I have Fibro pain and it is getting more severe. My doc has not offered a pain specialist yet, she just keeps upping the dose of my medications. Im on 300mg of Neurotin and 200mg morning and 400mg of Topamax nightly. The Neurotin is 3 times a day. They say they can increase that more. they are also offering me Lortab for the breakthrough pain. I was just wondering if I should be followed up for Lupus ofton. I have another autoimmune disease, Hashimotos Thyroiditis so I was just wondering. Thanks for your time. No, fibromyalgia cannot become lupus. Pain is a signal that something is wrong. And you can't diagnose fibromyalgia just because someone has unexplained pain.
Fibromyalgia is a rheumatic disease. If you were misdiagnosed, you could suffer from seronegative rheumatoid arthritis or Lyme disease.
The solution is to get an appointment with an orthopaedist, the medical doctor specializing in diseases of the bones and joints, to get an accurate diagnosis and reassess your treatment options, including antibiotics.
Rheumatic diseases are the result of a defective gene and collagen inflammation, often from a chronic infection. Collagen is present throughout the body, from the eyes, skin and joints to the heart. Hence, the multiplicity of symptoms, depending on the location of the most affected internal organs or body parts.
Rheumatic diseases are diagnosed in much the same way as rheumatoid arthritis, through a number of blood tests showing inflammation:
- Antistreptolysin-O (ASO);
- C-Reactive protein (CRP);
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR);
- Rheumatoid factor (RF);
- Immunoglobulins A, E, and G;
- Complement 3 (C-3).
For more than 27 years, I have had seronegative rheumatoid arthritis like 20% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The telling signs are the following:
- Joint pain or cracking joints in the lower extremities, feet, ankles, knees or hips in the early 20's or late teens;
- Fatigue, especially after a moderate exercise like a 30 minute walk;
- Blood test showing a negative or low level of Rheumatoid factor (RF);
- Joint deformities of the fingers, after a few years, a specific sign of rheumatoid arthritis;
- Consecutive X-Rays, over several years, showing bone erosion, a consequence of rheumatoid arthritis;
- Generalized arthritis and pain, involving the whole body;
- Blood tests showing elevated levels of C-Reactive protein (CRP) and Sedimentation rate (ESR).
Antibiotics like Minocin, NSAIDs like Voltaren, COX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex, acetaminophen like Tylenol, codeine, and statins like Lipitor are all used to control inflammation and relieve the pain of arthritis.
For fibromyalgia, a low dose of antidepressant, 25 mg, at bedtime, can relax muscles, favor a deep sleep and lead to a pain free condition.
Regular exercise like walking, biking and swimming is also helpful for most patients. Make sure that you are not overweight as carrying too much weight can only increase the pain of arthritis in the supporting joints of the hips, knees, ankles and feet.
For any form of arthritis, you should consult an orthopaedist who will order blood tests, joint scans and X-Rays to better diagnose the type of arthritis from which you suffer.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons at http://www.aaos.org maintains a public online directory where you can find the address and phone number of orthopaedists who belong to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Orthopaedists are listed by geographic location and family name, inside the USA and in most countries.
The membership directory of the AAOS is located at:
http://www6.aaos.org/about/public/member...
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons maintains a wealth of information online at:
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org
If need be, you could also consult a microbiologist, a medical doctor specializing in infections, working in a university teaching hospital, who will order his own blood tests and stool cultures to identify all microorganisms, bacteria or viruses, causing an infection, and prescribe the best antibiotics and antiviral agents to fight these microorganisms.
The American Society for Microbiology at http://www.asm.org maintains an Academy fellowship directory where you can find the address and phone number of microbiologists. Microbiologists are listed by area of expertise, geographic location and family name, inside the USA and in most countries.
The Academy fellowship directory of the ASM is located at:
http://www.asm.org/Directories/fellows_s...
Lyme disease could be a possibility. Ask your doctor to test you for the bacteria causing Lyme disease.
Are there any other cases of arthritis or rheumatic diseases among your relatives? Chronic forms of arthritis are usually prevalent in families where a defective gene is passed on by parents to their children.
There are a few hundred types of arthritis and rheumatic diseases. The good news is that science is progressing rapidly in its understanding of rheumatic diseases.
Antibiotics are now used to achieve full remissions for at least 40%, if not 65% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. For rheumatic diseases which are less severe like fibromyalgia, or lupus, the number of patients making a full recovery can be even more impressive. For more info, please join the antibio group at:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ant... For your first question, the answer is no. That would be like the chicken pox turning in to the measles. Completely different conditions.
For the rest of your question, you need to get the referral to another investigatory type doctor...instead of a pain specialist. To me, the pain people give relief from symptoms, whereas investigatory doctors find out the root cause. (My sister's fibro, wound up being a late-onset food allergy. Need I say more? She suffered with her initial diagnosis for over 6 years.)
There are many reasons for pain, and if the pain is medicated, you'll never find the root cause and the potential answer to the problem. not as far as I know. Lyrica is better than neurotin. Also changing from synthyroid to armor thyroid also helped lesson my pain. I also take cymbalta for my fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is not autoimmune or Rheumatological. The other response is correct in saying that one disease can't become a different disease.
For about years now-FMS has been beleived to be a disorder of teh Central Nervouse System (CNS)-not a musculoskeletal/rheumatological disease as was Origianlly thought. Updated research continues to point to a Neuro cause-that is why it is treated with Neuro Meds (Neurontin, Cymbalta, Lyrica)-not musculoskeltal meds.
You MUST be screened for LYMES if you haven't been already-Not because FMS turns into Lymes, but because you could be misdiagnosed-the symptoms of Lymes mimic FMS-
I believe there is a high rate of OVerdiagnosis of FMS by doctors who just don't pay attention----many people diagnosed with FMS actually have other conditions such as vitamin deficiencies, thyroid problems, lymes-and even normal aches and fatigue from lifestyle choices.....
Too many doctors are calling any type of pain and Fatigue Fibromyalgia-even if it is due to another problem from thyroid problems to lifestyle...
Orthopedists do not treat FMS as it is not a musculoskeletal disorder
As FMs is NOT a rheumatic disease-it is not diagnosed like rheumatoid arthritis-there are no clood tests for it-
There is NO inflammation in FMS-therefore a positive inflammtion test is not an indicator of FMS- |
