I face this one every single day.
The fact of your fibromyalgia is that you have been officially diagnosed with it.
What this is is not just speech, it is the process of making what you are thinking happen in real life with your voice, sounds, and tongue action.
Practice speech exercises in front of the mirror, to help you find your sensitive sounds (I don't know how to exactly explain this), and learn the techniques to make these sounds stay the same with repetition. Sally sells seashells by the seashore is one expression that uses difficult tongue, air motions to make the sound clearly.
When you are processing incoming data at the same time you are sending out data, the motions can affect both directions and it comes out as something different, or stops completely.
I had to learn how to deal with anxiety attacks, acute anxiety levels dealing with this problem. I shed tears when it happens, cry when I feel lost about this, and it took a real long time before I was comfortable with the new techniques to cope with the "fog" that comes on due to fatigue, stress, or strong exertion.
You are normal! You are a part of a group that often does not express their condition due to being teased, no matter how many times you explain your self and state that it is not funny.
Hope this helps.

This is not uncommon.
There are many theories on this. My own beliefs are that Fibro effects all areas of our bodies. Just like how your muscles are effected, so are our brains...our lungs, heart, every fiber.

But yes, many of us have symptoms that mimic Alzheimers. But I choose to look at it this way....I only have days of feelings like that. I'm not dx with alzheimers, MS, or any of the other 30+ other diseases that Fibro mimics.

I'm sorry you are struggling so much! Just like others said, you are not a weirdo and you're not alone in this.

At the time the speech and other fibro fog problems and my fibro symptoms were getting realty bad, i was ironically, working on opening a day program, memmory center, for people with Alzheimer's and other non traumatic memory problems and before that i sort years working with people who had Alzheimer's.

When the speech and memory problems were getting really bad my first fear was Alzheimer's. Even some of my clients joked with me and told me you're too young for "oldtimers" as day called it. I was freaking out and never connected this with my other symptoms which at the time i thought was my RA from childhood getting bad.

I was relieved when i finally learned of the fog and the speech problems. It still scares me when i have some off the wall episode.

Like you, language and speech are very important. I am a writer, which you couldn't tell now by reading my stuff. Sometimes, i look back at some of the stuff I'd written in the past, and it makes me sad.

As for speech, it's very frustrating to have people finish my sentences, butt in in between my words or think I'm dumb. My friends noticed my struggles and sometimes made fun of me, sometimes couldn't believe what was happening and were sympathetic.

I noticed improvement with the speech after starting savella, even my friends jokingly said wow we don't have to finish your sentences anymore. Still i struggle with it and its especcially bad in stressful situations. Also i have trouble with understanding others especially when their voice is really high pitched or loud or if they speak too fast. Its almost like i can't hear well but only in certain situations. Also my ears get stuffed up sometimes and that makes things worse. Some of the hearing and comprehension problems maybe caused by notice sensitivity which i get bad at times.

Being more relaxed helps with that and so does less pain.

I hope, i didn't ramble too much. It just takes me a long time to explain what i want to say. Also, when u speak, i have pauses between words which tend to make whoever I'm talking to think I'm done. Its all so frustrating because its hard to have people thinkthat I'm dumb or blame my problems on being a non-native speaker of English which is not true. Before i started having these problems, my English was better than some of the native speakers, both in speech and writing. Most people could not tell and didn't believe i was not born in this country.

Its so hard and i can empathize with you. That's part of why my response is so long, to show you that you are not alone.

Thank God for this group, so many times, especially when i first joined, i would think i was crazy when a new symptom happened or even old symptoms, sometimes things happened that i was afraid to tell anyone even docs in fear that they'd think I'm crazy, then i would read a post on here that someone was going through the exact same thing. It helped me feel more normal.

Whenever I post something, I always hope it helps someone else.

I hope you find help and support with what you are going through. Again, sorry for such a lenghty response.

Have a wonderful. Take care.

I also have many problems with speech. I am/was very verbal reading and writing are very important to me. I will start a sentence and then not be able to think of the word. There is a picture of it in my head but not out my mouth. Very Frustrating but normal for fibro, my rheumatologist didn't think it was a problem.

I also have problems with speech. I found that the best way is to be honest. My employees know about my condition and the cognitive/speech problems that go along with it, and they are very patient with me. My boss and I have an agreement that if we are in a meeting and I can not get the right words out, she will speak for me. SInce everyone know about my condition, it is no big deal.

Now getting to the teasing. The only people that tease me are my family. They will laugh at some of the word jumbles that I come up with, ask me to speed it up or when I zone really bad they just say "SHINY". At first it bothered me, but as my condition progressed I realized that this is their "fun" when it comes to my illness. I know it sounds weird, but I often feel like a burden and this is just "taking one for the team".

You're kidding me, right? Words sometimes tend to elude us as other things like names of family members, passwords, account numbers--just about everything we can possibly forget. Sometimes I stutter or even slur words when I'm fatigued. I have even experienced something wierder than wierd--I can talk without thinking and sometimes really dumb stuff comes out.

