A good friend of mine used to laugh about fibromyalgia, explaining that it’s a fake disease. Now that I’ve read about it, I am not only convinced that it’s fake, but that I have a severe case of it myself!
While the pharmaceutical companies have finally started advertising a drug to treat it, one of the doctors who first identified the ‘disease,’ Dr. Frederick Wolfe, now doubts its existence. He and other doctors point out that the condition actually worsens once a patient has been given the diagnosis, which causes them to “obsess over aches that other people simply tolerate.”
The FDA has approved the use of Pfizer’s “Lyrica” for fibromyalgia, and its side effects are severe weight gain and dizziness. This seems like a good plan. The fibromyalgia patient can then seek treatment for the new ailments, ad infinitum.
The fact that fibromyalgia sufferers tend to also be afflicted with other nebulous diseases like irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue, makes it very inviting. Basically, its victims feel achy all over, with pains that don’t respond to advil or even vicodin. There’s no way to prove you have fibromyalgia, or that you don’t. But if it’s recognized as a disease, you can go around complaining all the time! I love it!
Many years ago, the term neurasthenia would have covered not only fibromyalgia but Epstein Barr syndrome, chronic depression, and a host of other ailments as well. The first time I saw the word in the dictionary, I thought Bingo! I’ve got it! And to a greater or lesser degree, so do many of the people I know.
We’re tired, achy, bloated, depressed, congested, irritable, listless, itchy, anxious and short of breath. We hate to work or walk up stairs. When it’s not our stomach, it’s our head. “Lyrica!” It’s like a song to our brains from the loving musicians at Pfizer. And they’ll love us even more when we’re fat and dizzy!
Oh, and @Sarah: your comment cracked me up! An excuse for women not to have sex with their husband! Woman, you should win a prize for that one! Personally, I still enjoy sex (as you call it )a lot: I do regret that fibro decreased my stamina and ability to do acrobatic things, otherwise I would have it twice a day instead of once!
@all fibro and CFS sufferers: it touches me to read your comments and outrage. Right now, it’s a low point for me, as I see it is for a lot of you. I know, you know, we know how it is and it’s enough. I have warm thoughts for all of you; don’t give up!
As a 27 y/o woman, married and self-employed as a violinist, the continued degeneration of my ability to tolerate my fibromyalgia pain is the worst thing in the world. It goes along with my vulvodynia, which I have had for years and predated fibro. Both of them have been tested to show that they are the result of malfunctioning, pain receiving nerve endings. Biopsied tissue from the areas in pain have shown to be littered with nerves, much more then normal. I injured my tailbone, and a couple of years later my vulvular pain began getting worse and worse. Injury created more nerve endings, which fired normal responses as pain. I have changed so many things in my life to try to reduce the pain- soap, detergent, type of underware, foods, and medications were the last thing to be used. Some days I am good and the pain is very, very low, nearly not there and I can function normally. But on a day when any of the pains flares up, I am incapacitated. I did not know what this was, I was just in constant pain, before my doctors started working on me. And the more research that goes into trying to help people like me and others commenting here, the more actual clinical physical proof comes along to explain it.
And no, this is not a “lazy day” thing. I want to play my violin, but some days I can’t. I used to horseback ride, and now I can’t. These are not work to me, they are things I love to do. Why would I not be able to do what I love most because of pain if it wasn’t real? And most people who have it work through it because of ingnorant people who won’t understand. I teach, I perform, I do whatever I can but some days it’s just not going to happen. I had to turn down the chance to perform Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony because I lost weeks of practice to chronic pain while changing medications. I miss my orchestra friends, I miss the music, I miss everything about it.
It’s not that my muscles aren’t used to doing the work- they do the work anyway most of the time and the pain is low. If there are people using this problem to gain some sort of advantage or to get out of something, shame on you, because you’re making things worse for those of us actually afflicted. It’s bad enough to feel this way without people questioning the truth of what you say, acting like you’re crazy and it’s all in your head. Anyone faking does us a great disservice, so don’t assume that everyone is.
And I write this while sitting at the computer with a heating pad on my back.
That sex comment from Sarah was a bit whacked for sure. Also, I am not saying ALL people that claim to have Fibro are disgruntled,pill popping, attention seeking, lonely, middle-aged, hefty women in need of constant validation BUT there are LOTS who are. I get sick of the ones who are just looking for a vacation and to be paid by the gov’t to watch soap operas & eat bon bons all day, making their fat asses even fatter. Those are the ones that irk me to no end.
My friend has this – funny how it seems to get worse when she has to get up early for work or when shes trying to convince the sucker – oops I mean man – in her life she shouldnt have to work.
Ive never known her to pull out of Friday night drinks becuase of it though. Oh, and did I mention she gets pethadine on prescription for it?!!!
You cant even get pethadine when you are pushing out a baby – I must tell her now she can get “Lyrica” instead – that seems somehow much more fitting.
It is 100% fake. It only happens to WOMEN who are not happy with their situation in life.
I have renamed it FAKEomyalgia . I have to deal with these nutcases at work and I flat out call them fakers to their face.
I ran three miles yesterday and lifted weights and now the muscles in my arms and legs are sore. It must be Fibromyalgia!!!
Gimmie gimmie gimmie!!!!
HA HA HA gimmie gimmie gimmie
that made me laugh, James. :p So true though, hey!
You guys are terrible. Sure they may be some fakers, or misdiagnosed people but becasue of taht you claim it doesn’t exist? I suppsoe racism no longer exists either just because some people falsly claim that as well?
Look i exercise regularly. Out of nowhere, after hitting the gym 3-5 times a week I woke up in extreme pain. It was 4 weeks before I could even walk again. THAT IS NOT MUSCLE PAIN BECASUE I AM LAZY or because i worked out and now am sore. In fact I am more sore now than when I everr went ot eh gym, and I am doing NOTHIGN that would explain that. You can dismiss symptoms of this 1 at a time, stress, life, depression. But when you present over the course of a year multiple symptoms, including rashes, breast cysts and other visiable symptoms it is pretty hard to dismiss me as crazy.
