Skeptical of Fibro Diagnosis

[Janet]

I am a 51 y/o female battling chronic pain for the past 10 years. I do have lots of very real reasons for having pain all over. I've accepted the fibro dx only because I'm frustrated with arguing with the docs. Sometimes I think that if I were a middle aged male they would be addressing my myriad of real issues instead of telling me I have fibro. I have so many problems that doctors just glaze over when I start pulling out my medical records and telling my history. For example, I have the following documented by labs/MRIs/x-rays, etc:

-Cervical Fusion C-4/5 and C-5/6 for herniated discs pressing on spinal cord
-Post surgical bone harvest meralgia paresthetica (left thigh)
-Tendinosis and arthritis in both shoulders
-Trochanteric bursitis hips
-Bulging lumbar discs L-4/5 and L-5/S-1
-Lateral and medial epicondylitis (R. arm) - a repetitive stress injury from typing all day (I work as a transcriptionist)
-Arthritis in both hands
-Hallux Rigidus (fused R. big toe) from arthritis and bone spurs
-Ganglion cyst (left wrist)
-History of diverticulitis w/ abcess and pan diverticulosis

None of the medications for fibro have helped at all including Lyrica, Cymbalta, Effexor, Neurontin, NSAIDs, narcotics, vitamins, acupuncture, massage, etc.,etc. I've tried it all! I do not feel pain at the so called "tender points" to light touch. I am not depressed. I have responded well to prednisone in the past. I have an elevated CRP (C-Reactive protein) which is an indicator of inflammation and those things also leads me to believe it's not fibro, but something else. But they all insist I have it.

This is so frustrating. Does anybody else feel misdiagnosed and just brushed aside? I don't doubt fibro exists. I just don't think I have it because I have so many real problems.

[Khürt Williams]

Janet,
My wife is going through a similar frustrating time period. She woke up yesterday with major pain in her neck and head. It was so bad she could not even open her eyes. I worked from home until she felt well enough to get out of bed around 2 PM.

Today she visited with her (holistic) fibromyalgia specialist and all she was given was a set of new prescriptions. Her birth control pills seems to be making her sick but her ob/gyn just says, "You have fibro. Talk to your doctor and see what he recommends".

Sometime is just sucks but I have to believe that their hope at the end of the tunnel and sometimes one has to look harder for that light.

[Jerrard Givens]

Fibro can result from many of the things that you mention and occur, in addition to for example, arthritis. I'm afraid you may not want to discount FM entirely. It is a REAL problem like all of the other things you list. If you don't like your doctor, keep searching. Having doctors insist on fibro I am sure will be ironic to people in this forum like myself that saw so many doctors trying to understand what was wrong with me. I think just as good of an indicator as the tender points in the presence of IBS (together with the neurologic pain). Good luck to you.

[Anne Hillebrand]

As you said, not the typical symptoms of Fibromyalgia.

Not sure if what we are doing can help you, but you can read what we have learned about Fibromyalgia and treating it. www.FibroFix.com

If you need any help, email and phone contact are on the front page on the left side.

Annie

[Janet]

Thanks to all who replied. I have a new primary care doctor (an internist instead of a nurse practitioner). My new doctor along with my Rheumatologist are now exploring the possibility that I may have either Polymyalgia Rheumatica or Ankylosing Spondylitis. I don't for a moment doubt that fibromyalgia exists. I just doubt the diagnosis in my case since I also have other issues and if I have other problems that are treatable I want to be able to treat them. I still don't wonder if I may have Fibro on top of the arthritis, tendinosis, etc. that I already have. I just don't seem to fit the classic symptoms for Fibro.