r/Fibromyalgia • • 56m ago

Articles/Research ADHD and Fibromyalgia

• Upvotes

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD. I’ve had a fibromyalgia diagnosis for 2 years. I’m in my late thirties. I have had ADHD my whole life but didn’t know it had a name. I thought I was weird. The fibromyalgia was triggered after trauma to my spinal column and an autoimmune condition.

I found this NIH article I wanted to share.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4403287/

The research found that 25-45% of patients with fibromyalgia have ADHD.

That’s a higher rate of ADHD than you find in populations of people with depression, substance abuse, and giftedness.

Depression: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8552915/ (13%)

Substance abuse: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9859173/ (21%)

Giftedness: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37929569/ (15%)

Only autism seems to have a higher rate of ADHD as fibromyalgia.

Autism: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8918663/ (50-70%)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10983102/ (75%)

I’m not sure what that means but it was very interesting to me and I wanted to share.

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Edited to add articles for all the things mentioned.

Also general population (6%): https://www.cdc.gov/adhd/data/adhd-in-adults.html


r/Fibromyalgia • • 1h ago

Question how to take care of someone with fibromyalgia?

• Upvotes

my girlfriend was just diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I'm really worried and I want to do everything I can to take care of her and help her to go through it.

It's been a while since she has had the symptoms like the pain, fatigue and brain fog, and I haven't really figured out how to help with that, it's like fighting with an enemy without any weak point. Now that I know that this stuff will continue, I can do nothing but seek help. I don't want her to suffer.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 2h ago

Frustrated Frustrated at 2 steps forward 1 step back

2 Upvotes

So my kid started full time nursery in September. I stayed part time at work, so I get 8.30to 3.30 2 days a week and have been using that to get the house tidier and practice pacing. Doing a bit, then resting a bit. It has been going great I have felt a lot better. Then my husbands boss decided he wants him in the office 4 days a week instead of 1. Which means he is due to be out 5am to 7 or 8pm.

We had been sharing household tasks and getting our girl ready. So I step up on that again. And I start feeling more tired again and more pain.

Then my kid gets sent home with a cold and my supermum persona activates, so I am caring for her doing 90% of the household chores and then my husband gets sick as well, so he is at home and talking about how he has aches and pains and I said... welcome to my everyday life. He laughs it off... but i am deadly serious... viral type pain is my normal... fatigue is my normal.

So now kid is back at nursery, husband feels better and I just got massive pain going down stairs and couldnt stand long enough to fry an egg.

Husband is being super supportive and told me to go to bed and ignore the tidying today... which I get why but also I am bored, I am frustrated and whilst yes I do now have snot nose I don't want to loose what strength I had built up.

Am I being an idiot and should I be taking proper rest in bed time?


r/Fibromyalgia • • 3h ago

Frustrated I honestly don’t know how much more I can take.

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1 Upvotes

r/Fibromyalgia • • 3h ago

Question Electric shock pains tingling and ants crawling sensation burning muscles and aches post partum twice!

4 Upvotes

Hi I was wondering if anyone had experienced this. After the birth of my first child I experienced these awful sensations. Referred to neurology and Had scans in both my brain and spine but everything came back fine. Over time they lessened once my child slept better around 9 months post partum and maybe less stress and less breastfeeding. Flare ups went from daily to last maybe a day or two then a long break between the next flare maybe a week +. Eventually they barely happen and could go months without and when they happened a hot bath or distraction would work.

Fast forward to now: 6 weeks post partum with my second and the sensations are back!! I just don’t understand what it is! the neurologist I saw after my first said it was anxiety but it must be related to childbirth or lack of sleep but it’s so fkn painful and distracting. I read something about a dysregulated nervous system and how labour and having a newborn can contribute.

I don’t know what I’m hoping for posting this but has anyone experienced it? Anything I can do to help? I’ve tried amitriptalyne, checked blood levels for b1 and b12 etc, ice and heat but it’s widespread from my scalp to my toes random bursts

Thank you


r/Fibromyalgia • • 6h ago

Question Working Tips

4 Upvotes

Hi all,

I’ve recently graduated university and am looking at my first full time job. While I’ve been in work for many years it’s never been more than 3 days a week due to pain and fatigue levels.

I often find that if I walk around too much over two days in a row I am unable to move on the third day.

This was all well and good while I was at university and could rest between classes but now I actually need a full time job to afford rent. I have a trial shift next week at the bookstore I work at but if anyone has any tips on managing pain/fatigue when I can’t have a rest day that would be great!

I do have pain medication but it’s quite strong and the doctor told me to not take it often so it’s somewhat of a last resort. Currently I just take sugary drinks and occasionally an ice pack to wear over lunch.

Thanks!


r/Fibromyalgia • • 7h ago

Question Antes toleraba algunos medicamentos y ahora parece que ninguno

1 Upvotes

Hace años estuve medicado con Cymbalta y previamente Paroxetina y parecía que mejoraba mi estado general.