I was diagnosed with this after only 6 months, and I had several symptoms present themselves over the last 3 years, but alwayss dismissed them. I am NOT a complainer nor a lazy person. I continue to work, so I consider myself lucky I can most days manage the pain through relaxation therapy, yoga, and a strong will to not let it ruin my life.
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your pubic region. That’s right I said it.
If you had any clue, felt .01% percent of the pain, fatigue and/or side effects of the so-called miracle drugs they try and pimp on us, your opinion would likely change. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has at least one and they usually stink. You, like your opinion, are very assinine.
Slut face, Gandu and James, Do youse guys have a heart?
Fortunately I married for better or worse and my hubby has stuck by me, without launching accusations at me. For 20 years my doctor prescribed antidepressants for my pain, and year after year I gained weight. I felt trapped in an oversized body. Those treatments did nothing to help me heal my pain, but only made me sicker.
I started looking for alternative treatements (in addition to accupuncture and yoga) and lost my drug induced weight with amino acid therapy. Now I am taking low dose naltrexone (LDN) and regaining my life and cheap and effective old drug. My out of pocket health care expenses this year, before I started LDN are over $3000, but this year I committed myself to finding something that heals me of the horrible pain and fatigue that FM brings. I hope none of you never have to wake up with pain everywhere, like those that have FM experience every day. Have you ever had the flu with all the aches and pains? That what FM feels like, every moment of every day. Do your self a favor and never get married. You don’t have a clue what compassion is, and it doesn’t come in a pill. If you have FM or CFS search for LDN or better yet, join “Patients Like Me’ and read the threads there. Hope and healing is possible for everyone.
I think that it’s really funny that people who don’t have Fibro., and who don’t believe that it exists would actively go out searching for blogs regarding the illness. I could understand a sufferer of it coming across this blog, but not a person who doesn’t believe in its existance or has no experience with it, for that matter.
Why are you disbelievers so obsessed with this illness? Are you able to get some kind of a life, or perhaps learn a new hobby? I mean, THAT’S VERY SAD. Again, it would make perfect sense for a person who is debiliated by this illness to come across Fibro. information on the net such as this site (because they are obviously looking for any info. that might improve their health), but you guys are the ones who sound like you have mental health problems, and issues with being able to socialize with others. Please get some help, for everyone’s sake. ALso, if you work in the healthcare sector, maybe you should think about finding new employment? It’s obvious that this isn’t the right work for you. Maybe a small cubicle, where you don’t have to have human contact. Empathy and common sense are obviously not your forte.
Fibromyalgia is often a diagnosis of exclusion. However, many of the correct tests were never performed in the first place. THere are countless sufferers who have turned out to have a malignancy, thyroid problems, and/or neuromuscular diseases. That to me, sounds like someone missed the mark, and didn’t do their job correctly. Since doctors are the ones who provide diagnosis, this is obviously their error. Does that mean that doctors are morons, lazy, inconsiderate losers? Maybe. But obviously, not all doctors mke these errors, and not all sick people are faking it, and in fact, the vast majority are probably not in either group. This is Occam’s razor, please use it, if you know what that means (which you probably do not, so you can google the ‘dictionary’ next).
P.S. Please get a life. You are embarassing yourselves by doing what you’re doing.
I didn’t believe in fibromyalgia. I had a friend who had it in college and I thought “She just seems depressed. She needs to lighten up!”
Then, my mother was diagnosed with it when I was in my 20’s. She had other things, like arthritis that was cutting into her spinal cord, and she’d had a laminectomy. “Mom, you have aggressive osteoarthritis all through your body. That’s why you hurt!”
I was 23 years old, and I had really motivated myself to lose weight. I lost 175lbs and was exercising 3-4 times a week. I was eating great — the “DASH diet” for lean protein and high fiber.
Then, I started struggling! I complained to the doctor that I felt achy and I was tired all the time. I wanted to continue to exercise, to keep off the weight that I’d lost. Just think, what it takes to lose 175lbs without surgery! Who would willingly give that up after having established a new healthy lifestyle? I was really proud of it.
But, I got no help from doctors and the weight started creeping on.
It wasn’t until 2007 when I finally got a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
Take a look at those faces that indicate the level of pain. The smiling person has no pain, the crying person has a lot of pain, right? Well, gosh-darnit… how can you tell someone in pain from someone who is depressed?
Pain and emotion are inter-related in the areas that they affect in the brain.
What does a person who is really tired and fatigued look like? Are they smiling? How can you tell someone who is fatigued from someone who is depressed?
Maybe depression is the “waste-basket diagnosis.”
I am still working. I go to work and I come home exhausted. I do this five days a week and I recover on weekends. I work every day with roving pains in my body and I perform as best as I can with fatigue while my body fights against me. Sometimes because of my disturbed sleep at night, I can’t think of words or can’t solve a simple puzzle or concentrate. I’m on sleep meds to help and they do improve my life. I have to pace my activities, use rest periods, plan ahead, try to get rid of stressful things in my life that use up my limited energy, I practice good sleep hygiene. I’ve made a lot of adjustments in order to live pretty well despite the illness but I have had losses. I have grief. I don’t have the energy to go bird-watching as I enjoy… I sure can’t play softball like I used to. I used to exercise 3-4 times a week for 30mins to an hour… Now, I do 20 minutes as I can and before Lyrica, I could only do 5 minutes of exercise at a time.
Try giving things up in your life or imposing limitations on your activities so that you can only do something you truly love once a month (bird-watching, for me) and then only with lots of rest periods and pacing myself. Try getting housework done when you can only work for 15 minutes at a time before having to sit down for an hour. I am still pretty functional compared to others with fibro.
Truly, wouldn’t you be sad if you had to change your life in ways you didn’t want to, if you faced your limitations day after day, if you saw other people your age doing things you love without a second thought. That’s grief, as a result of a life-changing illness.
If you refuse to “believe” that fibromyalgia is real, I fail to see any compelling evidence that I should “believe” that you’re a real doctor.
