I am in constant chronic pain.Before I was diagnosed I would swim twice a week and have a good workout in my local gym.
Now I find it very difficult to get out of bed, getting up from a chair Walking now is painful and I have yo use a three wheeled trolley to support me. I hace also fallen down several times, then the pain is really bad. I even take extra Gabapentine and Ibrufen with no joy.
I am so desperate to get some of my life back. HELP ME PLEASE
Hi maturestudent60
I'm so sorry to hear that you are having falls and are not getting sufficient relief from your meds. I haven't been on this site long but find it offers good advice on the 'fibro action' website. Everyone here is so supportive and friendly. We all share our stories of visits to gp hospital etc. Do you take anything else for your fibro? I take Mirtrazapine to help with low mood and sleep( just started it but its helping sleep already) , BuTrans patches and tramadol for pain which help but don't take it all away. Have you had a medical reason given to you for your falls? I know how scary it feels to be so out of control of your own body when you've previously been so active. I'm 55 but feel 90! No more tennis, badminton or long brisk walks for me. I can control my mind still(though some say it's long since gone!) I refuse to let fibro take my sense of humour and my hope for a half decent life. No one understands us like a fellow sufferer and on here rest assured we all 'get' you. I am here for you to help however I can. Just don't give up.x
I am so genuinely sorry to read of your pain, and of your struggle and I genuinely hope that you can find some resolution and relief to these issues. I would discuss this with your GP and let them know how bad things are for you and that you need some help with your pain etc. I want to sincerely wish you all the best of luck.
All my hopes and dreams for you
Ken
Hello, I am so sorry that you are in so much pain. Have you ever been to a pain clinic, if not i would insist on being refered by my gp. Also Gentle physio has helped some and hydro therapy has helped others, they are something else to ask your gp about.
I dont know if you can get into a bath but if so try hot baths with a hand full of Epsom salts to ease the pain.
We all know how hard this illness is, to be active and healthy and then to suddenly have every thing dear to you taken away. We have all been there.
This is the link to the fibromyalgia mother site which has a lot of info all about fibro.
I hope this helps. hugs sue.
Re the epsom salts Sue, it depends on how big your hands are 
personally I use a large cupful - can't remember where I got this from - but financially it's a bonus if you can buy a 20/25kg sack around £20-25, lot cheaper than the chemist or farm supply shop and it takes at least 20 minutes (make it longer for luxury) to release the toxins from your muscles. Combine it with whatever essential oils you find beneficial, lavender to relax, also as an anti inflammatory, rosemary to stimulate, though what I have left to be stimulated I don't know, ginger for warming and on and on.
When I was diagnosed I'd never heard of fibromyalgia and pushed to carry on my 'normal' life, that was 11 years ago, now I have a different 'normal' 
Oh, epsom salts also soften the skin 
Does anyone know if co enzyme Q 10 recommended or useful for fibro?
Jean x
Hi maturestudent60, so very sorry to hear how bad you are feeling. I am just wondering if your doctor tested you for low B12, ferritin, & folate & vitamin D. If you are low in any of these it will increase your pain levels, and low B 12 is known to cause balance problems. In my own case I regularly bounced off the walls whilst heading to the bathroom at night! Since getting B12 injections my balance is much improved, although I still have some pain and numbness in my feet and legs. Wishing you well MariLiz
I have never used Epsom salts i find that the hot water is enough, even so i have it that hot i look like a lobster.
When my fibro kicked off is a bit of a mystery.
Lost my mum when i was seven, until then i had never had problems keeping warm and i stopped catching colds so often.
In my 20s i had a brain heamorage . But cant remember any extra symptoms afterwards.
Pnumonia and a thoracotomy late 30s, That was when i started getting RLS and digestive problems.
Mystery virus late 40s caused multiple organ failure. Docs couldnt figure out why. Though it is now accepted that the virus caused a massive flare.
