FIbromyalgia

[Jackndanny]

Just need some info on fibromyalgia - husband has suffered with back pain for as long as I can remember also sporadic pain in his right arm/elbow, also has problem with hips knees and neck - various MRI scan's confirm bulging discs in back, left knee bone on bone, right knee not far behind, both hips arthritis and spurs growing on right hip and degeneration in neck - has been provided with painkillers and antidepressants, also pain management. My husband is 60 years old and self employed has not worked since last November due to pain (if he worked one day he could not work the next day due to being in so much pain) he gets up takes his pain killers, sits in a chair with a heat pad and then showers before he can motivate himself. One consultant he saw said that he did not seem to be in that much pain, my husband was very upset and said he felt that no-one believed he was in so much pain although some days are not as bad as others - he does walk our dog daily although if he walks too far he does feel extreme pain - he does potter about doing things in the house and garden but he's not under pressure to get things done - could this be fibromyalgia (which his sister also suffers with in fact the whole family suffer with "bad bones" apologies for the lengthy "story" but am at the end of my tether toing and froing from hospitals with no end results and nothing being done and I don't want to seem that I have read through a medical journal and decided "yes they are the symptons he has therefore he must have it" need some kind of help before suggesting this to his GP TIA

[Hazel_Angelstar Administrator FMA UK Staff]

Hi and a warm welcome to the forums. You can find general information on fibromyalgia at our website fmauk.org and our patient information booklets at fmauk.org/publications

Is pain your husband's only symptom? Fibromyalgia has 4 core symptoms - widespread pain, chronic fatigue, unrefreshing sleep and cognitive dysfunction (memory issues, mixing up /forgetting words, lack of concentration etc)

[Jackndanny in reply to Hazel_Angelstar]

Thank you Hazel_Angelstar, will checkout fmauk.org , husband takes sleeping tablets as does not sleep very well so we put the fatigue down to this although it's not chronic, cognitive dysfunction we put down to an age thing although he isn't forgetting/mixing up words he is making silly mistakes when he is making something (tries to keep himself occupied by making bird boxes and small things like that) but has been getting measurements wrong = maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit but will check out the website - thanks so much

[Lillylilac]

Hi JackndannyMy husband has problems similar to yours. He has arthritis in hips knees ankles and back. He is in very severe pain all the while especially if he tries to do something. I often think uts something else as some people don't have such severe pain with arthritis. He was only 56 when first diagnosed with ut in his back. Has your husband nit thought of having surgery, new knee, hip? I really feel for you and your husband as there is very little they can give that works well for pain. Wishing you luck and sending comfy hugs.

Lily. X

[blackphoenix]

Hi Jackndanny, welcome to the forum ☺️

I suffer from several different chronic conditions which include Fibromyalgia. I tend to put my fibro under the wing of my neurological problems (i.e. affecting my nerves rather than my muscles or joints). I suffer pain 24/7 from my nerve pain (Fibromyalgia), muscle pain (I have a condition similar to Muscular Dystrophy), joint pain (I have osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis) and digestive pain (I have an oesophageal hiatus hernia and ulcerative colitis/inflammatory bowel disease). At any time, any one or all of these conditions can cross over with each other and I find it hard to work out which illness is causing which problem especially with chronic fatigue because it tends to be a symptom of a lot of different illnesses.

Does your husband experience any nerve pain at all (other than that which could be caused by a trapped nerve from a bulging disc or the like)? Has he ever experienced a kind of burning sensation anywhere in his body? I’m constantly plagued with burning pain in my right hand, legs and feet (a GP tried to tell me that I had diabetes because I have piled so much weight on since having mobility issues and it was the diabetes that was causing me the burning pain, however that was a complete red herring because I have suffered with the burning for years, long before I became unfit and overweight ….. BTW I don’t have diabetes 😉).

The problem is, when you have more than one condition, they tend to muddy the waters for the medical team treating each condition. Only your husband knows his body and exactly what he is feeling so please don’t let anyone fob you off just because some of his symptoms may be similar to those experienced in other conditions.

HTH, take care ☺️

Suzi

[LadyJoro]

hey, it is not likely to meet the criteria for fibromyalgia because the pain has a physical cause and he doesn’t have the cognitive issues or fatigue based on the info given.

Sounds like he needs knee replacements for starters and physiotherapy for the herniated discs.

[Dizzytwo Moderator]

Hi there, I do wonder why your poor hubby as not been offered knee replacement. Given his age and having bone on bone I would have thought that would be at the top of the list. No wonder the poor man is in pain.

Maybe you could speak with the GP about the knee for starters and maybe mention physio. They could take a look and get a bettet idea if further joint replacements where needed.

That way your GP could be made more aware of the pain your husband is in. At the very least it would be backing him up and it would be on the GPs files.

Momo

[Jackndanny in reply to Dizzytwo]

Hi no offer of knee replacement as per my reply to LilyLilac (sorry it's too long to repeat again lol) but he has a telephone call medical review on Friday with a GP so will suggest he also discusses his symptoms again