Fibro or RA? | Arthritis Information

Tonight my skin is sore to the touch. Everywhere I push feels like a bruise. Is this a fibro thing? I have only been diagnosed with RA, but I am positive for all of the fibro trigger points. My rheumy said I would have the same trigger points with RA, and that I don't need to layer on a diagnosis of fibro on top of the RA. The thing is though, if it is fibro and not ra related, then I shouldn't expect my ra meds to relieve this type of pain. If it is RA, then I should be getting some sort of relief given the amount of meds I take. I'm just wondering if anyone who has been diagnosed with fibro might fill me in on what they experience. Thanks in advance!Well Graciesmom, my dr asked me this question about fibro. Does it hurt to be touched? I said sometimes and she thinks I have fibro based on that and other things like the trigger points. So......I'm not on meds specifically for fibro but as you can see below, I am on lots of meds.

I hope you get it all sorted out and feel better soon.

take care

My skin does not hurt when touched, but my muscles hurt when I accidently bump into something or someone grabs my arm the muscle will hurt for hours and feel like someone just punched me there and that a bruise should form because of the pain I have for hours after. Sometimes just brushing up against something will cause great pain. And once it hurts and you touch the area it hurts even more! I hate that!

I tend to hurt more when I am not taking my fibro meds. Like when I was switching fibro meds, for 2 weeks straight every little bump hurt like someone punched me hard in that area. Then there was that burning in my shoulder blades. that was the pits. Even just using only my hands and not moving my arms caused my shoulder blades to burn badly.

So... by what you describe... it sounds like fibro.

I hope you feel better soon.

Gracie - I could not differentiate my fibro from RA until I got on high dose of pred. and Enbrel. My RA is much better but I get the symptoms you are describing and just muscle aches. Especially the touch - it is like my skin hurts. Nope - RA meds do not help fibro. For me - the RA was so much worse but I would like to not have the fibro symptoms. I used to be on Lyrica but did not think it was very effective. Now that my RA is better, I might try Lyrica again. Swimming is good for fibro. Anyone else have any fibro advice, I would also love to hear it, been so focused on RA, have not given fibro much attn. even though I come flying off the table when the doctor touches trigger points. Gracie - maybe we should check out the fibro pages? BTW, you do not swell with fibro - that is how I know for sure that when I ache and there is no swelling - it is fibro.What fibro meds have you been on Joonie?Thanks for the replies! I have suspected for awhile that I have fibro in addition to the ra. I have tried Lyrica with great results in the past. There are times when I feel like I am going to come out of my skin, like all of my muscles are firing off at the same time. Lortab doesn't touch this edgy pain. But, if I add a Lyrica on top of it, I get much better relief. I have never taken it on a regular basis though. I do have concerns about weight gain, which is one of the side effects of taking Lyrica. I save it for those times when I just can't settle the pain down. Roxy I think I will check out the fibro pages. I wonder why the rheumy is reluctant to add fibro to my diagnosis?

At first Amitriptyline I think 40mg?, then Nortriptyline 80mg, and now Remeron 15mg. They are all forms of antidepressants. From what I gather from my RD's other patients, she does not RX Lyrica or other meds advertised for fibro that much. She mostly RXs Nortriptyline. I do not know why, but that is what most of the biological IV patients say they are on for fibro as well.

Here is an example of fibro for me yesterday, graciesmom. I was helping out with the fall festival carnival. I was in charge of the duck pond. Well... after a few my arms and shoulders just got tired and felt like they weighed a ton to move them or raise my arms from my side. It was awful. I tried to work thru it, but then I got the burning sensation in my shoulder blades again. And all I was doing was putting the ducks back in the water. Which the "pond" was on a table, so not like any strenous work, ya know?

Oh and Lortabs do squat for my fibro pain. It seems that when my RA is not controlled, that the fibro is worse. But when my RA is doing good, so is the ole fibro. *shrugs shoulders*
Hi graciesmom, I have been having the same sorts of symptoms lately, it hurts when I press on my thighs and right now I feel a tingling bruise like pain I so hope it is not fibro, yesterday I had pain in the top of my left foot when my sneaker pressed on it. I see my GP tommorrow and my RD/physical therapist on Tuesday so I guess I will find out.