All through this i still kept working and the love of my life walking my dogs, but i noticed that bit by bit i was getting tired easier. id have dizzy spells And painful muscles. It all came to a head when i was made redundant after the lab i worked at closed down.
That was when the tests were started. When i was diagnosed i did know a little about fibro and even asked my gp if i could have it. so it didnt come as such a shock to me as to others. After all i had lived with it for years and it was sort of the next chapter.I have fun with my dog when out in my powered wheel chair but its not the same as walking out of the front door with her every day.
Life goes on and we can only adapt to what life throws at us.
Sue
Have you had a thyroid screening done? I have fibro but have very recently been diagnosed but not yet investigated for a multi nodular goitre. This showed up as an incidental finding on a CTPA scan to exclude a pulmonary embolism. Can have fibro as well as goitre so I have just been informed.
I think I mentioned that epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) draws toxins from the muscles
Like you Sue dogs were a large part of my life, we had 6, 2x small, 2x med. 2x large. Two of them were fantastic at flyball and agility so much time and energy taken there. We also had and competed with horses, again, lots of weekends off doing one or another. So miss all of it. Sheep, cattle, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens of course cats completed the menagerie. I had to give the smallholding up in 2006 and left with 4 dogs, two horses, a cat and 2 chickens. Growing veg/fruit. I was still training a flyball team, caring for and riding the horses. The children were all in uni by then.
We lost the last of our 'pack' last week, the end of an era, lots of pain (emotional) 
Dec. 2011 - after being back home for a few years - my daughter moved away, we decided that I could no longer take care of the two dogs, two horses so she left with them. what change in lifestyle 
but also a release from a huge amount of pain
Unfortunately, as the visits from my daughter became less frequent due to pressures on her time, I wasn't coping with hair washing, food prep. bed changing and such K made an appearance after her first 3 week absence, I hadn't managed to wash my hair which is when social care were called in. At 54 I needed help.
A couple of years ago, after having given up driving in 2009 due to safety issues, I bought a power chair also, great boon and could now have a dog again though cannot take them on a lot of buses and I couldn't do the training anymore so am on the waiting list for an assistance dog
It will be such a huge difference from my rescue dogs but we must embrace change to have any quality of life (y)
We have come down from 2 border collies. 3 cats and a cockateil to one border, Megan and the bird.
We always loved camping and last year gave it another try, It wasnt a total disaster but was too much like hard work for us.
Then a few weeks ago we discovered inflatable tents. No poles you just lie them on the ground and switch on the battery pump and in about 5 min you have a fully erected tent.
I had had some money back on ppi from the bank and had been saving it for something special, We went a bit nuts and decided that if we were going to have one we would have the best.
so we now have a top of the range tent and just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit more then we will be off.
i cant wait. It will still be hard but by cutting back on what we take and changing to more comfortable chairs and beds we will be ok.
It all comes down to changing to what you can cope with.
I am so sorry to hear you are in so much pain you really do need to go back to your go and get more help. I'm on gabapentin and at first it didn't work so I'm now on higher dose and along with other pain killers have a more manageable pain level that has given me back as more active life. So good luck, and the best advice I can give is stay on here its a new group for me and I found it so helpful. Big hugs x
Hi! I was in loads of pain and had dreadful side effects from the Gabapentin that seemed to be turning me into an invalid. I was sent to a Rheumatology Consultant for confirmation of Fibromyalgia. It was confirmed and she changed me from Gabapentin to Duloxetine. I was also having Traditional Chinese Medicine so was having weekly acupuncture. Once off the Gabapentine and having the regular acupuncture with nutrition advice I had my life back. My practitioner for TCM and acupuncture was not chinese she is Welsh but trained in College in Ireland. Very highly trained and skillful. My Previous GP suggested alternate therapy before I took western drugs. My practitioner works with western medicine and decreases it with the Gp's permission as my body heals itself. This has been my experience I am pain free but must take life at a slower pace than I was and get Fibro fatigue usually because of what I have eaten that I shouldn't. All the best!
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