Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue

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Hopefully someone here can answer ?'s

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  26025.1
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  Nov-3 7:26 pm
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I have written here before, but now I have new information and like to ask questions some of you might be able to answer.  Here's the story:

In June I contracted Lyme Disease. Doctor put me on antibiotic therapy and I was fine (the symptoms from the Lyme Disease was muscle pain). One month later, symptoms returned and was put on antibiotics for a month. Twenty-eight hours after last antibiotic, muscle pain returned.  I started taking the antibiotics and went to my doctor who sent me to a rheumatologist, who did little of nothing and said it might be fibromyalgia. I told him I was not going to stop taking the antibiotics until Sunday night (I saw him on a Friday afternoon) because if the pain comes back as bad as it has been, I'll be able to get to my doctor for some kind of pain killer. Twelve days went by and I felt fabulous, then all of a sudden little twinges, then the next day, full blown muscle pain.  I took the flexeril rheumy gave me, did nothing, neither did 2 demerols, so I went back to antibiotics and feel fine now. I tried calling my doctor today to discuss it with him, but he hasn't called back.

I have been reading some of your posts and I do have IBS, also type II diabetes, and I went to the website Michelle posted where it explained fibro and also had a figure of a woman with pain points. Those pain points are not where I am hurting. I hurt in my forearm, upper arm, and legs. The pain is so severe (and worse when I lay down) that I can hardly function. I have no joint pain except in my hands from typing manuscripts for 14 years, and hips where I know I have arthritis.

My questions are: Has anyone had any relief from fibro with antibiotics? Does anything help the pain as I've found nothing? I cannot imagine living every day like this. When you know an antibiotic will take away the pain, of course you are going to want to take one, but you also know you cannot take antibiotics forever. Has anyone ever noticed a connection with reduced pain when taking antibiotics? The reason I ask is I'm not sure we're looking in the right direction for my problem. I'm not convinced this is fibromyalgia. The muscle pain is so bad it will wake me up. My doctor has done blood work for lots of different things so he can rule them out.  Is fibro pain this severe? Some of what I've read on the Internet says muscle pain, but no mention of it being so severe you can't function at all.

Thanks, in advance, for the time it took for you to read this and give me some input. If anyone knows fibro, you ladies would be the ones. It's like that on the Diabetes Board, if I have a question, Mary Frances (who is a nurse with type II) always has the answers!!!

So - what do you think - and my biggest question is if anyone has ever had relief from fibro with antibiotics.  This all started with the Lyme Disease and hasn't stopped. And I come up with a negative on Lyme Disease blood test now.

Debby  =^..^=

 

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Hopefully someone here can answer ?'s

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  26025.2 in response to 26025.1
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  Nov-4 11:49 am
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Hey Debby - sorry to hear you're dealing with so much! That sucks!

As far as antibiotics go, nope, they don't help fibro. Fibro is likely an auto-immune reaction in our bodies that allows our nervous system to basically freak out and tell us there's an injury (say, in your knee or in your feet, wherever) when there's actually nothing wrong at all. No official "cause" or anything is available for fibro at this point, so really there are just symptomatic treatments, or things to help reduce the pain and (hopefully) the fatigue.

Have you gone to a rheumy yet? You noted that it's hurting in some weird places, and that you do have arthritis already. Same here - I have arthritis in my hands, feet & a couple of specific spots in my back - and I'm 27! =) You might want to get checked for rheumatoid arthritis, if you haven't already gone through that.

I've heard that lyme disease can really do a number, so perhaps it's just not going away? I'd keep kicking & screaming until you get some actual attention from a doc - don't be afraid to go elsewhere!

On a different note, you were saying that the "pain points" for fibro aren't where you're hurting - that's normal. Those specific points are used to help diagnose fibro, because in fibro patients, those little spots REALLY hurt when you even gently push on them. However, they're not where I hurt 99% of the time.

I can tell ya, as someone who hurt for years and years (since age 16-ish?), it varies day to day. I have horrific IBS-D and when I get a flare-up, it -sucks-. No amount of painkiller will really make it better, not even 20 immodium would fix the IBS issues. From what you're describing as pain, it very well could be fibro. It's not always just fibro that gets us, unfortunately. =)

Please do let us know what you find out, even if it's not fibro. Feeling like that is not a fun adventure for anybody!

