My docs seem to be looking into the pain syndrome and possibly fibro. Also mentioned trigger points. I have read some about it all, and think the pain syndrome is what is wrong with me. I have an appointment with a rheumatologist in December.
Guess I am wondering if I belong on this forum now...more than on the spinal disorders? At this point in my life I am so confused I don't know where I am or what I am doing! Pain, frustration, and depression are giving me a fit! I have lost my sense of humor and am desperately trying to find it.

Slogo, I'm sorry did you just read my mind and post this, as it sure sounds like it came from me.
I'll tell you I have never been so confused in all my life, this all started I believe with a fall and spine injury, yrs and yrs of fighting WC and losing (almost everything) then only to find out I have permanant damamge and am disabled due to the damage from the fall.
Now on top of all that and all I have been through over that, the drs believe I have lupus and what the say is underlying fibro, whatever all this is suppose to mean.
All I know is my life as I knew it ended 7 yrs ago this past June. I don't know what causes what pain and what symptoms, I just know I'm in pain 24/7 no matter what meds I take or what I do or don't do and I suffer from CF and well the list just goes on and on.
It seems like no matter how much I read and research all this my mind just won't absorb and process and I always loved using my mind and doing research!!
Sorry didn't mean to hi-jack your thread, I just wonder if this is how you feel about some of which you have going on.
I just don't know where I belong anymore as my dx's are always maybe and possible..
Hope you are able to get better answers then I have .
Lot
s of luck,
LindaM(suede)

Below is a link to a website that explains what CMP (chronic myofascial pain) is and how it differs from fibro, and all about trigger points, etc....

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

The author of the website is also the author of the BEST book about fibro and CMP (and in my opinion the book should be required reading for anyone with fibro and/or CMP and any medical professionals who diagnose and treat fibro and/or CMP).

I have both fibro and CMP and if my hands weren't killing me tonight I would write a lot more info.... but for now I will leave the link, and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to type a lot more

Liz

Oh my, bless your heart Linda, you have it worse than me! So sorry. Mine started with some falls, then neck pain, back pain, headaches from hell, muscle jerks for 13 yrs, plus chest pain as bad as heart attack pain...only not coming from my heart at all. Got to the point I had to have C-spine surgery to keep me from a wheelchair, wearing diapers...with someone having to feed me! Then the jerks did not stop like we thought it would after the surgery in Oct last year. Now Ns said to go to a gastro doc to see if chest pain was from stomach...NOT.......gastro said go to a neuro....neuro says go to a rheumy....does it ever end? I did find the myofascial pain syndrone to have a lot of the symptoms that I have...so maybe???? I do know that I feel better if I just don't do anything soooooo, that is what I do! I feel so weak and weary if I try to shop, walk, exercise at all and it only causes pain. I have had a bad neck and shoulder pain all day today and why...I have no idea. Maybe I slept wrong. I think I am ready to just quit being a person at all! LOL
I do hope and pray we both find answers and soon! Hugs, gaye

I'm sorry ya'll are having such a rough time, Slogo & Linda.

My fibro was brought on by an undiagnosed chronic abdominal pain I've had for the past several years. I also have intermittent myofascial pain. The biggest difference between the tender points of fibro and the trigger points of CMP is that when you press on a tender point the pain is localized, like pressing on a very sore spot or a bruise. When you press on a trigger point, you feel pain shoot along a pathway through a certain area of your body. My worst trigger point keeps popping up on the left side of my back, and when anything pushes or hits it I feel sharp pain shoot down through my left hip and thigh, and my left leg all but gives out.

My big worry is, if they ever find out what's causing my abdominal pain and can fix it, will the other stuff go away? Some docs tell me yes and some are doubtful. I read once that after two years, the odds of recovering from fibro are less than 5 percent. I don't like those odds at all!

I hope everyone starts feeling better soon. Good luck to you all!

