Hi everyone,
I am a 39 yo man and I have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but I am not fully convinced. Like many, I fear it could be something more worrying (not saying that fibromyalgia is fun!), so I wanted to hear what this community things and whether what I'm having resonates with some of you.
My symptoms started around January 2024, with a "globus" sensation in the right side of my throat. This remained stable for 3-4 months, during which I was examined by GPs and ETC who inspected the areas through laryngoscopy and noted nothing wrong, hence he diagnosed harmless globus pharyngeus.
Unfortunately, soon after, around April 2024, I started developing strange pain. At first it was localised in my neck/throat and then soon moved to my right ear and teeth. It was intermittent pain, worse on some days and better in others. After a little longer, the pain spread to my right arm/hand (particularly the top of my fingers) and behind my shoulder. For some weeks I had very bad muscle pain there, which felt like a contracture and prevented me from moving my neck without massive pain. This lasted for ~1 month, and then went away, coming back occasionally with much reduced intensity. A little later, around May or June, the intermittent pain reached my right foot and hip and soon after it started affecting the left side of my body as well, in a similar pattern ("globus" sensation now both left and right, pain in arm, leg, hand, feet, shoulder etc). Currently the pain is quite symmetric, albeit a little worse on the right (particularly the right foot as the left foot is not really painful).
It oscillates over periods of days - it is quite low (or even absent) for a few days, before getting stronger again for a few days and then improving. It's not always everywhere - sometimes it is stronger in the arms, other times more in the shoulders or in the ears.
The strongest pain I have experienced coincided (maybe just a coincidence), with the weather getting suddenly worse last week. On that day, I woke up with strong lower back pain and pain in the arms and legs, and I struggled to get up and get moving. It improved over the next day or two, as occurred previously.
It happens quite regularly that I experience back stiffness when I wake up, but it has never been nearly as bad.
I have heard about fibromyalgia painful spots. I don't have many, but there are two symmetric areas in my forearms, close to the elbows, that often hurt if pressed. As for the other symptoms, the intensity of the pressure-induced pain oscillates over a period of a few days. I don't see a physical reason why those particular muscles should hurt.
I have also noted that there are symmetric sore spots on the sides of my chest, just under the armpits.
Scaringly, since June I have started experiencing (or noticed) muscle twitching. It happens virtually in evey muscle, including calves, tights, arms, neck, abs, chest, back, lips and eyes. It is mostly one or two small twitches rather than continuous, with the exception that my left pectoral muscle twitched pretty much continuously for a few days last week. These also tend to vary in frequency from one day to the next.
I have also had a strange buzzing sensation in my leg for a few days, almost like the feeling of being in contact with a cat purring, but it has since gone away.
Finally, I have developed these strange sensations in my right foot and the left side of my face (mostly my chin). It's not pain nor numbness but a sort of "awareness" that these body parts exist, resulting in an uneasy/uncomfortable sensation. As for all other symptoms also these come and go.
I don't have weakness or fatigue, although some months ago I experienced some days where I felt really unwell, almost with flu-like symptoms (without actually having any of the typical flu signs, like fever). I do physical activity (running, rowing machine, walking) and I am quite active. My symptoms don't seem to affect noticeably my ability to do sports.
I have seen many doctors (GP many times, ENT, Neurologist) and done a lot of testing: all sensible blood tests (including antibodies for autoimmune disease), various MRIs (neck, spine, brain), chest CT scan and an EMG. All tests and all physical examinations were negative and no organic cause for my symptoms could be identified. At my latest appointment with the neurologist, he mentioned that he thinks I have fibromyalgia and/or psychosomatic symptoms caused by anxiety. I have been given amitriptyline, which I am taking daily but I'm not sure if this is having an effect.
I am worried about the prospect of this being fibromyalgia, as I understand this is a lifelong condition, but I'm even more worried about this being something terrifying like ALS, given the muscle twitching.
I was wondering if these symptoms resonate with your experience of fibromyalgia, particularly the less standard ones like muscle twitching, strange sensation and pain in the ears/teeth? I should also say that I suffer from health anxiety, for which I am seeing a therapist (not helping much though).
Sorry for the very long post, but I was trying to be as detailed as possible.
Any feedback would be amazing.
Thanks a lot!