The worst feeling is when I am speaking and mid-sentence forget what I was talking about. I used to get very embarassed because as I am staring out into space, trying to see if that word is out there somewhere--the look of the person I am talking to as their eyes get big. I have found over the years, it is better to admit this is a problem sometimes (because of the fibro) so you and the other person aren't uncomfortable. People I know understand this, this is when I am speaking to strangers. If you just wait for a short time, usually that word will come to you but only if you don't panic.

Yup happens to me. I'm 21 years old. I use to be so articulate and could explain exactly what I meant. Now my sentences come out muddled up and I can never find the right word. I think it's the worst symptom. I can deal with the pain and fatigue, not well, but it makes sence. These stupid cognitive things don't. And it's impossible to explain it. If I could remove one symptom from my list it would be this

Wow! glad to know I'm not the only one...I too thought alzheimers...I think teasing is easier to take from family members who you know love you and stick by you thick and thin. My children have favorites of my new vocabulary. I keep telling them I'll write my own dictionary some day...I take it in stride....I found my speech issues and fibro fog have improved greatly on medication...most of my problems come when I am too tired or try to express myself too quickly. My occupation requires public speaking and I know that I have to write out everything I'm going to say and rely on that. I don't know if you are a singer but keep some joy of music in your life...it is a form of communication as well....having a song response may influence keeping a positive outlook and sooth the soul!

Wow, thank you everyone for so many responses! Ja36 - you did not ramble, I enjoyed your post thoroughly. It's an amazing sensation to know that I'm not alone and that this isn't weird for Fibro sufferers. Also that other symptoms I've had over the years are also not unusual. I am very bright but these last few years I was afraid my brains were leaking out of my ears because I couldn't concentrate and that my ears were full of cotton.

Sorry I just so this post. The board is really moving fast today and its hard to keep up.

I had this problem and was unable even to articulate what the problem was to my doctor. I couldn't remember the name of nouns and would just end up going quiet while I was doing a word search in my head. This is really embarrassing when your in the middle of a conversation. Worse I was in public relations and had to talk to reporters and writers and the public every day.

I finally found out what it was in a book called "The Fibromyalgia Advocate" and a light bulb went off. It's called dysphasia.

Here is a good explanation I found on about.com

How often do you find yourself searching your brain for a simple word that you just can't remember? Do you have problems writing, or understanding things you read or hear? If so, you're certainly not alone! This kind of language impairment is a symptom of both fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS).

This language problem is the source of a lot of frustration and embarrassment, and has made some of us unable to read very much, or remember what we have read. This symptom alone can make it hard for some to hold down a job. It's medical name is dysphasia, or in severe cases, aphasia. It's a recognized speech disorder, so you can tell people you have it without having to go into the whole explanation of what FMS and ME/CFS do to our cognitive function. I feel like a broken record saying this, but (of course) no one knows why we get this problem. It's usually associated with brain damage or degeneration from diseases. So far, there's no evidence that FMS or ME/CFS cause this type of degeneration.

As a writer with a lot of public speaking experience, dysphasia drives me crazy! The people closest to me have learned to recognize the signs, so they wait for me to get my words together and continue. I hate talking on the phone, especially to people I don't know.

Youdontlooksick:

Thank you for that information, it's news to me! I had done some research on Fibro before I was officially diagnosed but hadn't come across anything about the speech issue. I was injured in 2002 and started getting Fibro symptoms in 2006, which have progressively worsened. Looks like I'll need to do some more research, perhaps find a few books on Fibromyalgia as to better understand what is afflicting my body and mind. Again, thank you for such helpful information. Learn something new every day. =)

YEEES! I have speech problems as well. Word recall is the biggest problem for me but I experience the "gibberish" as well. I can be in mid sentence and forget what word I'm supposed to say next. I know what word I want I just can't make it come out. Usually, I'll just look at the person I'm talking to and tell them to help me out, they will generally say it for me. Also, I can say something that makes absolute since to me but the other person has no idea what I'm saying. I've even been asked if I was practicing a foreign language. LOL I have also noticed that being on prescriptions make it worse for me. So I stopped taking everything!

Bottom line~ Speech is a big problem for me. I don't want to look like an idiot. It's pretty embarrassing when it happens in front of someone I don't know. However, my immediate family and friends know what's going on when it happens and they love me anyway. If I don't laugh it off during the embarrassing times then I will let it eat at me until I'm pissed and bitter. And if we ever get a chance to talk we can help each other with the words!

Yes I have speech problems too, I need to picture things in order to to respond to my husband, I have the same symptoms like you. Talking slow will help the speech also drinking water so my mouth don't get dry . Lets keep trying hard , Amiga...

Hi Spooks,

As you can see by the responses, you are definitely not alone. I also find it to be one of the more frustrating symptoms. I have more trouble paying attention in conversations , especially on the phone. It's like I hear words but I don't know what they're saying and I am always asking them to repeat what they just said. Also when someone is speaking, its as if my brain shuts off and I zone out and they are background noise.
I have partial dentures and it is hard to speak when I am tired. I end up sounding like I slur certain sounds. I try to make any calls earlier in the day when I am fresher. Another thing I find helpful is my phone has a touch screen and gives word suggestions as you write and gives the correct spelling. I can send emails from my phone also, so it helps when I have to respond to an email from work at home.

Hang in there,
Sue

Thanks group now I know I'm not the only bumbling mumbling idiot!! LOL