Isn’t she beautiful? This is my friend Rhonda, another friend that I met through my local support group. Really, if you haven’t found a local Fibro support group that actually meets regularly, you should start one. This group has been invaluable to me on helping me understand my illness, but more importantly on giving me people who really understand.
When were you diagnosed?
Spring 2009
What lead up to your diagnosis (symptoms, dr visits, etc)?
Life threw me some wild curves early in my life which took a great toll on me physically and emotionally.
I contracted meningitis in 1990, after being misdiagnosed I almost died. Then in 1994 I miscarried a child after trying to have another baby for 10 years. Finally, in 1999 I had a head on collision with a drunk driver. All of these events took an emotional and physical toll on me. After the drunken driver accident my previous marriage dissolved and I made a life changing move to relocate to Huntsville AL from Tuscaloosa AL. I didn’t have any friends or family here so had to meet people at work and in my neighborhood. After working in the oil/gas industry for 13 years, I decided to move into another career.
I began having muscle spasms in my legs that left knots all over them, and there were many times I would walk the floor night after night. I noticed that when anyone asked me how I was doing, whether it was family, friend, co-worker or a physician, my first words were always “I am so tired”. I could not get any Dr to tell me what was going on so I started Googling my symptoms and it came up as MS. I told my sister in law that I thought I had MS and she said that I was crazy. I know self-diagnosis is not a good thing but I was so desperate for answers and no one was helping me; I felt like I had no other choice.
In Spring of 2008 life really smacked me in the face with a diagnosis of cancer. I began various arenas of testing and then finally had surgery in the Summer of 2008 to remove the cancerous tumor. I began to wonder if maybe the cancer was the problem the whole time with all my symptoms, because I had read that this tumor plays with your metabolism. All of the symptoms that I was having before were still going strong even after surgery. I was having panic attacks to the max, sweats, muscle spasms all over my body, extreme fatigue, IBS one day and then constipation the next day, horrible headaches, tremors, nausea and the inability to remember anything. I could not remember normal everyday things from one day to the next. I was beginning to wonder if I was in the early stages of dementia and I shared this with my Dr and she seemed really concerned. My physician that was monitoring me had moved away, so I lost my Dr within months after my surgery.
I am a person of faith and so I had been praying that I would have an answer, so one day I was reading a Huntsville Chamber of Commerce magazine that had been delivered to my job and I saw an ad for a Dr that was an Internist. I felt lead to call her to make an appt and see if she could figure out what was wrong with me. She began a series of tests, held my hand when I was crying like a baby in her office, put her arm around my shoulder when I had the look of fear of death in my eyes and then one day she began touching different parts of my body. I was screaming with her every touch and she looked at me and said that I had Fibromalygia. I said “huh”, and she said I definitely had all the points of pain. She was only able to prescribe Sevella for this, as the other drugs are filtered through the kidneys and I can’t take them. I tried to take it that first weekend and I could not even raise my head off the bed without feeling like I was going to hit the floor, because I was very dizzy and that made me sick to my stomach. She treated me for almost a year before she moved her practice to Montgomery AL, and then I had to once again look for a Dr that believed me. I hate that look you get from the medical community when you mention the word “Fibromyalgia”. I want to tell them I didn’t ask for this and I sure would not wish it on my worst enemy so please give me a break.
Were you working at the time?
Yes, I was a Project Control Analyst at a local Government contractor and I continue to work in this field under another employer.
Yes, I was a Project Control Analyst at a local Government contractor and I continue to work in this field under another employer.
What was your family life like (married? kids? etc?)
I was on my second marriage. My son from my first marriage, and two step children from my husband’s first marriage and one granddaughter were living with us.
How did your family initially handle your illness?
My husband has been wonderful, but other friends and family had no knowledge of the disorder and I get that deer in the headlights look when I mention it. I have a family member that was just diagnosed last year and she totally understands me now. She said she felt like she had the flu all the time and I said yes, I totally understand.
How has your family/ work situation changed since Fibromyalgia entered your life?
I have to work as long as I can and believe me it’s a daily struggle. I am trying really hard to learn that I don’t have to please everyone else and that I am special, too. So sometimes others will just have to wait. It has been the hardest thing in my life to change. I can’t be everything to everyone.
What do you feel is the most challenging aspect of Fibro?
The fatigue is the hardest part for me and then second is the muscle spasms with the pain then Fibro fog comes in as the third thing.
Do you have any other co-existing conditions? If so, what are they and how do they impact your Fibromyalgia?
I have high blood pressure, a heart murmur that I was born with, a bad right knee that has been scoped three times and is awaiting a knee replacement. I’m overweight, have type 2 diabetes, and a bulging disc in the cervical thoracic and lower lumbar part of the back. Other conditions do impact my Fibro such as stress at my home, work and family situations. I am bad about overspending my spoons and paying for it double duty the next days or weeks to come…..
I have high blood pressure, a heart murmur that I was born with, a bad right knee that has been scoped three times and is awaiting a knee replacement. I’m overweight, have type 2 diabetes, and a bulging disc in the cervical thoracic and lower lumbar part of the back. Other conditions do impact my Fibro such as stress at my home, work and family situations. I am bad about overspending my spoons and paying for it double duty the next days or weeks to come…..
What (if anything) have you found/ done that has improved your symptoms?
What did help me was when I did the paleo diet for two weeks and I saw a significant change in my energy levels and pain levels but I became bored with the diet eating the same foods over and over….I have a picky husband and the thought of cooking two different meals stressed me out. I read your interview with your Mom and I am so envious of her results with her change in her diet. I have now ordered the book that whole 30 and I can’t wait to put it into action.
I cannot go without my magnesium. I can tell a difference the very next day with the pain and spasms. I am still up for any suggestions, since I am limited on medications.
What is the best advice you’ve received regarding Fibromyalgia?
I have been given the pacing advise and I truly need to follow it but it is so hard when so many people expect so much out of me.
What was the worst advice that you followed?
When people make me think I am crazy and there is no such illness.
What changes would you like to make for yourself?
I would love to do some kind of soft yoga or pilates to stretch the muscles and I would like to join a gym to use a warm pool to ease the stress of Fibro, I want to lose weight and so I am very interested in a workable plan to lose weight that doesn’t stress out the family.
I would love to do some kind of soft yoga or pilates to stretch the muscles and I would like to join a gym to use a warm pool to ease the stress of Fibro, I want to lose weight and so I am very interested in a workable plan to lose weight that doesn’t stress out the family.
I’d love to have YOU as the next Fibo Warrior interviewee. If you would like to share your story, please email me at drunkitty2000@gmail.com
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