I’ve seen too many people I know suffer with fibro to believe it is not very real. I’ve been told by medical doctors that it is nothing more than a disorder for “Overweight, depressed, and lazy women”, a literal quote. My first encounter with fibro was a 28 year girlfriend of mine 14 years ago. She was a beautiful 5’6″ 130lb happily married mother of 3 girls. Her and her husband outright owned their beautiful house up in the mountains. She had little stress, was definitely NOT overweight, nor depressed… nor lazy! They had tons of land and she enjoyed all her gardens out in her yard. Flower beds, veggie gardens etc. She was also very into arts and crafts and kept busy sewing and knitting and creating things that she then donated at fund raisers she helped organize in their small community. So when she was suddenly afflicted with debilitating pain at 27 years old, and was damned near crippled with it by 28… you tell me it wasn’t real. She was not fat, lazy nor depressed and unhappy with her envious life. She was young, beautiful and seemingly healthy otherwise.
Last year I began to suffer bizarre symptoms and severe pain. It was in the midst of one of the happiest points in my entire life. After years of living in an abusive relationship I’d broken free a few years earlier… met my soulmate, had an awesome job that I’d longed for for years… and then married the man of my dreams. My family and home life were happy, and stable. We moved into a beautiful, huge farm house out in the country. My life had never been better. Nor am I overweight or lazy. I have 2 children, I worked full time, was financially stable and married to the love of my life. Yet, by the end of 2009 I was diagnosed with fibro. Hmmm…. I’m not seeing the “depressed, overweight, lazy” theme here at all. Oh, lets not mention my boss… who runs 3 businesses, one of which is a gym she favors 5x a week, also has fibro. Yup, again, not fat, lazy nor overweight!
Let me instead tell you it is VERY REAL. But lets see what might be causing this mass onset of such a disease. After being diagnosed with fibro I was also diagnosed with several other things. Such as candida yeast overgrowth and PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) Both of these required me to make a sudden and drastic dietary change. This included little to no sugar, low carbs and virtually 100% organic foods. Within weeks almost ALL of my symptoms were gone. Fibro symptoms and others. The longer I’ve stayed on the diet, the better I have felt. Perhaps the root of fibro. is our diet. And our practices of food growth and preservation. Perhaps it is the numerous poisonous chemicals plaguing our food industry. Because once I stopped ingesting them, I’ve become a new person.
It’s not that fibro is not VERY real. It’s whats causing it that needs to be addresssed.
5ft 6in and 130 pounds is fat fat fat. The horse probably kicked her so of course she was in pain if there is a bruise. ha ha ha
I am an educated (though not doctor) woman who works for a physician and have done so for several years.
I do not believe fibromyalgia to be a real disorder, but I can tell from what the patient’s say that the pain is real.
The problem is that the symptoms are so vague. Going through a list at WebMD or the Mayo Clinic can include symptoms that apply to us all. About half of the people who come in who have been diagnosed with it AREN’T Complainers who are attention and drug seeking. They generally have pain and are searching for answers.
The OTHER HALF are people who dramatize EVERY SYMPTOM they have. They come in with lists of medications that have failed, umpteen symptoms that are vague, and then demand every test be done to rule out something else. After all the tests come back negative, they simply move on to another physician.
If you have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, please take a look at your life and your mental health. Are you stressed? depressed? Not eating or exercising well? Avoiding issues?
I cannot tell you how many patients have thanked me that I suggested any of the above because it cured their symptoms.
Please do not over dramatize your symptoms. If you go to the doctor and tell them that you are in the worst pain that anyone has ever felt, but you walk in then they are not going to listen to you. Physicians only have 10 to 20 minutes to listen, assess, and treat you. If you tell them that you are in excruciating pain, but are able to sit and laugh with your friends, it doesn’t bode well that you are telling the truth.
So though I don’t believe in fibromyalgia, I suggest that those who have it seek treatment and take care of themselves. The pain that they are suffering through is real and deserves treatment. My best advise is to do the following:
Come prepared with a shortened list of symptoms and approximately how often they occur, constantly (>80% of the time), frequently (50 to 75%), occasionally (25 to 50%), infrequently (1-25%).
When making this list state “I have had frequent nausea for the past two weeks”. Don’t give day by day plays, physicians don’t have the time or the patience to listen to such detail. They are more apt to listen if you speak generally of your symptoms. If they are interested, they will ask for more information.
Please follow what the physician says to do. If he suggests exercising or physical therapy, don’t argue and state that you are in too much pain to move. Simply start slow and do whatever exercise you can. Trust me, this will help to make you feel better and show the doctor that you are willing to listen (as so many fibromyalgia patients are not).
Try not to sit around and invent medical problems. Sometimes the internet is a bad place. I have patient’s who have occasional mild headaches who are convinced that they have a brain tumor or arteriovenous malformation. The test is always obtained, which is normal.
If the physician performs testing, MRI, CT, EEG, VNG/NCV, Ultrasound, etc, and the results are negative take the results for what they are worth. If your symptoms continue ask for lab work, but don’t demand expensive testing (lumbar puncture, etc) and then complain when it as well is negative.
For all of you that are diagnosed with this, please just try your best to not over dramatize your symptoms and to present “Just the Facts, Ma’am” so that your symptoms can be treated and hopefully resolved.
Mary,
I wanted to respond to you directly.
I know my story that I posted above is long, but I wanted to just point one part of it out:
I got sick with fibro when I was the healthiest that I’d ever been in my life. I’d lost 175lbs through a doctor-recommended diet and regular exercise. When I sought the doctor’s help it was because I suddenly began struggling with exercise, despite my desire to maintain this healthy lifestyle.
I just don’t think the answer is very simple. I really, truly wish that there were an easy cure. There are things we can do to reduce fibromyalgia symptoms, but I doubt anyone is “cured.” Current research suggests the central nervous system is involved. I guess it’s like a malfunction. It’s not well-understood yet but in time, more will be known about it. In the meantime, folks really ought to sit tight or be contributors to the body of knowledge instead of speculating on if it’s real or not.
