Nursing and Fibromyalgia

Nurses Disabilities

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I have recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome. I know a lot of you are very judgemental about FMS, but hear me out. I have suffered for at least the last 7 years from chronic pain and exhaustion (and worked more than full time as a CNA). I have been to countless doctors, none of whom (until now) could find anything wrong with me (according to labs/x-ray's etc...).

For the past several years I have been treated by nurses and doctors as a drug seeker, and an attention whore. I know the pain of being ignored by you (you know who you are), because you don't think I look like anything is wrong with me...

See, I am only 25 years old. Do you know how hard it is to get someone to believe that you are in pain when you are 17 to 25 years old?

I just want the judgemental nurses out there to know that this pain is VERY real. This job is not easy on our bodies, and someone with FMS takes a double hit...

So please think twice before you judge another persons pain. :)

Specializes in Chiropractic assistant, CNA in LTC, RN.
Fibromyalgia is also one of the many things I have. For me it was actually the reverse, I refused to believe it until more than one doctor told me I had it. So rather I was hard on myself. My rhemutologist last week informed me when I was questioning him about that and my P.A., that Fibromyalgia is a form of R.A. which I did not know.

I've never heard anyone say fibro is a FORM of RA. It is in the same family as RA and several other types of arthritis. It certainly mimics RA in many ways. I've had fibro for over 20 years now and I get tested every few years for RA, always with negative results but there are times I'm sure I have developed RA. The last six months there are two fingers on my left hand that are very stiff and achey in the mornings. Sure feels like RA but I suppose it is JUST fibro.

I know about that "just one of the many things I have" stuff. Fibro seems to drag irritable bowel, gastritis, chronic fatique, allergies, etc along with it doesn't it? lol Oh well, it could be worse and fibro isn't fatal. That's my mantra on really bad days. :)

Specializes in Chiropractic assistant, CNA in LTC, RN.
Please dont take lyrica that stuff sucks get real help by a pain management doc. lyrica will have you forgetting things dizzy wigging totally even after you are on it awhile you seriously won't know what your doing.:no:

Please keep in mind that different meds work differently for different people. Lyrica was an enormous help for me at first, as with most meds I take for fibro, then it stopped working as well and the side effects started. It didn't make me forget things or make me dizzy though. However, I only took it at night, not during the day because it is sedating. I'd be asleep if I took it during the day but a fellow student of mine takes it daily and has no probs. It totally depends on the person.

Lyrica is also considered pain management for many people, me included. It helps me sleep better (more restorative and restful sleep), therefore I wake up with less stiffness, soreness, and fatigue. Unfortunately it doesn't continue to work so well. It seems I quickly build a tolerance for most fibro meds and it does no good to take the all the time. I just use Lyrica one my really bad days when I know I'm gonna wake up the next day feeling awful.

Specializes in OR.

It really is a shame when people with Fibro automatically think ALL nurses and Dr's are judgemental when it comes to pain. Sadly, it may be one of the reasons almost all states require a Pain CE for nurses. As far as the uninformed medical personnel who might say nasty things to you, I suggest telling them that pain IS Subjective and that they should already know that. Try to not get too upset when encountering those attitudes, as more and more research will eventually make them realize how wrong they are.

hello nursecook:rolleyes: well i to have been dx with fibro, along with some anxiety...i right now am a cashier at our wegmans, and that sometimes has me in some pain, but i do make it thru. now with that being said i am completly nervous about nursing. what can i say about this profession except, i feel like it is in me, that i have looked at other degrees, even have one yr in accounting....and i feel like i am not doing what is " calling" me, if that makes sense????

i just dont want the fibro to take me over, i mean i take the meds i am supposed to, i do excercise as much as i can...and other things...i just really would love to work in l&d or nicu....and i want to suceed in my dream. i am so glad i found this thread...:redbeathe so how do we get thru this and not let the fibro beat us, and take us away from our dream of nursing and our patients that need us????

Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

The last person I met who had fibromyalgia, was a nurse who was post suicide attempt. All she wanted was to go back to work and take care of her family, help out with her home somewhat. She loathed having to take pain meds, yet without them she couldn't move to exercise, to help herself stay fit. She was 30ish with a 60 year old's presentation of early CHF.

It hurt to see someone in that much pain, physical and mental. I wish her and people like her, much relief. I know some nurses with other types of autoimmune disease, and I hope I never have to see them in such bad shape.

Specializes in PACU/Cardiac/Nrsg. Mgmt./M/S.

Fibromyalgia is one of the newer "grey area' conditions that is not easily understood by lay people and for that matter, a heck of a lot of medical people as well. I have found that older male docs tend to 'poo poo' the idea that fibromyalgia is a very real condition.

I have heard of one person who is on Remicade for it and responding to it. So that leads me to believe that it is auto immune and it responds to therapy. And I have heard of 2 people who applied for and received Social Security Disability for that condition.

For those who don't have that option, its NSAIDS, plaquenil, methotrexate, SSRI's etc. to manage symptoms and the hope that the medical and lay society will learn that it is a very real true medical condition.:heartbeat

Lyrica isn't bad 4 some, u have 2 c if it will help, i know someone it does wonders 4 but she did gain lots of w8, me, i swelled up n at 1st it seemed 2 help i felt a lot better n then i just crashed...same thing happened w/ acupuncture. Like n e thing else it is very individualized; give it a mo. on lowest dose but stop if side effects are unbearable. i had 2 go back 2 Neurontin which works 4 me.

i was misdiagnosed back n forth 4 yrs. have actually had it a long time. ppl don't believe u hurt but that's gettin better since there is info out there proving there r changes on functional MRI n PET scans indicating changes in pain perception...i had some1 once say 2 me after they got it that they could not believe i still worked in this much pain. i have a gr8 rheumatologist n orthopedist (he was the 1 gave me the 1st dx n the rheum. confirmed). But at long last it seems to have gotten the best of me, i m so sick right now. i m lookin 4 something n hopin some disability time n then a diff job at a diff place will help.

i h8 2 give in 2 this but there r times u have 2 step back n take stock...i let the current employer play me n i m payin 4 it now, if i had changed when i had the chance...but 2 b honest i have a skill set that lends to ppl offering me jobs w/ unrealistic workloads! i have a pretty long list of skills actually, think that does more harm than good at times...n i didn't get n e really decent offers, but could have looked @ things like govt types of jobs that maybe i could've done where if they had me work long hrs they'd have had 2 pay OT so they'd have said go home on time. i let myself get 2 tired.

pls take that as a warning 2 listen more closely 2 ur body, n realize its best 2 stay no longer than maybe 5 yr at a place, after that they look at ur medical costs n find ways 2 make u leave b/c ur also usually vested by then if there's a pension plan. find something u can do 4 less effort n in the meantime do all the CE u can manage, keep learning. Often going 2 classes isn't helpful b/c it will wear u out, but there's medscape.com for nurses, lots of CEUs do at ur own pace, spectrum is often an employee benefit n if not they usually give a free offering once in a while. if u have a pda or smartphone go 2 epocrates.com 4 free drug ref, some1 at my facility who was really in2 this stuff got me hooked, aside from interactions checker 4 drugs, drug ref, there are tons of calculators of all sorts 4 free n they have CME, but it is still helpful, u can do at ur own pace n most nsg places will take that plus u stretch ur mind learning more. u can do all this in small bites. same person turned me on to free-ed.net 4 a whole lot of diff courses, u can learn about almost n e thing u can think of there n most if not all is free. keep learning.

Good luck to all my fellow fibro folk out there n let's keep supporting ea other.

:nurse:

I have heard of one person who is on Remicade for it and responding to it. So that leads me to believe that it is auto immune and it responds to therapy. And I have heard of 2 people who applied for and received Social Security Disability for that condition.

