Yesterday my doctor undertook the ‘prod test’ for fibromyalgia. I reacted to some of the control points (I’m not surprised, my muscles are always tight) and really reacted to enough of the fibro points that he’s sent me off for bloods to rule anything else out.
There’s one point, 2cm caudal to the femoral trochanter that he only had to brush against and I was howling. The other side, he didn’t so much find it because he knew where it was but because I would start yelping when he got there.
The upside is he’s given me amitriptyline, which has been identified as better than placebo in some trials with regard to fibromyalgia pain. I’m now on fluoxetine in the morning, and amitriptyline in the evening. Because they interact, I have to be careful of serotonin syndrome, which is a very serious problem involving too much serotonin. Fortunately I am almost always around someone who knows what I’m taking, which is so important while my body gets used to the new balance.
So far it’s made me very sleepy in the evening, which is great, because sleep was one of the big problems I have been having. Fluoxetine is a stimulant and has really taken my easy sleeping days and turned them upside down. Add the discomfort from fibromyalgia and you’ve got me waking up 5-6 times a night, and that does not make for a happy bunny in the morning.
In the mornings, however, moving is hard. My muscles don’t quite want to work. They’d much rather remain in a relaxed state. My legs wish to retain their noodly ways. My balance is a little off. My brain is sluggish and prone to going completely blank. My reaction times feel a bit slower. It’s similar to how I felt when I first started fluoxetine, just quite a bit less severe, so I’m interested to see how this progresses.
I had my blood taken today for testing, which is never a fun experience. I’m very not okay about needles. They always hurt, the sensation makes me want to jump out of my skin, and I’ll occasionally faint. Today was no different, although hooray, there was no fainting. I warned them I’m a sometimes fainter and sometimes puker, and they were very good about putting me on a bed and using the tiniest needle, and keeping me talking all throughout to distract me. It still hurt quite badly, I still went very fuzzy (and would have fainted if I hadn’t been horizontal), and the site is still incredibly tender. Because my body has realised it’s been ‘injured’, the rest of the elbow has also flared up and become somewhat painful. The joys of being tender, I suppose.
Now I just sit tight and wait for a few weeks. I’ll hopefully know whether or not I likely have fibro by about this time next month. In the meantime, I get to adjust to amitriptyline!
Walk to Wellness 