Fibro, was:Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Re: Holt and LD
Sarah Carothers
hm... Tia, you're my senior as is Lynda. I'm a sprite 49 with the brain of Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
About the Fibro, dd has 13 of the tender points and had a headache for over a year. We went to every kind of doctor under the sun over the headaches. Did the physical therapy thing (her fibro started after a fall in gymnastics on the beam & she hit her spine), MRI's EEG's, etc. The last doc called it Chronic Pain Syndrome and suggested biofeedback. Well sir, I don't know what happened but during about a weeks time this fall, the headaches disappeared and now she gets one only about once a week. She's very physically fit so the fatigue hasn't been a problem for her. Concentration has been an issue which is why we kept going to one doctor after another... trying to figure out what to do.
Fibro was described to me as an inflamation of the tissue that surrounds muscle (like that slick stuff on a raw piece of skinless chicken.... the slimy stuff). The purpose of that tissue is to restrict muscle movement when the body tells it that there's an injury. So, it becomes a viscious circle... the muscle gets injured, the tissue tries to hold it still for healing yet simple movements such as sitting up requires use of those muscles, so the inflamed tissue works harder, more pain, etc.... round and round. The other problems with fibro.. the fog, the fatigue and so forth are results of the body being out of sync. Can you trace your beginning of fibro to an injury.. and accident or fall or something? It wouldn't necessarily have to be an injury in your back and only pain in your back. The pain can go *any*where in the body. Dd's fibro was an onset of that fall but other people have said they don't recall a specific event which brought it on. I'd think childbirth *could* be hard enough on the body to get it going which might explain why more women than men get it.
The two books I referred to for information were:
The Fibromyalgia Advocate by Devin Starlanyl, MD
The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, NCTMB
Have you seen this website? http://hometown.aol.com/fibroworld/index.htm
Sarah
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
About the Fibro, dd has 13 of the tender points and had a headache for over a year. We went to every kind of doctor under the sun over the headaches. Did the physical therapy thing (her fibro started after a fall in gymnastics on the beam & she hit her spine), MRI's EEG's, etc. The last doc called it Chronic Pain Syndrome and suggested biofeedback. Well sir, I don't know what happened but during about a weeks time this fall, the headaches disappeared and now she gets one only about once a week. She's very physically fit so the fatigue hasn't been a problem for her. Concentration has been an issue which is why we kept going to one doctor after another... trying to figure out what to do.
Fibro was described to me as an inflamation of the tissue that surrounds muscle (like that slick stuff on a raw piece of skinless chicken.... the slimy stuff). The purpose of that tissue is to restrict muscle movement when the body tells it that there's an injury. So, it becomes a viscious circle... the muscle gets injured, the tissue tries to hold it still for healing yet simple movements such as sitting up requires use of those muscles, so the inflamed tissue works harder, more pain, etc.... round and round. The other problems with fibro.. the fog, the fatigue and so forth are results of the body being out of sync. Can you trace your beginning of fibro to an injury.. and accident or fall or something? It wouldn't necessarily have to be an injury in your back and only pain in your back. The pain can go *any*where in the body. Dd's fibro was an onset of that fall but other people have said they don't recall a specific event which brought it on. I'd think childbirth *could* be hard enough on the body to get it going which might explain why more women than men get it.
The two books I referred to for information were:
The Fibromyalgia Advocate by Devin Starlanyl, MD
The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, NCTMB
Have you seen this website? http://hometown.aol.com/fibroworld/index.htm
Sarah
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tia Leschke
At 04:48 PM 03/12/01 -0500, you wrote:
sometimes emotional trauma. The other kind seems to start gradually.
stop. Did the tender points also go away?
frequently accompanies fibro. Fibro actually doesn't involve any
inflamation. In fact they changed the name some years back from
fibrositis, which means inflammation of the muscle fibers, to fibromyalgia,
which means muscle pain. Myofascial pain syndrome involves trigger points
as opposed to tender points. The trigger points generally trigger pain
elsewhere.
it during their perimenopausal years.) It seems I've read about other
reasons, but I'm tired and fogging. My fibro came on quite gradually. I
started to get really tired a year or two after Lars was born. I was
finally diagnosed hypothyroid and put on medication for that (after trying
all kinds of natural methods to deal with it). It helped, but I never did
get back to "normal" in terms of energy. I even went with a doctor who
would treat hypothyroid by the symptoms rather than the blood tests, but I
still had fatigue, even though he took my dose way too high. (He even
ignored an obvious symptom of too much thyroid. After that, I went back to
my regular doc.) It was only after the pain gradually began that I started
pushing for another diagnosis. I was really scared I might have rhuematoid
arthritis like my mother in law. (Now I realize that I've got something
just as debilitating....sigh.)
quite good. I don't *think* I have MPS, so I don't know if the trigger
point therapy one would help much.
good site too. I don't have the url handy, but a search on her name would
bring it up.
