this morning, I went back to bed and got up shortly before it was time to go pick them up. I will check with my pcp and mention fibro again when I go to my rheumy in April. Thanks for the good advice.Lyrica is for fibro. So he must think you have it if he gave you Lyrica.I just started Lyrica on Sunday. Did it take you awhile to get used to it? I take one at bedtime and I am supposed to work up to 3xday.... I can't see that happening. It makes me pretty tired. I am also down to 5mg prednisone this week and then supposed to stop. The pain in my neck and shoulders is back big timel Can't tip my head back to look at the ceiling. The MRI showed arthritis in my neck/spine. Ok I am rambling, sorry.Laura, yes it does tend to take awhile to get used to Lyrica. Fatigue/drowsiness, dizziness, and feeling "out of it" seem to be the worst effects. They stopped within 2 weeks for me and it has been worth it.

Milly, Lyrica is actually a nerve pain medication and was only later approved for Fibro, so that may not be the reason it was prescribed.

Gracie's Mom, Fibro was actually suggested to me by my therapist (based on some of her other clients) and she recommended her doctor, who at the time was both primary care and rheumy. I saw him and after both examination and extensive testing to rule out other causes, he diagnosed me. His practice is now solely rheumy and he is the best doctor I've ever had.

I am a little concerned that you say your aches & pains haven't been addressed for 6 months. Maybe this isn't the rheumy for you? Most primary care docs seem to want to stay far away from Fibro, but maybe you could talk to him about treating your symptoms....a prescription NSAID and muscle relaxant, unless you're already taking those. The Lyrica should help. How long have you been taking it?

I have been taking the Lyrica on an as needed basis since August. It was prescribed by my pain management doc because I was having nerve pain associated with my lower back. I was having a terrible time with my back (I have DDD; L3, 4, and 5 are basically toast) and layered the Lyrica with lortab. Once my back settled down, I began to notice that when I am having a bad pain day that layering the Lyrica is really helpful. It seems to work when I've tried everything else. Not long after I discovered this I started seeing the ads for Lyrica on televsion for treatment of fibromyalgia. Then I started wondering since I get a particular type of relief from Lyrica could I have fibro too? I am beyond exhausted a lot of the time and just feel a general malaise. I know what RA pain feels like and that does seem to be better. But if I overdo it I feel like I have the flu - that tired, body aches feeling.

As far as needing a new rheumy goes. My current one has been very proactive for me with my RA. When I didn't feel better starting on Plaquenil, he added MTX within 2 months, and then 8 weeks later when I still wasn't feeling any better, he layered on Humira. I guess I was trying to be patient and give the Humira 6 months to kick in. At my last appointment he upped my MTX and switched to Enbrel. I told him I felt terrible, exhausted with frequent pain. That's when he changed my meds. I have mentioned the fibro but haven't ever asked him to actually check me. I thought if he thought it was a possibility he would check it out.

I guess where my RA goes, I just don't know how I'm supposed to feel. Should I be completely pain free? Should I have flares when I am taking all of this medication? This is still very new to me so I just don't know. So, I have been trying to wait it out.

Innerglow I do take Mobic daily, and lately I have been taking Flexeril at bedtime trying to loosen up my tight muscles. If it is Fibro, they just treat the symptoms similarly to what I am already doing right? I think if I tell my rheumy that I want him to check out the fibro he will and then I will have an answer. He is an hour away and his office is busy so I don't like to go other than for my normal appointments.

Sure if it is fibro then they might increase your Lyrica. I have the worst fibro and currently not treating it. RD said i could take the Lyrica if i wanted to. My major complaint was fatique and fibro meds are all stuff that makes you tired. I am going to have to do something about it in the near future and I mean soon. I just wanted to be awake for awhile first. At least long enough to balance the checkbook. LOL I can up my dose of Provigil I suppose. Really it is best to push for an answer so you know if it is fibro or RA causing the pain. Gracie's Mom, I am shocked that they have you taking Lyrica on an "as needed" basis. This is the kind of med that takes some getting used to for most people and shouldn't be stopped suddenly because it needs to be tapered down, so I am really surprised they'd have you basically going on and off it. I'm not a medical professional, but maybe you want to ask your doctor about that. Of course they're not foolproof...an infectious disease specialist I saw a couple years ago told me to stop Lyrica cold turkey, so I followed their advice and I had some really terrible effects. As it turned out, there was really no need for me to stop at all, so that doctor did me more harm then good.

Anyway, the basic medical treatment for fibro is basically what you're already on...NSAID-Mobic, muscle relaxant-Flexeril, and anti-neuropathic-Lyrica. Sometimes an anti-depressant such as Cymbalta is also prescribed because of how it acts on the pain center of the brain. I would ask the rheumy to evaluate you for fibro, just so you know for sure.

Still, you may not be able to differentiate which pain is fibro and which is RA. Many of us here on the boards have difficulty with that. Plus the degenerative discs add their own special fun...my L3-4-5-S1 are partially toasted, along with C3-4-5. As for whether you should be "pain free" on all these RA meds, that's hard for me to answer. I believe that once you find the right combo of meds so that your RA is under control, you might still have some low-level pain and occasional flares. I think if you get to the remission stage, that might disappear. Unfortunately my RA isn't really under control at all, so I don't have experience there.

If you don't want to see your rheumy earlier than your next appt, maybe you could call and see about upping the dose on the Lyrica or one of your other meds? I know some doctors are more flexible about doing this by phone than others, but maybe it would give you some relief to hold you over til you see him.

I did not realize that about Lyrica. I honestly haven't taken it much so maybe that's why I haven't felt the side effects. I have a pretty high pain tolerance so sometimes I wait to take pain meds and maybe I shouldn't. Milly and Innerglow thanks for all of your insight.
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