Welcome John! I live with a few disabilities including fibromyalgia. I hope this group will be able to give you all the support you need.

Hello, I am new to MFP and this group. I have lived with chronic pain of one sort or the other for almost 40 years. For the last 20 years my pain has been centered around my back, neck, and right shoulder.

I must admit that I don't much about fibromyalgia. I did some quick reads on the internet and still don't think that I know what it is other than being defined by symptoms. I do have many of the symptoms but not all of them.

I do know about living with chronic pain. I think a group like this one would be of interest to me.

Hello my name is Nikki I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and I also have degenerative disc disease and problems with discs in my lower back, IBS, and chronic migraines.

So I deal with a lot of various pain all day every day most of it I think I would be able to manage on its own is just everything stacked together that makes everything worse. Except the migraines they are quite disabling on their own and are actually preventing me from being able to hold down a job at the moment which I truly hate.

Due to all the various medications I have been on (and being forced to rest in bed way more than I would like) I have gained a lot of weight and I and hoping to lose as much as I can.

Before having issues with migraines (and major problems with fibro) I was around 100-110lbs (and I am 5'2"btw) at my heaviest I was over 200lbs. I managed to drop a lot of that just by getting off the bad medications and when I joined MFP (and decided to join the gym and calorie count) I weighted around 163lbs which was around the beginning of March of 2017 now in April I'm down to about 151lbs.

I'd like to get down to about 120-125lbs total and I hope working out will help with my pain management and insomnia issues.

I would love to make friends with similar experiences and who can share advice and help!

@traceyc013
Yeah it can be pretty tough when everything gets all stacked together. I think I could manage everything else a whole lot better if I didn't have to deal with the migraines they are what really knock me down but I have been trying really hard any day I can physically get up and move I have been going to the gym or walking several miles and I have been eating a lot less/better foods.

I really hope I can get back to how I used to look or at least close to it and then be able to maintain it!

Hi Quin! Glad you're here. You can do this one day at a time. I am so sorry you have been struggling. Feel free to add me!

@traceyc013 thanks I really appreciate it. They really have stolen so much from my life I would like to get something back. If I can't feel better maybe I'll look better? Hahah

Man! Apologize for not being around! Health challenges over this past year have kept me from being as active on MFP as I had been. I have been through it since last August! I had a tummy tuck, and a breast lift done. But I didn't get fully recovered when I began having some severe abdominal pain! Was in the hospital for fifteen days the last week of September. They thought I had colitis. I got better, but still wasn't good. Then, in December I was readmitted with the same pain, but this time they consulted my surgeon and he found that I had a perforated ulcer in the first portion of my small intestine! Thing that saved my life, imo, was that it had perforated through my large intestine too! This freak of a thing kept my intestinal contents from being spilled into my abdominal cavity that would have created an infection that's usually fatal! It's taken me a long time to fully recover from that surgery in December, but I believe I'm finally better!

I did gain some weight while recovering. Having to eat foods that digest easily led to eating higher carb foods more than I had in two years. I've now begun to repose some of it again since getting back to
eating low carb! That's something I've never been able to do before! I'm so proud of myself!

Another event over the recent past is that last November the hospital system I've always u!sed chose to not renew the contract of my neurologist! He is the doctor that gave me my Botox for chronic migraine for nearly 20 years, and administered my medications. They sent me to another neurologist, but he was an a**hole! Treated me like crap. Didn't give me the Botox as I had received it for so long. So, I found another doctor, but he , also, didn't care to administer even the same dose. He cuT it down by one fifth. Then, when he administered it he was not gentle, at all! Well, now my old doctor is back in practice, which is wonderful, but it taking him a long time to recertify to be able to administer Botox. It's like he's a brand new doctor getting set up! He hadn't done anything wrong or he wouldn't be able to practice again. It was all because of money. My doctor had been with the system for thirty years, which made him expensive. The hospital has had to trim their costs because they are having to repay their retirees the money they stole from the retirement accounts! So, yes, my health has been negatively affected because of these crooks! I'm a week away from when I would be receiving my Botox and they still haven't gotten these things going yet! My headaches will increase without it, so I'm not looking forward to that!!

