Every muscle in my body aches,

Because I sleep so much, my back and ribs get so sore. Also, I feel like my muscles are weakening. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Does that make sense? I have had this disorder from the time I turned about 25. I am now 35. I have been to several Physicians and 90% think it's depression. However, the reason I'm depressed is because I'm so freaking tired. It takes everything I have to cook supper and wash dishes. I just wish there was a magic pill out there to diminish the effects of this disorder. Some have even asked me if I had narcolepsy. The answer is no. Sleep studies turned up negative. To the person taking Lotensin, Synthroid, Fortamet, Bystolic, Ativan, Cymbalta, Lamital, Seroquel and Nexium, no wonder you're so sleepy! Just about every one of the drugs you take has a side effect of extreme fatigue and drowsiness. I think you should not take as many pills and just deal with it. Before too long, you'll have another problem.....pill addiction. I went thru this and it is not fun. Days of withdrawls, unpleasant body tremors and jerks, vomiting and so forth. So please, stop the Antivan and Lamictal at once. Lamictal is often what they give patients that have schizophrenia in combination with other drugs like risperdal and zyprexa. I'm not a Dr. but I've been thru what you're going thru right now. And as for the pain, I was a full blown lortab and oxy addict. The Dr. prescribed these meds because my pain caused me to have high blood pressure and migranes, back aches and other pain in my lower abdomen that caused me to double over. One day he desided to cut me off after about 2 years. I never took more that what was prescribed. However, because I had been taking them for so long, my body became physically addicted. Even though in my mind I thought I'd be ok, my body was telling me other wise. So on top of my CFS, I had to be treated by another Dr. with Suboxone to come off the pills. This just added to my sleepy habits and made me ten times worse. I guess this is something we both will have to deal with for the rest of our lives, I sympothize with you, for I too am miserable. I just wish for one day, I could wake up, get out of bed and feel normal. Do normal things with my daughter. She's still a tot and doesnt understand why mommy doesnt want to play. I cry often because this is not fair to her. If anyone is taking anything new that I don't know about, please post the information on this site. I would be so greatful. But no antidepressants. I've tried everything in that catagory.

To mssgulfgirl:
I understand what you say about the pain and what you're going through. I have SEVERE fibromyalgia and severe arthritis. I've had it for many, many years. My doctor said the fibromyalgia is as bad as it can get and the arthritis is worse. Every day of my life I live in pain and can't function. The extreme fatigue is horrible. I really understand what you have posted here. Sweeping the floor and just every day household work is unbearable. I too, am so sick of being in pain and fatigued I can hardly stand it any longer. It also has caused depression and keeps my BP up also. I really feel sorry for others with these problems. I can only say, "hang in there". I have started high potency vitamins and one called Zyflamend from the health food store. It's suppose to help muscle aches, etc. It's not an RX and contains various herbs like rosemary, oregano, etc. You might check into these types of things. If you don't have a rheumatologist, find one. They are making progress on fibromyalgia, thank God! I like hot baths and then take some pain meds. Getting up in the morning is a nightmare. I never try to do housework until after noon becaue I'm so stiff and in pain. I hope you find some comfort with what you're going through. I understand. Never give up! Work a little then rest, work a little then rest. So what if it takes you all day.

I am so sorry to hear about all the things you guys are going through. After reading your stories, I feel I am just being a baby. I'm on anti-depressants and pain pills and am sick of all of it. If we could get rid of the poisons in our bodies, surely we'd fill alot better. The pain med that I take takes the pain away AND helps me feel motivated and of course is very addictive, but at least I can get some work done around the house. I will think about you guys alot and be thankful that my issues haven't reached the level that you are going through. I hope that doesn't sound bad. I'm just saying I appreciate you sharing and a really hope and pray that there is something out there (hopefully natural) that will help you. Take care!