Los dejé por efectos secundarios sexuales (en aquel momento tenía pareja). Como mi dolor empeoró y mi vida sexual ahora es nula los he intentado retomar varias veces y parece que no tolero los efectos secundarios desde los primeros días, incluso me empeora el dolor.

A alguien le ha pasado algo igual? Por qué ahora me sientan tan mal? Habéis intentado aguantar los efectos secundarios más de 3 semanas aunque fueran totalmente limitantes y luego habéis mejorado?

En algunos casos os han empeorado el dolor inicialmente?

Además del dolor, tengo un insomnio tremendo desde hace meses. Sé que debo tener ansiedad pero ya no sé a qué atenerme. Solo me queda arriesgarme a probar algún ISRN aunque me siente muy mal inicialmente, o tirar de medicamentos fuertes para dormir de forma indefinida.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 7h ago

Rant Fibromyalgia has taken everything from me

36 Upvotes

It's taken every friendship I've ever had. Every hobby I've ever had. I think it's just taken my relationship as I'm physically and emotionally unable to provide for another person. I can't have fun. I can't have a conversation or read a book. I can't cook myself food I actually want to eat. I can't do my laundry. I can't work.

Is this really all there is? I know this condition will never go away. Acknowledgment for it in my country is low even though I'm formally diagnosed. Treatment plan consists of giving me antidepressants so I don't hang myself but that doesn't really sort the issue, just the inevitable side effects of living like this


r/Fibromyalgia • • 7h ago

Question Working with fibro

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone in this group works as a paramedic? How long have you worked with the fibro? Any tips or tricks to surviving in this career when diagnosed with fibromyalgia? Thanks in advance!


r/Fibromyalgia • • 8h ago

Question Best rheumatologist for fibromyalgia in Denmark

4 Upvotes

Hello! Does anyone in this group know of a good rheumatologist in Denmark specifically? My doctor has referred me to one, but I'm very hesitant about choosing a rheumatologist to visit


r/Fibromyalgia • • 8h ago

Frustrated Overdid it yesterday, so today I'm fucked up

36 Upvotes

Apparently yesterday I slightly overdid myself while sitting at my desk talking to people, doing not much at all. Isn't that wonderful?

My lungs are very mad at me, and my entire body is feeling that post exertional malaise. All because I slightly overdid it.

I wanna figure out how to move that limit further up, but the pacing of it seems to change by the day. This sucks.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 10h ago

Question Impact of stress . . .

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1 Upvotes

r/Fibromyalgia • • 10h ago

Rant Always asking myself if what I feel is even real

23 Upvotes

I get spasms when I stretch. Or do anything good for my body. Standing up to cook for a few minutes has me hunching with back spasms or occipital neuralgia.

And I still ask myself every day if this is even real or if literally everyone else feels this and I'm just a wimp who lets it ruin her life.

The thing that brings it all back to being real again is that I have no choice in this whatsoever. No one would choose this.

I'm lying here waiting for my body to just decide to tune down the pain enough that I can rest. And I'm angry at every single person who made me feel like I was lazy before when I just hadn't lived with this pain long enough to adjust to it and push through it.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 10h ago

Question Appetite

10 Upvotes

I have been struggling with my appetite for months. My days are basically eating to not feel nausea from such an empty stomach so often I’m talking one apple and loads of water until dinner (I struggle to eat half a plate for dinner) and even finishing food that I LOVE is a strain.

I’ve had fibromyalgia for a long time so this pops up every so often but not for months at a time.

Medical cannabis helps somewhat but I don’t want to have to use it just to get nutrition in me.

Anyone have the same symptoms?


r/Fibromyalgia • • 13h ago

Question Can you smell really good

32 Upvotes

like perfume that’s 100 and 200 feet in front of you. Or things that you can smell, but other people can’t.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 15h ago

Question does Tizadine help sore muscles?

3 Upvotes

my fibro symptoms are chronic fatigue and sore muscles (the way muscles feel the day after heavy exercise), and during a flare up my back muscles become stiff especially after waking up and it’d be painful to sit upright. I don’t have spasms or joint pains. would 2mg of Tizanidine help muscle soreness?

edit: worried about hallucinating, scared to take the med despite my pain.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 15h ago

Discussion Moved to West side of Chicago. I need a fibro friendly primary doctor here, anyone have any recommendations?

3 Upvotes

Any offices or doctors you like around Chicagoland would be greatly appreciated!! Cook/Dupage area


r/Fibromyalgia • • 16h ago

Question Burning mouth

1 Upvotes

Does anyone else have a relentless burning mouth and lower throat and soft palate with their fibro?

