What is Fibromyalgia?

    I have heard a lot about this syndrome and wanted to do some research to clear up some questions I had. Just for myself, then it turned into a blog post! I hope that this helps someone.

What is Fibromyalgia?

    Fibromyalgia, also known as FM or FMS, is a medical disorder that is most commonly characterized by chronic pain. 

What are the symptoms of Fibromyalgia?

    While chronic, widespread pain is the most common symptom that we hear about, other symptoms that can be present with Fibromyalgia are 

• allodynia (which is pain from stimulus that does not usually cause pain)
• heightened painful response to pressure 
• muskuloskeletal pain, fatigue upon arising 
• tenderness in localized areas 
• painful menstrual periods 
• nausea 
• cold or flu like symptoms 
• jaw pain
• skin problems 
• dizziness
• weight gain
• vision or breathing problems 
• abdominal pain
• anxiety
• depression
• chronic headaches
• light or difficulty maintaining sleep
• mucus membrane dryness
• hypersensitivity to heat or cold
• inability to concentrate (referred to as Fibro Fog)
• incontinence
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• numbness or tingling in fingers and feet, stiffness. 

People who have this syndrome usually do not exhibit every one of these symptoms.
 
5 interesting facts about Fibromyalgia

1.  Fibromyalgia can be misdiagnosed as Osteoarthritis, Bursitis, or Tendinitis.    
2. Women are ten times more likely to have FM then men are. 
3. Although usually Fibromyalgia is diagnosed in people over the age of 30, anyone can have this chronic pain condition. 
4. Fibromyalgia is often referred to as an arthritis-related condition; however, the syndrome does not cause joint or muscle damage, damage to other tissues, or inflammation. 
5. No one really knows what causes this syndrome.

What are some of the causes of Fibromyalgia?

While no one really knows what causes FM some of the contributing factors are:

• A stressful, traumatic physical, or emotional event. Such as a car accident, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Recent surgery or a massive infection can also increase the risk of getting FM. 
• Repetitive injuries such as repeatedly twisting your ankle. 
• Certain diseases can increase the risk of developing FM. Rheumatoid arthritis, and Lupus have been linked with FM. 
• Central Nervous System (CNS) problems. 
• If you had a close family member with FM, you have an increased risk for contracting this syndrome as well.

How is Fibromyalgia diagnosed?

    Unfortunately there are no specific tools for diagnosing FM, rather it is a diagnosis of exclusion. This means that your doctor will rule out other conditions that cause similar symptoms to the ones that you are experiencing. Having a complete medical history with you when you talk to your doctor about your symptoms can help speed up a diagnosis. Your doctor will probably need to do a comprehensive physical exam as well.

    To rule out more serious illnesses your doctor may want to order blood work as well. Some of the tests they may order are a complete blood count, testing for chemicals, under-active thyroid, Lyme titers, antinuclear antibodies, rheumatiod factor, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. They may also want to check your levels of prolactin, calcium, and vitamin D.

What is the treatment for Fibromyalgia?

    There is no cure for Fibromyalgia, there is also no specific treatment that will take care of all the symptoms. You and your doctor will be able to create a treatment plan that will help you with a wide variety of traditional and alternative methods that have been proven to help others with Fibromyalgia. 

     Most commonly treatments include a combination of medications (like Lyrica) and both strengthening and aerobic exercises. 

    Please keep in mind that while the treatments are designed to help, they may not help right away. Some medications have to build up in your system. Some of the exercises will not help immediately either. 

     Although it is difficult to stay positive, while living with chronic pain, DO NOT GIVE UP! Things will get better, and if one of your treatments is not working don't be afraid to tell your doctor. He or she may be able to suggest something different that will work better, you just have to speak up!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

    I just wanted  to take this  opportunity to thank everyone who reads my blog. If there is anything you would like to see on my blog please feel free to let me know. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving! :D

Homeschool Update

  School is definitely less exhausting then home school! I am very happy that I decided to home school, don't get me wrong. For some reason I thought that the homeschooling would be a lot less... involved! I have been eating, breathing, and sleeping home school!