Get your thyroid checked. Hypothyroid causes all of your symptoms and muscle aches. Your Thyroid test TSH level shoud be between .3-3.0

i really feel for you! i have felt depressed for over half my life (i'm almost 50 now) and it's no fun at all. i'm sad because my oldest girl is grown and i started right about when she was 9 years old. my next two girls never knew another type of mommy. they're now teenagers and experiencing a different type of mommy for the first time. want to know the secret? REGULAR exercise. it doesn't start off with a bang - believe me - it's a long and hard road but the results are priceless. i was in such sad shape i started just marching in front of the tv for 5 minute spans and would be huffing and puffing. it almost instantly gave me more energy. i eventually moved on to belly dancing w/the tv and finally joined the local ymca and do high intensity aerobics 3 times a week. everytime you get a little better - just kick it up a notch! YOU have to do it for YOU...nobody else can. in the past i took anti-depressants and they did more damage than good. i try hard everyday to keep positive and BUSY. idle time is bad. i try to eat less refined food as i noticed that it affects my mood. bad lifetime habits are hard to break! i hope all of you can take this advice and find the positive results i did...good luck and keep at it...YOU'RE WORTH IT!

That is me to the T. I wake up feeling like I never slept a wink. My body hurts all over. I walk down stairs and it feels like my knee or ankle wants to pop off. Everythig is always sore and very painful. i wish i would go away. I don' take anyhing and haven't been ot he doctor at all for this. I know wha tit is as I have two sister with the same thing. They however were diagnosed and it is Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I know I need to do something, but then you think it is better to live with it than to be told what it is. I feel for you all as I live through the pain all day. I painted the trim in a room yesterday and I have never been in so much pain in my life. I feel for you and try to stay away frm them meds, they may seem to help now but can only hurt in the long run. Keep you head up, I will be thinking about you.

My last message is all over, spelling mistakes and all.. I am so tired right now, just want to sleep. That is if I can fall asleep through the pain. I appologize for the poor writing.

Please get the book called The Magesium Factor by Mildred Selig.
Also Google "Fibromyalgia and magnesium deficiency."

I have had fibromyalgia and other ailments for 13 years and am on disability because of it. I used to just sit and cry silently because the pain was so unbearable. Now, I'm much better, but still fatigued.

Increase your mineral intake. Get a high quality natural supplement. Every fibro patient is low in magnesium and other minerals and vitamins. I was nearly bedridden until I began taking a certain form of calcium that also contained trace elements of all the minerals. I moved on from that supplement to one with the minerals in greater quantity. These minerals are very tiny, making it easy for your cells to absorb them. Kelp is also loaded with minerals. Most people think it's nasty, but I like it and my body craves it. Also, stay from MSG (natural flavors, soy protein isolate, when the label says, "other spices," etc. ) and artificial sweeteners like aspartame. My pain has diminished 95% and I believe you'll feel better, too.

I agree with Tansie77. Get your Thyroid checked.
I had these symptoms also and found out I had HYPOTHYROIDISM. I thought I had fibromyalgia but it wasn't.
I have been on med for only a short time and my aching muscles are not so achy and I am much happier.
I also read a study about aspartame and it claims some of those symptoms also so I stopped artificial sweenteners. I was addicted to aspartame.
You may need to take an antidepressant short term to get your brain back in sync. When you are depressed, you tend to not want to do even the basic things...and no one wants to be on anti depressants but it does not mean you are crazy or really depressed. I will be on anti-d's for the rest of my life because my brain obsorbs serotonin faster than it can produce it so I take a serotonin reuptake inhibitor - if it makes me play nice..I will do it.

I have had Fibro probably my entire life....was diagnosed in 1986, I have tried everything and I completely understand what you are saying, except I throw the guilt in there too because I can't do much of anything. I work full time and am a single mom of 3 teenagers. I recently (the last year) have been taking Cymbalta, and honestly I think it helped for some of the pain but the side effects were horrible. I have been investigating 5-HTP. I googled it for treatment of fibro, I also found a great book by Dr. Michael Murray. I found him online as well
www.drmurray.com
. I have just begun the new regimin(sp). I am hopeful it will work. I am so tired of taking pills to sleep pills to wake up etc. I just want to feel normal. It is very much related to serotonin levels in our bodies. I wish you luck. I am a very strong upbeat woman, but living like this can be so unbearable so I really do understand. But as the other posters have said, do get you thyroid checked. Good luck to you

It sounds like classic fibromyalgia. I cannot tell you what you should do, but if it were ME, I would get off all the medicine, and see an ostopath. Sometimes their muscle manipulations help. IF that doesn't work, my next shot would be homeopathy. And if that fails, accupuncture. All in that sequence.

