If you have a diagnosis or suffer wit... - Fibromyalgia Acti...
If you have a diagnosis or suffer with any of the following mental health problems, were they diagnosed before or after Fibromyalgia?
Mdaisy451 Voters
High blood pressure after
Thanks for commenting - just having a poll on these MH issues for now 
Before fibromyalgia diagnosis: diabetes, hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s Disease plus
Thanks for commenting - just having a poll on these MH issues for now
I know exactly how you feel I was diagnosed with these except the diabetes about 5 years ago and was very poorly for a time while getting my diagnosis and treatment sorted. The two combined totally wiped me out sometimes
Back and leg pain High BP
I also have bipolar type 2, emotionally unstable personality disorder and severe social anxiety.
Still no PTSD diagnosis but still having nightmares 47 years later.
Everything else post fibro diagnosis (20 odd years ago), though looking back anxiety and depression were present from my early teens.
How can medics ignore the nightmares associated with PTSD when you've had them for so long...... we all know Fibro can be triggered by trauma (emotional, physical etc) . Have you asked for a 2nd opinion ?
I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder many many years ago, but have recovered and been well for 10+ years before fibro symptoms and diagnosis
fortunately no MH issues except absolute annoyance at the time it took to diagnose and the lack of support after - I guess anger is not really MH
I understand the stress and frustration...... this alone must impact on us at some level I agree and I don't think they realise to what degree sometimes
The doctors thought I had depression and anxiety but knew it wasn't that
Took me 30 yrs to get properly diagnosed
Started when I was 24 yrs old with vertigo and dizziness after going to Spain
Because I was panicky because of the dizziness was labelled depressed and anxious
Diagnosed June 2018
First bout 1988
Hi
I had depression and anxiety with fibromyalgia not befour I was diagnosed
I was diagnosed when I was 29
It’s a terrible illness ☹️
I hope you are okay ?
I had a stroke as a teenager, before fibromyalgia. Also a traumatic childhood xx
I was involved in a road traffic accident in 2008 and diagnosed with PTSD after it, had treatment in 2010 and been ok since, apart from physical pain from accident and issues from meds, was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia last year after seeing Rheumatologist for gout - gout under control with meds, fibromyalgia is troublesome but no meds use hypnotherapy and mindfulness
As some people are often prone to depression and anxiety, who don't have Fibromyalgia, can you please tell me what the outcome of this survey will achieve?
Many thanks
Just a poll to wonder if Depression etc is a precursor to Fibromyalgia or more common due to Fibro - as research recently told us (that we knew already) that childhood trauma may be linked. In my case it was due to illness rather than before and you're right not everyone with these mental health issues has Fibro and vice versa, so it's likely that genetic predisposition, environmental and other variables are involved. These results are not used for anything just as a point of discussion really.
If it's only as a point for discussion, I can understand where you are.
Having had Fibro and ME for about the same time (after the birth of my 2nd child), I have never really known which illness is giving me the pain and exhaustion (only in latter years have I been diagnosed with both). Or are they interlinked???
All I know is that I suffer from extreme pain and, sometimes for days on end, can barely get out of bed through exhaustion. I can't drive, shop nor cook because of the Fibro Fog. Everything has developed into a critical phase and as a result I applied, and was successful in being awarded Attendance Allowance. I am 67yrs old and have been a sufferer for 44yrs.
It's much of my belief that, it's not only the symptoms that drag you down and depress you, but also the isolation of not being able to lead a normal active life and lets not forget the absence of a normal social life. Who wants to be in the company of someone who is constantly feeling pain and is not quite with it, especially when they look as though nothing is wrong with them. I have often had to cancel social events due to the illness. If it has taken medical practitioners this length of time to acknowledge and accept the illness, you can understand why others don't have a scooby. More needs done to raise awareness of both of these illnesses.
I could write a thesis on this subject, if I didn't fall asleep in the process
Hi l suffered from depression for many years and then l had my daughter l went through lots of trauma as a child and also after being diagnosised with a mental health condition l received a lot of judgment from work lost my job and nearly lost my daughter l was then diagnosed with PTSD and Shortly after fibromyalgia it’s been a long hard journey but out of every experience there is some learning to come out of it and l continue to fight for what l need to aid my journey to live the best life l can
Hermes123 After attending a pain management, a physiotherapist picked up on the fact she thought I suffered from PTSD. As her husband had been in the Forces and my action were apparently the same as mine, but no body else has picked up on it. Hermes.
