One thing I noticed as I have grown older is that my energy level is waning. Might be due to the fact I do not eat the things as I should. I also suffer from fibromyalgia and that can sap a woman's strength.
Symptoms include:
The primary symptoms of fibromyalgia include widespread musculoskeletal pain, severe fatigue, and disturbed sleep. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons – the soft fibrous tissues in the body. (Mine tend to be in my shoulders and back).
Most patients with fibromyalgia say that they ache all over. (NO KIDDING!!!) Their muscles may feel like they were pulled or overworked. Sometimes fibromyalgia symptoms include muscle twitches and burning sensations. More women than men are afflicted with fibromyalgia, and it shows up in people of all ages. A conservative estimate of its prevalence is 2% of the general population, but it may be as high as 3-5%.
I was diagnosed a few years ago by a specialist and the doctor will ascertain whether or not you suffer from this. The symptoms I have listed below are what is analyzed and I have all of them:
Common symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome:
Pain - The pain of fibromyalgia has no boundaries. People describe the pain as deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting, and stabbing. Intense burning may also be present. Quite often, the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning and you may hurt more in muscle groups that are used repetitively. (I do not have the burning but I do get the throbbing and aching)...sometimes it makes me want to cry just because I feel so defeated.
Fatigue - This symptom can be mild in some fibromyalgia patients and yet incapacitating in others. (Sometimes it can get this way to me where I feel so drained). The fatigue has been described as "brain fatigue" in which patients feel totally drained of energy. Many patients depict this situation by saying that they feel as though their arms and legs are tied to concrete blocks, and they have difficulty concentrating, e.g., brain fog.
Sleep disorder - Most fibromyalgia patients have an associated sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly. This condition was uncovered in a sleep lab with the aid of a machine that recorded the brain waves of patients during sleep. Researchers found that the majority of fibromyalgia patients could fall asleep without much trouble, but their deep level (or stage 4) sleep was constantly interrupted by bursts of awake-like brain activity. Patients appeared to spend the night with one foot in sleep and the other one out of it. (Definitely with me)
Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas, and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40 to 70% of fibromyalgia patients. Acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) also occurs with the same high frequency.
Chronic headaches - Recurrent migraine or tension-type headaches are seen in about 70% of fibromyalgia patients and can pose a major problem in coping for this patient group.
Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome - This syndrome, sometimes referred to as TMJ or TMD, causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain in one-quarter of fibromyalgia patients. However, a 1997 published report indicated that close to 75% of fibromyalgia patients have a varying degree of jaw discomfort. Typically, the problems are related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the jaw joint and not necessarily the joint itself.
For me, I have to take these issues one day at a time or it will overwhelm me. Yes, I get sad and frustrated then I think to myself: "Try and have a positive attitude."
I am still lucky to be alive and have my faculties about me. I am grateful for the life I have lived. I try to stick with the positive and I think I have come to the final fork in the road where I need to take better charge of my life, seize it and live like each day is just as precious as the last........I need to find the right kinds of foods that will sustain my energy and make me perky. I still have so many quality years left to enjoy, savour and live...
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5 comments:
I was almost getting it with simvastatin, a medication for cholesterol .
After more than a year I started to have a deep pain in the hip .
Now I stopped : hope I can do with an appropriate diet or I don't know what to take .
Statins are the best, just they're as dangerous as helpful but they don't highlight side effects cause they make a huge market .
Hope you feel better. Sometimes I feel swamped with all these symptoms to the point of crying then I realize there are people worse than myself. I have to be on Lipitor now for high tryglycerides. Doc said that is inherited. My dad has high cholesterol and high tryglycerides. Ahhhh!!
I have a deep pain in my left hip. Had a cortisone shot for that a few months ago and now time for another one. Ready for a vacation on the beach! :-)
fibromyalgia, ha? I should see a doctor to find out if it's what I have or at least to rule it out. I have most of the symptoms that you listed except for the TMJ and the sleep disorder. With me it started with numbing in my left arm and leg about 6 months ago and it's been progressing since then. I thought it was a neurological problem and been seeing neurologists mainly until they gave up and said it's nothing in their department. In the past two months the headaches and muscle pain mostly in the back, shoulders and neck began; as well as some reflux. I don't think I have IBS, and I didn't feel any heartburn or acidity but I started to get mouth ulcers very often and they were bigger than I've ever experienced.
Maybe I should go see other doctors.
Funny how everybody thought it was just me being overweight and having just a big low back pain, both my phisician and the orthopedic .
Sometimes when the pain is big you become the doctor of yourself : I tried everything then one day out of the blue I decided to cut the statin and after few days the pain disappearead .
And my doctor still thinks am crazy :P but she had all the reasons cause I didn't have any of the symptoms of a rabdomyolisis or myopathy .
I have it all, the IBS, the TMJ, muscle aches, joint aches, and headaches. I went to a Rheumatologist. She ruled out other diseases & did the specific testing for Fibro. I was grateful for a diagnosis but frustrated at the lack of acceptance among doctors as seeing this as a bonofide disease.
It can be very depressing but taking it a day at a time, trying to retain a positive outlook goes a long way.
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