Dyspraxic Adults

I hope I'm doing this introduction right - am no stranger to computers but each new programme takes time to figure out. Had a quick scout around and this seems like the best place to visit to say hello. Sorry this post is long but like so many others my story is long !

I'm 48 and have struggled enormously over the years - quite bright but reeeely verrrrry slow! My brother was diagnosed dyslexic about 20 odd years ago (in mid 20's) and after loads of total misunderstanding and struggle I realised my son was dyslexic about 2 yrs ago (I feel very bad for missing this he was 15 at the time) Spending time trying to help my son I felt more and more that I really empathised with his very real struggle to grasp things even though he is exceptionally bright and very verbal ( like me!) At the same time I started a Masters degree (did my bachelors 20 odd years ago) My son kept saying how lucky he was to have my help as I am librarian and have very good research skills. However - I am now halfway through the masters and realising I still can't take notes and panicking beyond reason - as I said quite bright but this is getting out of control. I had forgotten how, when under stress, I go potty - I actually write back to front and when we are asked to assess a paper in class I can't read it at all and my blagging is beginning to wear thin. I decided to check myself for dyslexia - mostly I thought at least I can ask for extra time in exams in order to fully assimilate the paper. The decision to get tested was mostly prompted by a great tutor who passed me on the substance of my last paper but pointed out that there were serious problems with my work - such as missing words!!!

So - got screened and have been told dyslexia possibly a problem but however more importantly it's highly probable that I have dyspraxia. I did my research - I am a librarian (actually a medical librarian) and it's like being hit by a spade in the face! I suffer from deep and indescribably painful social anxiety as I can't understand how to socialise unless I've had a few lubricating glasses of wine (work I have almost mastered, I have learnt how to act - so much easier than making friends) and I suffer from constant physical pain - generally being described as fibromyalgia. My recent research has suggested up this pain could be due to dyspraxia - I am having chiropractic treatment after years of pain and codeine - hypertension?

Any way that's a short version, does anyone else have severe muscle pain? I always said I hate being in this body as it doesn't work the way I think it should and if I spend too long in it all I feel I pain - don't be thrown by the librarian job, has taken years and years and luck to get this far!

Hi Jo, welcome to the forums.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia in my toddling years and have been through a lot of the associated gubbings of learning difficulty.

Low self esteem, stress and anxiety have been constant thorns in my side and roughly four or five years ago I started experiencing severe discomfort (I used this word advisedly because I have a high pain threshold) in my neck and shoulder and struggled to pinpoint the cause, although the link to anxiety, tension, muscle stiffness/spasm and cramp could suggest that I too suffer from fibromyalgia. It certainly gets more intense the more stressed and anxious I get.

And in the past few years I've been extremely stressed due to changes at work and some social difficulties.

Hi Jim, yeah very serious neck, jaw and shoulder pain but also general pain everywhere else. I have very low pain threshold (hence the fibromyalgia) so the chiropractic work hurts like hell but I'm sure muscle stretches will help. Being at computer most of the time is a huge problem too. Just saw this emoticon, this is how life feels like to me

I've attended a combination of deep muscel massage and chiropractic treatment and had my spine manipulated a fair few times.

During the massage they often do this thing where they isolate a "knot" or a pressure point and then apply pressure to it with their elbow. "Tell me when it gets to 7 out of 10 for pain" the trouble is though they've ran out of breath and strength well before my brain is telling me anything like "bloody hell this hurts".

They all tell me that compared to their other patients that I show very little reaction to pain, but my muscles remain extremely tight and tense. It's almost as though my body has been chronic for so long that it's adjusted my interpretation of pain. What I define as discomfort is excruciatingly painful to other people ands what's painful to other people hardly even registers in me.

Hi Jim, I thought I'd responded to this post a while ago but I found a couple of posts that I thought I'd submitted aren't here so I lost them somehow. Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition with widespread pain being the major issue... It's generally considered to be a problem with pain receptors passing the wrong information to the brain so I don't think your condition can be described as fibromyalgia as it's more of an exaggerate neurological response to pain. Chiropractic treatment has helped a lot be she says my muscles are ridiculously rigid.