Will try to drop by more pals!

Is anybody still active in this group?

Hi my name is Chris. I'm 59 years old and I have fibromyalgia and arthritis. I'm also diabetic and have suffered with migraines all my life. At this point I just do some stretching exercises and walking as I tend to injure myself if I try anything more strenuous. I have some congenital problems with my legs that makes running hazardous.

Hello all. I have fibro, (mild) spondylarthritis and other reasons to complain. Taken years to be properly diagnosed and years more to find some treatments that help. Looking to better manage my pain now thru exercise (and loss of the weight that years of immobility has granted me.) Interested in friends/fellow supporters that understand the challenges of moving a stiff and reluctant body.

Hi.
I am 49 yrs old, 2 adult children 3 grands. I have a myriad of diagnoses but I am back to trying to push thru my pain and depression and regain a grasp on my life. I have chronic pain, degenerative spine disease, ptsosis, nerve damage, carpal tunnel, herniated discs from base of neck to sacral discs, fused cervicle spine and spinal cord injury.

I can have a pretty good day today and tomorrow wake up feeling like I was hit by a train. A few years ago I worked very hard and I lost a lot of weight and thought many of my health issues would improve. I was 20 lbs away from my goal weight, walking 5 miles a day, looking and feeling better, becoming a bit more outgoing even though I still had pain, it wasn't as debilitating. Then BOOM...some discs in my lower back blew. I had to stop training and was in so much pain, I eventually stopped exercising all together. I was put on bed rest, then active bed rest. I was so angry and frustrated that I WAS doing everything possible to improve my health and body but then the lower back betrays me. I went into a bad spiral downwards. Long story short...I gained everything back. I gave up on everything. I am still very angry and ashamed of myself, but I have to fight my way back. Every morning when I wake, I am in excruciating pain. I am not going to any gym or working with a trainer at this point. Right now, starting over, I am getting on my treadmill at home every day, even if I tell myself I can only do ten minutes. Some days I do more, some days not. I am still fighting depression and that is also day by day. Am I going to be kind and loving to myself or am I going to let that inner mean girl make me feel like crap?

Anyways...this became much too long, but I do not have anyone for support. I hope to find people who understand my struggles for support, tips, and maybe friendship! So, HELLO!

Hi. Just joined. I have arthritis, esp. in my lower spine, tailbone, & back of pelvis. Prob. b/c of a rugby accident. Went to a practice in Aug. (I mean 14 or so yrs ago.) when the ground was baked hard, & no coaches showed up, just 1 other girl & a bunch of guys. A guy said, ‘Let’s scrimmage.’ I was pretty big for a girl, & had played a whole season on a guys’ team, so, thought nothing of it & said OK. Then I had the ball & got tackled. A guy (of course used to tackling other guys) slammed me down on the ground on my back & my leg was paralyzed for a couple minutes. I just thought, ‘Hey, why doesn’t my leg work?…Oh…now it does. Let’s keep playing.’ 😅 (That’s how rugby works, in case you don’t know. You keep playing until you’re incapacitated. Once we ran out of subs when someone had to go to the hosp. for stitches, someone else had a head wound, & I had a concussion & compressed disks in my neck but didn’t know it yet. We latter 2 went back in. 😁 Anyway…) Have never otherwise hurt my back. Several years later I got arthritis in the same spot I hit the ground, & the pain goes into that same leg sometimes. Got an injection in the tailbone b/c it was in terrible pain, so that’s mostly better at least. I use a lot of capsasin cream.

