ADD/ADHD & Fibromyalgia | ADHD Information

I am going to apologize now for being long-winded, but I will try to keep this short. 

About eight months ago I was in doing a med checkup with my psychiatrist and I was telling him about how I was feeling tired, sore, like I couldn't shake a flu or something, and that my arthritis was getting worse.  He told me that many ppl who have ADD/ADHD tend to have fibromyalgia.  I tend to trust my doc because not only does he specialize in treating ADD/ADHD but he himself has it.

Unfortunately many doctors don't believe in fibromyalgia or don't know about it, since it is just recently starting to be taught in med school.  After many months, many blood and urine tests all coming out negative for everything, and feeling like I'm going to go insane, I have now an official diagnosis: fibromyalgia syndrome. 

Fibromyalgia syndrome is characterized by symptoms of chronic widespread soft tissue pain, tender to palpation (pressing with the fingers), and stiffness.  Accompanying the pain are other symptoms, including fatigue, dysfunctional sleep, headaches, numbness and tingling, joint pains, memory and concentration difficulties (even withADD meds), irritable bowl syndrome, irritable bladder, depression, a swelling sensation of hands (though no actual swelling will be present), and sensitivity to cold.

What I want to know is do any of you seem to have these symptoms?  Have you seen a doctor for them?  What do you do to help your pain, since OTC pain meds don't seem to help?

Any info anyone out there may have would be of help.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia around '85 and then as bi-polar in '95. This week, I just diagnosed myself as being ADD. I don't know yet whether that's instead of being bi-polar or in addition to it, but the ADD descriptions fit me to an absolute tee. Plus I'm an educator/psychologist so trust my ability to accurately make that assessment (whether I should or not is another question).

Anyway, I have no doubt that there's a lot more to fibromyalgia than lifestyle issues due to of research I've been doing on neurobiology (taking two related doctoral courses). Although I'm just getting started in this investigation, so far I've discovered that brain scans of those with ADD are different from "normal" people (e.g., the majority). That tells me that neurocircuity is likely different which probably causes either the death of certain neurotransmitter receptor cells, under or overproduction of some neurotransmitter, or an unproductive association of neuron firing patterns--something along those lines.

Certainly, food contains chemicals in the same way that pharmaceuticals do but the concept is the same--only the way they are ingested and in what configuration is different. The question in my mind is what is the pattern of neurological behavior that accounts for the chronic pain (and just forget those scientists who deny it--they're not worth thinking about) that so many have reported.

Obviously, I haven't figured this out yet, but am working on it. When I know more, I'll let anyone interested know. Despite being on disability for breast cancer (not fun), at least it's nice to have the time to do this kind of research!

P.S. I'm really not as snooty as this post probably sounds. I'm just really into this stuff and hope I'll be able to figure something out for my own sake as well as for others like me. That's all.

Thank you all so much for the information.  I have started sleeping better since I started taking my anti inflammatory and using a heating pad at night before bedtime.  I had been taking Trazadone for about 8 months but stopped (per doc's orders) since it wasn't working.  It would get me to sleep but not keep me asleep.  No reason to take meds if it doesn't work.   

It's funny, I've had sleeping problems for so long I didn't know I had sleeping problems.  I have rarely slept through the night since I was a kid.  I feel much better now that I am starting to sleep better, and starting an exercise program doesn't seem to be so out of reach. 

Hoppanin, it is so good to know that there is truly someone else that has both, and thank you for the link. 

 

Make sure you're sleeping well and enough, eating well and getting necessary nutrients, and exercising. Most people I know who have been "diagnosed with fibromyalgia" are simply lacking these necessary components. A couple of doctors have also shared their opinion on the matter with me and, in their view, the listed "necessary components" were also lacking and were the cause of the symptoms.

Best of luck to ya!

                   What you stated can apply to either Chronic Fatigue (Fibromyalgia) or Candida.   Both of which are not recognized by the medical community.   Deang stated that you simply need to take certain supplements.  He is correct to a certain extent, but I would go much further than him.   Since you mentioned your bowels then that should clue you into you are not getting the nutrients you need, you may have a damaged intestine, the food you have been eating is making you worse. 
Often people with ADD have to watch what they eat.   For example, according to my homeopath, I have candida.  So I have basically cut out sugar, drink more water, do not drink juice, but consume vegetables.  I have increased my protein intake, take things to boost my immune system.....I personally think that a combination of eliminating certain things from your diet and adding certain things, in time, will help you recover.....
Candida is Yeast build up which can be taken care of. Arthritist ,ask healthstore person what to use for it.  All the drugs for it are being relooked at by the FDA.
I have Fibro and ADHD (Inattentive).  I found out about the Fibro first.  I only suspected ADHD after a desparate online search for another solution to relieve fibro pain and then discovering the site www.add-fibromyalgia.com. 

