Ninteen and relatively new to this...

Hey! I'll go check out your blog now! Mine is http://julesfibro.blogspot.com follow me and leave me comments! Not everything is just about fibro, it's just about my life in general and fibro is a big part of that.

That's awesome that you have a blog. At least you will have some outlet for the feelings and things you are going through. What is your URL?
I was officially diagnosed when I was 18 and started a blog about it too:

tooyoungforfibro.wordpress.com

Thanks so much for replying!

I'm not usually such a debby downer lol. I suppose I was in a mood and felt the need to feel sorry for myself. Which I know I shouldn't and it happens on rare occasions. I know of only two triggers that I have, sleep deprivation and a lot of physical/emotional stress. I went on a 3 mile walk one day and it took me about a week to recover! I was on Lyrica but it kept me awake all the time so my doctor tried to switch to a morning med to help me feel awake during the day.... he apparently didn't believe me when I told him that I don't FEEL awake.. it just makes me not sleep. He didn't get it, and I'm not even sure if I do lol. I have ampitriptalin(sp?) for sleeping/pain and only take it when I really need it. I also have Acuflex which is basically like Advil on steroids. It makes me tired but I suppose if I'm sleeping then I'm not in pain so... I wish they would come up with something that will help the pain but still allow you to function. It's a bummer having to tell my friends that I can't go shopping with them or whatever because my pain meds have left me in a coma. I am in the process of trying to find a new doctor, as I feel like my doctor doesn't actually listen to what I say. It's also a pain to be experimented on... which is really all Fibromyalgia treatment is, an experiment. That didn't work? OK well try this... Still no? How about this? Such is life I suppose.

Anywho, I have my own blog where I basically just post how my day(although I'm really bad about not posting daily) is going and stuff. It's mainly where I can go to complain, or rejoice and no one is actually forced to listen. No one wants to listen to people complain all the time so at least with this you don't HAVE to read it. Check it out if you want. It's not all about my fibro, I've only just recently started talking about that in my posts but I talk about my family and friends and just what I've been up to. Would be interesting to see what other people are going through too

Hi Julie,
I'm so sorry to hear you are so young and battling this terrible disease. I am 33 and was diagnosed when I was 29 with fibromyalgia as well. It has been a constant struggle over the years to live a "normal" life, but you have to learn what your limitations are. Some days are good and some are bad. Part of the issue is acceptance, accepting that you have limitations and you won't always feel good enough to do what you want to do. Try not to lie or cover up your feelings with your friends. They always know that you aren't feeling well anyway. When I say I'm fine to my husband, he always looks at me and says no you aren't now go lay down. I also have 2 kids and one is almost 2, my beautiful baby girl. It is possible to lead a happy life with this disease. You need to figure out what your triggers are. Mine are stress, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and sleep deprivation and of course anything that exerts a lot of energy. I had to make some major lifestyle changes. No sugar except naturally occurring in fruit or natural foods, no caffeine and I love coffee, alcohol of any kind, lots of naps and no more stressful people or situations. Stress makes me very very sick. I also do yoga, walking and light aerobics like water aerobics. This helps a lot. I rest a lot and take naps and make sure that I font over do it. Also, I take medication. Are you on any medication? I was having very sever mood swings aw well, and also having very strange thoughts and anxiety. I tried lyric, and I hated it, it made me feel like I had worms in my brain, same with gabapentin. I also tried amytriplin and it helped with the pain and fatigue ALOT, but I couldn't take it bc it made me depressed. Now I'm on cymbalta, it's been 2 weeks and I feel much Better although my pain level is much higher again. Also the fatigue isn't as under control but it could take awhile to kick in. I Also take a pain killer and a muscle relaxer. And I drink tons of water. I don't like depending on drugs but they do help. The cymbalta has made me feel very calm and I no longer have the crazy mood swings. I was a raging beat some days! You have to stop thinking about this so negatively, I know that's easier said than done, but feeling good and positivity is a mind set. Telling yourself all the time that life has ended bc of this illness won't get u anywhere, it sure didn't with me. I just do what I can, when I can and to the best of my abilities. If you are willing to make some life changes depending upon your triggers and what works for you, you can lead a Productive, happy and hopefully a relatively pain free, at least pain controlled, life.

KM

Hello,

I am new here. My name is Julie. I am 19 years old and was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when I was 16. I have been looking for some where that I can share my symptoms and experiences with being so young and having a, sometimes, crippling disease. A place where other people know exactly what I am talking about.

Lately I have been experiencing mood swings. One minute I'm relatively happy and then a few minutes later I don't want anyone to touch or talk to me. Then five minutes later all I want to do is cry in someones arms. I am used to feeling irritable, but am for the most part, able to control it but is it normal to have such insane mood swings or is there something else wrong with me? I couldn't really tell you what triggers these swings, as far as I can tell nothing does. I don't know what to do. I am afraid that at some point in time I will end up with no friends because of these mood swings. I already feel like I am constantly lying to them. When they ask me "how are you" I usually reply with a "fine" although really I am tired and my shoulders, hands, feet and back hurt. Sometimes I tell them the truth but honestly, who wants to constantly hear "i feel like crap" all the time? I certainly don't... so I lie to them and tell them I'm fine. Does anyone else do that? Does it bother you that you feel the need to lie to those you love? Maybe I'm just being silly...

There are so many things I struggle with. My mother has fibromyalgia and she isn't able to do much of anything that she loves anymore. She used to play baseball and basketball. She used to cross stitch. And now some days she can't even hold a book. I have days where I can't button my pants. I am terrified that I am going to end up like my mother. Not being able to do the things I love. Not being able to teach my kids how to play ball. I push those things to the back of my mind, but I know someday it will become a very big reality. Sooner or later, I will have to deal with the fact that I won't be able to do all the things I love.

It hit me not long ago that I am 19 years old and I have an incurable, often crippling disease. I try not to feel sorry for myself because I know that doesn't do me any good but some days I can't help it. And lately those days have been more and more frequent. I often say "if I didn't do something just because it hurt... then I wouldn't get to do very many things". I am so tired of being tired and being in constant pain and the more I say that the more I realize that I better get used to it because it won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Is there anyone else out there that has mood swings like this? Is it normal? How do you deal with being tired ALL the time? Is there anyone out there around my age that is dealing with this disease?

Thanks,
Julie