Since Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain that is an impediment from having a full life, I would also try hypnotherapy. It's been known to work for chronic pain. Somehow the mind is adjusted to filter "out" the pain.

All of these are worth a shot, and won't make you a walking medicine cabinet, with side effects as bad or worse than the condition you need treated.

God bless you, my dear. I have been suffering from the same pain and back pain for the last three years after my hysterectomy (please refuse to get this unnecessary surgery - I went to six doctors as my fibroids were bleeding but they all wanted to do a hysterectomy whereas they could have prescribed birth control pills and this would have stopped my bleeding). Anyway, I have forgiven these doctors and I have forgiven myself. After my big H, I started bone and muscle aches, arthritis, sleepless nights, shortness of breath, GERD, acid reflux, bloating and memory problems and back and shoulder pains. After going to many different doctors and no one would understand why I was in pain. In the meantime, my throat was hurting and swollen and I had difficulty swallowing. Doctors was still shunting me from one specialist to another while I was getting sicker and unbearable to live with. All the while suffering from hot flashes and unbearable post surgical pain as they had cut off my nerves during the surgery. They didn't admit to this, of course.

Anyway, I was a good girl as I only took one treatment of Prednisone, which took away the shoulder pain for a while but I knew this was not good for me as I was reading a lot on the Internet and ordering books.

The break came for me when I watched David Suzuki's documentary on CBC Canadian TV which talked about unnecessary hysterectomies and how women suffer due to immediate lack of hormones. The solution offered was natural progesterone cream and transdermal hormone creams. I ordered the natural progesterone cream and the night I applied the quarter teaspoon, I slept for four hours that night. Thank God. After that I started feeling better as I was getting more rest but in the meantime, my Thyroid gland was gone so I am now on Armour Thyroid. Also, I started a lot of vitamins, including the good Vitamin E, not the ones sold in stores as they don't work but the expensive kind. Also, I started Vitamin B, Calcium and Magnesium at night and way before that Glucosomine Chondroitin which helped my joint pain tremendously. This was shared by a friend but none of the doctors suggested it.

There is a lot of stress in my life as a wife, mother of three teenage girls, extremely stressful boss, I was recently laid off so the stress is more as I'll be losing the house.

The good thing is like someone else said, I started doing more exercises even though the pain and the tired factor is so high but I started walking everyday and this started making me feel better as it raises your endorphins. From the short walks, I started going for longer walks about 40 minutes with my family, and this was something I cherished but only lasted for three weeks. So I decided to go swimming on my own and sometimes the girls join me. This is doing me a lot of good as it is very good for my achy muscles and helping me breathe better.

I have also done acupuncture for 5 visits, before I lost my job. The first treatment on my back took away 50% of the pain. BTW, in the last three years, I put on 50 pounds and lately stopped taking milk with my cereal. I stopped all white flour and sugar foods. I do eat healthy desserts like cheesecake but only two bites as it is too difficult to lose weight.

One thing that has really helped me is DHEA and helped my husband with moods as well. Please google it and start taking small doses and you will notice a difference in one or two weeks. It is the foundation of the hormones that a human body needs.

For the past two weeks, I have not been regular with my vitamins and can feel the weakness and the hot flashes again. I need to order them. Feel free to email me at info@*amaana.org - just remove the * from the email address.

In short, the exercising and natural supplementation will help reduce the pain by half. Also, please take flaxseeds, Omega-3 oils, and extra virgin olive oil in cooking. Don't use any margarine or diet products as mentioned by others. I am half way to recovery and with the Grace of God and eating broccoli, cabbage and organic foods, I'll get better and better.

I hope what I have said helps you and my prayers are with you.

And oh yes, please take Vitamin D everyday. This really helped me. I salute you all!