Anywho, my suggestion for the Fibro part is: take trazadone to sleep.  Restoration and healing starts there.  I take 1/4 of a 50mg trazadone pill each night and would not sleep otherwise (just break it apart).  It has minimal side effects.  I have used Guaifenesin (Guai-Aid OTC -online at drugstore.com.) for four years.  A "Guai Doc" by Dr. St. Aman promotes it.  I was skeptical of the -hurts before it helps- strategy, but I will tell you that my limbs have greatly relaxed and become more gracile since I began using it and life is, indeed, better.  It also helps calm me mentally when I'm having an ADHD anxiety attack.

Guai has an ironic effect sometimes.  It relaxes me when I first take it, then I tense up.  It's hard to tell which effect belongs to it, as it's short-acting, but I think it has the more relaxing effect, plus I do think it pulls out the lactic acid so I can eliminate it (pee!).  I almost wonder if it acts like a stimulant in that it calms me (and one could argue placebo effect here, but I haven't bought it for 4 years for nothing).

I can say that I am CERTAIN that excercize has aided my progress towards recovery.  Working my deep tissues with a pilates rubberband has helped me heal those tissues gradually over time.  Of course, I wake up sore as a boxer and tired, tired, tired the days after I excercize, but the deep work is relaxing to do (the rubberband isotonic exercize feels good!) and the results relax my body for a couple of days. 

I haven't added any other supplements to my arcenal.  I tried them all and had weird side-effects that made it not worth it.  I just would rather put my money into good, organic fruits and veggies and meat from better kept animals. 

I also find that an Benadryl helps me sleep when I really can't otherwise.  And Lorantidine or a non-drowsy antihistamine helps me calm down too during the day if I suspect an ADD anxiety spell may relate to allergies.

There is nothing I have found that makes everything alright, of course.  A new drug, Pregabalin or Lyrica, will come our from Pfizer later in 2005.  That may help a lot with my pain and sleep.  Until then, my occasional jog and rubberband pulling will retrain my muscles fibers some and make them too tired to hurt. 

I take the lowest doseof long acting Adderall in the morning and a half of a 5mg of Ritalin in the evening at 5PM on days when I want to clean house (Saturdays).  I think the stimulant coaxes my brain to rekindle some neglected Dopamine neurons.   I have noticed a longer-term effect for about two weeks after I take the stimulant, which I attribute to my dopamine neurons waking up to enjoy the stimulant-induced levels of dopamine: greater motivation and enjoyment and engagement with activity ~concentration.  The night after a stimulant day I get the best sleep.  The stimulant does relieves fibro pain for the couple of hours the stimulant is active (see www.add-fibromyalgia.com again), and the motor activity it stimulates gives me a great work out without me realizing the effort I'm putting out.  I do expect that I will need to rest all day the day after stimulant day.  The soreness of a workout will come and the need for a couple days of tiredness, but it's better than the idle stinging pain of Fibro and, I have observed, improves the health of my body over the long term and my mental state.

People advise those with Fibro to exercize regularly, as if it is a quick fix.  A new "study" instructs Fibromyalgics to exercize -that it doesn't cause more pain.  Well, they don't take into account the tiredness afterwards that I face, that it takes a couple of days of lethargy to recover.  That simplification and oversight by the researchers makes me angry.  Exercize is a step toward being pain-free over the long-term, but it would not work without the sleep aids and better foods that give my body a chance to heal.  Well, exercize turns a maddening stinging pain into a deep, soreness that heals, but it does have a flip-side. 

One thing is for certain, it is essential for me to excercize during PMS to regain my sanity (mental and physical).  I do that naturally, as my body feels like running eventhough my eyes, at the same time, feel like closing with fatigue.  With running shoes put on, I pretty much bump into things on the way to the door, with my eyes still closed wanting to nap, but once I step out of the door and just let myself walk, my body starts to warm up and get on a roll then jog a bit.  It's getting my foot out the door that's hard and I just tell myself to do it.  "Do it because you've done it before!" I say!

So I juggle all of these things and do as I feel I need to in order to get by with both Fibro and ADHD-Inattentive.  And I've managed to hold down a full-time job through it, though I am often embarassed by the accomodations I give myself and the weird mistakes I make.  So be it.  I don't wish you luck; I wish you a cooperative doctor and the patience to reckon with it all.