Fibromyalgia - What is the root cause?
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I now know that I've had it since I was 16 so I suppose my reason for having it is from having mono in high school. It didnt get really bad though until after I had a boating accident.0
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HMS,
FROM A SITE ON LINE:
My examinations have almost always revealed an undiagnosed hypermobility syndrome of the congenital or benign types. Although there are many conditions which have joint hypermobility such as Ehler-Danlos, Marfans, rheumatoid, post-polio and other syndromes; by far the most common is the congenital or benign hypermobility syndrome. These people often note that they are very flexible but they thought it was good.
This doctor goes on to talk about the connection between HMS and Fibro.
I will,post again with the site address. But a google turns up information also.
I mention it because a lot of people with it have never heard of it. The diagnosis is often missed and especially for children in pain and often no one believing them, it can bring some relief to have it identified.0 -
http://www.milwaukeepainclinic.com/fibromyalgiaHypermobilitySyndrome.asp
Here is one doctor's site talking about the connection between HMS and Fibro. I hate to say after a lifetime of being overly flexible, now I am stiff and have issues I never thought possible for me. I think after the hysterectomy, hormone shift started it.
Oh, I live in the mountains of NC.0 -
Here is another good site about HMS. I know this amazing young woman who runs it. http://www.hypermobilityhope.blogspot.com/0
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Very interesting discussion. My son had low muscle tone when he was a baby and therefore he was almost two years old before he could walk. He has seem to outgrow it over time. But I definitely will keep an eye on him with this in mind. He is 8 yo now.0
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A sign of HMS is when a baby doesn't crawl but scoots around on their bottom. Some skip crawling all together and manage like this till they can walk. It is good just to be aware of. It was a blessing when a friend realized what was wrong with my daughter and led us in the right direction for a diagnosis.0
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Very interesting discussion. My son had low muscle tone when he was a baby and therefore he was almost two years old before he could walk. He has seem to outgrow it over time. But I definitely will keep an eye on him with this in mind. He is 8 yo now.
Apparently my mother was like that as a baby. She didn't even roll over on her own until she was almost a year old. She's had some joint problems over the years, but fortunately doesn't suffer from the kind of chronic pain that my aunt and I do.
The good news is that most men are less flexible than most women, so they tend to be less severely affected by things like EDS and HMS. That's not to say that it can't happen, and it's definitely woth keeping an eye for the signs that it's a problem, but hopefully your son will be healthy and comfortable for many years to come!0 -
I was diagnosed with Fibro around this time last year - after determining it wasn't RA (thankfully). I also have PCOS and I think they're all connected somehow...it took me a long time to convince my doctor that I WASN'T being lazy, it's that I just had no energy, barely enough to get up and go to work. My father passed away in 2005 and I fell apart and had to start looking after my crazy mother, until she passed away in 2010. Then I lost my home in a fire (I'm back now) - so it's been a s**tshow the past few years.
I've just started on MFP about 3 weeks now, lost 8 lbs so far, but according to my dietitian, I need to exercise more, which is fine - my brain thinks it's a wonderful idea - however, since I started working out (swimming, treadmill) - my body HURTS ALL OVER - and not in that 'wow, I feel good because my muscles are all stretched out' way - I mean in the 'OMG MY BODY HURTS, MAKE IT STOP' sort of way.
I also had knee debridement surgery done 1.5 years ago and after yesterday's workout, it looks like a basketball. Even after swimming the other day, it was sore.
I don't mean to sound whiny, I'm just frustrated because I really REALLY want to succeed at this - but my body is making it awfully difficult. :sad:
I also live in Northern Alberta and last week it was -50 with a windchill and this week it's 2 above, so the weather fluctuations are EXTRA SUPER HELPFUL (sarcasm). :grumble:
How come when you're 15, your body is willing, but your mind is weak and when you hit your mid 40's - it's the other way around? Doesn't seem quite fair!
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@Pifflesmom -
The good news is if you continue to fight the pain, you will be more fit and healthy so your stamina or duration before the pain is bad will be longer and longer. Hopefully to where you will be able to better handle the exercise without pain. If you did the opposite, you will be able to do less and less until you can do nothing without pain. So there is hope! Keep up the good fight! In the future, you will thanks the "younger" you!
Woudln't the world be an amazing place if we could live as Benjamin Button (living in reverse starting as an old man)? 0 -
Hi Pifflesmom,
I didn't think about the PCOS. I had years of struggle with endometriosis and PCOS. That is why I had the hysterectomy. Hang in there! I know it is so frustrating to want to be healthy when your Fibro makes it hard to function. I just would suggest trying different lifestyle changes to see if something will help. For now I am doing a bit better and even exercising pretty hard. I have been eating very little gluten and sugar. I think that is what is making the difference for me. Something is out there to help you also! Good Luck!0 -
Joy, how is the gluten free working out? My husband and I are going to try to get started in that direction. Are there good recipes somewhere out there in cyberspace??lol Someone just told us she went"clean" and after 6 weeks, feels like a new person, and has very little pain!!!!! You think?????0
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I have to say I just had a rude awakening. Somehow I was doing a more strenuous exercise without the stiffening side effects. I thought maybe because of the diet change. But due to a hetic week, I fudged some on my diet. I am having an issue with my left hip, leg, knee due to overuse in a harder exercise schedule. (I kind of thought I was normal for a bit due to the improved symptoms and tried to exercise like I used to.) But disregarding the new problem, I woke today in terrible pain and stiffness. I think it is because of having bread two days and sugar yesterday. It really makes me think the white stuff makes me worse. I guess it is new incentive to stay off it. My initial diet change was for weight loss. From my experience, I would say try it and see if it helps you.
