What were your first signs of Fibromyalgia?
Follow along and learn about my first signs of fibro myalgia. It started long before I realized it.
originally posted on March 12, 2018
Dear Family and Friends;
Thanks for checking on me the other day. You asked about my first signs of Fibro. As you know, I acquired disembarkment disorder after our cruise to the Bahamas in February 2011 (which has never gone away), followed by neck pain, and then I was hit suddenly with extreme, contracting back pain in September that year.
Earlier First Signs of Fibro
But as I have learned more about Fibromyalgia, it seems there have been several signs of it from early in my life.
Do you remember all those chest pains I had in middle school and high school?
They could never find anything wrong so they called it growing pains. Ha! If that were so I’d be about 6 feet tall! Anyway, it turns out that many of us fibro warriors have experienced “growing pains” at puberty. So my first signs of fibro were probably chest pains at 11 or 12 years of age.
Always Just So Darn Tired
It has also dawned on me that one major symptom of fibromyalgia is fatigue, tired for no particular reason. You know, I have always been tired. I get so tired from a shopping trip or band event. I would fall into a deep sleep immediately after arriving home from any kind of event. Really, I would fall asleep as soon as I got still.
Remember the jokes about me not being a good co-pilot when we moved from Ohio to Wisconsin?
I would sleep the entire way! When they finally realized I had thyroid issues, I thought that was the answer. And while the medication does keep everything stable, I still feel like there are more issues than what is being addressed.
All My Life Signs of Fibro
So evidently, I have had fibromyalgia nearly all my life. It’s just that the cruise somehow awakened the monster.
Thanks so much for taking an interest in my life. I know you feel that your hands are tied because you live so far away, but believe me, your frustration would be the same if you lived next door. Your prayers and calls mean so much to me. It would certainly be nice though if we were closer. Then at least you could come to visit. But I would miss that even if I weren’t ill.
With Love,
This post was originally written for my Letters to Friends and also inspired by Kate Motaung’s prompt this week, “TIRED” at Five Minute Fridays. It has now been updated and included in my new series, Mandy’s Journey with Chronic Pain.