Also my ACL apparently wore out, b/c I had never hurt it, but then tore my medial meniscus b/c of effectively no ACL. Had it reconstructed. Everything was fine for 20 yrs (except 1 minor episode of bursitis) until suddenly instability & aching, & dr tested it & said, ‘Your ACL is gone.’ Again! Crazy. Must have worn out a 2nd time. Had a super-painful shot right into the center of the joint, PT, & brace, but the joint still started grinding. My husband bought me KT Tape, & it actually did stop the grinding, but grinding comes back when the tape falls off. I prob. have to get the ACL redone again. Can’t yet b/c we have a baby (maybe not technically—she’s 2½) who needs me to rock her to sleep every night. Here she is. Isn’t she gorgeous?


Those things are minor (at least right now, mainly b/c they’re manageable) compared to the major problem: chronic mono. It causes, besides of course fatigue:

• aching lymph-nodes on sides of neck, lower back of head, possibly earlobe
• sometimes painful pressure under skin then rash over the lymph-nodes
• rash usu. erupting into sm., painful open sores
• aching in the front of the abdomen & thighs
• chilblains (even possibly in A/C in Aug. from wearing sandals), incl. under the nails, damaging the nailbeds
• apparently trouble regulating the body temp. b/c I get chilled easily, but if I get active, or under stress, or out in heat or the sun, I get slightly but unbearably hot
• waking up too hot at 5 AM
• susceptibility to other infections that are hard or impossible to get rid of & sometimes cause painful wounds, e.g. infected toenail, maybe also b/c of chilblains, ingrowing & making 2nd infection. (Have had 2 surgeries, 1 in which the anaesthesia failed, & the dr had already started. He said, ‘You could go to [some other place] & get a nerve block, or I can pull it fast.’ I thought, ‘I’ve been in all this pain for mos. & I’d go home in even more pain, w/ a surgery only part way done, & have to wait who knows how long for another appt?’ So I said, ‘Pull it fast,’ held the bedrail, & bit the pillow…& the nail fell apart & came out in several pieces over several minutes as I felt the instruments of torture digging underneath. 🤢 And the infection was not at all gone. Seemed to be the 2nd time, but in about 1 yr, it was back.)
• Maybe worst of all, I think it gave my baby chorio (potentially fatal bacterial blood infection) b/f she was born, b/c I had zero risk-factors, but weakened immune sys. She had to be in the NICU for 1 wk, had to get a feeding tube, & had to get an IV, which she knocked out of each hand, so it was put into her head. I had to be up every 4 hrs to nurse her while recovering from c-sec. & major excision of scar tissue.

Drs. say, ‘nothing can be done’. All I can do is put Ultra Tiger Balm on the sore lymph-nodes (somehow it relieves pressure) or ice on them, put Caladryl on the rash, & wait to see yet another dr.

Anyway, b/c of all this, I can’t play sports anymore, run, jump, dance, ride a bike… Could prob. still swim slowly in certain temps of water, & XC ski a very little, but haven’t had the opportunities. Can go on short walks in cool weather. And I don’t have the tiny appetite that would suit practically no exercise. And still have to nurse the baby. If I don’t eat enough, I get irritable & crazy-feeling. So I’m prob. supposed to weigh 135 lbs. but actually weigh 175. Bad for my joints. Started MFP to get more protein. I can’t digest meat, so I’m a vegetarian, so I guess I have to make an effort to get enough. Maybe it will help me get thinner. And maybe I can somehow manage to get more exercise.

Just restarted MOD yesterday after an absence. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome type OUT which is a genetic connective tissue disorder caracterized by chronic pain and joint instability. I also have arthritis is numerous places and im just short of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Im hoping this group is still active as i could use some friends that navigate the road of chronic pain. Who knows the challenges of waking up to aching body parts and screaming joints better than someone who experiences the same thing? I'm looking forward to meeting some of you as we journey down similar paths.

Hello everyone, my name is Shelli. I am a 46 yo disabled Veteran. Due to Gulf War Syndrome, I have developed fibromyalgia, severe back and neck issues, IBS, and a list of other issues. Over the past few years, my pain has increased 10 fold and I know some of it is due to my weight gain. I am currently heavier than I was when I was pregnant with any of my four children. I am starting a new meal plan and workout tomorrow morning and am hoping that this will decrease some of the pain that I am going through.