{"id":685,"date":"2008-01-14T23:52:04","date_gmt":"2008-01-15T07:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godammit.com\/2008\/01\/14\/fibromyalgia-sign-me-up\/"},"modified":"2010-12-12T16:28:53","modified_gmt":"2010-12-13T00:28:53","slug":"fibromyalgia-sign-me-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/fibromyalgia-sign-me-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Fibromyalgia: Sign Me Up!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A good friend of mine used to laugh about fibromyalgia, explaining that it\u2019s a fake disease. Now that I\u2019ve read<\/a> about it, I am not only convinced that it\u2019s fake, but that I have a severe case of it myself!<\/p>\n

While the pharmaceutical companies have finally started advertising a drug to treat it, one of the doctors who first identified the \u2018disease,\u2019 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 \u201cobsess over aches that other people simply tolerate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FDA has approved the use of Pfizer\u2019s \u201c Lyrica<\/a>\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t respond to advil or even vicodin. There\u2019s no way to prove you have fibromyalgia, or that you don\u2019t. But if it\u2019s recognized as a disease, you can go around complaining all the time! I love it!<\/p>\n

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<\/a> in the dictionary, I thought Bingo! I\u2019ve got it! And to a greater or lesser degree, so do many of the people I know.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re tired, achy, bloated, depressed, congested, irritable, listless, itchy, anxious and short of breath. We hate to work or walk up stairs. When it\u2019s not our stomach, it\u2019s our head. \u201cLyrica!\u201d It\u2019s like a song to our brains from the loving musicians at Pfizer. And they\u2019ll love us even more when we\u2019re fat and dizzy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"