The New Me

Fibromyalgia.  How many of you know what this is?  How many of you doubt that it is a "real" diagnosis?  How many of you know someone with it?  How many of you have it?

I have it.  The symptoms are crazy.  They mimic so many other illnesses.  When someone says they have Fibromyalgia, what do you imagine?  How do you picture a day in their life?  I used to picture a day laying on the couch reading, eating, watching t.v.  I used to think of it as the "tired" disease.  In fact, I blurred it with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  (How many of you believe that one's a fake too?)

Seems there's a lot of opinions on this Fibromyalgia stuff.  It's an easy target for the opinionated because science hasn't set clear boundaries in defining it yet.  How exciting for me.  I'm on the "ground floor" of this disease.  I'm a pioneer.  There are doctors who do not believe in it; doctors who prescribe medicine for it; and doctors who are honest about it.  I finally found that last breed.

But before we get into the treatment, lets get back to the diagnosis.  How in the world do you diagnose something that has no scientific definition?  It's an ambiguous little feller.  But maybe diagnosing is also too far ahead to begin.

Symptoms.  If you Google Fibromyalgia, you will get about 1,800,00 results, give or take.  For something that no one knows very much about, there's a lot of information out there.  You can find a list of symptoms, treatments, cures, etc... You can find chat rooms, forums, those for, those against, etc... You will read about causes.  You will get a brain-full of natural remedies.  So how do you know what's what?

Talk to someone who has it.

Oh.  That's me!  The most common symptom is fatigue.  But if that were the only symptom, we'd all have Fibromyalgia.  That's the thing.  All the symptoms are "common" to other ailments.  But, as one doctor explained to me, if you take all the symptoms and put them together as a jig-saw puzzle, sometimes you can clearly see a pattern.  It's hit-n-miss right now in the medical world, which why a lot of people think this is a "catch-all" diagnosis.  "Hmm...well...we don't really know what you have so we're going to stamp you Fibromyalgia and call it a day."

I thought that too.

Which is why, when the first doctor mentioned it, I groaned and thought, "Here we go.  You don't have a clue what's wrong with me and you're tired of looking so you're giving me a pity-diagnosis and sending me on my way."

Back to the symptoms.  How many of you are familiar with Rheumatoid Arthritis?  Migraines?  Irritable Bowel Syndrome?  The flu?  Depression?  Anxiety?  Carpal Tunnel?  Inflammation?  Iritis/Uveitis?  Lupus?  Vertigo?  Insomnia?  Skin Irritation?  Lyme?  Welcome to Fibromyalgia?

This is why it is so hard to diagnose and it's sometimes thought to be something else.  There is no scientific test for it.  There is a way to "feel" for it, however.  There are certain nerve points near joints that will be much more tender than in other places.  If you're being examined for Fibromyalgia, your doctor will press all over and, if you have it, there will be moments you want to come off that table and punch him in the nose.  (I literally raised my voice at the doc and said, "What are you DOING?!"  to which he responded, "Oh, you didn't sign up for the deluxe massage?"  Great man.)

I am discovering myself all over again.  What are my limits?  What are my strengths?  When do I push forward, and when do I stop?  The doctor said to lower my stress-level.  HA!  Oh, those doctors really have a great sense of humor.  Good thing I do too.  Did you know that there are things you CAN do with Fibromyalgia?  You can smile...laugh...play...read...exercise...pray...sing...and enjoy life to the best of your ability.  You are not a pariah and certainly do not have to become a shut-in.  There are absolutely days when I don't get out of bed.  Sometimes I make it to the couch and that's it.  And that's okay.  Those are great reading days.

My advice to those who are on this journey with me, don't be hard on yourself.  Your central nervous system is already doing that for you.  My advice to those who have a loved-one with Fibromyalgia, let them set the pace.  Believe them.  Love them.

We'll wrap for now.  My finger-joints are yelling at me.  Time for a warm drink and an episode of "Miss Fischer's Murder Mysteries".

Welcome to my new world, Everyone.