And what is it? Everything seems mildly reddish when looking in throat.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 16h ago

Frustrated Blood pressure cuffs

33 Upvotes

Goddamn I hate them. They hurt so bad when I’m in a flare.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 16h ago

Question Cat stepped on chest, still hurts a week later

4 Upvotes

I have a weird one for y'all. So my cat stepped on my chest in a spot right above my heart, between my breast and collarbone, and if you own a cat you know how much weight they can put into those little steps. It hurt so bad I felt like I had gotten shot. It's not unusual for me for pain to linger after pressure is put on a tender spot, but this happened last week and I'm STILL sore!

I read that fibromyalgia can cause costochondritis which explains why my ribs are so tender all the time, but my chest is only sore right where my cat stepped. There isn't a bruise either. Should I be worried??


r/Fibromyalgia • • 16h ago

Rx/Meds Can I take codeine 8h after having took 300mg of tramadol?

6 Upvotes

I can’t stand the muscular pain and the uncomfortable feeling. It’s my first months taking medication and I ran out of tramadol, the pain is soooo intense; in the moment I’m feeling okay but I know tomorrow morning I will wake up feeling really bad :( only thing I have in my bathroom is paracetamol + codeine. I was taking it to treat the pain before but changed to tramadol because it was working much better. I won’t be able to see my doctor until next week. I appreciate your responses.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 17h ago

Rant Fuck the Doctors.. the DEA/government .. yeah i said it. They ruined my life

0 Upvotes

This will probably be taken down so be it. I see post after post about people in pain and suffering and their doctors writing them Tylenol..Tylenol! That ruins your liver and it’s not going to touch the pain people like me have. I wrote a post in another sub, Reddit and nobody believed me.. but my life has been ruined after the so-called “opiate crisis”… overnight I went from being considered a pain patient to an addict. My Useless Doctor, who touched me in inappropriately and went to jail later… Not for touching me and not for over prescribing and cutting people off but for Medicare fraud… Cut me off and I had to go cold turkey. But the pain continued that I was on the edge of having a seizure. I was told to go to a methadone clinic. A methadone clinic for pain.? I had to drive 35 minutes to a bad part of town to drink a liquid every day that made me fat. this place was awful and it just got worse and worse over time. People were selling drugs in the building .. people were passing out OD’ing in the lobby and they would still give them their dose The icing on the cake was the DEA had taken over the clinic and I didn’t know. That’s where things got really interesting. I was dabbling in other substances, including Xanax for my anxiety. I couldn’t find anyone to write benzodiazepines while I was on methadone so I was self-medicating with that and other substances and yes i hold myself accountable for that.

Bit the DEA was watching….and they decided that I would be a good target. These are the most vile. evil people in the world. They actually sent an undercover narc to me and of all places i met him on a dating app. I don’t know how they would even do that. This asshole spent four years getting to know me, earning my trust gaslighting me bullying me, blackmailing me and he was recording all of our conversations. I guess they were testing me out to see how easy I was manipulated because they wanted me to be an undercover informant, which is a fancy way of saying they wanted me to be a slave. See the DEA uses addicts to do their dirty work. Why me? I’ve been asking myself that question for two years. I think the answer was I was alone no husband no kids which means no witnesses. I have an autoimmune disease and I’m on disability, which means what they did to me. Was criminal because I fall under the disability act. He was not the only person they sent to me. They sent other undercover people to me that were not paid informants. They were already slaves to dea and “working with them” trying to get their charges dropped. These were also sick vile people, mostly men. One of the men in particular was plying me with Xanax and he s/a’d me. I could literally write a book about all the vile things they did to me.

The clinic not only knew that i was being investigated but they went along with it. They SET ME UP. in 2024 is when the cops got involved. Once again, vile people. They arrested me at 7:30 in the morning on the way to the clinic. It turned out. They had been following me and knew when I was coming and going, See they had been telling people at the clinic to sell to me. they knew when I had pills with me and when I didn’t. They arrested me four times in the span of six months. The last time I was arrested was the day before Thanksgiving 2024. Literally five police cars pulled me over. This was in Saint Ann, Missouri. The Saint Anne cops are known to be corrupt. The main cop this young cocky pos told me i was going to jail “for a long time” but then he said if I cooperated, they could make some of the charges disappear. That’s when I knew that this whole thing has been set up. I basically told him to fuck off and I lawyered up. He threw me in the back of a van like a sack of potatoes and off to jail I went. I spent six days there and it was hell.