  Nicorie is doing well in all of her subjects, and I am re-learning new things all the time!

  We really have been having a lot of fun lately with school. Landforms in Geography were giving Nicorie trouble at first. We made salt dough land formations and she hasn't had a problem since. Nicorie has also made poster models of plant and animal cells as well as a scientific method poster for science!

  I would recommend this Calvert program to any one who is thinking about homeschooling their children. Not only is the curriculum amazing, but there is online technical support and no matter what if you have a question you can call. The staff is very helpful and supportive. You also have access to museums and online libraries. This course is amazing! I am very happy and impressed!

Short Little Update!

  Wow I have been busy and have not been able to put up any new blogs for a while. So much has been happening! I thought I should fill you all in!


  First of all I love our new home school curriculum! We decided to use Calvert, and I am so happy we did. The lesson plans are wonderful and Corie is learning at a pace I didn't think was even possible! She loves her new schooling and is so excited to learn! My favorite part is that Calvert makes it impossible to hand your child their work and walk away, you are very involved with your students learning from day one! This program is truly amazing! :D


  I do unfortunately have some sad news. Our cat Kitten had her five babies, but two short weeks later she got so sick we had to put her down. Distemper is an evil vile disease. We are currently bottle feeding all five babies and they are doing very well! So far we are only suffering slightly from sleep deprivation!


  Well that is all I have for right now. Just thought I would update everyone while I had a moment. I will go into more detail when I find a little more time to sit down! I hope everyone has a great day! :D

Public School Bullying: Why I Decided To Homeschool

  Bullying in public school has become a real problem. My oldest daughter, who is now ten, had a horrible problem with bullying while in public school. My daughter came home with tears in her eyes, the first week of school, because one of the girls in her school had called her a darkie. Things progressively got worse as the year went on. I was at the school a multitude of times discussing the bullying issue with her principle and the vice principle. I have decided to home school her this year.



  At one point a child had called my daughter a squaw and laughingly told my daughters’ friend that it was Indian for Bitch. Thankfully I had the Internet. I looked up the word and showed my daughter that it actually meant woman, but that people often used it as a derogative term. Another child started calling my daughter a crazy black girl.



  My daughter was called names, pushed around, lied about, had vicious rumors started about her, and made to feel like she was worthless on a daily basis. What did the school do? Everything in their power to protect my daughter… which amounted to absolutely nothing. No assemblies were held. No class room discussions on why it is wrong to treat others badly. There were some in school suspensions towards the end of the school year for the habitual offenders. However having to sit in the front office for a day and getting a break from school does not seem like a punishment to me. I was assured over and over again that things would be handled. Parents would be called, meetings would be held. But I ask you this: If a nine year old child is picking on another child and calling them racial names, where is this nine year old child learning this behavior? Is calling in the parents and having a meeting with them really going to help resolve the situation? Or are the parents going to brush off the situation as nothing serious? I can tell you from experience the meetings did nothing to resolve the situation, nor did the in school suspensions, if anything they only made matters worse. One of the girls who had gotten an in school suspension got in my daughters face screaming, yelling, and pushing her, telling her what a horrible person she was. This happened in the bus line, with teachers and adults standing there watching. No one did a thing to help my daughter. When she got home on the bus that day she was shaking and crying hysterically.



