A year in one post.

I just realized today it has been almost a year since I got the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia; it will be a year in November.  This past year has been crazy and as much as I intended on getting a blog going about being a new spoonie, I just haven’t been able to get anything really going with it.  I did buy my very own domain name but it seems as though something comes up every single month that prevents me from getting hosting set up. I decided that I’m done waiting—I am going to launch this on blogger and in the future look to move to a permanent spot.

I will likely end up going into a much more detailed recount of my life as my blogging experience grows but for a quick and easy intro here is my story:

At the end 2010 my husband and I found out I was pregnant with our first child. Up to this pregnancy my health was fairly boring and uneventful; I had my share of minor illness (it was also strep throat!) and sprains but no major medical issues. Most of the pregnancy went by smoothly—mild morning sickness, the usual increasing overall uncomfortable feeling as the weeks went by. In the last few weeks we had some minor complications but our little girl arrived at 41 weeks healthy and happy July 2011. I chose to breastfeed which started out rough but by 16 weeks we had it figured out and she nursed until toddlerhood.

EVERYTHING you hear about being a first time mum, especially a nursing first time mum is your life is all about sleep deprivation after giving birth. Looking back, I’m pretty sure my fibro reared its ugly head either at the end of my first pregnancy or soon after giving birth, I just didn’t know just how not normal my exhaustion and pain turned out to be. For that first year I was exhausted, in pain, in a fog…pretty much I had all the signs of fibro but I assumed it was all just “normal” due to nursing, a new baby, etc. Soon after my daughter turned one, my husband and I realize she was sleeping pretty well—it was just ME that wasn’t!

I made doctor’s appointments, was told to start exercising, eat better, and get back on my antidepressant (been off of it for pregnancy and nursing); all pretty routine for being under the age of 30. Nothing really changed though, my pain increased and I started experience flares. I also started gaining weight rapidly; I gained around 100 pounds despite a good diet and going to the gym 3-5 days a week. From 2012 to 2013 my doctor started testing for all kinds of things; everything from thyroid and lyme’s disease, to lupus and arthritis. All my test came back within normal ranges so I also started a pain journal—based on my recordings, test results, etc I arrived at a fibro diagnosis in November 2013.

I am thankful that my diagnosis came pretty quickly compared to many who suffer for years, decades even not knowing what is wrong with them but it’s still hard to receive a chronic illness as a diagnosis. My doctor started me on the routine pharmaceutical that comes after fibro becomes official. Fibromyalgia is a “designer” illness so that means a LOT of tweaking and experimenting with literally EVERYTHING to find out what works for the individual. Before I could find the formula of diet, exercises, meds, and lifestyle changes that would make fibro manageable for ME…we got some huge news!

I’m expecting again!

My estimate due date is February 2015. I’ve had to go off of all the drugs I was on; right now I’m only allowed regular old Tylenol (which spoonies know is worthless). I will look to have a post focusing on week 1-20 of this pregnancy coming up in the next on how life has been with pregnancy and being new to fibromyalgia. We are extremely happy and excited to be adding the final additions to our little family in a few short months. The pregnancy has been difficult due to the fibro but so far everything is moving along nicely and free of most complications so far. I’ll have future posting detailing being a pregnant with fibro over the next 18-ish weeks and I also plan on  sharing how the birth goes, definitely scared on what sort of flare I could have after the stress of delivery! I have found very little information on pregnancy and fibromyalgia so I hope my little blog will be able to add to the little bit of info that has been shared from other mums.

~Rebecca