Tia
Tia Leschke leschke@...
On Vancouver Island
********************************************************************************************
It is the answers which separate us, the questions which unite us. - Janice
Levy
>hm... Tia, you're my senior as is Lynda. I'm a sprite 49 with the brain ofJust a youngster, my dear. <g>
>Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
>About the Fibro, dd has 13 of the tender points and had a headache forThere seem to be 2 kinds of fibro. One starts after a physical or
>over a year. We went to every kind of doctor under the sun over the
>headaches. Did the physical therapy thing (her fibro started after a fall
>in gymnastics on the beam & she hit her spine), MRI's EEG's, etc.
sometimes emotional trauma. The other kind seems to start gradually.
>The last doc called it Chronic Pain Syndrome and suggested biofeedback.Wow! It would be interesting to find out what made the headaches
>Well sir, I don't know what happened but during about a weeks time this
>fall, the headaches disappeared and now she gets one only about once a
>week. She's very physically fit so the fatigue hasn't been a problem for
>her. Concentration has been an issue which is why we kept going to one
>doctor after another... trying to figure out what to do.
stop. Did the tender points also go away?
>Fibro was described to me as an inflamation of the tissue that surroundsThis sounds more like a description of myofascial pain syndrome, which
>muscle (like that slick stuff on a raw piece of skinless chicken.... the
>slimy stuff). The purpose of that tissue is to restrict muscle movement
>when the body tells it that there's an injury. So, it becomes a viscious
>circle... the muscle gets injured, the tissue tries to hold it still for
>healing yet simple movements such as sitting up requires use of those
>muscles, so the inflamed tissue works harder, more pain, etc.... round and
>round.
frequently accompanies fibro. Fibro actually doesn't involve any
inflamation. In fact they changed the name some years back from
fibrositis, which means inflammation of the muscle fibers, to fibromyalgia,
which means muscle pain. Myofascial pain syndrome involves trigger points
as opposed to tender points. The trigger points generally trigger pain
elsewhere.
>The other problems with fibro.. the fog, the fatigue and so forth areThere are lots of other reasons, like hormones. (The majority of women get
>results of the body being out of sync. Can you trace your beginning of
>fibro to an injury.. and accident or fall or something? It wouldn't
>necessarily have to be an injury in your back and only pain in your back.
>The pain can go *any*where in the body. Dd's fibro was an onset of that
>fall but other people have said they don't recall a specific event which
>brought it on. I'd think childbirth *could* be hard enough on the body to
>get it going which might explain why more women than men get it.
it during their perimenopausal years.) It seems I've read about other
reasons, but I'm tired and fogging. My fibro came on quite gradually. I
started to get really tired a year or two after Lars was born. I was
finally diagnosed hypothyroid and put on medication for that (after trying
all kinds of natural methods to deal with it). It helped, but I never did
get back to "normal" in terms of energy. I even went with a doctor who
would treat hypothyroid by the symptoms rather than the blood tests, but I
still had fatigue, even though he took my dose way too high. (He even
ignored an obvious symptom of too much thyroid. After that, I went back to
my regular doc.) It was only after the pain gradually began that I started
pushing for another diagnosis. I was really scared I might have rhuematoid
arthritis like my mother in law. (Now I realize that I've got something
just as debilitating....sigh.)
>The two books I referred to for information were:I've read most of the first one. It's by a doctor with severe fibro. It's
>The Fibromyalgia Advocate by Devin Starlanyl, MD
>The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, NCTMB
quite good. I don't *think* I have MPS, so I don't know if the trigger
point therapy one would help much.
>Have you seen this website? http://hometown.aol.com/fibroworld/index.htmI don't think so. I'll have to take a look. Devin Starlanyl has a pretty
good site too. I don't have the url handy, but a search on her name would
bring it up.
Tia
Tia Leschke leschke@...
On Vancouver Island
********************************************************************************************
It is the answers which separate us, the questions which unite us. - Janice
Levy
Sarah Carothers
Tia asked why/how the headaches went away:
I have *no* idea. It was suggested by a friend that perhaps psychologically, dd needed (in dd's mind) permission to let go of the injury. I have a hard time buying that but at this point, I have no other ideas.
