Is it Fibro or is it MS?

Brain and nerves
1

Hi,

Im new here and i hope to make some internet friends!

I am wondering if anyone can help me with something?

I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia by a pain specialist back in 2009, I have never seen anyone else about it other than him and my GP.

I have all the usual Fibro symptoms. However, the past couple of weeks I have been getting some new worrying symptoms.

I have been getting awful, terrible cramp in my calf muscles every night, so bad that i cant walk the next day as it hurts too much.

 Also kind of just below the back of my knees cramp up too.

As well as that I have been having an issue with my hands. Sometimes, when im doing simple things like brushing my hair, or just taking a shower, my hand will cramp up and my fingers will lock. The way you see old ladies hands lock up, Like claw hands?

I hope you understand what i mean.

Also, my husband tells me that my legs twitch at night, constantly.They dont kick out, they just twitch, like spasms.

 I also (often) ask my husband to stop tapping his foot or 'jigging' his legs as i can feel something trembling or vibrating, only for him to tell me he isnt moving at all!

I get terrible headaches, muscle pain all over, joint pain, nausea, dizzy spells, seriously fatigued but insomniac, (get maybe 2 hours sleep a night if i am lucky), Weight loss (although i have managed for the first time in 13 years to put on half a stone), i will bruise really easily. Even on the inner of my fingers! If i so much as pick up a tin of soup my fingers will get small round bruises on them, about the size of a garden pea.

I get pins and needles (tingling/burning) sensation all over my body. In my thighs, my arms, my shoulders, the back of my head...everywhere! It starts as a irritating tingle then quickly starts to burn and i have to change position to make it stop. This happens within 2 to 3 seconds of perhaps laying on my side/back/front.....i also get it when i am just sitting. So basically if i have anything against my body, i get it.

Im just not sure that a pain specialist is qualified to diagnose Fibro?

Should i request a referral to a specialist and if so what sort?

Any help would be really appreciated. Do you think this sounds like MS or just fibro?

Thanks everyone and i hope today finds you painfree and happy x

2

I'm not very 'in the know' with fibromyalgia, but I have dear friends with it.

Your new symptoms sound very similar to MS, and a lot of what I live with myself (dx MS in 2014). It is unfortunately very common to have more than one autoimmune, so you might have both, or you might not. An MRI of the brain and a spinal tap/lumbar puncture can indicate MS, speak to your GP/doc and give a FULL list of these new symptoms

3

For the very first time I am reading about all my symptoms - but in someone else!  I get all the above but I also vomit up undigested food in the evenings or night time.  I do have months of no symptoms at all only for all the symptoms to return, again for months, and I do not know what the trigger is.  I am also sensitive to noise and light during an attack.

I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER YOU HAVE MS OR FIBRO but you need to ask for an MRI brain scan to look for any lesions, inflammatory or of demyelination. 

I also get double vision during an attack do you?  This is quite subtle and I only noticed this when I tried to read the newspaper to take my mind off the pain whilst waiting for a paracetamol suppository to give me some pain relief.  (Due to the vomiting I cannot swallow paracetamol tablets).

I see a neurologist regularly although do not have a diagnosis of MS or anything else.  I have one inflammatory brain lesion, numerous lesions that  MRI scans recognised in the past as demyelination and for good measure a cavernoma. 

My life is one of pain at the moment, together with fatigue and insomnia.  I can get out during the day when I have a few good hours but always the pain returns in the evening and at night. 

I would like to hear how you get on in the future and if brain scan shows anything.

4

 have spet he past 2 years vomiting daily. The Doctors have no iea why.

I am also extremely sensitiveto lght, noise, het and cold tempeatures.

as in if i get a slight chill, i will be freezing for hours and the only way to get warm again is to go to sleep. Somehow this 'resets' my thermostat!

5

hi becci, i have MS diagnosed 2004. i can't add much to what has already been said. yes, a lot of your symptoms could be as a result of MS. keep the pressure up with your GP, you do seem to need further investigation. the only thing i CAN add is to keep a written, dated record of your symptoms to show what's happening over time. i wish that i'd known that. i'd recommend trying some kind of relaxation tequniques, everything you can do to relieve the stress you MUST be feeling can only help you cope.

i wish you the best of luck, please let us know how you get along.

wendy x

6

i forgot to say...while this is a great place for you, as you're dealing with a fibro diagnosis, i can't recommend the MS society's website enough. not just for information, but for support, too, from others who are both diagnosed (dx) AND those who are going through possible dx, too. in the forum section, the most used part is 'everyday living', that's where the post people go, so you'll likely get the most responses to questions or concerns..

xx

7

Hi Becci, I was diagnosed with FM in 2002 and have been living with the symptoms but recently have had dizziness, pain and blind spot in one eye and muscle pain like never before plus various other worrying things so I am going to the GP tomorrow to ask for a neurologist referral.

8

I also suffer from cramps and spasms and have found it helpful to take Magnesium capsules.

9

I would very much like to got to the website you mentioned. Is that a UK site or another country? I'm in Australia.

10

Never mind, I found it Thank you for the lead