To my understanding, there was a time when Diabetes was thought to be a psychological illness. Now that the mechanisms of the illness are understood, nobody would question it. It’s going to take time.
I have FibroMyalgia. I do not take pain medication, nor do I take mind altering medications. I do not drink and have never been drunk in my life. I do not use drugs and have never been high in my life. I do not suffer from mental illnesses.
I miss being able to do the things I used to do like hike, camp, hunt, go spelunking, and work. My symptoms did not get worse after the diagnosis, they got better as I learned how to deal with the pain. Only recently has my symptoms gotten so bad as to debilitate me and this is 20 years after my diagnosis.
Currently my biggest problems are the loss of feeling and use of my limbs, severe weakness, severe fatigue, and back pain. It is hard not to think about these when you try to stand and can’t. So I don’t understand how one is suppose to go about not thinking about such serious problems going on with one’s body.
What is FibroMyalgia? It is an all over body pain in the lining of the muscles, each and every muscle and overactive/oversensitive nerve signals.
Is it all in our heads? Possibly, because their may be a link to the hypothalymus.
If you don’t know what I mean then you need to research more on FibroMyalgia. Those of us who have it are looking for a cure, because we are tired of this “syndrome” and our lives being limited.
I wish it were fake, but it’s not. I live with the pain and symptoms every day. For those of you who wish to ridicule FibroMyalgia patients: Please educate yourselves a little more about FibroMyalgia. And I hope you never ever find out that it is real by living it.
C
YES!!! Finally someone feels the same way I do. Most people I have ever encountered that say they have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia are the biggest whiners and attention seekers I’ve ever met. From the very first time I heard of fibromyalgia I thought it was a fake illness. There is so much lie and deceit in this country about everything… I wander how many other things they tell us are lies. Like for instance obesity and alcoholism are not diseases, it’s a bunch of lazy individuals with no self discipline.
The symptoms of FMS are very real! What causes the symptoms is anyone’s guess; however, doctors diagnose these symptoms as FMS. Personally, I do not care what name they give it, it exists. I am concerned with what causes these symptoms and an effective way to handle the pain.
One of the reasons people do not believe FM is real is because some doctors are guilty of diagnosing a patient with FMS simply because they have no real idea what is wrong with them. Because of this, many people were later determined to have some other disease/disorder. Obviously, these were not good doctors. As for the people who say in this thread that they are doctors and doctors in training, how about some credentials.
I have worked in the medical field for over 20 years and I know some people will claim any illness/syndrome that they hear of. But that doesn’t negate the fact that real people experience chronic pain.
As for disability, the person receiving the disability payments made contributions to the fund as required by the government. The purpose of the program is to provide for you if you should become disabled; it is money the employee contributed. Also, filing a claim for disability is not easy; lazy people probably would not even finish the paperwork.
I also do not understand why there are so many people are on sites like this who don’t believe FMS is real. This site is definitely not a support forum for FM. If you don’t believe, then don’t come to sites like this one and attempt to harass people who suffer from FMS.
Most people who suffer from FMS are not whiners or complainers. We are also not liars, lazy or hypochondriacs. Many of us are educated and had productive lives before FMS.
Lastly, because we cannot “see” the symptoms of FM and because there is an assortment of symptoms, some people do not believe. We all breathe; we cannot see air, but we know it’s real – and so is FMS
Can some one HELP My brother is seeing a new girlfriend and she told me she has fibro, chronic fatigue, irraitable bowel syndrome, but when I first met her she got really drunk and was mucking around with him she look physically quite capable I have also seen her washing her car, gardening, walking for about 3 miles. So my question is, is a fibro sufferer capable of these things.
I deal with Fibromyalgia fairly frequently in my legal practice, as a defence lawyer. Of all the forms of chronic pain I encounter, fibromyalgia seems the least credible to me. A chronic pain disorder that targets almost exclusively a single sex in a specific age group, that has no apparent somatic cause but seems to be merely a grouping of several ill-defined symptoms. It’s all very fishy.
These firbromyalgia sufferers are always so similar too. You see the same type of personality over and over, almost without fail. Middle aged. Lousy job or no job. Bored, depressed, etc… The profile is so uniform, it’s just eerie. The second that magic word appears on a medical record, you know who you are dealing with and you can predict with almost pinpoint accuracy what they are going to tell you. But when you catch them on the surveillance video walking, shopping, and otherwise living their lives just like a normal person without this “disease”, you’re never surprised. The second fibromyalgia appears in a file, my hand goes to my phone to call my PI to do a background check and conduct surveillance. I am never disappointed with the results.
To those of you who have real intense pain, perhaps you have something legitimately wrong with you that is not fibromyalgia? Bona fide neurological disorders like RSD and other neurological injuries can produce intense pain in sufferers that is very difficult to pin down and often gets missed or diagnosed by doctors, or dismissed as being merely in the sufferer’s head. I think we have to distinguish between such real conditions like RSD and fibromyalgia, which is your doctor’s way of saying “no clue”.
I think the reason this hits home with so many people is because if you have experienced a mentally ill person who is constantly seeking attention get diagnosed with fibromyalgia it is obnoxious and only hurts them. My mother who suffers from depression and various personality disorders got diagnosed with this. You know the person is mentally ill and doesn’t suffer from this if they seem HAPPY to get this diagnosis and also if it is extremely inconsistent and convenient when they have bouts of pain.
Now, the other side of the spectrum is normal, mentally healthy people who are suffering real pain. They don’t want all the drugs, the change their diet and do yoga and continue working and being productive members of society.
Both groups of people and everyone in the middle is suffering pain. Why and if it is fibromyalgia every time, is a different story.
For the angry people, I feel you. It has been the “f” word for me and my experience. However, I know that there are sane people with this as well. It has unfortunately been a catch all for people with mental illness too, which gives it a terrible stigma.
Either way, I hope everyone finds the help they need with as little drugs as possible.