My family got sick and tired of me saying I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, so your words really hit home. I woke up every morning wishing it were bedtime so I could go to bed, I was so tired. Tried a couple of drugs which appeared to help at first, but quickly stopped having any affect. After over 15 years of being sick and tired, I have a set of things that have helped. Perhaps some of it could be of use:

Move. It is almost impossible to really get moving when you are tired and achy. For me, Tai Chi was the answer. I signed up for two classes a week at first, then continued daily at home. The slow movements helped my muscle-tone and increased circulation without making me even more tired. Walking is OK, but TaiChi uses every muscle and even the face muscles get involved. You need to improve your circulation so you can fully enjoy the natural feel-good drugs your body will produce when you start on the road to being who you want to be. (Oh, yes, your toddler might enjoy the tai chi, too)

"A change is as good as a rest." - Our bodies produce chemicals that make us happy and alert and these also reduce pain sensations. . In CFS, etc, we do not produce enough of those chemicals. This will sound absurd, but you can stimulate these chemicals with "change" - thus feeling happier and less tired! As silly as it sounds, I put away my old dreary dishes and bought a bright bold pattern; I moved the furniture around and took down the curtains; joined a poetry group. These are just examples - I made many changes over time and your choices will reflect who you are.

Who are you? I believe that we lose sight of who we are. We let our social roles define us and if that is not who we really are, we might as well just sleep through life. So who are you? What made you happy back when you were awake?

I agree with you: the depression is caused by the fatigue! For better rest at night, I find valerian very helpful so I drink a mug of Sleepytime Extra tea after supper for a few nights when I'm feeling the fatigue creeping back.

I am not saying it is all in your head; I am saying the drugs that work best are the ones you stimulate your body to produce - and you can use your brain to figure out what works for you. It may take quite some time; it may even require changes vastly more radical than new dishes!

Hello!!

I am going to stress to you a third time (like katherineelaine and tansie77 above) that your symptoms sure sound a lot like hypothyroidism. HERE'S THE CATCH: you should see a thyroid specialist or endocrinologist - NOT just your family physician. They will likely not diagnose the sub-clinical side of this illness and may send you away even more frustrated.

I was diagnosed with sub-clinical hypothyroidism, meaning my T3 and TSH counts were in the "normal" ranges but they just weren't working for me. My symptoms included: extreme fatigue, itchy scalp, clicking jaw, dizziness when standing, enexplained weight gain, loss of outer eyebrows, etc. etc, etc!!!! I have taken 75micrograms of Levoxyl daily for the past 4 years and it's changed my life. Now my blood tests return straight down the "middle" (no more elevated TSH or low T3) and I feel better than I ever have before!

Back in the early 1900s, there was a school of thought among doctors that the thyroid gland RULES every function of the body. I for one agree!

Causes of hypothroidism include excess ingestion of iodine (through iodized/table salt) and possibly dental x-rays where the chest is protected from the radiation but the neck is not. (This has not been proven). But the number one cause is childbirth, and I see above that you have a daughter. The birth of my second child threw me into a tailspin... I couldn't stand long enough to wash the dishes, or I had to plunk my son in his exersaucer and put on Baby Einstein tapes to appease him so I could lie on the couch behind him until my "body" could wake up hours later. Trust me girl, I've been there!

Do me a favor and take a simple test: put a thermometer on your nightstand for the next two weeks. Each morning when you wake up, immediately take your temp before even getting out of bed. If your temperature is even 2 tenths below normal, (meaning 98.4 or below) it's very likely you have a sluggish thyroid.

By the way, getting your thyroid fixed up WILL ALLEVIATE, IF NOT TOTALLY ERASE, your dysthemia/depression! I don't know the statistic right off hand, but a huge percentage of women who were depressed (and didn't benefit from anti-depressants) found that balancing their thyroid function completely eliminated their depression.

Hypothyroidism is guilty of causing about 36 known negative symptoms... regulate your thyroid and chances are many other problems you are experiencing will disappear.