  I called the principle, what was going to be done about this issue; he assured me that he would in fact look in to it and call me back. He never did call me back. I told my daughter all year to ignore the bullies and they would eventually get tired of picking on her. Seeing as how she had gone through an entire school year this way I told me daughter we had a new plan. I told my daughter to start sticking up for herself. The very next day when my daughter came home from school she told me her vice principle had pulled her out of class. In the hall he told her that if she had any more problems that year she would not be allowed to return to school. As you can imagine I was not happy. I called the principle to see what had happened. He told me he did not know but that he would look in to it and call me back in the morning… where have I heard that before? Guess what! By two o'clock I still had not heard from him. I went to the school. There were only three days of school left so my daughter getting suspended the rest of the year really was not a big deal. What made it a big deal was the fact that my daughter had been having problems with the same groups of kids all year and the worst punishment any of them got was a one day in school suspension. Now the school wanted to turn around and suspend my daughter for three days for taking a stand and letting one of her peers know that she was no longer willing to sit still and be a target. I do not think so! When I walked in to the school I told the receptionist I would like to speak to the principle. She asked me if I had an appointment. I told her I did not need one and to let the principle know I was there. I sat in the office for about a minute and a half. When I got in to the principal’s office he apologized for not having called me but he had not had a chance to investigate the issue yet. I told him how disappointed I was in the school and how they had failed to protect my daughter and in the end I felt that they had also harassed and bullied her via the vice principle. I informed the principle that I would be homeschooling my daughter the next year. I took her home that day with the agreement of the principle. I will keep you all updated as to how everything goes for us while we home school.

Saddest Baby Story

    I had a Tubal Ligation in 2004, it has been seven years. I was not supposed to have any more children. Imagine my surprise when on July fourth of this year I found out that I was expecting! Not far enough along yet to feel a nudge inside my womb, nor see a baby bump on my belly. What had prompted me to take that first pregnancy test? Honestly I have no idea. Dotchi and I were visiting in her living room on the fourth and I suddenly looked at her and said "I need to take a pregnancy test". We were giggling about it later at my house while waiting for the test to read negative. After all my tubes are tied no more babies for me. To both of our surprise the test was positive; however the line was very faint so we ran to the store and bought two more tests. I took one immediately the second I would save until the morning... Just to be sure. The second test was also positive, as was the third that I took the next morning. I went to my doctors office and asked that they give me a test and explained the previous twenty-four hours. When the test at the doctors office came back positive I was elated! My boyfriend and I had been discussing adoption but even better then that we were going to have a baby of our very own!

    I was informed that because of my tubal ligation I was at an increased risk of having a tubal pregnancy. This information was a little disconcerting but when the surgery was performed I was informed of this so I was not caught unaware. I tried my best not to get overly excited about the pregnancy. I cried several times while waiting for test results and I prayed that everything would be okay and we would be able to bring this child in to the world.

    My doctor wanted to run HCG test every two days to make sure everything was going alright with my pregnancy. My first level came back as 222, I breathed a little easier it was a good level. The second test two days later came back as 438. Now I was getting excited the numbers had doubled. My doctor told me this was a good sign and it pointed towards a uterine pregnancy! We were all so ecstatic! My boyfriend and I started discussing what we wanted to name our baby. I knew it was early to be thinking about that but we could not help ourselves. He wanted to find a boy name and a girl name that meant miracle that is what the baby was for us, our own little miracle. I agreed that would be perfect.

    My next test was on a Saturday my levels had gone up, but had not doubled I was at seven hundred something. The doctor was concerned, but told me not to worry it was still a normal reading. My next blood draw was on Monday. Tuesday morning I got a phone call. My numbers had gone up again but still had not doubled. I was only at eleven hundred and something. My doctor wanted me to go in for an ultrasound. I said no but because of my elevated risk for having a tubal pregnancy she insisted that I go. I finally agreed even though I felt I was not far enough along to be able to see the baby inside my womb. After all I was only three to four weeks pregnant. My HCG levels were high enough that the doctor felt we would be able to see some kind of indication where the baby was developing.

    I checked in at the front desk and went back for my ultrasound. Scared and alone not wanting to cry but being totally unnerved by the doctors’ urgency, I handed my paper work to the lady behind the desk of the radiology department. She called the ultrasound tech in to the office area and explained why I was there. He asked her questions about how far along I was and why we were doing the test when I was at such an early stage in my pregnancy. I tried to answer the questions as well as I could with her assistance. The tech opened the door for me and took me in to the back where I changed and then I went in to the room where I would have the ultrasound done.