Oh yes, Recipies, Mark's daily apple site. Almost any recipie site has some low carb Recipies you can look at. The South Beach Diet quick and Easy CookBook is good. I am a southern girl. If you like comfort food with no carbs, there is a cookbook called "500 Low-Carb Recipies" by Dana Carpender that is good. She does't cut the fat but you can tweak that too. Good luck! Let me know how it goes!0 -
THAT IS REALLY INTERESTING, AND MORE AND MORE, I AM CONVINCED GETTING RID OF THE WHITES IS THE WAT TO GO. WE ARE SLOWLY WEANING OUR WAY INTO IT. HAHA, I DON'T WANT TO SHOCK OUR SYSTEMS BY CUTTING EVERYTHING OUT ALL AT ONCE!! THANKS FOR THE RECIPE SITES, I WILL CHECK THEM OUT. HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER,JOYFUL.0
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My thoughts are:
- We're born either with it or predisposed to it. It may have a genetic factor, as well, as I believe my biological father has it.
- It may have something to do with early/extensive antibiotic usage.
- It may have something to do with the chicken pox virus. I had a pretty severe case when I was about 14. I've had obvious fibro symptoms since I was 15/16.
- It may have something to do with environmental pollutants/ sensitivity to chemicals, mercury (old silver fillings), etc. I grew up next to an open sewer and our water well was within about 300 feet of the sewer. I've always wondered if this had something to do with causing/triggering my fibro. My cousin, who grew up beside me, also has fibro.0 -
BrendaLee -
Interesting observations. I have never heard of any of those besides the genetic theory. My sister has MS and I believe FM which is obviously dwarfed by the MS. So any environmental impacts we would be equally exposed. I never had a significant chicken pox -- it was extremely mild and worse I never had it.
Another weird that I don't know matter or not, is when I was young, both my sister and I had weird bumpy arms for many years. Essentially looked sort of like "goose bumps" when you get a chill, but we had them all the time. Makes me think if we were both exposed to something. I always thought we were both deficient in some vitamin or something. Never quite figure that out.
What I do know, is I was raised on Tab and then Diet Coke. I know that pop impacts me. Probably not good that I was addicted to Tab before I was six years old. It was a different time. My kids only get coke on special occasions or sometimes eating out which isnt too often.0 -
I don't think we had much soda in the house growing up and definitely not diet soda.0
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My fibromyalgia becomes severe if I have even one diet drink. Anything with Aspartame or any other synethic sugar is like poison to my body. Also stress is a huge trigger for me.
I'm editing to say that my medical history is kind of interesting. At 3 weeks I survived spinal menigitus with no severe side effects. However, my doctor and I came to the conclusion that it did damage to the area of the brain that controls hormones. I started going through puberty at 4 years old. By 12 years old I had severe signs and symptoms of PCOS, by 14 signs of insulin resistance, anxiety, depression. I really think all of this has played a part in my FM. My grandmother suffered from a painful and dibilatating inflammatory disease that they never really diagnosed. She also lived with lukemia for nearly 20 years. Right now my sister is having the same issues. What seems to be a severe form of FM, possible RA or Lupus. They can't seem to figure it out but she is 25 and it's very dibilitating at this point. Interestingly she has gone through a very abusive marriage and divorice and the symptoms started after the stress of all of that began. My grandmother was also a highly stressed woman. I think stress and anxiety may be a huge source of FM.0 -
I started having severe pain about two years ago. My back was always in bad shape. No doctor seemed to believe me or wanted to help. I decided to try one more doctor before i would have gone to the mayo clinic. He took an xray of my back and said i had very bad lower back compression. He referred me to a pain clinic who did some further work with me. I had a compression fracture at t 12 and other pain that was not accounted for. It always felt like i was going to get the flu, ache so bad. They put me on Savella and lyrica which helped a lot but didnt do anything for my severe back pain. They finally gave me Nucynta which has been a Godsend. I can function and work, and didnt have to go on disability. Every day I get up is a small victory for me! Im just now feeling well enough to get back to the gym and start working out. I gained so much weight during this little fiasco! Now I have hope.0
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My fibromyalgia becomes severe if I have even one diet drink. Anything with Aspartame or any other synethic sugar is like poison to my body. Also stress is a huge trigger for me.
I'm editing to say that my medical history is kind of interesting. At 3 weeks I survived spinal menigitus with no severe side effects. However, my doctor and I came to the conclusion that it did damage to the area of the brain that controls hormones. I started going through puberty at 4 years old. By 12 years old I had severe signs and symptoms of PCOS, by 14 signs of insulin resistance, anxiety, depression. I really think all of this has played a part in my FM. My grandmother suffered from a painful and dibilatating inflammatory disease that they never really diagnosed. She also lived with lukemia for nearly 20 years. Right now my sister is having the same issues. What seems to be a severe form of FM, possible RA or Lupus. They can't seem to figure it out but she is 25 and it's very dibilitating at this point. Interestingly she has gone through a very abusive marriage and divorice and the symptoms started after the stress of all of that began. My grandmother was also a highly stressed woman. I think stress and anxiety may be a huge source of FM.
I wanted to say that stress is a major trigger for me too. I kicked out my no good boyfriend and my pain lvls dropped down to half. I have my bad days of course but wow what a difference!!0 -
Mine started after a car accident
I was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time. 0
