Trigger Spots

Another Possibility
Mood:  sad
I got an email last week from my good friend Melissa, and she mentioned fibromyalgia. I finally did some research on it:

http://www.fmnetnews.com/pages/basics.html

It does describe some of my symptoms:
Pain - deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting, and stabbing. Intense burning may also be present.
Fatigue & Sleep disorder - been having LOTS of trouble sleeping at night. I fell asleep sometime after 3:30am last night.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome - I won't go into detail about that.
Chronic headaches & Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome - causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain. Definitely have that.
Other common symptoms - chest pain, morning stiffness, numbness and tingling sensations, feeling of swollen extremities.
Aggravating factors - Changes in weather, cold or drafty environments.

Another site mentions about some of the areas of the body that are "trigger spots". I do have pain in some of those areas - head, neck, lower back/hip, elbow, & knees.

I didn't really put all of this together, I just thought that I had different problems. I still don't know for sure if this is what's wrong with me, but it's a definate possibility.

DR's APPT.
Mood:  not sure
I had my appt with Esther this morning. I updated her on the changes since my last visit, and about the "discovery" I had the other day. The "discovery" was that if I massage certain areas (jaw area, neck area, & shoulder area) it helps a little with the pain in my face & head. Esther said that it could be tensed muscles. Back when I saw the ENT, he had mentioned about a CT scan of the tissues in the neck. That should show if I have any muscles problems in that area. If there are any, treatment would be physical therapy. If that doesn't help, then an MRI of the brain to see if there's any lesions on the nerve(s) - I mentioned about the tingling feeling that I sometimes have. Esther also gave me some samples of another muscle relaxer - Skelaxin to take 3x a day. She said about it working better & less drowsiness. I'll also continue taking the Naproxen for pain, along with the Zoloft for depression & my other issues. As if all that isn't enough to remember, I'm also going to be taking Allegra-D b/c I caught a cold from Thomas. I really have to stay on top of the cold, b/c if I don't then I'll end up with a sinus infection b/c of how my sinuses are. I think that's everything for now. I'm going to go rest b/c I didn't sleep good last night.

BLOG CREATED 12/5/04
I created this blog tonight, but was able to change the dates for when things happened - I've kept notes the whole time.

Mood:  sad
It's been about 3 mths since I started having facial & head pain, and it's not getting any better. I actually think it's getting worse. For the past few wks it's been on the left side - mainly at the side & back of my head. I have a "tingling" feeling above the jaw area, and sometimes I feel it in the roof of my mouth. The side & back of my head feel "full" & hurt often. Yesterday & today I've had the tingling on both sides, and pain. I feel tightness (like when they tighten a band around your arm for bloodwork) & had a bad headache earlier, the kind that makes your stomach feel queasy. I'm still taking both meds, but I don't know why since they're not really helping much. They along with my Zoloft do a great job at making me feel so dang tired. I'm sick of dealing with all of this & it has me VERY DEPRESSED! All I feel like doing lately is sleeping b/c of the tiredness & depressing. I feel bad for Thomas b/c he doesn't like the idea of me being in bed so much, but I honestly don't know what else to do. I go back to see Esther on Thursday 9th, and I hope & pray she has something in mind, b/c I can't deal with this anymore. :*(

I had trouble waking up again today, not as late, but not very early. SO, I'm going to be cutting the pills in half.

I was finally able to get the Cyclobenzaprine yesterday so I took the first one last night. I took it around 11pm (it said to take it 1 hr before bedtime). I didn't get tired till around 2am though, so that's when I went to bed. It really knocked me out! I woke up around 7:30am to go potty, then I went back to bed. Tony & Thomas kept trying to wake me up a few hrs later, but I just couldn't fully wake up. I FINALLY got up at almost 2pm.

I had my dentist appointment today. I had a x-ray done (the kind that goes around the face), the dentist felt around my face, looked in my mouth, & asked me a lot of questions. By looking at my face & mouth (teeth look a "little worn") he said that he didn't see anything. However since I clench often when I'm stressed & when I'm sleeping, he gave me an Rx for 10mg of Cyclobenzaprine. Here's a link for information about it. http://www.drugs.com/xq/cfm/pageID_0/htm_D00963A1.htm/bn_cyclobenzaprine/qx/index.htm
He also gave my some suggestions to help relieve stress. I doubt they're going to help, but I'll try. I have a follow up appointment on 12/14.

I called the dr's office yesterday & told them about my pain getting worse & spreading around more. They were suppose to call back, but didn't till this morning. Esther called in a Rx for me - Naproxen. Here's a link about it http://www.drugs.com/xq/cfm/pageID_0/htm_D00019A1.htm/bn_naproxen/qx/index.htm I hope it agrees with my stomach & works good.

The pain & swelling are still there, and have been spreading lower too. It also sometimes switches over to the left side of my face & head, but is usually on the right side. I also now have pain in my right elbow, and a little yesterday in my wrist. I'm suppose to take this Bextra crap & come back on 12/9. Esther said about having an MRI done if I still have it then to see if there's something in the brain/head pressing on the nerves. I still think it might be TMJ, so I go see a dentist on Tue 11/23. I want to see a specialist, but they don't take MA, so I had to pick a regular dentist that supposedly knows about it.