Don’t be so mean. I think pain is not needeed. If someone is in pain ,then give them as much oxycotin or morphine as they want mabee even a Valium. Be nice!!kindness is good
All the bitter, contemptous people who post on this site to voice their condescension for people who are suffering from this illness are really not wanted here. I don’t have to “prove” anything to you or need your “belief”. Most of you remind me of times in history when a primarily male run industry or institution ( can anyone say AMA) has denigrated something that affects mainly women. I have both FMS and Lupus (guess that is in my head too). I study, do triathlons, work full-time as a Dr. (bet the haters love that) and am a mom and wife, but there are plenty of weekends I have to spend in bed recovering. I was also a personal trainer and know the difference between fatigued muscles and training pain versus the pain and fatigue I experience most days. Yes, I guess I would much rather stay in bed on the weekends, than go out with friends, travel or run my business (no sarcasm here of course), I find the the denigrators to be offensive and ignorant.
I will also be sure to tell my female friends (most of whom are in the prime years of their life) that their MS, Celiacs disease and Parkinsons are all in their head. Yes, the loss of balance for MS, the inability to metabilize nutrients for Celiacs, or the shaking with Parkinsons must be made up and an attempt to get disability or sympathy. Oh, forgot, most of these were considered female complaints, not “real” diseases, until many years of medical research determined the opposite.
And an additional note to all the medical professionals who posted such scepticism and lack of compassion for the people on this site who are suffering. I entered medicine to help people and offer hope, whether their illness was mental, physical or emotional; those of you who seem to be lacking in this area should probably be looking for another profession. Heaven help the person who is under your care or is served by you. I pray it is never me.
Hope and health to everyone else who suffers from this illness.
No one said anything about REAL illnesses not being genuine such as: MS, Parkinsons, Lupus or Celiac Disease. Stick to the topic and stop being so self righteous about your life. No one is interested in your “lacking” sense of humour and your ever so brilliant mock-sarcasm placed in parenthesis either.
We all know whiney, self righteous, hefty, middle-aged, sick of their jobs women are the primary abusers of Fibrofaker Syndrome. That is nothing new. They will keep filing false complaints because they feel justified in doing so. The Health Insurance Companies keep giving them their time off, because these women whining so that the doctors sign their forms just to shut them up, so they can get paid to watch soap operas all day.
@ Catgirl
I guess it is sad I need to point out the obvious but…
I said the diseases I mentioned were at one time considered “female” problems or psychosomatic. I was not changing the subject. I was showing how much medical perception changes when research shows causation.
Second point was that most of the women I know with this illness are not as you describe and it is your erroneous representations that are not needed. Most people I know with this illness are not fat, not lazy and have full time jobs and families. And would love to shut people like you up with some biological evidence.
I don’t know what your beef is with these people, as apparently you have nothing better to do with your time than harass and denigrate people who are not bothering you. But that is your problem, not theirs. So get a life! And my sense of humor is fine thank you…have plenty, just not for people like you.
It’s not surprising to me that a fibromyalgia diagnosis has an 80% correlation to a BPD diagnosis. I know someone diagnosed with fibro and she fits the BPD criteria to a T. A nebulous disease with no clear cause or solution is a BPDs wet dream. If they’re raging they blame it on the pain. If they’re lazy and barking orders they blame it on the pain. If they’re upset they blame it on the pain. Nothing eases the pain, even opiates, so they can revel in their victimhood whenever things don’t go their way. When they do manage to do something simple they feel an inflated sense of accomplishment like they have just moved mountains and will be sure to tell everyone all about it despite the fact that it’s a menial task to everyone else. People diagnosed with fibro don’t deal with it quietly. They’ll make sure everyone knows about their “illness”.
To top it all off BPDs rarely EVER admit that something is wrong with them psychologically so any mention of of fibro being related to BPD is met with derision and defensiveness. They will generally exclaim something along the lines of “You have no idea how bad the pain is” or “You would kill yourself if you had to deal with the pain I do on a daily basis”. It’s just another way to “prove” how much stronger they are than everyone else because they take on so much when in reality they blame everything on outside forces and never take responsibility for their actions. Fibro is just another excuse in a long line of excuses they use to explain away their failures in life.
I’m the doc who posted about 2/3 the way up the page, about 2 years ago.
I think it is pretty telling that all the doctors and nurses who took a moment to post believe the disease to be a tip off to a difficult patient who will not get better.
I don’t make any money from it. I have no dog in this fight. All I know is if I see it on the chart, I know I’m about to meet a depressed woman with vague complaints that just don’t respond to any therapy.
In my experience the only docs who claim to believe in it are rheumatologists who make their money from this.
A win-win. Whiny patient gets to complain, complain, complain and under employed doc gets to charge, charge, charge.
Everyone wins. Except the tax payer as almost all of these folks end up on disability, Medicare or Medicaid, SSI etc.
As I stated above, aside from some fakers, fibromyalgia=depression with somatization. Maybe with a sleep disturbance component.
One last point.
People with objective disease almost always refer to it as separate from them selves “I wish I didn’t have this damn arthritis”.
People with fibromyalgia adopt it and nurture it making it “their fibro” They say “I’m so tired and hurt so bad from my fibro” Heavy on the “MY”. And they give it a little pet name :”fibro”, not fibromyalgia.
After reading through this entire thread, the one thing I find the most laughable is the idiot who keeps posting under different screen names, pretending to be a doctor here, an ER nurse there, et cetera. Same grammatical syntax, similar use of “scare quotes” and sentence structure, eerily similar sentiments, and most of all, the same level of callous, unprofessional, would-get-you-fired-if-your-boss-found-out behavior in THAT many different health practitioners who all just HAPPEN to have found this one random internet site?! Riiiiight. Dude (and I’d bet my Grandma’s farm that it IS a man) you aren’t fooling anyone. Give it up.
I guess because people call mononucleosis “mono” for short, it’s fake too! BRILLIANT logic there. No way in Hades that I believe you passed medical school–not unless the University of Phoenix Online has started selling–I mean AWARDING–medical degrees. At best–at BEST–you’re some low-level scumbag CNA/gurney pusher who hates his patients and his job. At worst, you’re a sexist Google MD who probably posts on Free Republic and lives in Mommy’s basement, and who probably hasn’t had a date in years that didn’t involve Hustler and a bottle of Jergens.
