Tomorrow is surgery day for me!! Please keep me in your prayers. I am ready. As ready as I'll ever be I guess. It will be nice to get back to my quilting, which I have not done much of because of the pain. If I'm not in pain when I start I am by the time I'm finished, so I've been avoiding any and all things that increase it. I won't be on here much but as soon as I am able to, I'll post an update. I will be out of work for 4-6 weeks so, I'll have time to kill, LOL!!!

For the person whose husband is telling her she is letting everyone convince her she has FMS, and he just wants her to be back to the way she was before all this started - - I learned this from my own personal experience. Husbands want exactly that, for us to be back to the way we were before we got sick. they want everything to be normal again. Sometimes they go into denial rather than face the fact that there is a problem to deal with. They don't love us any less... they just want us back, in good health. And we all want that too right?? God, do we want it!! I had a couple of real good "heart to heart" talks with my hubby and he finally admitted that it's easier to deny a problem exists vs. facing it. It's been much better ever since. I think he understands just how much it means to me that I have his understanding. My suggestion would be to have a heart to heart with your hubby, and really explain how much it hurts to think that he doesn't believe your pain or problem is real. We depend on those closest to us to support us in times like this, and when that doesn't happen, or doesn't happen the way we think it should.. it hurts! No disrespect to anyone's husband here. I'm just sharing my own experience. I know my husband loves and respects me. It's just that sometimes he has to be reminded that we are all vulnerable to health problems, and I need his love and understanding to help me through.

Chat later all!!

Eileen, I've had the door stops for years now, but still I bend the wrong way. Maybe I sit too far back from the machine and I have to bend my neck to compensate. I'll have to do a 'motion study' to see where I can improve and hopefully be able to sew again.

Thanks for the hint.

Take care, Sharon

Sharon,
Have you tried putting doorstops under the back of your sewing machine? I saw it somewhere, don't remember where, put 2 doorstops under the back of your machine and it will tilt it forward enough so that you don't have to bend your neck so much.
eileenkny

Hello Eileen, and to all FMS and chronic pain sufferers, if there is anything that you can do to take your mind off your pain and struggles, do it. I can't sew at the machine because I have to bend my neck the wrong way, knitting is a little easier, but for me right now, music is my therapy. I'm learning to play bass guitar and my husband and I play in a little band for our middle schoolers at church. Music speaks to me in ways that nothing else can. So whatever you can do without causing additional pain, go for it. I know from experience that even an hour's respite from pain is wonderful.

Take care everyone, Sharon in TN

Anne and all,
Thanks for the prayers and good thoughts. Sometimes I feel like I'm on a roller coaster with this FMS. My doctor was weaning me off the Lyrica but the rebound pain was unbelievable. I'm going to ask him to keep me on it.

Judy in AZ, my knitting is relaxing! I've learned not to pull the yarn so tight after I make the stitch.


eileenkny

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Joyce

Eileen from what you are telling us it sounds to me like you are on the right track. Sometimes trust in a Higher Power, by whatever name we give Him, is the only way we can go. In 2003-04, I had a fractured vertabrae in my lower spine(L-3) and MRSA (high powered staph infection) throughout my body including in my spine at the level of the fracture. The prognosis at that time was that I would either die or be paralyzed from the waist on down. As most of you who know me know I am definitely not paralyzed even though my walking and stamina took a major hit at that time and will never be back to preinjury status. And I am clearly not dead.

The only answer I have for my recovery is that God was looking out for me because a whole lot of people, many of whom I didn't even know, put me on their prayer list and kept me there. Dh and I are forever grateful to all of those people and think of them even the nameless and faceless ones in our prayers on a regular basis.

You are (and have been) on my prayer list and I know that God holds all the answers. We must simply TRUST. Best to you today and in the days ahead, Ann

Sharon,
I've been on Lyrica since November and just recently had the dosage increased a few weeks ago. I've been pretty "loopy" ever since, but have had little change in the pain. I wake up every morning and have to do my lower back stretches.
Anne,
My present doctor is the 2nd opinion and both diagnosed FMS. I just had blood drawn Thursday to see if there's anything else going on.
Someone wrote privately about prayer. I think that's the best way to go-I'm going to put it all in His hands.
eileenkny

Eileen, I don't know if this will make a difference to your husband, but in my research on the internet about FMS, there is a theory (one of many) about how FMS starts. One of the theories is that after surgery, it can start. It has to do with arching the neck back so far when they put the breathing apparatus in your throat.

For every doctor, there's a different opinion about how FMS starts and what can fix it.

