I've heard quite a few people mention that they have fibromyalgia in addition to their RA. How do you distinguish between the two when you're in pain? And, how was your fibromyalgia diagnosed?
Thanks, Allie
When my Fibro is flaring I feel a little like the flu is coming on and muscles hurt. My shoulders are bad in a Fibro flare. I was Dx'd using trigger points and history. I keep a journal even if I can only write one word that day like horrible.
I feel the same way as Bonny does when my FM flares. Keeping a journal is a great idea and I do one too. I just print it and hand it to RD when I go in for visits. There are actually 18 trigger points on your body that the doctor can touch. When they do, they hurt like someone just slug you really hard in that spot. Before they do it, you might not even be aware that the spot hurts. Most people start out with only a few points. I forget how many you have to have in order to be diagnosed. But I started out with a few and now have all 18. Fatigue and pain are two big components of FM. I feel it more in my muscles and it is more aching. RA makes me sick all over, joints swell and are often warm, some people have red joints. When you have both, it makes it difficult to function because exercise is what helps FM and RA make exercise difficult. You should ask about Cymbalta as it seems to help a lot of people with FM.
Deanna it is 11 of the 18 for a Dx. I take Lyrica with good results.Deanna, when you say sick all over, what do you mean? I feel this way today
and I"m just not sure why. I'm not sure if this is what a flare is...for me. I
have the joints hurting but that does not bother me as much as this flu like
feeling and nausea and a mild headache. For me Fibromyalgia is like really bad muscle aches and being very sore and tired. Everything hurts and I cannot stand to be touched or to hear loud noises. Not sure why the loud noises bother me but they do. No position I get in is comfortable. It does sort of feel like the body aches I have when you get a high fever or flu only I don't have a fever. I am not sure how else to describe it. Hope that helps.don't forget malaise is a super common symptom of RA and can easily be confused with a Fibro flu-like ache. The two can be very, very similar to most of us.
For me I often get a sense of malaise which means a sense of feeling just unwell and as if a flu might be coming on or even a sense if something really serious.
From my reading about Fibro the trigger points are really a solid differentiating symptom from RA symptoms.
Thanks everyone for the responses. I will ask my doctor to check for fibromyalgia at my next visit. I have certain pains that respond to antiinflammatories and others that don't, and I've been wondering about it.
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