Frankly, the people who actually suffer from this disease really don’t give a flying rat’s rear end if some internet troll thinks it’s “fake”. It wasn’t that long ago that people of YOUR ilk thought that depression was “fake” too–and lo and behold, medical science evolved and suddenly there was concrete proof of its existence. So now you’re off to pick on yet another group of innocent, suffering people–and why? All I can figure is that your lives must be the shittiest of the shitty. I can’t imagine any other reason why a rational adult would spend time bashing sick people on the internet.
Well, suffice it to say that I did not have the patience to read the entire feed (though I did read some), so if I repeat what has already bee said please disregard it.
I cannot speak for the entire Fibromyalgia community, I can only speak for myself. I have Fibromyalgia. You can call it “depression” but I am not depressed, nor do any of my Doctors feel the need to treat me for depression. I’m actually pretty upbeat by nature.
Try to tell me that I suffer from “extreme selfishness”….which actually made me laugh out loud. My life is built around doing for others. I am a stay at home mother and house wife, my children and family always come before me. I don’t want special treatment.
You can tell me that it’s caused by the mind, that my “unhappy” life causes it. But what if my life is HAPPY?? And it is!! Would you look at that….someone who hurts even though they are happy!
I am not disabled. I hurt. Everyday. All the time. But I learn to live with it. I deal. I don’t have a choice, it’s either that or let life pass me by.
I do not plan to go on disability ever, I did not stay home with my children to get out of work. I don’t need/want a walker/scooter/crutches.
I do not have IBS, Anxiety, MS, etc.
Here’s the deal: I did not WANT to be told in my twenties that the pain I’ve experienced my entire life (oh yes, they had me going from Dr. to Dr. from the time I was about 4) will never go away.
I do not NEED anyone’s belief, approval, acceptance of FM’s existence. Fine, it’s fake, whatever. Go ahead and tell other people that
…WHOOPS!! My kid hit the mouse!
Where was I? Oh yes….
Go ahead and tell other people that what they feel isn’t real. Laugh at them. Make jokes out of them. Guess what?
It will not change the fact that there are people with these symptoms. It won’t make it go away.
I have Fibromyalgia. Or I don’t. No matter what you say my pain is here….and I live, and live WELL, in spite of it.
Oh, and Fibromyalgia is a SYNDROME not a disease. Look it up.
P.P.S. My comments are not for the writer of this blog, as I know that you were actually diagnosed with Fibro eventually.
I’m speaking to anyone who thinks it’s not real. I served in this country as a soldier. I did a 10 mile march with a 60 pound rucksack. I didn’t lag or fall behind. I have been shot at and had bomb launched in my direction. A faker I am NOT. I know pain and what I feel is very real. Sometimes it hard to just get out of the bed but I do. I’m a full time student when I can be but I will not give up. It was 2 years of Dr.s give me narcotics I didn’t and wouldn’t take. I ran a mile 4 to 5 days a week. I give until I have nothing left to give. When I don’t have flare up my unit can count on me being the hardest working soldier around. If people look at my post and still thing it a fake they can so kiss my big black a$$. I am forced to give up a job that I’ve wanted to do my whole life. The Army said you are a good soldier but you aren’t fit for duty. Who would fake only to have the 10 years of serviced thrown out like garbage. WHO DOES THAT???? A FAKER I AM NOT!!!
I made my last Post in a fit of anger. I didn’t proof read unit after I submitted it. If my boyfriend happens to find this post forgive for the awful writing and grammar. I love you Jeff.
I was diagnosed way back in the early 90’s with Fibro, while also being treated for rheumatoid arthritis (aka crippling arthritis). To be honest I think anyone that suffers from Fibro uses it as a crutch (I tend to agree that once a person finds out what it is they have wrong with them, they tend to milk the cow for all it’s worth). I am in a wheel-chair, I live in severe pain every-day to the point I don’t want to go to work. But I fight whatever pain I am experiencing, I don’t go boo-hoo’ing to anyone that will listen. Instead of laying in bed because the pain is sooo severe, get up and move around, that is what the Doctors that treat Fibro tell their patients the more physical activity a person has in their life, the less the pain will be. If you want acknowledgement of your Fibro, then get involved with the support groups. The more you make people listen the less they hear you. But to cry, whine, and moan about Fibro only gets people to NOT believe it is a REAL disease that is still in it’s infancy stages, just like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome use to be known as…
It is sad that so many people are filled with so much anger and hate. Of course FM sufferers are going to lash out towards you ignorant people but that is because we are passionate and defensive over something we have to live and suffer with. What is the excuse for the haters who don’t know what they are talking about? Obviously you have something major going on in your life that leads you to spew hate to people you don’t even know. Maybe you will have to experience a horrible condition yourselves to learn some compassion. Hopefully you won’t have burned all your bridges by that time and someone will be sympathetic to you.
I find it ironic that those of you calling us lazy, fat whiners are in turn saying you wish you had an excuse to be lazy, fat whiners. If you are actually jealous of people who have lost so much and had their lives turned upside down, what does that say about you? I, for one, can say that I have never sat here and thought, “wow, I am so lucky to have this “excuse” to not be able to do the things I love and function like a normal person”. YOU people are the ones with the mental problems.
As for those in the medical field, it is a sad shame to see you admit that you judge people off a piece of paper before you ever meet them. I have definitely felt that way in my own experiences with medical “professionals” but I have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and to convince myself that they don’t have a biased opinion. But YOU are proof that this is usually the case. However, I still have faith that there are good doctors out there who truly want to help others because unlike you, I don’t judge a whole group of individuals just based on the bad ones.
Of course there are liars and fakes, just like there are in any aspect of life. Would you like to be judged based on something the guy next to you did? It’s a lot like racism, do you judge a whole race based on something that was done to you by one person of that race? If this is how you base every situation in your life, I feel sorry for you! You must hate everyone for something or other!
