# 14yr old w/fibro



## redjoy4 (Oct 23, 2001)

My grandson who I raise had chronic lyme & was on IV for 3mo. They just took him off & say he has fibromyalgia. He sleeps so much & has very little energy. Also his knees are sore & pop out of sockets. His Dr put him on Zoloft & vitamins. I feel bad for him at his age. He pushes himself to skate & do things but it's hard.


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## weener (Aug 15, 2000)

Hi Redjoy4:Welcome to the fm board. I am sorry to hear about your grandson having lyme and fm. Just having either one is difficult enough, but to have both must be very hard. I believe there is another member of this board who has both. Unfortunately, both lyme and fm can sometimes have similar symptoms. Are the doctors saying that he doesn't have lyme disease and instead has fm? One of the first symptoms that I developed with fm was the fatigue. I slept all the time and was always tired. I discovered that I was having difficulty falling asleep and in turn never felt completely rested the next day. That seems to be a common symptom. Apparently, we don't go into the stage 4 of sleep (restorative sleep) all the time. The other problem for me is the constant pain. Although, I try not to dwell on it, I know it's there and that in itself can get one down. I've taken Zoloft for the pass 8 years and it has helped me tremendously. I also do yoga and stretching and walking. My rheumatologist suggested walking, try getting the heartrate up and slow down and back up again. I know that a lot of the ladies/men on this board take supplements and vitamins on this board. I believe one of helpful ones is the Magnesium/Calcium supplements. I think that one of the most important things for your grandson is to have a supportive doctor and supportive family and friends. Just knowing that someone believes you and that it's not all in your head is a relief. He will have to learn to pace himself (which might be difficult at 14), but it is something that can be learned. Redjoy, I assume that your grandson has run the gamut of tests and other things have been ruled out. It might not hurt to get a second opinion. I know that it must be difficult for you to watch this happen to your grandson, but know that we are here for you if you need someone to talk to or questions that need answering. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. Keep in touch and let us know how he is doing. :angel:


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## weener (Aug 15, 2000)

Oops, sorry about the angel at the end of the post. A picture of an angel was suppose to pop up, but I don't know what happened.


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

Redjoy4,Weener has some good advice. She speaks my mind more than she realizes! I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandson. He's so young to have to deal with all of this.His Lyme's may not be all out of his system, even though he has just come off of IV therapy. Sometimes it takes a very long treatment course to put it in remission. My cousin has been battling it off and on for quite a few years now and he also had the IV treatment. It did help him, but he didn't notice a whole lot of improvement for quite some time. He ended up having a lot of water on his joints along with the pain and loss of energy. His joints became so swollen (especially the knees and elbows) that the Doctors at Marshfield Clinic finally called the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. They asked my cousin if he would be willing to have the Doc try to extract some of the fluid so that it could be sent to them. He did consent. It was mostly for the Center for Disease Control Doctors to "study" so that they could learn more about Lyme's. By doing that, they were able to advise Tom's Doc back home to continue his treatment for a longer period of time. It did finally help him. Oh, there were times when that poor guy walked like a 90 year old man and he was in his early 30's, but the last few year's now, it's been so much better. They told him he could have some flare ups, and/or signs of arthritis any time. It's a rough road, that's for sure.Perhaps a second opinion with another specialist might be a good idea. Just to be sure they are on the right track. He's so young to have to deal with all this.I send you my best.  Keep us posted, please.Sincerely,Karen


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## Mio (Dec 19, 1999)

Hi redjoy4,Iï¿½m sorry to hear about your grandson. When I first got FM I was very tired, in fact at that time it was much worse then the pain. I did alot of blood tests and I found out that I have deficiency of both folic acid and Vitamin B 12. Iï¿½m now take supplement every day and it didnï¿½t take long before I got much more energy. Itï¿½s not unusual to have deficiency of folic acid and Vitamin B12 when you have FM. Just a thought...Iï¿½m now 35 years old, but when I was in my teens I had alot of bowel problems and fatigue. I know how hard it was to keep up with my friends and when you are in that age you donï¿½t want to be different...I didnï¿½t had a proper diagnose and I didnï¿½t have any to talk to about it. One positive thing is that your grandson has a diagnose now and maybe there is support groups for teens? As weener said, itï¿½s so important to have supportive doctors, friends and family.Keep us posted,Mio


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