    I sat on the bed where the ultrasound would be done and listened to the tech explain things to me and answered more questions from him. He asked where my pain was. I told him I didn’t have any pain. He asked if I was more uncomfortable on the left side or the right side. I told him I was fine, no pain no discomfort. He asked why I was there again. I put it as simply as I know how… I was there because I had a tubal ligation seven years prior and my HCG levels were not going up fast enough to suit my Dr.

    Later that night I started cramping, it hurt to press on my left side the slightest pressure made me want to scream, and to top it all off I started spotting. I thought oh God here we go they were right it’s a tubal pregnancy. I cried and prayed and then cried some more. The next morning the pain was a little better I still hurt but the spotting was not as bad. By Thursday morning it was still tender I was still cramping and spotting but I had convinced myself everything would be okay. I went to my doctor appointment and discussed my concerns. The spotting was not concerning to the doctor given how far along I was. She said not to worry that it was only bad if I started bleeding. The cramping did not worry here to badly she just told me to take it easy. And as far as the pain after the ultrasound went she said she would talk to the tech and that it should continue to subside. I got my lab work and went home feeling much better and thinking this is going to work after all, it really is going to be okay!

    I left the doctor office at 4:30, by six o’clock the pain was back with a vengeance. I was cramping and felt sick to my stomach. The final blow came when I went to the bathroom, I was bleeding and it was bright red. I asked my dear friend Dotchi to take me to Kalispell to go to the emergency room we left within a half hour. By eight thirty I was checked in to the Emergency Room of the Kalispell Regional Medical Center. The doctor came in and talked to me, asked for various tests, and then had the nurse start an IV. Eventually I went for an ultrasound, and again they found nothing. The only blessing was this ultrasound did not hurt. I went back to my room when the doctor came in he told me my HCG level had fallen to 261. I was having a miscarriage, there was nothing they could do to stop it, my baby was already gone. More concerning to him was the fact that my left ovary was enlarged and surrounded by fluid. All I was worried about was the fact that I had lost my baby, I wanted to go home. The doctor and I argued about it for a few minutes and finally he agreed to let me leave AMA. (Against Medical Advice)

    I did not have a tubal pregnancy; I know this because fifteen minutes after leaving the hospital I passed the fetus that would have been my baby. I am not sure what is worse: not knowing if I was going to be able to carry my baby, or knowing that I could have and then losing the child that was so wanted, loved, and prayed for.

    I wanted to tell my story. I was hoping it would help me feel better about the loss of our precious child. I also wanted to thank all of my very close and dear friends who helped and are helping me get through this. Especially Dotchi who not only took care of me and my two children when things took a turn for the worst, but was there to hold my hand and cry with me through the worst. Sky for always having a waiting hug, a shoulder to cry on, and being willing to listen while I sob.  And Stephany for giving me courage to fight my battles and helping me find my voice.  You are all an inspiration to me and I could not make it through any of this without you. I love you all. Also our heart felt thanks to all of you around Libby who held us in your hearts and prayers through out this whole ordeal.

Opiniated Me

  To start, I am Nikky and I love opinions. I started this blog to share my opinions with the world and add in others opinions as well. But, first let me introduce myself.


  I am a mom of two girls. I home school one daughter and the other attends public school. I am a beginning writer, just about to break out in print. My writing career hasn't hatched yet but, that is another reason I started this blog. I enjoy crafts, traveling, horse back riding, gardening, music, movies, spending time with my girls and my wonderful boyfriend, hanging out with friends and sharing my opinions with the world!


  I am so excited to get this blog off the ground that I am going to stop there and start my first Circle article so I can get it published!


  Hey, while you are at it, check out my friend's cool blog that has been up for 8 years! Go Dotchi!