Tia mentioned inflamation:
dd's SED rate was 11. Anything below 30 isn't considered inflamed so in her case, no inflamation. The last Doc said the blood test revealed a high HLA-B27 protein which is indicative of potential spinal arthritis in her future. :(
I'm glad you aren't in too much constant pain, Tia. Something I read said that the level you reach doesn't usually increase... you just stay at about the same.
Sarah
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I have *no* idea. It was suggested by a friend that perhaps psychologically, dd needed (in dd's mind) permission to let go of the injury. I have a hard time buying that but at this point, I have no other ideas.
Tia mentioned inflamation:
dd's SED rate was 11. Anything below 30 isn't considered inflamed so in her case, no inflamation. The last Doc said the blood test revealed a high HLA-B27 protein which is indicative of potential spinal arthritis in her future. :(
I'm glad you aren't in too much constant pain, Tia. Something I read said that the level you reach doesn't usually increase... you just stay at about the same.
Sarah
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Lynda
This is a little long but maybe it will explain about the headaches.
I was working as Nursing Services Coordinator for a rehab center. The gal
that ran the front desk's daughter was hurt at school and she had to leave.
I had run a switchboard back in the darkages, so I volunteered to fill in
until they could call in the swing shift person. Old habits die hard, so I
used the chair to scoot back in forth in. Ya know, 8 wheeled chair and you
push off and slide from one side of the space to the other. Well, seems the
chair had been half-a** repaired and with one push off, two wheels fell off
and I went over backwards striking my head on the switchboard console and
the side of my neck on the sharp formica edge of the counter.
Mild concussion and major headaches. However, the headaches stayed way
beyond when the concussion was healed. It seems if you bruise the spine and
surrounding muscles they somehow trigger headaches. 16 years later I still
get the same headaches if I sleep wrong and put too much stress on those
muscles. The doc explained that you do permanent damage to the "wiring" of
your nerves and that by pulling or pushing in a certain way you can again
set off the headaches.
Your daughter bruised the spine and probably did some nerve damage. While
it takes awhile for everything to heal, she may still get the headaches.
Also, I think I told you about son #3's football injury (spinal) and hockey
injury (concussion). The doc's explained that both of those injuries
created a sort of whiplash and caused nerve damage. He still gets headaches
from those injuries and they occured 6 and 11 years ago respectively.
Lynda
I was working as Nursing Services Coordinator for a rehab center. The gal
that ran the front desk's daughter was hurt at school and she had to leave.
I had run a switchboard back in the darkages, so I volunteered to fill in
until they could call in the swing shift person. Old habits die hard, so I
used the chair to scoot back in forth in. Ya know, 8 wheeled chair and you
push off and slide from one side of the space to the other. Well, seems the
chair had been half-a** repaired and with one push off, two wheels fell off
and I went over backwards striking my head on the switchboard console and
the side of my neck on the sharp formica edge of the counter.
Mild concussion and major headaches. However, the headaches stayed way
beyond when the concussion was healed. It seems if you bruise the spine and
surrounding muscles they somehow trigger headaches. 16 years later I still
get the same headaches if I sleep wrong and put too much stress on those
muscles. The doc explained that you do permanent damage to the "wiring" of
your nerves and that by pulling or pushing in a certain way you can again
set off the headaches.
Your daughter bruised the spine and probably did some nerve damage. While
it takes awhile for everything to heal, she may still get the headaches.
Also, I think I told you about son #3's football injury (spinal) and hockey
injury (concussion). The doc's explained that both of those injuries
created a sort of whiplash and caused nerve damage. He still gets headaches
from those injuries and they occured 6 and 11 years ago respectively.
Lynda
----- Original Message -----
From: Sarah Carothers <puddles@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 6:19 AM
Subject: Re: Fibro, was:Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Re: Holt and LD
> Tia asked why/how the headaches went away:
> I have *no* idea. It was suggested by a friend that perhaps
psychologically, dd needed (in dd's mind) permission to let go of the
injury. I have a hard time buying that but at this point, I have no other
ideas.
>
> Tia mentioned inflamation:
> dd's SED rate was 11. Anything below 30 isn't considered inflamed so in
her case, no inflamation. The last Doc said the blood test revealed a high
HLA-B27 protein which is indicative of potential spinal arthritis in her
future. :(
>
> I'm glad you aren't in too much constant pain, Tia. Something I read said
that the level you reach doesn't usually increase... you just stay at about
the same.
> Sarah
Sarah Carothers
Ouch! good explaination, Lynda. I didn't realize that a damaged nerve may not heal properly or heal at all, for that matter. I was having a hard time believing that dd was making all this up in her head; the headaches and all appeared very real to me and she'd swear to that, too.
Sarah (thanks, Lynda :-)
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Sarah (thanks, Lynda :-)
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