Anyone with Fibromyalgia before Pregnancy

[luvmykidsx3]

I am 36 years old and i have Fibromyalgia. As i sat at my desk today and my hands began to hurt i wondered how my pregnancy would be affected by it. Is there anyone else out there who has fibromyalgia before becoming pregnant? How did it affect you what did you do for comfort in those painful times? I also recently found out i have scoliosis this is going to be an interesting painful time in my life.

 

[TTC First]

Just wondering if you get any answers to this post. I have fibro but I am just in my tww, hoping to be pregnant.

 

[girlinyork]

I've found the hormones to have been largely beneficial to my pain levels. From what I can tell, 50% feel better for them and another 50% worse :/ But I've not taken a single pain killer for fibro during this pregnancy

 

[TTC First]

I don't know if there is a connection however after my doctor started me on Progesterone suppositories I have been super tired and achey. I looked up Progesterone and they said that some people use it to treat fibro.

 

[fairygirl]

I've noticed my fibro flaring up more with this pregnancy than the previous 2. Dunno if it is because I'm having a girl this time?

 

[Littlelegs30]

The only thing that has really caused me problems is the numbness and tingling in my hands and shooting pains in my arms caused by carpal tunnel apart from that not noticed any difference with the fibro pains. However I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks and the diabetic midwife told me that the fibro may have contributed to this....not sure how much that is true tho.

 

[girlinyork]

I've not even had a sniff of GD and my mum had six babies with fibro while overweight and no GD so not sure about that one x

 

[fairygirl]

I've had GD in each pregnancy, but thought it more because of family history (all my dads side are diabetic) not because of the fibro.

Little legs, carpal tunnel is annoying isn't it? My worst pregnancy pain on top of any fibro is the leg and foot cramps.

As my son hit 9months I started having terrible trouble with my wrists, the pregnancy hormones did stop that, but then other pains arose.

 

[Littlelegs30]

Yeah I did wonder about it when she said that the fibro may have contributed to the GD although no history of diabetes in my family so I think its just one of those things fibro or no fibro.

Yep the carpal tunnel is driving me crazy and some mornings I wake up feeling like my hands have dropped off lol. I totally sympathise with the leg cramps, I get it at least once a night and its always in the same leg but I think this could be more of a pregnancy thing as well as a friend of mine without fibro who is pregnant is suffering with them too.

I was given my induction date yesterday and its next Thursday at just over 39 weeks!!! This is because of the GD and the meds im taking for it they like to induce before term. So excited, nervous and scared all at the same time

 

[psychnurse23]

I had been well-ish before I got pregnant. just the usual problems but no flair up. the first 12 weeks were awful as the fatigue I got was horrendous, I could hardly move and was sleeping excessively. my pain levels were okay but then around 16 weeks, everything started going downhill. I was in horrendous pain and could hardly move. around 22 weeks I reluctantly started on amitriptyline (sp) and had to start taking paracetamol every 6 hours just to function. it was only barely taking the edge off but was all I could take. I so Ike with my consultant and he told me he felt the flare was unrelated to the pregnancy and was probably due for it to happen as i hadn't had a flare in a bit before it. my little boy was born 11 weeks ago and i have only been feeling 'better the last 2/3 weeks. I am back to the usual aches, pains and sleep problems.

 

[justhoping]

i found early in the pregnancy the pain does not hurt as much or goes away...later it comes back with a vengeance mine was so bad they needed to put me on codeine so i could not scream in pain..

 

[whittnie117]

I had been well-ish before I got pregnant. just the usual problems but no flair up. the first 12 weeks were awful as the fatigue I got was horrendous, I could hardly move and was sleeping excessively.

I have fibro, am overweight and got a surprise bfp while trying to get healthy. I also have degenerative disc disease, a slipped disc, and chronic sciatica. Well, I immediately stopped the vicodin, amitriptyline, clonazepam, and three others I took daily. The first 12 weeks were also hell for me, I hurts all the time and the fatigue for me was also terrible. I, however, couldn't sleep which only added to how bad it was.
At 14 weeks I started being able to get up and do things for short periods of time, the pain lessened a little, and I was able to sleep a little more, but not much.

Now, I can go out for longer, about an hour or two. I have sleepless nights, but get a good 6 hours starting around 4-5am. My pain levels vary throughout the day. At night it's the worst, such as right now my wrists and fingers hurt and my shoulders and back hurt. My legs cramp up bad during the night too. Headaches and neckaches started too.

I assume it will only get worse for me. However, I too have read it is a 50/50 chance for people with fibro to have either a painful pregnancy or a less painful pregnancy due to hormones. I just got unlucky, probably due to my poor health prior to pregnancy. My experience may not be yours and to be honest it is all worth it when you feel the baby moving inside you. It is pretty amazing. I know that all the pain, fatigue, soreness, and sleepless nights will be worth it when I hold my baby boy in my arms.

 

[girlinyork]

I highly recommend breastfeeding if you find pregnancy helps your pain. It will help the production of prolactin remain a bit longer and keep pain at bay. I had a massive flare up between birth and my milk coming in and I feel good again now