for those that wonder how long it took me to get diagnosed with Fibro....

for those that wonder how long it took me to get diagnosed with Fibro....

I have had arthritis since the age of 22 (back in 1980) but It took about 4 yrs for my doc to diagnose me with Fibromyalgia  (from approx 2003 to 2007) ..thats because he tested me for everything under the sun first.. which is what any doctor should do... to rule out anything else.....

I also went thru PT and epidurals and all kinds of blood work etc .. I have OA all over my body... I went to two rheumatologists... the 1st one was years ago and he could not help me any... plus he was real old... The 2nd one was a couple years ago and he confirmed the Fibro and OA even though I was already diagnosed... but I dumped him because he had no bed side manner at all and acted like he didnt care... 

right now I am going to pain management, (as you can read in my past posts) but this is for more pain issues I have adopted on top of all my other crap.. My lower lumbar MRI shows bulging discs, facet disease, lipomatosis, stenosis etc. and the pain I was having down there and in hips and thighs and sciatic pain was unbearable.. I could not walk or stand for more than 5 minutes at a time ...

I had my 3rd epidural in a series of 3--- 2 weeks ago.. It seems like the last one did a lot more than the 1st two did... I have ant appt Aug 22nd to discuss how much they worked (or not) and for how long.... So far it has lasted the 2 weeks.. Im hoping they at least last 4 mos each because she does not do more than 3 in one year after the initial first 3... if they dont work she is going to do nerve block... UGH! 

Im not saying it did anything for my Fibro pain etc but this helped the pain I had gotten in my lower lumbar over and above the normal Fibro and OA pain... So I can at least walk more than 5 minutes now and I even went grocery shopping without hubby for the 1st time in about a year... 

I also have an Orthopedic surgeon which I have had since about 2004 .. He did orthoscopic surgery on my shoulder for frozen shoulder in 2004 (repaired rotator cuff and bone spurs) and he said as far as my OA in my knees and hips he cant do anything more for me right now until I need my hip replaced and he wants to wait til Im in my 60's at least... Im 55 right now.. He said the later the better... so now I just live with whatever issues I have the best can ..which is all I can do ....

I also have had every med for Fibro under the sun and then some ...... tried them all and I mean ALL... none worked or had very bad side effects...   So right now I take  100mg tramadol 3 times a day and diclofenac twice a day along with my BP meds and triglyceride med and asthma med and allergy med and gerd med .......  I also have started taking quite a few supplements which I will list in my next post....  

Hope you are all having a not so painful day!
Take care

Hugs

Nancy

http://nancysnook58.weebly.com