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Questions posted in the
Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Question Title: Fibromyalgia or something else?Forum: Neurology Forum
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My sister has been told she has fibromyalgia and hereditary tremor. She has had an emg(benigh fasiculations)an MRI (severe cervical stenosis and lumbar disk bulging).Her calves and feet cramp and or burn when she walks uphill or lays them on the footrest of a recliner. Her thighs often get shooting pains or get stiff "like tight rubber bands" her eyelid and face twitch, her arms or hands will cramp after simple repetative task(cutting a small brick of cheese).She often looses her balance when stepping backwords, stopping suddenly, or stnding on an incline. She was given a blood urine test to check for lupus(neg).and lyme disease.She has blurry vision in her left eye and in fact many of her symptoms seem more severe on the left side. Her arms and hands twitch and jerk when she sits. Her twitching and jerking at night drivers her poor husband nuts. Worse of all she is always fatigued especially if she has performed the most simple physcal task eg vacuming. She has also had some strange mental events ( not knowing where she's at or where she going n a car ,looses track of the mpmth or day of the week(will dress for church on a tuesday) can't remember her phone number or address( This mental stuff is all very intermittant she can be finefor a number of days and then just have a bad day or hour or so - we have noticed when she has to give her phone # 4-5 times in arow then she'll forgetr it or when addressing and signing return addresses on Christmas cards about the 7-8 one then she can't remember her address! Some days her energy level is so low or the cramps so bad she can't function. Are these symptoms consistant With Fibro? We've tried to read about it but it seems everthing could be attributed to it. Can fibro actually be a disabling disease? (PS her ck is around 220-400and her left eyelid droops a lot and her right is now starting to. Her eye doctors can't figure out why her eyes jump from side to side (he noticed this during a eye test) when reading he first thought they were trying to "focus" but after testing with bifocals he's still not sure ) The local (only 1)neurologist can't seem to find anything noting no significant weakness and in fact there has been an increase in the size of her calve muscles. Do these combined conditions seem to severe for Fibro? What oteher test might be helpful in trying to find the cause of these problems? I'm very sorry I was so wordy but were very worried there might be something else at work here. = Many of the symptoms, particularly the cognitive ones, do seem to go along with fibromyalgia, at least in my experience. Mind you, the specialists with the most experience with fibromyalgia are the rheumatologists, but we do see some as well. The cognitive problems are characteristic of inattention and poor concentration. Many patients with fibromyalgia have a significant degree of depression (watch out - many may not have "depressed" or "down" mood) which includes many such symptoms. Often, treatment of the depression makes many of the fibromyalgia symptoms go away. There is probably a connection. Familial (essential) tremor doesn't have any particular correlation with fibromyalgia, and none of the symptoms you mention are related to that. Likewise, benign fasciculations can happen to anyone, with or without any disease. That's not a clue to anything. The painful symptoms, the balance problems, all may very well go with fibromyalgia (watch it, though: there are other disorders which involve balance problems). I don't know what to make of the CK: could be a normal variant. The eyelid drooping is unusual, and I wouldn't be able to comment unless I saw it in person. It sounds like there's enough going on that it would be worth having a second look. Find a neuromuscular specialist or a good general neurologist in a major city academic medical center near you (most states have at least one medical school with associated hospitals and clinics, and most should have a neurology department). Of course, you are welcome to come to CCF, in which case you can call 800 223-2273, ask for 4-5559. This forum can't substitute for medical advice from your doctor. I hope this helps. CCF MD mdf.
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