Hi, I am another newbie, been reading the posts for a while but thought I would join in. I do have a question.
This is a bit long so I hope you get through it, a little background,
First off, I am a woman, age 51. I got the West Nile about 6 years ago. Didn't go to the hospital or anything like that but I did get most of the other symptoms. It took about 3 months to run through them all. After that I had some relapses every so often. It took several years but about two years ago it got to the point that I started getting sick more and more until I was sick for two weeks, well for two weeks. Then it was sick for two weeks, well for two days. The symptoms were mostly nausea, fatigue, headache, achy eyes, depression and so forth. about the time I was sick most of the time (these episodes literally put me in bed full time) all my muscles in my upper body was sore and hurt. I started taking some supplements and was able to pull myself out of it. I still was not myself but could functions pretty well.
During this time period I was also going through peri menopause and menopause. My symptoms were through the roof. I chalked many of the symptoms I was having (like brain fog and body temperature fluctuation) to the menopause.
Also, about a year ago I was having a lot of trouble with my neck (it has been stiff for several years but I adapted). It was to the point that the pain was shooting down my left arm. After going to the Dr. with no avail, I went to a chiropractor. He said I had had whip lash several years ago and started treating me for that. With his treatments and that of a massage therapist, I was able to relive the pain, for the most part, but still have to go in for treatments to keep it under control.
Fast forward to this summer. I hit a wall this summer. Started feeling like crap all the time. Hubby talked me into going to the Dr. He diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. He said the neck problems was from the fibro and not whip lash. He ran some blood tests but his diagnosis was based off my verbal reports.
The question I have has to do with my symptoms. From what I have read, fibro is mostly pain related. I do have many of the symptoms of fibro, but I am also sick all the time. I have a sore throat, headaches, my stomach hurts a lot and I have trouble eating anything (you would think I would loose weight, but I don't), tired and I just don't have any ambition to do any thing, on top of that I have insomnia most of the time. These flue like symptoms can get so bad that I become debilitated. There are many other symptoms, but don't want to make this too long.
So, is this part of fibro, or could I have something else on top of it?
Thank you for your time.