Good morning-My opinion is that fibro gets better-it's not like RA and OA. When i came down with it-I could hardly walk. Now I only have spots that hurt. I do have some OA but it doesn't hurt. Foods that bother me are wheat and milk-they give me pain. I went to see doc yesterday-I have asthma and bronchitis. I have an inhaler a a prescript for Zithromax, I am concerned about the med because it causes stomache pain and I get that from everything. It's only for 3 days. I tried the guasefien but gave up=
Be wary of pain meds!!! I know someone with fibro that only takes meds and lays on the couch and wonders why she doesn't get better. I saw my mother do that with with Ra and she didn't get better until later when she took gold shots and started line dancing etc. But she was addicted to prednisone. And it made her sick and she had to go in the nursing home. So I learned from that.
I want to go to Georgia! Mima
Tammy- I had r/knee replacement several years ago. Don't do it till you retire. It takes a few months to recuperate. At least it did me. yes, there is pain but that you can deal with. Pain meds. The Dr. told me not to be afraid to take them . He said he would get me off of them. I took myself off before he told me. I take Darvocet n 100 now when nothing else works. Not for the new knee though. I am not sorry I had that done. Someday I will have to have the other one done. I was having a lot of problems at one time with it,now it hasn't bothered me too much since the last injection. That was over three years ago. I don't know what he put in but it sure helped.I think losing 74 lbs helped too. I still am in pain but nothing like before.Now the back is another story. I won't bore you anymore this time. We plan to go to Jekyll island too.
Hello everybody.. Have a good weekend..Joanne
Thanks for all the info on the oxycodone. I was surprised when he told me about it, but after seeing that various doctors use it for fibro, I figured it might be okay. But 70 mg twice a day seems horrible, and is! I'll let him know.
Meme, I glanced at your website and will look at it more thoroughly today. If you're always anemic, have your ferritin and iron levels checked (they're different tests). I just finished a round of IV iron where I was supposed to have five injections, but after 3 my hematocrit and anemia were back in normal range. You might at least see about that.
Mima, I take prednisone too and it's a horrible medication, but I found out after lowering my dosage with my second kidney transplant that it is necessary - since it caused rejection. Now I take it religiously even though it does make me sick and has multiple other side effects. Lesser of two evils. So I don't know if I'd call it a typical addiction like other meds. You just have to wean off of it gradually. Talk with your mom's doctor and see why she has to be on it.
You guys are all great to help others being that doctors don't seem to have the time to spend discussing all of this, or you don't think of the questions until after you've left.
Mel,
That's exactly what I am doing - forcing myself to exercise. I am walking 30-40 min, for 4 days now. I am just beginning. It's tough. But - a year ago I couldn't even walk, let alone walk to exercise. Two years ago I was dx with lupus, MS, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and fibromyalgia. This about did me in.
It's been a long road back, surgery, and finally I am facing this weight !
I know in the long run my joints will hurt less if I weigh less and exercise.
I also started Weight Watchers. I go back on Sunday to my second meeting.
Hi and welcome to all you new gals. Nice to have you here. We are a pretty friendly bunch - not many of us, but that's ok.
Exercise is ok. However, it can sure do you in as well. I was doing simple stretches and hurt my lower back, which got the OA going and then FM kicked in and it took 8 WEEKS to get back to normal. So, just start slow. I had only done 3 different exercises 2 x each for only 2 days. Walking is the best for me, and water areobics are great.
9 years ago, I could hardly move. My lower back was classed the same as a person funtioning without an arm. I have done soooo much to get it to where it is today. The fatigue is the worst for me as far as FM goes. Once in awhile a flare will kick in, and if I touch any of the 100's of hot spots on my body, I know it! They say FM isn't progressive. I don't know if it is or not, but it seems like it could be. Many people are diagnosed with FM when in fact they do have MS or other dibilitating diseases.
Meds - I only take them, when I absolutely have to. I take Tylenol 3's or a med that you don't have in the USA. It is a comination of ASA, CODEINE and a good muscle relaxer. That is my drug of choice when I need one I no longer take antidepressants for sleep. I don't do badly there anymore.