Bipolar ptsd anxiety schizoid personality disorder 30yrs, fibromyalgia 10yrs pbc lupus STC OA 4yrs, loads of other little things but together nasty
I've had depression and anxiety for years, probably due to abuse (sexual, physical and mental) which was then triggered by me having my Son and then got worse when my Dad passed away.
I was diagnosed with depression some years before my diagnosis with fibro, but believe I had fibro back then as had lots of tests to see why I had fatigue etc but nothing was found. I am still on antidepressants and probably will be for life as I have dark times which I know would be much worse without meds. (I did have counselling for quite a while before having antidepressants owing to various traumas but it didn't stop the depression which I was told was largely clinical). I've never been officially diagnosed with anxiety, but I do suffer from it now, especially social anxiety - I don't cope well in large groups. I certainly didn't suffer from anxiety when I was younger (now 58).
I 've had depression/anxiety for about 8 years before my diagnosis
In retrospect I realise I have had fibro symptoms for 40 years approx. First diagnosis of anything was 30 years prior to my Fibro diagnosis 5 years ago was M.E./Chemical Sensitivities. Mentionining symptoms such as vertigo, connective tissue problems, aches and pains etc to successive GP's as I moved home several times was dismissed with suggestions I that I needed to see a psychiatrist. 10 years on from first label of ME I was diagnosed as hypothyroid and around the same time as depressed. Not until 20 more years pushing myself and just trying to carry on a 'normal' life until I crashed physically and mentally was I diagnosed as having ptsd, anxiety and depression and a year later diagnosed with fibro.
Your options seem Limited. There’s no option for ‘none of the above’, for example. And for ‘Other, please comment’ , there’s no option to allow a qualifying comment.
So the data is skewed.
Other you write in these messages and these are not used as data but merely to initiate conversation
Failed spinal surgery before Fibro
High blood pressure and high cholesterol after diagnosis of fibromyalgia
Unstable personality disorder, I.b.s. Tinnitus, Bruxhism.
I was diagnosed years before fibromyalgia
Bipolar Disorder diagnosis before Fibromyalgia
I have never had any mental health problems I understand that I am very lucky
So, on the way to Fibro, like many, I was 'anxious', 'depressed', had growing pains, schoolitis, it was all in my head. Then after? My GP rolled his eyes and said fibro was a sink diagnosis for lazy drs that can't be bothered to figure what's what. In other words it was all in my head anyway.
Oddly, after years of not being treated and taken seriously, with diagnoses missed as a result, I am pretty depressed at times, anxious and stressed. Who can you trust, when you cant trust those treating you? It is incredibly hard asking for help when you know your dr will say you are making a fuss. That is a broken attitude I think.
You can never forget that even Fibro's get other stuff wrong with them sometimes. Trying to get that diagnosed is no easier than the initial Fibro diagnosis. Maybe it's harder because all fibros are hyper heath obsessed aren't they? And now the Surgeries just don't have time to listen to the myriad of auto immune symptoms to put together the picture of what is actually wrong. The one symptom at a time system pretty much ensures we are continually fobbed off and still crazy.
I was diagnosed as bio-polar before and major panic attacks before fibromyalgia.
I was diagnosed with ME
I was diagnosed with ME/Chronic fatigue syndrome before
Awaiting to be diagnosed suffering pain all over body high blood pressure high cholesterol gout clinical depression shoulder pain left and right also feet ankles left and right neck pain hips legs ears thump like a heart beat dry eyes been to the pain clinic can’t find nothing wrong I had these symptoms for over 5 years at the moment waiting for a hip replacement also knee pain both of them can’t walk really in bad pain
Mental health has become much worse after diagnosis of fybro which was approximately 12 months ago
PTSD after BUT still waiting on a definitive fibro diagnosis. That’s the hardest part. All these symptoms yet NO ONE will verify anything. So frustrating. I could cope with it better if I knew (at least I’d know that I’m definitely dealing with fibro )
I have got worse since fibro in depression, anxiety and PTSD. Now get very confused, cannot concentrate or remember things, forget names and words, have to concentrate, very exhausting.
High Blood Pressure, Fluid Retention,Heart beating fast at times, A lot of stiffness, Dry eyes, nose, throat, mouth and skin, thinning hair and brittle nails, bruising very easy and brittle nails, a lot of infections and inemiac. Many thanks.