I am not going to tell my experience with Fibromyalgia because it is my personal business and I have learned long ago that no matter how right you are, you cannot change a stubborn, ignorant mind. I will say that I am young, petite, happy, selfless, hopeful and driven. Not everyone fits in the mold you are trying so desperately to push.
Actually, there is a way to diagnose Fibro. They’re called “trigger points.” On a normal person, these pointed, when a little pressured is applied, won’t cause any pain. In a Fibro suffer, this will cause massive pain.
Just trying to interject some facts here.
Correction: “these points”
I really need .,Thanks for sharing.
I recently wrote an essay on a similar thematic but I see some nice points listed here that I miss in my essay, “ask for change” for example. I really like this one
I am not educated enough on the subject to say “yes or no”. However, I will say this: If I wanted to feel nauseas right now, all I would have to do is think that I felt that way, and, eventually, I would be. When I have a headache, if I think about how bad my head hurts, it hurts more. That’s not to say that I never have a genuinely bad headache regardless. If I were tired, and thought about how exhausted I was all day, I would be absolutely comatose by the time I went home.
Let’s just be honest. Women seem to have problems with aches, pains, fatigue, depression, and anything else that cannot be directly proven quite a lot. I am a woman with migraines. Apparently so is every other woman I have met. Unlikely, at best.
For instance, my mother-in-law has been “diagnosed” with and treated for thus far: Migraines, depression, anxiety, bipolar, insomnia, and after googling it (which after doing you will always “have” whatever it was that you googled) fibromyalgia. Shes going after that currently. And I am quite sure that she doesn’t realize she is faking; these ailments are all very real to her. Perhaps it is women like this who have given a bad name to a very real disease?
It’s real… I have it. I try to remain positive. Exercise really helps, as does trying to keep stress down. I do not doubt this is caused by my having a “different brain” than others, but as far as imagination goes, I know it’s not that. A positive attitude helps, but it is by no means a “cure.” Actually, being able to get up and move around helps a lot, even as hard as it is to get started. I don’t really like having a desk job where I have to sit around and get stiff every day.
Believe me, if I could just wish my way out of this and just feel good for one whole day, I would.l
I would like to start my response by saying I can understand how people can have the opinion where they do not believe that fibromyalgia is real as I used to be one of those people. Although I was not as callous and rude about my opinions, it seemed to me as a crutch that overweight people used to get off work.
With that being said, approximately 3 years ago, I began noticing muscle and joint pain along with fatigue that became more and more severe over time. I continually tried different things trying to “fix” my pain: a lot of exercise vs no exercise, changing my diet (including taking out all dairy products from my diet), going to a counselor, thinking it was all in my head, etc. I then went to my doctor who suggested and diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. My pain has been severe and debilitating within the last 3 years, but I’ve worked full-time and maintained a pretty high standard of living. Fast forward to this year and I am feeling HORRIBLE – my muscles and joints flare up to the point that laying on the couch without blankets was unbearable, my fatigue would be so bad that I would fall asleep at work while TYPING, and I virtually did nothing but sleep outside of work. I had never felt such bad digestive problems as well, which caused me to go to the ER once. I also had pleurisy and was hospitalized for a night. I then began trying Lyrica and it virtually changed my life. My pain subsided and I was more alert than I had ever been. I’d like to mention that I am not depressed; I have a great life with my fiance and puppy; and I am 21 year olds weighing 110 lbs 5’2. I am not fat or lonely or insane.
My point is that fibromyalgia is a real syndrome and is not just a figment of someone’s imagination. I’m sure if we went back to 1940, you’d also be the doctor banning women to mental institutions when they wanted to write a book or take a night off from cooking. I will continue to be an advocate for fibromyalgia sufferers everywhere, including myself, because I have been on both sides of the issue. We are not fat; we are not lazy; we are not old; we are not depressed or lonely; and we are real. Before you make judgement take a look at that our side of the fence and the details and studies that support the validity of fibromyalgia. I’d welcome you to check out http://www.fmnetnews.com for the latest issues surrounding the syndrome.
Check your facts next time before you judge those of us suffering from this horrible illness. We don’t just assume you are a chauvinistic, egotistical, selfish, unintelligent man at first — even though are.
Okay. “Scans reveal brain abnormalities in patients with fibromyalgia.”
http://news.health.com/2008/11/04/scans-reveal-brain-abnormalities-fibromyalgia-patients/?pkw=outbrain-ha
As researcher at UCSF in pain conditions, I need to jump in here. First, addressing the few medical doctors who posted: the anonymous setting has made you too comfortable with addressing people who potentially do have life altering pain. I say this not to hinder you from your opinion which very well may be that fibromyalgia itself is not a descriptive diagnosis, but because the oath you made is to first do no harm. Reading through the post left by doctors, I felt a sting, an overtone of resentment that really is not needed. Now addressing those of you are those who feel their lives have been changed in every facet. The pain you feel is real. Perhaps some of the negative arguments from above got a bit convoluted, but the diagnosis of fibromyalgia is nondescript and unfortunately does serve as a catch-all at times. What I mean by this is that there is not yet a homogenous set of diagnostic criteria to diagnose obscure diseases like chronic pain syndromes. But do have hope because the body is governed by the laws of physics and therefore an explanation will present itself. I liken the frontier of disease discovery to long term memory in that we do not know how long term memory is formed chemically but we do know long term memory exists. The argument that “since we don’t know how it works, we are suspicious it exists” has been a part of medicine as long as shortsightedness has been around. To those who have heard your pain is all in your head, just remember that this is absolutely correct. Your head is where your brain is so where else would signal processing take place! I would like to take the opportunity to direct you all to a very strong resource and that would be Stanford pain management website or more importantly, to a YouTube video presented by Stanford medical center. Simply type in fibromyalgia Stanford video and you should be able to find it. The video is an overview of current research being done by the Stanford pain management center.
