In fibromyalgia, cognitive symptoms are worse than in rheumatoid arthritis

Hi painnow

You can ask for a referral to a Rhuematologist... They diagnose Fibromyalgia as a neurologist diagnoses ME.... Lyme disease and lupus are also similar in symptoms so you do need a referral to a specialised consultant. 

Most GP's have no training for diagnosing these illnesses but they can be aware of changes they deem to be symptomatic  to be further assessed by an appropriate consultant. 

Hope this helps 

Thanks for the answers yes I will talk to my GP can't go on like this really had enough thankyou

I have fibromyalgia, underactive thyroid and osteo arthritis. I look after my husband who has rheumatoid arthritis. I am very tired. my husband has begun correcting me when I say a word wrong and my son is too. This makes me feel demoralised as I am a very intelligent woman and held down a very responsible job until I retired.  this article makes me feel better thankyou

I have had fibromyalgia for nearly 20 years now and apart from the continuous pain I have what I term 'unplugged episodes' where I am doing something and then suddenly I lose all my energy and will not be able to do anything more.  I just sit or lie and have no energy to get up, walk or carry on with the task in hand.This is bad enough at home but if i get this unplugged feeling when i am out I feel like just sitting or lying down where I am and it is very distressing.

lildav, I know exactly what you mean about your "unplugged episodes." I have them to and usually explain them to people as "like having a sink plug in my feet, the plug is pulled and I can feel my energy pouring out of my body from the head down." I too, worry about this happening when I'm out and about, especially if I'm on my own and have to drive to get home.  As far as the Fibro fog goes, I find it gets worse the more exhausted I get.  I'm lucky that I'm self employed and can work my own hours.  This enables me adjust my work around my sleep, which is very useful as I rarely get to sleep before 4am! 

I agree... Short term memory loss, mixing words n being unable to recall words or remember and brain fog where you feel in a haze or mixed up state sometimes and even wobble off balance are proven medical symptoms in Fibromyalgia. 

It should be noted that we are all different and we all have very personal and symptoms and experience of this illness.. No two people will feel the same 24/7

Also the tired/exhausted feeling is very individual too and must be considered as such.  Study's do generalise and are probably ment to reassure not force opinion 

Only YOU know how you feel 

Best to all sufferers it ain't easy x 

@raining Ah that's not nice. I have OA that turned into Fibro then full blown ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) my short term memory n mixing up words is shot to hell.

Ask yr family to understand its no good correcting you as your illness causes this its got nothing to do with intelligence. 

Warm hugs xxx 

Reversal of cognitive decline: A novel therapeutic program

Here is an interesting YouTube video by the author of the above paper.
Reversing Alzheimer’s Disease- Dr. Dale Bredesen, MD
Many of his suggestions for dealing with the problems that lead up to Alzheimer's diagnosis begin 20-30 years before diagnosis is possible so congitive decline should be taken seriously and we should be doing as many of the ideas listed in the Table 1 in the above paper and set out in the attached file.
Our ability to resolve inflammation depends on our reserves of natural anti-inflammatory agents Vitamin D3, Omega 3, magnesium, melatonin, Vitamin k2 are the ones commonly deficient in most people.
You will see that Bredesen suggests that Vitamin D3 25(OH)D levels should be kept above 50ng/ml (125nmol/l in UK measurements). This is a because only above that level does cholecalciferol (the basic form of vitamin d3 as made just under the skin surface and as found in Vitamin D3 supplements) remain freely bioavailable in measurable amounts, in this form it's half-life is just 24 hrs so we have to take it(or make it from sun/UVB) daily.
Most of the interventions Bredesen suggests to reverse the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's will also help those with MS, FMS or other condition associated with pain, inflammation, insulin resistance. 

I don't like it when you get surveys like this where they compare two illness like this one (Rheumatoid arthritis to Fibromyalgia).  I am sure that if more illnesses were included they would find many similarities. I think some of these surveys only lead to confusion and also end up frightening those who read then out of context.

I have had Rheumatoid Arthritis since 1973, suffer from Type 2 Diabetes  and also have had trouble with my Thyroid Gland.  In 2007 I started to have very bad forgetfulness, headaches etc. I put this down to the RA etc and the large amount of drugs I was on and didn't think to worry too much about it thinking it was just one more thing to learn to live with. Fortunately a very observant Rheumatology Nurse Practioner spotted the symptons and decided I needed to have tests and arranged for me to see my specialist and have an MRI.  Luckily for me. They found 2 brain tumours (I'm greedy. Couldn't just have one ????). 

What I'm trying to say is everyone is different. Yes we may have similar symptoms and I'm sure that there is Fibrofog. (Not a very pleasant side affect). But there are a lot of other illnesses that can also dull your memory etc. And of course there is the dreaded painkillers, opiates etc.  But don't be like me.  If you start to suffer from new symptoms speak to your GP.  You CAN suffer from something else.  I was lucky my Tumours were spotted in time and after two operations I have been told that for I am OK for the forseeable future.

Of course I think everyone should read as much as they can to educate themself about their illness. There is plenty of good advice out there. But advice and surveys are two different things. Make sure you don't just read and be fooled by surveys like this one which if taken out of context can be frightening. 

Good luck to everyone and hopefully you are all getting the treatment you need.