Fibromyalgia, chronic Lyme disease,or a thyroid conditon???

[firemanswife21]

I am a bit lost here. I am a very heathy active 21yr old woman, always in good shape and a great out look on life. I have always been very smart and quick thinking, enjoy life to the fullest. I got married and moved to yuma az with my husband, we had a miscarriage shortly after, then I had a very hard time finding a job. We had to wait and live in someone elses house, for a opening on base housing. So you could say it was a very stressful couple months. Everything calmed down and about a month later I layed down on the bed at 9:20 pm while talking to my husband on the phone, and when I went to get up it hit me like a ton of bricks.Every muscle in my body felt like I worked them out for hours. I had never felt that sore in my life. Mainly in my inner elbows, shoulders, lower back, and thighs. In the morning I was really quiet stiff and a bit sore. During the day I got normal feeling again. This went on at nights for a weeek. I kept waiting to get the flu or a cold or something, but it didn't happen so I went to the doctor when it presisted through the day. He ran a Lupus test and a Arthritis and my magnesium. I was negitive for lupus and had no inflammation, and my magnesium was within normal boundrys. That was 2 months ago and it has moved to a very serious constant pain. It varys. Some times it is a burning sometimes it is stabbing and sometimes it is a dull deep aching . It will hurt in my muscles, and joints and deep in my bones. Some days it's better than others. It can be a short pain or it will last for hours. Over this time I have lost so much muscle strenght also. My hands hurt to bad to hold a plate to wash it. I cant hardly write b/c the small muscles it takes to hold a pen kills me.
For the last month now it has what I call...gotten into my brain. I can't form conclusions with simple problem solving tasks. I cant find words, or think straight. I love playing Sudoku (number game) and sometimes I can't count to 9! I had to quit my part time job because it wore me out too bad. I would be so tired and fatigued I couldn't get out of bed! I can't get a full nights sleep. I wake up tired and sleep in late. To top it off, I now have an intolerance for heat. Not just sun heat, but shower water heat. It makes everything worse. Then if it 's too cold, I stove ;up and can't hardly move. I have also gain about 22lbs. I'm only 5'2" so it's a lot. I've been the same size for years but now I feel huge! I think I might be getting depressed some days. I feel like there is no hope and It's all in my head.

My symptoms are painful and frustrating. But whats worse is all of my test results came back normal! We tested for Lyme disease, rhumatoid arthritis, lupus, a brain MRI, EMG. All normal and clean. the EMG came back completely normal so no nerve or muscle damage. Its not ms like my neurologist suggested, no lesions. The lyme test could be a false negative, because I know the test is not 100% and they didn't do the western blot test to confirm. But maybe they only do that if it is positive. I dont know. I have a friend with the lyme disease and she went undiagnosed for 30 years. Her symptoms are very similar to mine. But my doctors keep pointing to Fibromyalgia.
I do not have any tender points and I took Lyrica for some time and it did nothing. I am currently taking Tramidol for the pain non stop and Soma at night for a muscle relaxer. It is just not doing the job. I dont know if the drugs are not working or if they are not strong enough. It varys so much that when I skip them for a day I notice no difference. I need help. I dont know if you can have FM with out the tender points and if it hurts your bones. And I dont know if I have a thyroid problem. Like hypothyroidism, it can cause the same type symptoms but my T3, Free T4, and TSH were all normal. The test was done before I got any symptoms so maybe it wouldn't show up.

Please give me any information you can.
Thank you

[PlateletGal]

I'm so happy to hear that the information was helpful to you. All of these CNS (central nervous system) diseases are so alike. I can tell you that many of your symptoms could fall into the CFS category. I have muscle aches, joint pain, extreme fatigue and cognitive problems as well. Also, the new Whittemore Peterson Institute is researching not only fibro, CFS but something they are calling "atypical MS". Here's a link for more information on this new institute:

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/40120?personal_page_id=1064

Another thing that may be helpful is a thyroid test that the majority of CFS and fibro patients are failing. If you have a low body temperature, dry skin, fatigue, weakness, cold intolerance and other symptoms... you could certainly have a low thyroid. It is frustrating because the standard thyroid tests normally don't pick up this abnormality in fibro & CFS patients... possibly lyme patients as well. Insurance may or may not cover the test... just like the lyme testing. But this is what I've learned after jumping through many hoops... hopefully it will save you a few jumps and get you one step closer to a diagnosis !

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Thyroid-Disorders/Information-on-Reverse-T3-Lab-Test/show/623?cid=62

Best,

~PlateletGal

[firemanswife21]

Thank you so much for the information! I knew that there was a lab that does the Lyme disease correctly just didn't remember what the name was. But that was the one, in Palo Alto ca. That was very helpful!! I am flying to Oregon to stay with my family, as my husband is a firefighter in the Marines he is only home half of the time. I dont feel confortable being home that much like this. Plus the doctors take a month to get an appointment or a test. Back home in Oregon they are better, more interested and fast. I will have my doctor there test me for lyme and send it to THAT lab.

I cant get a definate answer to if you can have fibromyalgia without the tender points. No where on my body is tender to touch. When the muscles spasm and cramp or hurt, it doesn't even help to rub it or hold that spot or anything. It's like the pain is not associated with anything physical.
Maybe whatever I have is just effecting the pain portion of my brain and it thinks it's recieving pain signals from my nerves and muscles but it's not really. If that makes any sence. And I know that with Lyme when you begin to have neurological symptoms, that is when the parasite, or spirilla gets into your brain. It drills into your brain and that causes the problems. The infection can also get into your muscles and bones too.

Actually the reason I'm so set on Lyme is that it's the only thing I have found that can effect you neulogically, your muscles, joints AND bones.  My bones definately have pain in them.

Thank you again!

[PlateletGal]

Symptoms of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome:


http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Fibromyalgia/Symptoms-of-Fibromyalgia-and-CFIDS-ME/show/524?cid=39

[PlateletGal]

Hi ! I would write more, but I'm getting ready to go to bed. But in the meantime, here is a link below to a list of conditions that you should consider ruling out with your physician before accepting a fibromyalgia diagnosis. And I would definitely be concerned since you don't have any tender points and Lyrica did nothing for you.

You are right about lyme disease testing. From what I hear, there is the preferred lab for this testing, but it is expensive and insurance may not cover the cost. For more information, visit:

http://www.immed.org/illness/clinical_testing.html --- Recommended Lab: IGeneX Laboratories of Palo Alto, CA


Newly Diagnosed ?

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Fibromyalgia/Newly-Diagnosed/show/754?cid=39