Liz that is the info that I found when I first went looking for info. It is very good and I have printed it out and keep it in a folder. I'm glad you put it on here...now others can find it too!
Sorry your hands are so painful and hope they are much better tomorrow!

Idealist, does your pain actually come and go? I have found that I can stop the pain if I sit and do nothing. If I try to keep the house clean or go shopping too much it all starts right back up with a vengence.
When the gastro doc pressed on my back in the thoracic area the pain went all the way through to the front of my chest. I thought that was a bit strange. Years ago when a doc pressed on the fibro points I felt a bit sore , yet later I was in some heavy pain. seems like I always hurt after they press on them and it gets progressively worse from there. I do the same thing after exercise or housework...I will start hurting a few hours later and then it is too late to stop or do anything about it. does that make sense? Gaye

Liz,
Thanks so much for posting the link, I'll try reading and hopefully be able to absorb.
I understand about hands hurying, I have much the same problem, I hope that you are feeling better soon.

Idealist,
I hope your stomach pain is cleared up soon and you find answers.
I just had a test done(can't remember the name) with camera in my stomach as it hurts so bad, the dr said I have a ulcer that is almost healed and well actually should be healed by now, I can only say my stomach still hurts as bad and the dr says, he doesn't know why...Good Luck!!

Gaye,
We must be related we could write the same story except I haven't had the surgeries you have, yet and hopefully not.
I'm going through we rreal deliema right now with guilt over not doing anything,
Like you as long as I do nothing I'm okay, I can only sit or lie for a short period of time then have to move around and then go back but even when I'm moving around I can't do anything, I'm having a very hard time with keeping even the bills and cuch paid right now and it's the only thing I do and DH does everything else and he is just no good with a check book or finances.
He has been working so hard trying to keep our head above watersince I no longer bring in a income that his health is failing now.
Sorry for the whine I have just been holding it all in for so long I think that is probably what is eating me up from the inside out!!
Hugs, Linda(suede)

Hi Gaye! The myofascial pain comes and goes, but it is, as you say, much worse when I move a lot. The fibro is an up-and-down thing. I first diagnosed that myself, a few years ago. In a way it was kinda funny. I read about fibro on a website, and the symptoms sounded mighty familiar. So when I found a map of the tender-spot locations, I started pressing around on myself and found out (to my twisted delight) that I had a bunch of them all over. I didn't know then that the fibro was secondary, so I thought I had diagnosed ALL my problems. Anyway, the next morning when I woke up I was so sore it took me half an hour to get out of bed. My family laughed at me when I told them about it, like "you idiot! when you found out that it hurt, why did you keep on poking yourself?"

Linda, I just had that procedure done, too. It was called an endoscopy. I've found that Prevacid helps my stomach pain a lot, even though I'm not sure why. Don't let the guilt eat away at you like that. I know, easier said than done. But still, it ain't your fault, so don't blame yourself!

Suede/Linda, you are not whinning, you are sharing your heart with friends that care! That is why I am so thankful to Doc Jon for making us a forum to get the old BT folks on. I missed all the love, kindness, caring, sharing, venting, and the chances to learn about our conditions. We need each other to bounce off of and to find out that our guilt, and for myself, useless feelings are normal! I get the ole "oh but you look so good" comments. well, pain does NOT HAVE A CERTAIN LOOK! Oh my....I have started to rant...slow down gaye!
By the way I too pay all the bills and stuff. I can't remember anymore what I have paid and what I haven't. LOL I have such a bad case of brainfog!

Idealist, you are so smart to do your own pain exam! I think I will check out mine too, good idea. I do know that I have a spot on my chest that if I touch it all, the thoracic pain will start up immediately, so I try to NEVER tough that spot. found out the hard way. Gaye

Idealist and Gaye, Thanks for the kind words and support!
It's so appreciated. I'm just down in the dumps and trying not to let it grab me and take me down in to that awful dark pit I can't climb out of.
I keep telling myself if I fake it long enough I'll make it, sometimes it just doesn't work though.
Hugs, Linda