I am a 39 yo man and I have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but I am not fully convinced. Like many, I fear it could be something more worrying (not saying that fibromyalgia is fun!), so I wanted to hear what this community things and whether what I'm having resonates with some of you.
My symptoms started around January 2024, with a "globus" sensation in the right side of my throat. This remained stable for 3-4 months, during which I was examined by GPs and ETC who inspected the areas through laryngoscopy and noted nothing wrong, hence he diagnosed harmless globus pharyngeus.
Unfortunately, soon after, around April 2024, I started developing strange pain. At first it was localised in my neck/throat and then soon moved to my right ear and teeth. It was intermittent pain, worse on some days and better in others. After a little longer, the pain spread to my right arm/hand (particularly the top of my fingers) and behind my shoulder. For some weeks I had very bad muscle pain there, which felt like a contracture and prevented me from moving my neck without massive pain. This lasted for ~1 month, and then went away, coming back occasionally with much reduced intensity. A little later, around May or June, the intermittent pain reached my right foot and hip and soon after it started affecting the left side of my body as well, in a similar pattern ("globus" sensation now both left and right, pain in arm, leg, hand, feet, shoulder etc). Currently the pain is quite symmetric, albeit a little worse on the right (particularly the right foot as the left foot is not really painful).
It oscillates over periods of days - it is quite low (or even absent) for a few days, before getting stronger again for a few days and then improving. It's not always everywhere - sometimes it is stronger in the arms, other times more in the shoulders or in the ears.
The strongest pain I have experienced coincided (maybe just a coincidence), with the weather getting suddenly worse last week. On that day, I woke up with strong lower back pain and pain in the arms and legs, and I struggled to get up and get moving. It improved over the next day or two, as occurred previously.
It happens quite regularly that I experience back stiffness when I wake up, but it has never been nearly as bad.
I have heard about fibromyalgia painful spots. I don't have many, but there are two symmetric areas in my forearms, close to the elbows, that often hurt if pressed. As for the other symptoms, the intensity of the pressure-induced pain oscillates over a period of a few days. I don't see a physical reason why those particular muscles should hurt.
I have also noted that there are symmetric sore spots on the sides of my chest, just under the armpits.
Scaringly, since June I have started experiencing (or noticed) muscle twitching. It happens virtually in evey muscle, including calves, tights, arms, neck, abs, chest, back, lips and eyes. It is mostly one or two small twitches rather than continuous, with the exception that my left pectoral muscle twitched pretty much continuously for a few days last week. These also tend to vary in frequency from one day to the next.
I have also had a strange buzzing sensation in my leg for a few days, almost like the feeling of being in contact with a cat purring, but it has since gone away.
Finally, I have developed these strange sensations in my right foot and the left side of my face (mostly my chin). It's not pain nor numbness but a sort of "awareness" that these body parts exist, resulting in an uneasy/uncomfortable sensation. As for all other symptoms also these come and go.
I don't have weakness or fatigue, although some months ago I experienced some days where I felt really unwell, almost with flu-like symptoms (without actually having any of the typical flu signs, like fever). I do physical activity (running, rowing machine, walking) and I am quite active. My symptoms don't seem to affect noticeably my ability to do sports.
I have seen many doctors (GP many times, ENT, Neurologist) and done a lot of testing: all sensible blood tests (including antibodies for autoimmune disease), various MRIs (neck, spine, brain), chest CT scan and an EMG. All tests and all physical examinations were negative and no organic cause for my symptoms could be identified. At my latest appointment with the neurologist, he mentioned that he thinks I have fibromyalgia and/or psychosomatic symptoms caused by anxiety. I have been given amitriptyline, which I am taking daily but I'm not sure if this is having an effect.
I am worried about the prospect of this being fibromyalgia, as I understand this is a lifelong condition, but I'm even more worried about this being something terrifying like ALS, given the muscle twitching.
I was wondering if these symptoms resonate with your experience of fibromyalgia, particularly the less standard ones like muscle twitching, strange sensation and pain in the ears/teeth? I should also say that I suffer from health anxiety, for which I am seeing a therapist (not helping much though).
Sorry for the very long post, but I was trying to be as detailed as possible.
Any feedback would be amazing.
Thanks a lot!