For those who don't have that option, its NSAIDS, plaquenil, methotrexate, SSRI's etc. to manage symptoms and the hope that the medical and lay society will learn that it is a very real true medical condition.:heartbeat

i didn't know n e 1 would give u remicade 4 this, i have other autoimmune syndromes n believe this is also autoimmune. nsaids cause me problems i can't take them often, have also not heard of getting plaquenil or methotrexate 4 it, NSRIs, yea, not SSRIs tho' - plaquenil and methotrexate and remicade r usually 4 lupus. mine mimics lupus n i was misdx w/ lupus 4 yr of arguing was it lupus, rheumatoid, mental illness, u know the whole thing of "it can't be FMS there's no such thing" that they have gone thru until recently.

What type of MD did the person on remicade go to? do u know? i would b appreciative if u want, i can give u my email offline.

THX.:D

THX THX THX. i have never attempted suicide but have had days that if it all ended i would not have fought it 1 bit. i can understand why! the pain is awful, it wears u out n things that help w/ pain don't work 4 fibro...u can give me a narc, it will help the other pain conditions so that i can bear the fibro better but it will not help the fibro or it just helps a little n that strong a med u don't want 2 take if it isn't helping, it is so weird. :banghead: n frustr8ing...i used 2 say there are days when walking in front of a loaded freight train would feel better than the way i felt that day! i know it wasn't true but hyperbole does serve 2 illustr8 concepts...

hello nursecook:rolleyes: well i to have been dx with fibro, along with some anxiety...i right now am a cashier at our wegmans, and that sometimes has me in some pain, but i do make it thru. now with that being said i am completly nervous about nursing. what can i say about this profession except, i feel like it is in me, that i have looked at other degrees, even have one yr in accounting....and i feel like i am not doing what is " calling" me, if that makes sense????

i just dont want the fibro to take me over, i mean i take the meds i am supposed to, i do excercise as much as i can...and other things...i just really would love to work in l&d or nicu....and i want to suceed in my dream. i am so glad i found this thread...:redbeathe so how do we get thru this and not let the fibro beat us, and take us away from our dream of nursing and our patients that need us????

if working as a cashier hurts u might want 2 get this under more control b4 u try, but i understand. take care in opting 4 this, c 1st what it takes 2 stay on an even keel. doing what ur doing now 4 ur health, tho, i kept working 4 22 yr b4 i had to decide i need 2 go out on disability at least 4 a while 2 c if this flare will ease or not. so there is hope just set limits out front 4 family, friends, profession, n keep up the good work.

keep in mind u can do other healthcare things that will help, like sw, u r still helping ppl but physical demands may be less. also if u get thru n r able 2 nurse, u can work 2 get a yr or 2 in a hosp, usu i tell ppl follow ur dream 4 a specialty but if ur not sure how long u will last try medical nursing or med surg as u get quite the education. while u r there learn what u can about case mgt and utilization review and quality, those r places u can sometimes go if u can't keep up w/ nursing - they r hard 2 find sometimes, tho, as there r a lot of us disabled nurses nowadays n we all need this type of job.:D

I was misdiagnosed with Fibro. I have chiari malformation type 1 and had decompression surgery and pseudo tumor cerebri. I had to give up floor nursing.

i have a gf very close 2 me who has that n had 1 surgery, facing more. she insists that is what i really have but neuro claims i don't, he's not a surgeon, can u tell me how many n what types of MD u had 2 c b4 u got a firm dx for this? i swear sometimes that's the real problem! but don't want to be a hypochondriac...

still, my whole family has had weird sx 4 generations that make me wonder... :confused:

Fibromyalgia is also one of the many things I have. For me it was actually the reverse, I refused to believe it until more than one doctor told me I had it. So rather I was hard on myself. My rhemutologist last week informed me when I was questioning him about that and my P.A., that Fibromyalgia is a form of R.A. which I did not know.

i also fought this dx.but i didn't know some consider it a form of RA...do u have n e more information on that? Pls? :thankya:

i m thinking that may b why the other poster mentioned some1 she knew of getting remicade, plaquenil, mtx, etc. 4 fibro...

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