Thanks for allowing me to join! I am a busy CEO of a women owned business

[FemaleFibroCEO]

I feel like I have come girl circle in the last five years with no relief. I have been to GM doctors, chiropractors, rheumatologist, spinal specialist all to no avail. I had a c5/6 spinal fusion in 2011 which shows everything exactly in tact but my body functions seem to be getting weaker daily. As CEO it is hard for me to take a nap when my neck starts spasming or go lay down when the migraines kick in but my staff is wonferful and has really taken up my slack. To date I have has two set of injections in my back as well as two sets of injections into my facet joints in my C2/c3 area of my neck. I carry alot of stress in my neck and middle back which feels like stabbing knives. I try to get regular massage therapy. My meds consist of percocet 6 x a day, Valium and Xanax as needed. Klonipin at night for my RLS in my right leg. The hard part is not knowing. Most of my doctors don't believe in fibromyalgia and say it is a catch all for a various of symptoms. I have had injections in my back twice and in my neck to no avail. I get terrible headaches and have my own room for me to rest at work when thinks get bad such as flare ups because I have to be there to oversee and approve orders and projects. I get regular massages which are temporary, but fortunately I live in Mississippi which we have Dr.
Patrick Wood a world renound fibromyalgia specialist that trains other physicians on the disease. I am trying toget an appointment with him soon. My medications include percocet 5-6 times a day, Valium as needed, klonopin for my RLS at night, flexeril for muscle spasms. They all take the edge off but don't really help. I have not tried accupuncture since a few friends had bad experiences with it. I'm pretty desperate at this point. I live in a coastal area where the climate runs 98% humidity and is debiliateing most days. Bring on the rain and I become bed ridden. I also have a pharmacy cream with several muscle relaxer and antionflamatories made into them but nothing seems to work. My medical bills are out the roof. Have tried cymbalta and Savella which have me migraines. I am on Lyrica about 300 mg a day, but I haven't noticed too much help for the outrageous price. Any suggestions! I have an appointment to see Dr Patrick wood which is the senior medical adviser for the national fibromyalgia association so hope he can figure out what is going on. I have always been an optimist, but this disease has tested my limits.

 

[1sweed]

Hi there and welcome to the forum. One thing that might help you is to try to find ways of reducing the stress in your life. It seems your still trying to go full out and are very good at what you do, but as you can tell the pain is getting worse and you have run out of working coping skills. Please don't think I am judging you for I think your job puts you under a lot of preasure and dead-lines that give you little time to relax. I am sure your mind is filled with work even when you go home. Thus the headaches get worse and the pills help you less. My job was a bit different in how it was done, but I was under preasure all the time to get finished and ready for the next day and another dead-line. I had terrible headaches and spend my weekends in bed trying to come up with enough energy to get out of bed on Monday mornings. The more I pushed to be the best I could be, the weaker I became until one day I could not go on working.

I am offering some ideas you could try. At home don't push yourself to get things done. Try and back-off and just relax. Fill your mind with a good movie or book, or take a bubble bath. Take walks in the park or drive out into the country and enjoy nature. Buy yourself a cotton fiber pad to lay on top of your regular matteress. The best ones are 3 inches thick and they come in all bed sizes. These pads help your muscles to relax and you feel like your sleeping on a cloud. Also try to find a full-length vibrating mat, that has zones for different areas of your body and some heat zones as well. This will help relax your muscles in your back and shoulders, neck and hips. Plus massage your lower legs and feet. They are very good at relaxing your body at home. Drink lots of good water and try to eat properly, no junk food.

I also worry a bit about the medications you are taking that can be addictive like percocet, that after so much time fails to work as well and causes you to take more and more of it. Have you tried any muscle relaxer meds or just plain Excedrin Migraine. I take it for my headaches as well as pain. Plus I take Neurontin. But the thing that helped me more than any pill was reducing stress and allowing my mind to relax and stop thinking about work constantly. That, and not pushing myself to be prefect at everything I did.

I hope these ideas along with others you read here will help you find new coping skills. And I hope that you feel much better soon. ask any questions you like and we will try our best to answer them in ways that might make you feel better in all ways. Best of luck to you.

 

[Anne A]

Hello from one newby to another...

 

[crystal_ryder]

Hi! I too am new to this support group. I was finally diagnosed this week after a year of seeing just about every specialist there is. For a long time I blamed tension and anxiety for my tense muscles and pain throughout my body. I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome brought on by Fibro. Every doctor I saw treated me as if I were crazy and suggested I go to a psychologist. I even tried to see one and realized that she couldn't help me simply because I have never had any mental problems, such as depression or disorders. Over the last year I missed so many days and due to not being able to tell my employer a reason other than the doctor is doing tests I was fired. This was a last straw, because I have never in my life been let go from a job. Now on unemployment I have tried so many things to get healthy still having no diagnosis for the whole month of June 2013. I am in constant pain and I knew that it wasn't just in my head. I kept a diary of my daily progress as I started eating right and exercising and found that even taking good care of myself I still had one day where I could have gone to work, but seems the next day I knew there was no way and would have to spend the day in bed. I have insomnia which does make it worse. After reading my diary at the beginning of July 2013 I decided to reach out to a good friend of mine whom is a Cardiologist. Go figure! The one specialist I didn't need is the one that diagnosed me. I described my symptoms to him and he did a quick physical exam putting pressure on different parts of my body and within minutes he was sure it was Fibro. Still not sure I could trust his word because I had been led wrong so many times, I researched Fibro online. I couldn't believe my eyes. Just about every symptom that is listed on WebMD I experience. Although, seeing that there is no cure and the affect that it has on life upset me, I am relieved to finally have some answers and knowing that I am not "crazy" is a plus as well. Like you, FemaleFibroCEO, I too am affected at work. I have more bad days than good, therefore I have started looking for work at home. I will not make what I made as a Corporate banker, but it has helped to choose my own schedule. Wow! I am long winded, but I wanted to let you know you are not alone in it affecting your work schedule. Hang in there and maybe together we can find solutions to the many issues Fibro causes. I am starting to look into herbal remedies as well.