In regards to diagnosis of fibromyalgia: let me start by saying that there is a plethora of other medical disorders and diseases that are difficult to diagnose and often times, the final diagnosis is made based upon the individual performing the diagnosis (i.e. The diagnosis may be different when performed by another person). This includes cancers. I dare say that no one would laugh in the face of an individual diagnosed with cancer – even the nebulous cancers that don’t have a well explained mechanism. Pain itself is just now coming to be understood by the research community and is in fact a pathology all of it’s own. Quite a bit of evidence is in the process of being analyzed, but to really understand the fill effects of what our dat means will take time. For instance, the MRIs that show brain shrinkage does not have much meaning, yet. There is a correlation and it has significance but no conclusions can yet be drawn. This is where we are at. We have a taste, a glimpse that something is going on but we don’t have context. There is definitely evidence to refute that all potential fibromyalgia cases are psychosomatic. As fibromyalgia patients, you shouldn’t be satisfied with merely having a label but unfortunately it seems that is all that medicine has done this far. It is all we have so I understand why so many inflicted with pain protect this word and also why so many are negative towards it. But what needs to stop is this aggression towards the individuals who have this label. It is the current limitations of medicine that inhibit proper diagnosis and effective treatment.
All I can say is I’m working on it! It is not a condition that has the limited attention of a few doctors here and there, but is indeed a condition that is getting the attention of fine institutes like UCSF and Stanford. I do encourage you to take part in research trials if your strength and time permits.
I know hope is sometimes a luxury, but please try to have some. I know all too well how easy it is to lose it.
fibromyalgia unfortunately is fake. Show me some empirical evidence created in Europe or Asia or South America. One of my best friends works for a major drug maker and they largely make drugs for things that don’t always exist. It also keeps a market going. Heck look at Lunestia. It knocks people out, gives them odd feelings and they can’t remember. I go to law enforcement seminars and this is now a date rape pill.
I know someone with fibromyalgia that claims she can’t work…yet she can type and stays on face book ALL DAY LONG! Then there’s another with it…and she doesn’t work either..yet drives all over the state, lives in public housing and enjoys taking trips to europe! It’s an easy way for people to stop working for the medical community to get more cash pure and simple
Well, I’ve ready some pretty nasty comments from some of you, and I would consider you to be sociopathic, and most of you are in the medical profession, which is really sad. For you nurses and doctors (if that’s what you really are) really feel the way you do, get out of the medical profession. You’re not meant to be a healer. You don’t have the ethics or personality for the job. Or maybe, you are the lazy ones that don’t want to find real answers for your patients illness.
I became ill with what it now called Fibromyalgia, when I was 26 years old. I am now 47. I suffered and drug myself to work and never asked a doctor for anything, because I felt they would think I was nuts because of all the problems I was having. I couldn’t believe I was in so much pain, and that I had developed interstitial cystitis and later irritable bowel. I have always worked and yes, I’m obese now, but I wasn’t then. This illness has caused me to gain weight. I still work, have a satisfying job, but the one thing that would be great, would be to be completely pain and illness free for the rest of my life.
I’m sure there are those who use Fibro as a way to get over. I don’t take any drugs for the pain. I’ve spent thousands of dollars of my own money, to try and find other reasons for the way I feel. I don’t feel depressed except for my health. I’m better than I was years ago.
The burning pain isn’t as severe, but let me tell you nay sayers something; If you had the severe burning pain that most truly is Fibro related, you’d understand what pain is. As the lawyer who contracted it said, It’s “hell”. It feels like you are on fire on the inside, under the skin, CONSTANTLY, with no relief. Truly hellish.
Thank God for drugs that help to stop this type of pain. Lyrica and gabapentin are great medicines. I only take lyrica if I get really bad burning pain. I do think Fibro is caused by different things for different people. As for me, I think it was my thyroid (which is being treated) as well as chronic iron deficiency and other things. BUT I would never say that others aren’t in pain, just because I couldn’t “see” the cause. How stupid is that?
So if what causes me some sleepless nights, fatigue, migraine headaches, stomach pain, nausea, irritable bladder and bowel, painful menstruation, burning pain in limbs, painful tissues all over the body and dizziness is called Fibromyalgia, then I’m glad someone is trying to find answers to why this is happening to so many people. I’m thankful, finally, someone is really listening to us. Piss on the unbelievers.
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Fibro is fake, I am 49-years old now. White female from a middle class family. Around the age of 35 I bloated up to 300-lbs. I lost my job. The father of my 2-kids left me. The kids were causing me so much stress. I just got fatter and fatter. I would lay in bed for 15-days. Collectiong food-stamps and gov. housing. Bumming off family and gov.
I had Fibromyalgia, chronic pain synd, back pain, neck pain, depression, panic attacks, CHF, COPD, and became type II diabetic. My doc had me on over 19- pills a day. Smoked 3-packs a day.
I got to know a well endowed black guy who moved in next to me. I discovered what sex was for the first time. He gave me my life back.
I am down to 130-lbs now, working full time, I threw all the pills away, stopped smoking. Eating only healthy foods.
I am not saying the fibro pain is fake, but that it is more of a lifestyle/depression state of mind. You have to get active, get a job, throw out all the pills, discover “sex” for the first time. I feel like I am 18 again.
I would be dead now if kept going down that “Fibromyalgia” road. The doctors would have killed me with more and more drugs.
You can have life again, JUST DO IT NOW.
I’m not sure about all this. I think that FMS “Fibromyalgia” might be real.
My sister thinks that she has the Fibro. disease. She thinks that it is caused from a prion, a virus like DNA particle.
She worked with a girl who had full blown Fibro at a local repo lot office. They would touch the same stuff all the time. Think about it, some cancers are now proven to be caused by a virus that can spread.
The other girl with the fibro died of skin cancer at the age of 44.
My sister does not know what to do. Does Fibromyalgia eventually turn in full blown skin/muscle/ or bone cancer?
Hopefully for my sister, once this “Fibromyalgia” debate is sorted out, it will be a fake/ newest fad disease, that way she has noting to worry about.
Thanks.