Wow! Hi from a newbie!

[Guest guest]

Dear fellow FM'ers:

Hi to all! My name is Dawn, and I'm 35 years old. I live in Florida with my

significant other and our five-year-old son. (we're not married). I was

recently (on the 14th of October) diagnosed with FM when I went to see a

rheumatologist for the first time in my life. I've had back pain, especially

in my neck and mid-back, for years on end... I've been to doctors after

doctor and have been on every pain medicine and muscle relaxer known to man.

Finally, I see a rheumy and he gives me what I so craved: a diagnosis and

treatment plan.

However, when he took x-rays of my cervical, thoracic and lumbar, I was

found to have in my neck quite a number of things wrong with me that I'm

still not sure of... the report says degenerative disk disease, anterior

osteophyte formation (I know that is arthritis) and anterior subluxation

with neuroforaminal encroachment (this i have no idea about yet). My lower

and mid-back also show DDD and arthritis with the beginning stages of

osteoporosis in the lumbar spine. So yeah, when I found out about my fibro,

I found out all of this as well. I tested positive for 15/18 trigger points.

A lot of them are bothering me today.

I also have hypothyroidism, which I was diagnosed with in '96; a seizure

disorder; depression (clinical) and anxiety; and cysts in various places. It

makes me wonder if all this is linked up somehow. I do a lot of research on

my disorders but haven't had the time nor the energy to read into fibro as

much as I'd like to. I only just joined this group on Saturday and I have

about 7 digests in my inbox to go through! You all sound so supportive to

each other, it'll make me proud to be a part of this group. Thanks for

welcoming me in!

I'll stop here for now and continue on with the digests. Thanks again!

Dawn