Can you tell I'm passionate about this? I want to scream it from the rooftops, that YOU CAN FEEL BETTER! Please see a specialist and start feeling like yourself again!

to all those who have this paining and aching muscles after getting up, am just an international student, at times i have tears in my eyes as to why am i so inefficient, got a bf who is very perfect in al and when my muscles ache after gettin up there s nothing i can do, offlate he thinks am lazy, anyway what i wanted to say is that my problem is not so very severe compared to the one's i have read here, but its in its initial stage, at times preparing our minds i guess is what works no matter what things really going on, i just wonder if YOGA and MEDITATION with faith in self that its going to work no matter what will help. Besides before sleeping and before getting up when our subconcious mind is at its best if we convince ourselves in very good positive sentences (actually believing and feeling happy for those few seconds though we know its paining) and if we do so constantly miracles have happened...... You could read THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONCIOUS MIND by Dr. Joseph Murphy, but never to use this knowledge for nything bad as it ll reflect back to us...... With well wishes and very good intentions and all my love to everybody

one amongst u :)

So many people hear are saying "Get your thyroid tested!"

Yeah...any half-decent doctor will do that when they test you for CFS.

Have you had your vitamin D blood levels checked? New information is showing that deficiency of D is widespread and can cause muscle/bone pain. Even people who are already taking Vit D supplements can have trouble absorbing the vitamin, and drs. can prescribe larger doses to increase absorption.

MAYBE YOU HAVE A MILD MITOCHONDRIAL MYOPATHY WORSENED BY JANUVIA
I have type 2 diabetes for a few years and am 59 yrs old-and do not have fibromyalgia or kidney,liver probles or depression or a history of any painful muscles ever. I work up to 90 hrs a week as a doctor for the past 12 years and am a DIY renovator of my home in mt free time. I exercise regularly and am fairly fit, I do have a congenital mitochondrial myopathy characterized by nonpainful arm and leg muscle weakness- but have not been symptomatic significantly for 20 years. I take vitamins and one aspirin a day and have no medication allergies. weeks ago I started Januvia- my only diabetes medication. I worked well to normalize my mild to moserate elevation of BS.Over the past 2 weeks or so, I have had an increased somnolence without feeling rested upon awakening. I felt like I had been beaten with telephone poles and hammers, More distressing is the insidious onset of neuromuscular pains episodic sharp ones, more persistent aching and burning and tingling tingling, with a dense heaviness in legs more than arms worse with exertion and relieved by rest. 3 days ago it was to the point where I had to stop walking after 8 steps and could not climb a ladder beyond one step . I sould not curl 2 lb weights even twice, Typing on a keyboard fatigued my arms after 5 minutes. I stopped Januvia three days ago, slept 30 hours,, felt better yesterday,restarted januvia last pm, Today, after 12 hours of sleep I feel exhausted like I did hard manual labor for a few days without ant sleep. The telephone pole beaten feeling returned, My weakness and pain are back with a vengeance and I cannot walk very well and have to stop typing this every 2 or 3 minutes to rest my arms, and have weakness also in my back muscles with curious sparing of abdominal muscles. Heat and massage do not help and are uncomfortable. I feel tired like I do when my myopathy acts up and my Krebs cycle is disrupted and thus my mitochondria do not make ATP to power my muscles- with the additional new symptom of significant pain. Aside from a mild tachycardia of about 100 at rest, my vital signs are normal, my cpk, Mg, thyroid function tests, comprehensive metabolic panel and sed rate are all normal . Heavy metal screen is negative. I will stop Januvia and probably never take it again, If my glucose goes back up I will go back to metformin which I took a few months about a year ago,
I suspect in my case that Januvia disrupted my mitochondrial function as well as being additionally toxic to my muscles and nerves by some additional pathogenesis, I question whether those individuals who have weakness, somnolence and neuromuscular symptoms might have some underlying mitochondrial dysfunction - a very underdiagnosed condition - patients being told that their symptoms are of psychiatric origin.

Well,
I am around 45 now.I stated having this feeling with a kind of piercing pain on the tip of my left buttock.Got the xrays,went to a couple of Ortopadcians but still the same.
I really feel tiredwhen I get up in the mornings.
Can some one really tell what it is ?????
thanks SHEHZAD

Sakhtar, that peircing pain in the buttocks sounds like its related to a back problem. If the pain gets worse it tends to travel down the leg and is called Siatica. I had this problem and a chiropractor helped sometimes. Finally I had cortesone shots in my lower spine which immediately gave relief. A few years later I had a recourance and went to the chiropractor for a few visits and he got me fixed back up. Xrays don't generally show back problems since they photo only bone. You will need an MRI to see the soft tissue. Good luck.