ADHD diagnosed before fibromyalgia. Although ADHD is a neurological disorder, it's diagnosed and treated by psychiatrists so might be relevant.
Dissasosiative eisorder after
High blood pressure after and cardiac mitral and aorta valve stenosis. Diagnosed after fibro. Also Migraine for all of my adult life.
problems started in 1980 finally diagnosed with Fibro in 2002 after years at various mental hospitals, non stop with all sorts of medication try this try that, its all in your mind, I asked was it ME was told by a top consultant, no such thing, woke up one morning in 1998 could not raise up my arms, I never worked again, now 74 years old I live with pain take 2 to 3 glasses of Brandy a night to sleep, get 4 hours if lucky, I had a case conference was informed the treatment I received over the years was negligent, I now know why I use to cry for no reason, I was very depressed, I no longer need the NHS to practice on me, I have learned how to turn pain into pleasure
Sciatica, osteopenia, arthritis, migraine, etc
Sadly I've suffered from Mental health problems since childhood and had a breakdown aged 12. Along with recurring Tonsillitis and over use of antibiotics, I see the life long mental health struggles as the cause of my M.E and Fibro. I was having symptoms and being dismissed for 5-6 years before a very severe clinical depression really kick started the symptoms severely.
Chronic pain before fibro
Very mild anxiety due to the possibility of falling over
Before fibro Asthma, hypthyoidism, plus other autoimmune conditions
bipolar 2
I had Enchephalitis before fibromyalgia. Fibromalgia has been discovered in me now but undiscovered from 18 years ago. From 3 years after the Enchephalitis virus.
I have a mixed fatigue with tiredness. Anxiety depression. Fog memory. Damaged temporalobe that continues with fibromyalgia that's just been noticed from my Physiotherapy. !! I thought it was only a female & not a male problem. Until now
My GP of 6 years informed me today that my GP before this one noted I was diagnosed fibro in 2009! For 10 years I have been suffering "unexplained joint and muscle pain", being called lazy, told my bipolar was causing the pain psychologically. 10 years! I just find out today. What do I do with that?!?
11 years ago:
Bipolar 2
Personality shift disorder
OCD
Panic attacks
Anxiety
Myconich jerks (spelling?)
ostio arthritis
Periodontal gingivitis
That’s horrible to hear that you’ve been suffering so much. And that your old gp wrote a diagnosis on your file and spoke differently to your face. I don’t think that kind of practice can be legal, can it? It like covering your tracks with the paperwork but making you feel like you’re the problem to your face. I would get legal advice if I were you. Good luck.
I mean how can they not have begun treating you for fibro!!! I’m still in shock.
The shock itself is still in full swing. I've been on Pregabaline for a few years to help with life long side affects of a med for Bipolar that didn't sit well with me and Codiene for the muscle pain that was "diagnosed ". Already on antidepressants as well. The GP today said I'm already on everything that can be used and she ordered a full blood panel. I also suffer from low blood pressure which she is also monitoring. A few people have said seek legal help but how would I prove they never told me? I was already on antidepressants and codeine before 2009. The pregabaline was added by my PDoc much later but for a totally different reason. Its all so much to take in.
Thanks for responding
Muscle pain "undiagnosed "*
How do you prove they didn’t tell you? I don’t know. Perhaps that you weren’t referred to rheumatology? I don’t know but the legal experts will. And there’s your word aswell. Someone has to believe you. Surely!
I'll speak to a negligence solicitor and see if there's a case. Thanks again for listening and advice
Anxiety before, but that is related to Autism and has always been the same. (Complex) PTSD after, and that is partly because of those around me not understanding the worsening in my Fibro (from the initial trauma) and forcing me to carry on as before, leading to Fibro getting yet more severe and so the cycle continued... I think the reality of living with a debilitating, poorly understood but none the less devastating condition is so distressing that, in certain contexts, it can lead to trauma. I also think Fibro can make any experience of trauma worse because we're physically weaker and less able to cope, meaning we're more vulnerable to developing PTSD symptoms.
I was also very young at the time. I started getting symptoms shortly before I turned 16, and was diagnosed at 16 and a half. It's been a long 9 years, but at the same time it's gone faster than I have been able to keep up with.
I do think I was suffering with sub-threshold PTSD symptoms before that, just due to the inescapable bullying I endured throughout my time at secondary school. I attribute the onset of my Fibro to high stress. Xx