I've started a new drug, just approved in June, 2006, called Lyrica. It has been a great help with the pain. I can actually stay up all day and not fall in bed at 7:30 at night. There are side effects, though. It put me in bed for 2 weeks straight with my eyes rolled back in my head. When I tried to walk, I bounced off the walls! That has gone now. Also, it increases the appetite, my short term memory is gone, and my hair is coming out at an alarming rate. So, it's a trade-off, do I want to be skinny, have hair, and feel horrible, or feel good and look bad!!

One thing that I've found that triggers pain for me is sugar, sugar substitutes, and wheat. A nutritionist told me that wheat gluten is the worst thing for fibro.

I hope you can find a doctor who can give you some relief. Also, take your husband in to speak to the doctor. Maybe he'll believe the doctor. It's so frustrating for people to treat you like you're just nuts, so get over it and get on with your life.

There's a quilter on this site who has fibro and she uses the Guafenisin protocol. She's doing quite well on it, but it takes a complete change in lifestyle.

Sorry for the long post. I probably should have done this by private email, but it might help someone else who has the same problem.

I hope you get relief soon, Sharon

Eileen- whether you have FMS or something related to it should and must be something decided between your physician and yourself. If YOU HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OF YOUR DIAGNOSIS, you should ask to see an second doctor. Second opinions can be very helpful---and if you get conflictling reports---- seek a third opinion. It is hard to stick up for yourself in these cases but YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO IT.

I have had some of the same problems with my chronic anemia and. after much searching and what may have seemed like doctor hopping to some, I know have physicians in Chicago and here in Texas that agree that my case is a puzzle and that the standard answers just don't fit or solve any problems. Fortunately my dh and dd who are most involved in monitoring and assisting to my special needs have been very supportive.
Diseases that can't be seen on an x-ray or MRI are even worse to deal with because it is often the doctor who overlooks or glosses over the information you him/her. (that is one of the reasons it is called "practicing")

Good luck keep the faithe and believe in yourself the rest will come with time.
Ann in sunny Texas

I've mentioned here how I got injured on the job in May of 2005. Prior to that, I had very few symptoms. I've had to have 2 surgeries on my neck-one for a herniated disc and the 2nd for a bone spur that grew at the fusion site and sat on the nerves.
Since the 2nd surgery, I've had a very sudden onset of many of the FMS symptoms. I wasn't sure if they were from my spinal cord nerves or actual FMS. I went to a rheumatologist who confirmed a diagnosis of FMS that my primary had talked about last year.

Now to my problem. My husband said to me the other day that in his opinion, I don't have FMS, that I've basically allowed myself to be talked into the "disease of the week" by people and doctors. How should I talk to him and what should I say? He went with me to my last Rheumy app't and still doesn't believe. He says that instead of focusing on having FMS, I should be focusing on how to be cured and back to the way I used to be. He won't listen when I
tell him there's no cure, only management.
My daughter, who has a friend who's had FMS her whole life, says that according to this friend my symptoms came on too suddenly to be real FMS. I started kind of mild and have had a rapid progression of pain and/or discomfort depending on the day.

This is very isolating, as you can imagine. Can anyone help me out here?
Thanks,
eileenkny

Eileen, have a glass of wine before knitting, and then don't wrap the yarn around your fingers like they tell you to do, maybe just once. I knit the old fashioned way with both hands, holding the piece with my left and wrapping the yarn with my right. There is another way, the European way, where the wrapping of the yarn is mostly done with the left and I have tried it but you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Good luck and just keep practicing. I think the more you do it, the easier it will become and your stitches will loosen. Judy

Yes, I think I am a tight knitter. I don't even know how to loosen the stitches. I try to pull the wool only a little with each stitch, but it still comes out the same.
eileenkny

Jessima, my husband had the same swallowing problem several years ago. His lunch 'hour' turned into two because it took him so long to chew his food! He was scheduled for an endoscopy and his gag reflex was so strong, they couldn't get the endoscope down his throat. He was partially awake, but very groggy. The doctor told him that they could go to the hospital and put him out and do the procedure, but he said no (typical man!). His problem lasted a few more weeks and then just left. We still don't know what was wrong. So don't be surprised if your problem doesn't get diagnosed. It may just disappear without treatment.

Ann, I hope the iron helps you to feel better. You sound like you're a ball of energy and I know it's hard to be slowed down. We'll just pray for wisdom for the doctors, a diagnosis, and medication to help you recover.

Margarita, glad you're doing well. Just don't overdo, even if you feel like it. We don't want you injuring yourself again.

Happy, glad your surgery is over and you're on your way to a full recovery. However, if you still have pain in your hands/arms, get an MRI of your neck. You could have disc problems.

Well, that all the diagnosing for Dr. Sharon for tonight!!

Everybody have a great 2008, Sharon in TN