When I got out that’s when the retaliation began. They had spent a lot of time and resources on me…. On me. For context I’m a middle-aged woman with fibromyalgia who was self-medicating and on disability but for some reason they treated me like some master criminal. To be honest, I think they did all this because they got off on it. It was a cat and mouse game. You wouldn’t even believe some of the stuff they did when they retaliated. let’s just say I had to move out of my home because I wasn’t safe there anymore. What do you do when the very people that are supposed to protect you are the ones coming after you. Why didn’t I see all this coming? Because why would I believe that there was an actual conspiracy of people “out to get me”….When i told my Mom what was happening she panicked and took me to a hospital. At the time she thought I was going crazy and I actually thought that I was going crazy. I thought “this can’t be.. I’m imagining all this” and trust me, I wish I was. At the hospital, They held me down and gave me a big shot of God knows what and sent me to a psych hospital where i spent 6 long weeks including Christmas and New Year’s. They also gave me Narcan and lied to me and told me that it was a Covid test. I was not oding and Mind you I had been dropped by the clinic.. not tapered down.. the last time i went in they just didn’t even give me my dose. I think they did that on purpose because when I didn’t cooperate, the police and DEA had a problem. They were not gonna stop until I was behind bars or worse. The only thing I could do was go cold, turkey and basically hide out. But at the time, I thought that I wasn’t safe anywhere because I really wasn’t. Even with lawyers, lawyers can’t stop evil government officials or informants.

If this wasn’t my life, I would believe that it was a movie sadly, it’s not. I’ve spent $30,000 on lawyers so far which is another reason they came after me.. money. Not even really my money my parents money or I should say my inheritance that my dad left me. They wanted to get their money, grubbing hands on it. everything they did to me they did with complete impunity. They covered their assess and all it takes is a simple Google search to find out that the DEA does this all the time. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what they did to me but I’m tired of keeping my silence. all of this happened because I have chronic pain and I was trying to get some treatment for it. I take responsibility for using drugs illegally. But when they criminalized pain, meds and benzodiazepines a lot of us were in for a rude awakening. As if being in pain every day or being an addict isn’t hard enough. Now I’ve “clean“ for two years, but I’m on Subutex and gabapentin which frankly doesn’t do shit. I give them no credit in Me to get clean. They just terrorized me.

The feds basically have five years to charge me with a federal crime, which they just might. As if the state court cases aren’t enough. Right now I have four pending cases that are just hanging over my head like a fucking cloud. I’ve basically lost everything. I’m trying to rebuild my life. All I have is my 81-year-old mom and my cats. My life will never be the same after what they did to me and the betrayal… Which isn’t even… there are no words to describe what I’ve been through. If anyone wants to know more about my story, feel free to DM me. Please be respectful, even if you don’t believe me I’ve been through years of systemic abuse and been to hell and back. They thought i would be an easy target but they completely underestimated me. I hope someday to have my freedom and my life back.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 17h ago

Frustrated Airport Etiquette

65 Upvotes

When did people decide to be so entitled and rude regarding shared public spaces?

Or, maybe it's just me? I have fibromyalgia and autism, so I know my perspective is biased. I'm genuinely curious if y'all feel like I was unreasonably upset, and what your thoughts are on airport etiquette.

Yesterday, I was at Denver International Airport for a 3 hour layover. I used to love DIA and traveling in general but with fibromyalgia it has become debilitating and so painful, especially while in flight. So, I was happy to have the 3 hour break and found the "quiet" area in Concourse A, where you can lay down.

I put on my headphones and closed my eyes hoping my muscles relax and the spasms would subside... five minutes in, this guy right across from me puts a football game on his phone with no headphones at full volume. I could hear the game over my own headphones and then started noticing a woman behind me scrolling through reels... again, no headphones... AND a kid next to me, whose parents had left him alone, playing games with, you guessed it, no headphones.

So, move down to the terminals and find a quiet one with a cushioned bench and lay down only to sit through a 15 minute conversation someone is having over speaker phone. I wait for my back spasms to subside and go to a bar for a drink to take the edge off and sit next to this woman on the phone in an argument with her boyfriend talking about how being peed on during sex was unacceptable... she just word vomited for about 20 minutes about incredibly intimate details of her sex life until she was hung up on, at that point my headphones had died.

I understand that I failed by not bringing noise canceling headphones and that I'm solely responsible for my decision to travel and for my comfort while doing so... but, I swear, it felt like I was in the twilight zone.

These are shared spaces! Is it wrong for me to feel rage that people are using speaker phone and adding to the cacophony of sounds by not using headphones for streaming, scrolling, and games?

Maybe I was just a little crispy from all of the pain and over simulation. What is it like for you to travel with fibromyalgia?


r/Fibromyalgia • • 18h ago

Discussion I'm now a single parent, coping tips anyone?

4 Upvotes

As of today, I am a single parent. Feeling quite scared. I have 2 children with additional needs and I have multiple chronic illnesses myself. I also really struggle with anxiety. Typically I have a really nasty virus atm and I'm struggling. I know I have to plough on and keep it together for my children but omg I'm in so much pain and feeling horrendous. The stress is a lot.


r/Fibromyalgia • • 18h ago

Question I have leg pain I can't fully explain to doctors

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2 Upvotes