I did start working pt after not being able to continue working 9 yrs. ago, and I am LOVING it. It's just 4.5 hrs. a day, doing data entry, but it sure feels good!
Happy I could not sit that long day after day! I would have to be up moving or laying down..sitting is what hurts my hips and pelvic region.
MIL wants feeding tube now so we will see what happens.
We are not sure about the move yet it will be awhile before we know for sure. (estate has to be settled) We do know we need to scale down from all of our yard work!!!!!! We could build, we could do a condo, we could do alot of stuff but just not sure where are when yet. I just l know I have a ton of stuff to move when it does happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (since I am still keeping things for my two boys!) I still have most of muy Chrismtas stuff out enjoying it, cause.... if I put it away and we do move before next year I will not beable to find it! I love looking at the lights, relaxing! So I am just enjoying them for now..most of my stuff is snowmen or wintery... and I usually leave them out untill Feb.
I know some FM people who take lots of that oxy stuff, they say it is not addicting if your body needs it.........hummmmmm. Right now I can't even get my new rheumy to give me codine!
Yes what ever you do start slow and then even slow you can hurt yourself..or at least I seem to injure my self a lot!!!!!!
Above all keep a good sense of humor!!!!!!!!!!!!!..and eat a cookie!
Boy ... I just had something freaky happen. I just got a private message from 3fc and they sent me the same one Joanne sent me back when she couldn't find thread 142 ... I forgot she sent me that then and thought she just typed in the wrong number so I sent her the link for THIS thread thinking she couldn't find this one. Then I realized it was an old message. So ... if you got that message before I went back and deleted it Joanne, just ignore it. Guess that was a glitch or something! Too weird!
Good morning-the prednisone for my mom was needed but she took way more than prescribed. I take a low dose myself-5 mg a day. Don't ask me how she got the prescript. She died in 1991-from Leukemia. But she was in a nursing home and they regulated her meds. I took care of her one day and all she did was ask for pillls. Now I take a lot of pills-each for something different. I guess we end up there, especially with fibro and arthritis, .I am feeling better but very wheezy. Hope I am not allergic to Fl. My husband has been wonderful!!!! Have a good Sunday! Mima
I think whoever thinks that oxycodone/oxycontin isn't addictive is fooling themself! I think it's probably one of the most addictive substances out there.
I see that most fibromyalgia patients are over 40 and women. Besides that, are most of them overweight, or does being overweight just exacerbate the condition because it puts more stress on the joints? It seems like such a vicious cycle - you need to exercise for your weight and to keep your strength and muscles active, yet it's harder to exercise. I'm having a heck of a time getting back into exercise. Psychologically, the pain I was feeling isn't as bad now, and I don't look forward to going back to it. Didn't do it last week like I had planned, but will try to start again today.
I see there's also a pre-menopause forum going on. I know that I gained a tremendous amount of weight while going through and now in menopause. My metabolism has gone way down. Is low metabolism also a symptom of fibromyalgia?
Meme- I thought I was losing it for awhile.. I was looking for another Joanne .
Motherofthreedogs.. I was addicted to walking a few years ago ,never missed a day and felt gread. Lately ,I am having all kinds of problems getting motivated. Any suggestions are welcome..
Hello everybody...Joanne
Joanne ... Got your email ... yep ... you've got old timers! As for motivation ... I figure once your can actually see your butt following you around that should be motivation enough to move it! (Don't take that seriously ... I don't exercise much either!)
