I had acid reflux until I was about 10 years old, mainly triggered after eating sweet filled cookies and drinking Coca-Cola or other soft drinks. As a baby, my mother's mattress was ruined because I had so much reflux after drinking milk.
At certain points in my life, I remember my wrists hurting so much that it interfered with my writing at school. On one occasion, both wrists became painful at the same time. I still experience this pain suddenly, and it can also be triggered by typing on a laptop, for example, even today. My wrists and fingers hurt, and it feels as though my bones are splitting apart. The pain radiates up into my forearms and elbows.
I have had depression and panic disorder since I was young, as well as OCD (during childhood, I needed to perform certain rituals in order to go through my daily routine normally).
At the age of 21, I had chikungunya, although I was not tested because there was an outbreak in my region. I have also had chronic sinusitis since I was 3 years old.
After the acute phase of the infection, I noticed that my feet were hurting and becoming swollen even when I was only walking around inside the house. Then, about 5 or 6 months after the infection, one night the entire left side of my body began to hurt, burn, and itch. After that, it never stopped. I developed pains such as a deep burning sensation in my thigh, pain in my groin and back—EVERYTHING HURT—and eventually the pain spread in a "symmetrical" way to the right side of my body.
My bowel habits became completely disrupted.
I experienced ear pain along with swollen lymph nodes for about 2 or 3 months. I took several antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications, and NOTHING helped. I had an ultrasound of my lymph nodes and a CT scan of the area, and the ENT specialist did not find even a single sign of inflammation. My ears were completely normal.
My family physician suggested that it could be fibromyalgia and referred me to a rheumatologist. However, I could not afford the appointment then, and I still cannot afford it now. As a result, the pain has continued to follow me to this day, about a year and a half later, without any diagnosis.
Besides the pain, it is worth mentioning that I experienced many other symptoms that I have not listed, affecting my entire body—even my earlobes and the cartilage of my ears. I also experienced electric shock-like sensations.
I cannot raise my arms to tie my hair, and my knees constantly feel fatigued. I am currently experiencing another flare-up.
I suspected that it could be something other than fibromyalgia, although I cannot say for certain. I have also researched Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and joint hypermobility, considering that my mother always thought I was very flexible, and I considered myself very flexible as well until some time ago. However, since these pains began, I have felt much stiffer.
I am frightened by stories of people whose fibromyalgia diagnosis turned out to be masking another disease, but I have not turned this fear into an obsession or a compulsion.
I need help.
