Wellness

[kelsey17]

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@hayseed00 wrote:

I also have Fibro and RA, somedays my pain is off the hook and other days I feel good.  Everyone is so different with their symptoms,  The hot, humid weather spell we have had lately in Western NY seems to really aggrivate my  symptoms.  I just keep telling myself " A body in motion stays in motion", and trust me some days this is no easy task. 

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I have RA too........and it is funny because i keep a little sign with that saying that i made up near my chair to remind me

to get "up" and move.....sometimes it works...sometimes i am just not up to it....BUT it is a great incentive because 

"a body in motion stays in motion"  is true......

[Toppers3]

Hi @cddh,

I am so sorry for everything that you've been through. 

I'm glad that you finally have a diagnosis, though. I'm sure that's a relief for you. I know that some doctors don't believe in Fibro. still, but I'm thankful for the ones that do. 

I go to a Chiropractor that I was referred to by a Pain doctor that I was seeing.

I feel that it does personally help me. It helps to keep me mobile, and it does help with lessening pain, too, when my pain flares up. I go every few weeks. 

[cddh]

Toppers3 - So glad to hear about the chiropractor!  I have an appointment on Monday that I was on the fence about keeping.  I want to help myself feel like my old self without meds.  I was also thinking about yoga or pilates. Even though most of the pain is relieved, bending is still difficult!

[mistriTsquirrel]

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@LTT1 wrote:

my legs were going numb and the fog was terrible.

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@LTT1  I had this experience after I weaned off of Cymbalta, which I took for many years for depression and anxiety.  The fog was so bad that I became afraid; I felt like I was losing my mind.  I was afraid to drive because I thought I would forget that a red light means stop, or that I would forget where I was going.  I had trouble having conversations with people, because I would forget what I was going to say soon after I began speaking.  (Communicating via the written word was okay, because if I forgot what I was going to say, I could re-read what I had already typed to get my brain back up to speed, but conversations in person were pretty difficult.) 

I started on Pristiq, which is a drug in the same class.  I started on 25 mg (a very low dose), because I am sensitive to SNRI side effects.  The sensations in my legs and hands went away, and I was able to think more clearly again.  But now that I've been on the Pristiq for awhile, the numbness and tingling have gradually returned in my lower legs and feet (and also in my hands), but it's not as bad as when I was on nothing at all.  I know I need to go up to 50 mg, but I'm afraid that if I make the symptoms go away, it will be harder to diagnose me with whatever is wrong.  

My doctor checked my thyroid, b-vitamin levels and some other things, and could only determine that my vitamin d was a little low.  I have more than just the tiredness and numbness going on.  Anyway, I still don't know what's wrong with me.  Could be fibro.  Hoping MS is not a possibility.

One thing that really worries me is that I've been losing weight even though I've been eating poorly and not exercising.  That is not normal for me at all.  It usually takes quite a bit of effort for me to lose any weight, and now it is coming off even if I eat chips and candy frequently.

I also have balance problems and dizziness.  I was treated for that last year.  I was told it was not BPPV, but that is was some sort of vestibular imbalance.  I'm a little afraid now that maybe the unspecified "vestibular disorder" is not just a vestibular disorder.

I'm wondering if anyone on this thread can relate to the unexplained weight loss or balance problems and dizziness? 

It would make me feel less scared to know that people with fibro are having these problems, because I would rather have fibro than MS or some of the other possibilities.

[LTT1]

@Patriot3@mistriTsquirrel

In my 30's, I bought the giant book (first edition) "Nutritional Healing" by Balch. I read it cover to cover over and over again. This is the reference that Whole Foods has on the floor available to all.

In this book, Phyllis Balch states that in women, migraines, fibro, eczema, CFS, asthma, sinusitis -- it seems there may have been more (lupus) But they appear together many times and the medical field had not figured out why?

I refused to delve further into diagnosis because retirement was near and I felt that with less stress some of my symptoms would improve.

My mother was closed off about her medical problems, but when I asked if her doctor had told her she had Parkinson's or ms she only said "something like that."

The short story, after purchasing the book, I started experimenting with the remedies suggested. Some made me better' some seemed to do nothing' and some were huge fails!

[LTT1]

@mistriTsquirrel

I got to thinking about one of your last two questions.

Have experienced the unexplained weight loss and was THRILLED. However, people started asking me if I was ok? About the same time I was diagnosed with IBS and GERD. I felt fine. GI doctor said not to worry.

Was making careful food selections.

Appetite came back... gaining, gaining. So ?

PCP has asked "any dizziness?" I said yes and he shrugged. However, it is not causing problems.

Probably the PCP would say brain fog was due to ...

[mistriTsquirrel]

Thanks, @LTT1.  I have it in my cart at Amazon.  

Your mother sounds like my dad.  He was a man of few words.  He always seemed to be able to make the nurses laugh or smile who were treating him though.  I remember going with him to an MRI to see if his cancer had spread, and before we walked into the building he said he was just glad he had good medical coverage, because not everyone does.  He had a good attitude about having cancer.  He was in denial about how sick he was, but I prefer to think about his positive attitude.  Regarding my own trials and tribulations, I'll try to have the positive attitude and skip the denial part.  Not sure how well I'll do with that, but I'll try.  

[mistriTsquirrel]

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@LTT1 wrote:

@mistriTsquirrel

I got to thinking about one of your last two questions.

Have experienced the unexplained weight loss and was THRILLED. However, people started asking me if I was ok? About the same time I was diagnosed with IBS and GERD. I felt fine. GI doctor said not to worry.

Was making careful food selections.

Appetite came back... gaining, gaining. So ?

PCP has asked "any dizziness?" I said yes and he shrugged. However, it is not causing problems.

Probably the PCP would say brain fog was due to ...

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@LTT1  I had some acid reflux when I started the Pristiq, but it seems to have calmed down.  As far as IBS, I really don't think I have that.

One of the things that scares me about the weight loss is that it can be a sign of cancer.  I'll be going for my first mammogram soon.  My cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 41, and I'm not that much younger than that.  Then again, my GYN felt my breasts and didn't feel anything, so there's that.

The thing is, my dad had what he thought were the necessary screening tests, but they missed the one that would've saved his life: an endoscopy.  If they had done that when they did his last colonoscopy, he might be alive today.

He didn't seem sick.  He went camping with my mom and his grandkids the week before he was given his cancer diagnosis.  He was dead eight months later.  So I know it's possible to be very, very ill and not seem like it.  That is one thing that freaks me out.

[LTT1]

@mistriTsquirrel

I guess this is why I went to the doctor so much when we had good insurance through DHs corporations. I wanted to know the basis for not feeling well.

My DSIL rapidly died from a quickly metastatic lymphoma. Anyone would say that she was totally well up until that. But you have to wonder if she kind of knew she had something serious?

Sometimes people hide their symptoms from others. So the best policy is that when you sense something is wrong, have it checked out. Maybe be insistent to get answers.

My wishes are for you to be well and not live in too much fear.

[mistriTsquirrel]

Thanks, @LTT1.  I do wonder if maybe my dad hid symptoms.  I feel like ******, and I want to know why.  So I will keep looking into it.  Hopefully it will not be something that will incapacitate me or shorten my lifespan.