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  Nov-4 9:05 pm
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Have you seen a 2nd rheumatologist for another opinion??

I don't know a lot about Lyme but but there are so many strains. It was explained to me (by my immunologist) that the level in blood can be very low, so often patients need very extensive testing that I believe only 4 labs in the country are even equipped to do. She did test me, and she collected 6 of the large vials of blood for testing.

I have never read anything about anti-biotics being helpful in managing fibro itself.

When I googled recurring lyme disease I found this article.

Acute Or Recurring Lyme Disease Symptoms
By: Heinz Golz

Lyme disease can occur in severe or recurring appearance. The ruthless appearance may be easily dealing with even as there are in addition occasions that present discriminating indications. Constant Lyme disease symptoms are incredibly awful and can be lastingly weakening.

It keeps on to be incredibly divisive in nature while there is no fixed cure and more than a few added complications can end result from the progress.

To review, ruthless Lyme disease symptoms can resolve without warning anyplace from a only some days to more than a few weeks while Constant Lyme disease symptoms will slowly engraft into the internal situation of the affected one.
Acute Lyme disease symptoms can be treated with no trouble and effectively with a sole or recipe of antibiotics similar to penicillin, doxycycline and amoxicillin.

Lyme disease symptoms regularly start with flu-like feelings.

The Lyme disease symptoms are headache, fever, muscle pains, weakness, and stiff neck.
Afterward the ticks bite, about few days or one month following it, about 60% of Light-skinned patients experience an erythema migrans (EM) an enlarging inflammation.
Dark skinned people experience bumps.

The flu-like symptoms, which are in fact Lyme disease symptoms, can last as long as the treatment regimen, while there may also be minor emotional and mental manifestations approximating temper swings, sleep problems and intent difficulties. Painkillers can be taken for muscle and joint pain as well as drugs that reduce the body temperature. Treatment lasts from one to two months.

Early indications should be treated straightaway delay. The primary common sign is a bull's-eye rash accompanies by flu-like symptoms such as fever, body weakness, joint, muscle pain and chills. Unusual symptoms in acute Lyme disease symptoms include palpitations, heart block and neurologic symptoms like changed mental condition and neuroborreliosis, the central nervous system disorder.
It is possible for Lyme disease symptoms to go through a out of sight phase in its shift as of acute to Constant disease. Acute symptoms may disappear for weeks, months or even years prior to returning in additional ruthless ways.

Fractional Lyme disease symptoms:

Doctors have a tendency to misdiagnose premature Lyme disease symptoms for flu, and afterward, they experience several non particular signs together with a variety of difficulties with different body organs.

This is just a incomplete record of Lyme disease symptoms, because there are more than three hundred symptoms in the medical dictionary implying Lyme disease symptoms infection.

Non-specific Lyme disease symptoms: Sore throat, night sweats, severe fatigue, and inflamed glands

Digestion:
Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain (especially in kids), and diarrheas are a few of the most important digestive problems of Lyme disease symptoms.

Heart: some of the main Lyme disease symptoms:
Vasculitis - inflammation of the wall of blood vessels including veins , arteries and capillaries
Carditis, Pancarditis - the inflammation of the heart or its surroundings
Myocarditis - inflammation of the myocardium, the muscular part of the heart.

Muscles:
Joint inflammation and pain are the most common of Lyme disease symptoms: Arthritis that transfers from joint to joint cause damage to the joints of the body
As a result: Loss of muscle tone, muscle pain.
Bell's palsy - paralysis of the facial nerve resulting in inability to control facial muscles on the affected side,

Nervous System:
Meningoencephalitis - both meningitis (an inflammation of the meninges- the system of cells membranes which envelops the central nervous system), and encephalitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the brain
Neurosyphilis - an infection of the brain or spinal cord, Encephalitis - an acute inflammation of the brain, spinal nerve root pain, tremors and shakes.
Results: Deficit reflexes, irregular blood flow in brain, confusions, mood swings and speech difficulties those are the major nervous system difficulties indicating severe Lyme disease symptoms and situation, memory failure, sleep problems, dementia, panic attacks, compulsive disorder.

