I think the pain is very similar with everyone yet everyone has different degrees of it. With me, it starts with being really stiff in the morning or after I have been sitting for a while. Pretty much everything hurts but there are days when I feel somewhat better. My shoulders and neck constantly ache with a burning type pain. My hips ache all the time too and sometimes I have really sharp pains when I am going to sit down or stand up. My feet hurt when I walk. I have a lot of sciatic pain down my legs especially when I try to lay down to sleep. The front of my shins ache and I have restless leg syndrome so I have to move them constantly. I get migraines monthly with my period. And my hands always, always hurt.
I've heard it described as feeling like you've been hit by a truck and that is a pretty good description. Oh and let's not forget the irritable bowel and bladder, anxiety attacks, dizziness and vision problems.

Wow, I'm a mess!

I hope you don't have it but I do believe it is hereditary. My mom had it and I think my kids all have it too. :-(

Well first off some people believe there are gentic links in fibro, but I have seen little or nothing to prove it, even though i believe it. As far as your pain goes, yes it may be fibro, but dont jump to that conclusion just yet. Fibro is something that can come on anytime in life. For me i feel like i have always had it, but it has only been so so unbearable this last year or 2. Some doctors say that fibro is usually brought on my a tramatic injury or event. Now i have back issues also, and what you decribed sounds more like pinched nerves, or some sort of disc problems in your back and neck. There are lots of things in our bodys that can get kind of out of place, and chiro may be able to help you. If the pain is becoming bothersome I would say look up your local pain clinics and find one that offers a free consutaion. They will be able to do x-rays and tests to see what steps to take. Sometimes there is not one soultion but many. For me, i am doing chiro, pt, medications, vitamins, all sorts of stuff. And as far as the fibro itself goes, it is felt all over the body usually from head to toe, and can be anything from burning, sharp, stabbing, tingling, numbness, etc.

Now the first thing you need to do is plug your symtoms into a symtom checker online, that way you have a starting point. Good luck!

Run for it, I think if you lookfor fibro you'll find it. recurrent trauma, physical, overexercising, accidents, stress, STRESS, lack of sleep, overwork, I think all these long enough often enough without help or relief can add up to fibro or the initiation of what may become fibro. Take it easy, find an outlet for stress make friends, find something or someone to make you happy.

fA

I inherited fibro from my grandmother and probably my father as did my sister and her daughter. We also have what's called myofascial pain where the muscles get knots in them that refer pain elsewhere. The knots are called trigger points and have to be broken up in order for the pain to subside which you can learn to do on yourself with trigger point massage.

The thing I learned after being sick for almost 25 very long years is that at least 95% of my pain is myofascial and is now under control since I learned trigger point massage. It's a lot of work, and can be very painful as the trigger points really hurt when touched, but I can honestly say I've gone from being in one degree of pain or another 24/7 for years on end to being relatively painfree about 85% of the time.

The pain in your arms and hands is most likely myofascial pain as is your back pain.

Triggerpoints.net has extensive trigger point and referred pain diagrams that should help you locate the offending trigger points that are causing your pain. Massage them as much as you can stand. If you have an electric massager that works best in my experience.

Another great site is triggerpointbook.com. This book has made all the difference in my life. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Myofascial pain can manifest in dozens of different ways from a dull ache to a burning, throbbing pain. It can affect your ability to breath, make your teeth ache, cause you to be dizzy and cause bloating among other things.

Here's a great article on how trigger points manifest themselves:

http://homepages.sover.net/~devstar/phsympt.htm

Oh yeah what does it feel like, It's pain after an injury that doesn't go away, like hiting your head on a cupboad door , at first it blinks your eyes makes it so your whole body goes away the pain is so intense, then it's sharp and you rub it, then maybe a dull headache, then a sore place that every time you touch it against something it hurts, then after a while it goes away, fibro doesnt let go, maybe a week later you get a sharp pain out of nowhere a dull head ache for no reason then you cut your finger with a kitchen knife, hurts stings mext day its sore, fibro remembers that too only now you get a sore neck and sore head and sore finger and if you lean over sore back sometimes stabbing so sharp it buckels your knees, yep that gets added to the mix, and it goes on and on and on the pain won't let you sleep so you ache all over , the headache is back the backache wears you out so much you have to lie down maybe fall asleep get more pain from sleeping in a bad position and it goes on and on and on, wears you out, little becomes big, what was just a stubbed toe causes you to fall and the pain gets worse...Fibro

Thank you so much everyone. This really helps me to understand more of what it is like. I know I need to get to a doctor but I am so scared of what might be wrong with me, whether it is fribro or something else hard to deal with, that I keep putting it off.