Mother of 3 ... I wasn't over 40 when first diagnosed with fibro ... only in my early thirtys and I wasn't overweight. I gained weight when the Drs. put me on so much prednisone and other meds which caused my weight to skyrocket and when the fibro and arthritis became so bad that I became less active because of it. I have since lost all that weight, though, so I am now down to what I should weight for my height. I still have an activity problem, though. There are a lot of things I can't do but I refuse to give up, sit down and do nothing. I do almost all my own house work, laundry, shopping ... keep my 4 grandchildren regularly ... I'm active in my church and community and have a lot of friends. I help my husband run a business plus I teach piano 4 afternoons a week. On top of all that, I have several internet sites I keep up so I stay busy. I had a team of doctors in Nashville tell me back about 25 years ago that it would only be a matter of time until I was in a wheel chair and then from there I would go to the bed and would probably never get up. See ... like I said before I have both kinds of arthrits and fibro along with a lot of other stuff - including sever, untreatable anemia since age 5. Well ... I went home from Nashville (takes about an hour and a half) went to bed, and cried for nearly a week because I had 2 young children. I prayed and prayed ... then one day God just spoke to my heart, "The doctors don't know everything." I got up, washed my face and just kept repeating those words. I'm still repeating them and I'm still walking around!
Joanne, someone else said the same thing about not doing the surgery until after I retire. My knees feel pretty good today (knock on wood). I didn't start having knee and back problems until I had lost about 40 pounds. I still tell my doctor that's why it started hurting. lol
Molly, quite a few friends of mine have done or are doing Weight Watchers. I had done it years ago. Going to try going to the Y and cutting back and see if that gets me rolling again in the weight loss department.
Anne, I think the fatigue is the worst part for me too. Yes, I hurt many days, but the tiredness is awful. When we left for Georgia, I slept most of the way to our first hotel (in Kentucky). Bob and Tim went for supper and brought a sandwich back for me because all I wanted to do was sleep. I think after I retire, a part time position might be in line for me.
Candice, there is a condo on my street that is empty. Want to move to Ohio? I have a collection of snowmen that I leave out year round. They are from the Deb Strain Collection. She used to teach with me and was a neighbor, and I love her stuff! I always get one of her calendars for my kitchen. A sense of humor and a cookie! Love that advice!!!
Mima, being allergic to Florida would not be a good thing!!
Joanne, maybe it's just the winter blahs when it comes to the motivation for the walking. You've done great! Don't give up!!
Meme, I got tired reading all that you do! I knew you did all of that, but seeing it all in one place really made me realize it.
Well, I'm off to the South house for the night. Have to be at school early in the morning for an in-service meeting so I decided to stay there so I can sleep later. 20 minutes makes a difference!!
"I think whoever thinks that oxycodone/oxycontin isn't addictive is fooling themself! I think it's probably one of the most addictive substances out there."
Oxycodoine is extremely addictive. A "holistic" doctor prescribed it for pain - for lupus and fibro...it didn't take very long for me to realize how addictive it is. I stopped it -- and was very sick. My internist told me that even though I wasn't 'addicted' and had taken it just a couple months, I was 'habituated' (nice way of saying addicted even though I had not 'abused' the prescription). She also told me to call her over the weekend when she was on call. That woman was a godsend. I was very frightened and called her probably half a dozen times, and she helped me through it by explaining what my body was going through.
Fortunately, there are other ways to treat pain, and I went to a comptetent rheumatologist who helped me with that.
Another problem with these kind of pain killers -- they slow CNS & metabolism, meaning it is easier to gain weight when taking them.
Double whammy.
Another drug to avoid, IMHO, is Xyrem (GHB). That same holistic doc prescribed me that for insomnia. I took that all of 4 days and said, '**** no'. The "holistic" doc assured me Xyrem is 'not addictive'. However, even the FDA now says it is.
I want no part of either 'medication.' And I no longer go to that "holistic" doctor!
Tammy, I just started walking again last week....My goal is 5 x a week, to walk at least a mile. Yesterday I walked 2 miles. This is a huge improvement for me, since a year ago I couldn't make it across the room, from pain (and dizziness). I am hoping that exercise (and sticking with WW) will help me lose the weight.
In addition to all the other health problems overweight causes, it is hard on the joints! With fibro and lupus, that is a huge issue for me.
We plan to go to Jekyll island too.
Guess that was a glitch or something! Too weird!
. 
As for motivation ... I figure once your can actually see your butt following you around that should be motivation enough to move it! 