Skin:
People who catch Lyme disease time and again get a rash. Regularly it forms a bull's-eye outline of red and white rings around the tick bite. Later on the might develop Lyme disease symptoms as Paresthesia - A skin sensation, such as burning, prickling, itching, or tingling, with no apparent physical cause. Sensory lack of feeling; Tingling and numbness.

Reproductive System:
People who are sick with Lyme disease might have Urine control problems. The might have problem to bring to an end the flood of urine from the bladder.
Other indication of Lyme disease symptoms are: Bowel incontinence - the loss of bowel control, resulting in involuntary passage of stool.
Men might to have testicular pain feeling pain in the testicles. Sexual dysfunction.
Women might have troubles all through pregnancy - miscarriage, and delayed baby development.

Some of the Lyme disease symptoms are symptomatic of illnesses as the following:

Multiple Sclerosis - Disease that affects the central nervous system.
Parkinson's disease - Central nervous system disorder that damages the motor skills and speech, on top of other tasks.
Alzheimer- a progressive and fatal brain disease, the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer's destroys the brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior.

The above-mentioned description is not a diagnostic tool, but the intent is to submit a foundation for you to have a dialogue with your doctor on the subject of the innumerable Lyme disease symptoms.

Recurring Lyme disease symptoms
30-50% of acute Lyme disease patients go on to expand chronic Lyme disease symptoms. Furthermore, a number of previously asymptomatic patients may start reactivate their infection next to various pressures such as trauma, surgery, pregnancy, coexisting illness, antibiotics treatment, or ruthless mental psychological pressure.

Constant Lyme disease symptoms are incredibly dangerous as the manifestations are much more ruthless and; there is no fixed cure for it. It cannot be effectively treated with antibiotics hence so there are precise and individualized approaches in caring for patients in the Recurring state. The effects are requiring a long-lasting antibiotic use plus other therapies.

There is more controversy revolving around the medicinal treatment approach. The interaction of more than a few drugs and the Recurring intake of antibiotics can prove to be overwhelming for the liver, kidneys and blood circulation as well.

Recurring antibiotic intake can cause to the patient being immune-compromised.

Steroid treatment may possibly be indicated. Since the effects and counter-effects of a variety of treatments that are not yet traditional , a fixed medication cannot be wholly assured only throughout pills. Immune reactions because of bacterial invasion are compromised at times making the person susceptible to acquiring other diseases.

More examination is essential for chronic Lyme disease symptoms given that its pathogenesis, the system by which Lyme disease is caused, is not completely identified. There are also, more than a few manifestations indicative to those of other diseases making it difficult for doctors to diagnose accurately. The person may have acquired a new illness but still reveal the same of late stage of Lyme disease symptoms. At the present, Doctors and medical researchers are investigating new treatment alternatives to specifically individualize places for health care for Lyme disease patients.

Helping Recurring Lyme disease Patients:
Except of from therapeutic treatment, chronic Lyme disease patients can be helped supportive measures.
Establishing coping mechanisms to facilitate in particular provide to their requirements or the individuality presented by the sickness, Lyme disease symptoms are most important. Lyme disease symptoms, the chronic ones, endure for more than a few years. Each symptom can have a analogous coping tactic.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Did you know that if you spend more time outdoor especially during the summer time, while ticks are in large number and active, there is a greater chance that you may get Lyme disease? Lyme Disease Symptoms Info Center - helpful information about causes and risks of Lyme disease, You will acquire knowledge of prevention, note the symptoms and know which questions to ask your physician. Check it out: http://the-lyme-disease-symptoms.com/what-are-the-risks-o

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Hopefully someone here can answer ?'s

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  26025.4 in response to 26025.3
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  Nov-4 10:42 pm
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Wow - what a great article - thanks so much for sending it to me.  I am printing it as I write this to take to my doctor.  I hope he listens!  I sincerely thank you for your research.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that we can find an answer quickly.

Debby  =^..^=

 

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