For the class project I am posting day 9 and 10. The first part is an overview of fibromyalgia, and the second part is more in depth of dealing with the symptoms in my daily life. The rest of the challenge I'll post in my project workspace. I hope you enjoy reading.

Day 9: Fibromyalgia Part 1

Today I noticed that I'm having a hard time accepting my fibromyalgia diagnosis. I've said the words "I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia," but I never looked past the chronic pain. I didn't fully understand all the symptoms. In West Wendover, we only have a small clinic. They can see you for basic things, and they send referrals to other doctors in either Elko or Salt Lake City. So they are mostly APRNs or other advanced nurses. My doctor that I see there didn't really tell me the rest of the symptoms, she was just mainly focused on me losing weight, which I know is something I need to do, and I am actively working on it (25lbs in three months!!), and they tend to rush through appointments because they are always busy and they only have a couple of people who see patients. So I went and did some of my own research and these are some things I found on multiple websites, and I have experienced almost all of the symptoms, even the less common ones. Now all I did was go to google, and went to different websites, so I didn't get this information from a medical professional.

Fibromyalgia is described as a condition that causes pain all over the body, sleep problems, fatigue, and often emotional and mental distress. The most common symptom is pain and stiffness all over the body. The pain can be felt in the arms, muscles, hips, abdomen, legs, back or neck. The pain can be chronic, diffuse, sharp, or severe. Other symptoms include headaches, including migraines, pain in the face or jaw, digestive problems such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and even irritable bowel syndrome, sensitivity to cold. Some of the unusual symptoms are:

1. Paresthesia which is prickling, tingling, burning, and/or a numbing sensation accompanied with pain. Can be in different parts of the body, including the fingers, toes, hands, and feet.

2. Brain Fog which is cognitive difficulty with thinking, memory, focusing, and concentration. Sometimes they have the inability to find words or their substitutions, feel alert, or hold a conversation.

3. Allodynia is hypersensitivity to touch. A gentle pat on the back can be extremely painful. Extreme cases cold or hot temperatures are painful.

4. Smell & Sound, people with fibromyalgia can have a heightened sensitivity to smell, sound, and sometimes light. May experience headaches, dizziness, or nausea when exposed to stimuli that causes a sensory overload.

5. Extreme Sweating, you sweat more heavily than normal to the point that it seems like you have a fever.

6. Dystonia is a pain accompanied with twitching muscles. Involuntary muscle spasms that can affect one part of your body, several parts, or all of your body. They can be mild or severe.

7. Interstitial Cystitis is bladder pain and pressure sometimes accompanied by pelvic pain. Frequent and urgent need to urinate which causes bladder discomfort when full.

So I have been dealing with most of these symptoms, even a lot of these unusual ones.

Day 10 Fibromyalgia Part 2

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in October 2022. I had been having issues with my left knee. I fell and tore my meniscus. I have no cartilage in my knee, so it is bone on bone rubbing together. It is horribly painful. I got a knee injection in September 2022, and so far I have been able to walk like a normal human again. My doctor has put me on a range of medication to help with nerve pain, arthritic pain, anti-depressant, and weight loss. I've also been making lifestyle changes and following my doctors work and exercise restrictions so I don't further injure my knee, and to help manage my pain. I started experiencing the two main symptoms around my fifth pregnancy. I had widespread body pain in my muscles, hips, back, arms, and legs. I had extreme fatigue as well. Now this was my third pregnancy in three years. Yes I gave birth in 2016, 2017, and 2018 so naturally I just figured my pain and fatigue was from being pregnant, and from not having breaks in between pregnancies. Three weeks after I had Leviathan I went back to work. My pain continued to progress and I developed a sensitivity to the cold weather. It makes me super stiff. I can barely move, like I am in my eighties or something. The winter months are increasingly worse each year. I just kept plugging along. In October 2019 I got the job at the dispensary where I have been for three years now. I have a work restriction where I can be on my feet for two hours, then sit for an hour, then two hours on my feet, and so on. I work eight hour shifts, I used to do ten hour shifts, but my doctor recommended I go to eight hours a day. I have noticed a difference. I am not in as much pain at the end of my work day, which is nice. As of now, I am currently experiencing most of the symptoms, including some of the less common ones. The fatigue is awful. All I want to do is sleep. It is absolutely insane. It feels like I'm trying to run through quicksand all day. I take so many naps on my days off. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I could sleep at night, which sleep problems are another symptom. I can't fall asleep, or stay asleep the whole night. A lot of the times I am in too much pain to get comfortable. Another symptom that I am dealing with, that I had no idea was associated with fibromyalgia. When I looked online its sometimes called fibro-fog. This is where you can have problems with thinking, memory, and concentration. In our household I'm the one who handles the bills. I pay the bills, keep track of everything, call the companies if arrangements need to be made, etc. I am always on top of it. One day my husband sends me a text while I'm at work, and tells me the power is off. Then the horror and sheer fucking panic hits me in the heart like a ton of bricks fell on it and dropped it down to the pit of my stomach. I forgot to call the power company. They shut off my power. I'm completely broke, so usually you have to pay an x amount to get it turned back on. I am in a full panic attack. By the time I get someone on the phone, I am in hysterics. The poor lady had to endure my sob story as I explained everything. She was very nice, and they turned the power back on, and they didn't charge me anything at that moment to turn it back on. I was also having a problem where I would be driving to a specific place, and on the drive there I would completely forget where I was going. I'll be talking and I'll get stuck, the word I was about to say is gone. I can't remember it, I can't describe it. These next three unusual symptoms seem to coincide together. Paresthesia where I have the tingling and burning sensation which I feel mainly in my hips, hands, and feet. Allodynia is hypersensitivity to touch. My cat can't even walk across my lap without it hurting. If my kids run to me and hug me it hurts. Dystonia is a pain accompanied with muscle spasms. At the end of the night, usually when I'm in bed relaxing my calves and knees will twitch. Sometimes my whole body will spasm. It feels like a ghost just pushed past me, its a weird feeling. The next symptom is extremely embarrassing. It makes it so hard for me to work, or to do any physical activity. It's extreme sweating. I'm talking buckets of sweat. Especially at work, I have to always have paper towels with me to continue to wipe my face. I always feel hot, but if I step outside to cool off, the cold weather instantly causes me pain. Lastly Interstitial Cystitis is a frequent and urgent need to urinate. I am talking about, I will go to the bathroom and completely empty a full bladder, and five minutes later I'll need to go again, and I'll have to go so bad that I'll start going as I'm pulling down my pants. When I finished it wasn't even that much. It's irritating that it was that much pain and pressure for such a small amount. So this brings me to the symptom that is the hardest to deal with. That is depression. I am the "bread winner" in my family. I like to work. I am not the stay at home mom type. My husband likes to be home with the kids. He is a clean freak, and an amazing cook. So it works really well for us. Lately though it has been hard for me to do anything let alone work. It has made me terribly depressed. I feel like I am in a dark dark hole and I can't climb out. I feel so tired all the time, even on my days off. I have no energy. I leave work early a lot or call off. It makes me feel so worthless. I feel like I am disappointing everybody, that I am letting my family down. It makes me wonder what's the point of me being here? I feel like giving up. It's a lot to deal with day in and day out.

I am hoping in writing this it brings some awareness to fibromyalgia. It is a condition that is misunderstood and misdiagnosed. I'm hoping anyone with fibromyalgia reading this knows that there are other people out there going through the same thing, and you are always welcome to reach out to me.

Thank you for reading!

Ashlee Knight

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