Fibro newbie

[rewalta21]

Hi all, apologies for what may be some dumb questions, but i have only recently been diagnosed with FM and i seem to have more questions than answers at the moment!
Q1. I seem to tick many of the 'ailments' boxes, but not all, especially when i read about the amount of pain that many of you suffer. I get a degree of aches and pains but nothing on the scale of others. I also don't seem to have all the painful pressure points that seem to be 'required' to be a fully paid up member. Does everyone get all the symptoms to the same degree, do they get worse and i am just lucky so far?
Q2. The initial reason for visiting my GP was due to a breathing issue. I partake in long distance swimming events and up until 18 months ago had never had a problem with my breathing, even after 7 hours of swimming. Also i smoke ]medical marijuana and it never influenced badly on my health.
Can I continue smokng?
Almost overnight i seem to have become really short of breath and struggle to swim a few lengths without being out of breath. I have had many detailed tests/examinations on heart and lungs and researched this quite thoroughly to no avail. Does anyone else experience a similar issue?

I ask these questions as i'm not sure if i have something other than FM, and this was just a 'best guess' by my GP, or maybe the breathing and FM are unrelated separate issues.

Kind regards and thanks for letting me join your forum.
Mark

 

[Sagey]

Hi rewalta21,

Welcome to the group! I know it's hard to get a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia without having a lot of questions.It sounds like you are physically fit, being able to swim for 7 hours! And that means you have a strong body.

That's great that you can excercise but if you are experiencing shortness of breath on exertion , I would just ease up when you notice these symptoms,and try not to push yourself. Your body is telling you that u need to rest.

And I think the most important think with Fibro is to listen. Do not ignore these signs. When u get the shortness of breath u need to rest and take a break.
Over doing it with Fibro is the worst thing.Your body will over tire and you could get more aches and pains.

I do experience shortness of breath when I over exert myself and never had this prior to Fibromyalgia.

Although the tender points are used as a tool to diagnose Fibro, it's not the only one. It's not set in stone that everyone that has Fibro feels pain on every touch.It just shows that certain parts of the body usually on both sides can be sensitive to pain at times.

You didn't say why you take the medical marijuana,but I'm thinking it's for the pain. If you are young and able to control the pain with smoking as needed,that would be great.But only u know what u can tolerate and your pain threshold.I would consult with your doctor and see what he recommends.

When I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia I never had the mindset that this was going to be a totally negative thing. I thought it's another bump in the road, and I can get through this. And I still feel this way. Stay positive and continue to excercise but pace yourself.


Sagey

 

[Lou38]

Hi rewalta2. Fibro is so different from person to person and varies a great deal in the degree of each individuals symptoms. I've had symptoms for years but have only noticed a big difference in my symptoms over the last year or so. I have 2 girls aged 9 & 11 who can still be hard work a lot of the time. I work 30 hours a week and still have the usual chores etc to deal with. Every day is hard, some more than others but I still manage to muddle through. Others on the forum here are now unable to work after having led a really active life before fibro. As for the breathlessness, I can only comment on my own experience. I was diagnosed with asthma some 20 years ago but it has been very much under control until recently which I've put down to having fibro but my GP wasn't so sure. I used to cycle 30-40 miles at a time but now I struggle to do 10, fibro definitely changes everything!

 

[vickythecat]

I also totally agree with Sagey and Lou38. Listen to your body and learn your new limits. Also know that you will have good days and bad days. Or even hours or minutes. I will, for example. have an hour once a week when I wonder 'do I really have fibro, I feel pretty good', only to be hit with pain/fatigue an hour later, so bad that I cannot even handle noise/light/movement etc.

I wish I had access to medical marijuana, I am seriously thinking of moving countries just so that I can have some access to it because all traditional meds have failed in my case. The problem I have with medical marijuana is that I cannot inhale things. I was a pathetic teenager trying to smoke a cigarette for the first time and I could not even do the inhaling. Then my mistake/chance I did and I was sick for 2 weeks afterwards. Smoking anything really cannot be good for your lungs. I would choose to use the marijuana in any other form - tablet, tea or whatever form there is. If you have access, why not try those methods to see whether there is any chance with your breathing issues. And talk to the weed dispensers about it - they must be very well informed about people's complaints and possible solutions.

Keep up the healthy body - it is so so so very important to try to stay as active and as strong as possible.

 

[sunkacola]

Has your doctor considered that you may have COPD?