I know that feeling, Linda. But you can't fake it - you gotta break it. Whenever I get depressed that way I feel like it's going to last forever, and I'll never be happy again. But sooner or later things do get better. Not great, but better. I hope you start feeling better soon. If there's anything at all you want to vent or commiserate about, feel perfectly free. We've all been there before, so we can usually understand, and sometimes even help a little.

Hi Slogo. I don't know how smart I was, but at least it worked! I've been doing tons of medical research ever since I became ill, and I examine myself all the time. Hope I don't get narcissistic!

Hope ya'll feel better and better!

Hello everyone,
I was wondring if you have read about thoracic outlet syndrome also?

quite a few of the symptoms can overlap with fybro & CMP and
c -spine troubles.

especially if your pain is more upperbody- neck/shoulders upperback?
vs all over pain?

I was able to save a big list of links that are now posted at the top of the TOS {thoracic outlet syndrome} forum- and there are RSD, CMP & fybro links in the list too. Along with various treatment links and other info.

Have any of you tried chiropractic care?
I mean a very good one- expert & knowledgable about soft tissue and chronic conditions?
especially if you had a fall, car wreck, sport injury ect- sometimes it doesn't take much to get you out of alignment.

I happened to find a very good one that does soft tissue tx as well as adjustments.

I'm somewhat hypermobile -so I can get "out of wack" pretty easily.

nice to meet you all

Hi, Jo. Thanks for the info. I gave the links a glance, and I'm going to check them out more thoroughly later. I never really knew much about TOS.

How does chiropractice help with soft-tissue pain? I thought it was mostly for your joints and spine, and maybe your muscles. I have undiagnose soft-tissue pain in my abdomen, and meds are only marginally effective in helping it. I'm always looking for better ways to manage it more naturally, and I thought about chiro before, but didn't see how it would benefit me. I've thought about acupunture too. Have you ever tried that?

mine uses a variety of therapies after the adjustments, if I need them.
like soft laser, ultrasound, NIMMO {a deep tissue/triggerpoint type of massage tx}, infra red {before he got the laser}

I used to think the same thing - chiros did spine care only, but a good and expert one will help with the whole body.

if you look thru the chiro links {they explain it all much better than I can} you will see how being out of alignment can affect the whole body.
I can't promise that it will be a fix or help for you but going for an eval or 2 might be a good thing- just to see what they say.
plus you get a feel for the DCs personality before commiting yourself.

just as anything there are good and bad ones so check around if you decide to try it, so your not wasting time at the wrong place.
ps - no never tried accup.

HI All!

It's so nice to see the fibro people again!

Slogo, I have CMP pretty bad. I noticed someone said their CMP comes and goes. My CMP is ALWAYS there, some times better than others. You can touch me hard anywhere, literally, on my body, and it hurts. Some places with just a feather of a touch.

My fibro comes and goes though I haven't had a really major flare in awhile.

I started on Cymbalta when it came out to try and address my pain issue with the fibro and CMP. I didn't think it was helping so I decided to lower my dose. I was SO shocked when I woke up one morning after that and all these familiar pains (that I had forgotten about) were back with a vengeance. So I took the dose back up to 90 mg.

I'll never forget when I was first diagnosed. It was the first and biggest flare. I was dying inside from the pain. I'd go home at night after work and throw blankets in my dryer to get really hot, then just wrap myself up in them. I hurt every where possible.

After an intiatial diagnosis of some phantom pain, and a couple more doctor visits, I was diagnosed. The pain was so severe with the onset that my doctor put me on percodan and I blessed the day he was born. It was the only thing that got rid of the pain that time.

I also remember after being diagnosed I was initially shocked and felt very sad.

Now I can look back on my life and recognize diseases and symptoms that all are related to the fibro.

It's difficult to deal with.

I can't remember right now the type of specialisst who finally diagnosed me. LOL, must be that ole fibro fog! (Couldn't be my age!) One of those who specializes in arthritis etc, whatever they're called.

Good luck!

Jo, I just saw your post about chiro. I would really like to be able to get into that, but my chiro experiences have been awful. My spine is a huge mess, primarily from multiple (and I mean multiple!) car accidents and other injuries, and now arthritis. Bulging and herniated discs, etc....

When chiros especially manipulate my cervical area, I leave in much worse pain then when I went in.

Wish I could. I know so many people who do chiropractic.

I go to a very good masseuse twice a month. Wish I could afford to go every week because that helps some.

Wittesea, thanks for that link!!!! It describes me to a T.

Slogo, this page at that link is very informative.

http://www.sover.net/~devstar/define.htm

Doody, I am like you I am sore everywhere! It is easier to name what DOES NOT hurt than what does, cause I have few places that are not sore. I am going to start calling the rheumy's office soon to try to get lined up if someone cancels. My appointment is not until Dec 16 and THAT is a long time. I want some answers and help soon.
That site you put on here is great isn't. PainFree on the BT forum pointed me in that direction and I am so grateful. It describes me to a tee. Gaye

I sure understand Logo! My masseuse is a dream, and she is also an RN. One of her specialized areas is fibro and CMP. She can tell where my pain is and is very careful.

When I talked about that very first fibro flare I had, I guess I forgot to say the lack of diagnosis. When my doc sent me to the rheumy, the rheumy said I had a virus running through my system.

The pain lightened up a little for about a month, then came back again with a vengeance. My doc put me back on percodan which was the only thing that killed the pain, and again sent me back to the rheumy. This time he said I had fibromyalgia and chronic myofascia pain.

My symptoms were classic. I hurt on both sides of my body in exactly the same places, which is characteristic of the fibro. But this myofascia stuff is a beeeech! My doc told me back then that the FMS and CMP were basically the same thing. I always wondered about that. That's why I'm so glad to see Wittesea's link! Those 2 'syndromes' may run in a pack, but they are 2 entirely different pains in my opinion!

Now I have arthritis added to that list so that hasn't been a peach of news either. My hands are getting really hard with it. To top that off, I've developed another really strange disease called Depuytren’s contracture. When I went in to the hand specialist for what was diagnosed tennis elbow, he looked at my hands and said, "When did you start developing the lumps on your palms? You have Depuytren’s contracture."

Huh? What? I kinda wondered what the lumps were but they started on my right hand so I figured it was just from my intensive computer work and the mouse was hurting my hand. But then the lumps started on my left hand too, so I wondered. Well, now I know. It sucks. And now I'm noticing that when using the mouse, the ones on the right hand are really irritated.

You probably never heard of it, I hadn't. A description:

Which is WAY more than you ever wanted to know, right? LOL!

So far mine is under the ring fingers of both hands. The lumps are very clearly seen. They're about the size of peas right now.

Anyway, if you read all this, I am in awe. Take care.

I read the WHOLE THING Doody! It is good to share and read about what we are going through, in order to be able to understand it all. The more informned the better we can handle our doc visits. Doc visits sure need something...I hate them and NEVER get much help out of them. Maybe rheumy will be different...hope so.

My DIL has the hand problems and has had surgries to help improve hand movement. She has a lot of pain and swelling in both hand. It is a hard problem to deal with and I am sorry you got that too Doody. Hugs, Gaye