Is Fibromyalgia Reall a Thing?

[Anonymous]

Here's the Mayo Clinic's description of fibromyalgia. I suggest people read reliable sources such as this rather than unsympathetic ignoramuses on DCUM.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia/basics/definition/con-20019243

[Anonymous]

I didn't read all the comments, so sorry if I repeat someone else. I had a very close friend who developed schizophrenia in her mid-fifties ... an odd time for it to show up. On the lead-up to figuring out this is what is wrong with her, she had many bizarre symptoms and complaints. At some point along the way, fribromyalgia was suggested.

The point I want to make to OP is that whether the pain is a product of a physical or mental cause, it is very real. A mental cause means that it is a hallucination, yes, but a hallucination of pain is PAINFUL. Think of amputees who can still feel pain in the limb that is not there. And if it is mentally caused, the sufferer does not have the ability to just "get over it" or think happy thoughts and make it go away. Hallucinations are caused by very complex chemical issues in the brain ... they are not controlled by force of will and they are very difficult to diagnose not to mention treat.

So the bottom line is that you owe your friend sympathy regardless of the pain's cause and if you can't manage that then you are not a friend, just an acquaintance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea if it's real, but according to one of my friends who's a physician and works in the Emergency Department, the following signs are almost always present in people who suffer from it:

- Minimum 40-50 lbs overweight
- At least one Axis II psych disorder
- Stated allergies to OTC pain relievers such as Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, etc. Can somehow tolerate opiates with no trouble, though! Funny how that works.
- When asked to rate their pain on the 1-10 scale, answer will always be somewhere in the 8-10 range, even if the patient is sleeping or resting comfortably when the doctor comes in the room (hint: if you're able to do either, you are not in the 8-10 range)

Apparently emergency rooms are a hotspot for fibro sufferers. A lot of rheumatologists, neurologists and immunologists aren't willing to prescribe opiates to deal with the pain and recommend dietary changes, PT and NSAIDs instead. That doesn't always go over well, so the people who don't want to hear it head to the ED. Nice.

How does your friend account for people who are absent all of those signs, but have the complaint of chronic pain?

I trust my doctor that I don't have it (thank God). However, my doctor was the one brought up the possibility of fibro and then, decided to screen for it although I don't fit your friend's criteria at all (only 5 lbs overweight, no psych disorders, no allergies to any OTCs and won't take opiates except when I've been hospitalized, worst pain was a 7 the day I was injured, but it has lingered at a 3 or 4 for weeks).

Well, did you go to the ED complaining of pain, asking for narcotics/opiates after other doctors brushed you off? No. So you're not the group that PP's doctor friend sees in the ED. (Being a doctor seems to make you incredibly cynical, it seems. It certainly has made my brother very cynical and suspicious of people who complain of pain and then ask for painkillers at the ED.)

As someone noted upthread, some people have fibro, others may have something else that may eventually be diagnosed, and others simply want painkillers.

I can't help but think though that at some point people who have been diagnosed with fibro come into the ER for other things than pain mgmt (food poisoning? a strange rash?) and that's in their self-stated medical history but perhaps some of them don't fit the friend's profile. Does he figure that they don't really have fibro either? If so, what does he think they have instead?

ER for pain management = drug seeking

Please read carefully before you respond.

I'll try to restate for your convenience: If Patient A doesn't fit your friend's profile (normal weight, good mental health, no drug allergies, etc.) and comes into the ER for a complaint other than pain (vomiting and dehydration during flu season, for example) but her medical history included fibro, what would your friend think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea if it's real, but according to one of my friends who's a physician and works in the Emergency Department, the following signs are almost always present in people who suffer from it:

- Minimum 40-50 lbs overweight
- At least one Axis II psych disorder
- Stated allergies to OTC pain relievers such as Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, etc. Can somehow tolerate opiates with no trouble, though! Funny how that works.
- When asked to rate their pain on the 1-10 scale, answer will always be somewhere in the 8-10 range, even if the patient is sleeping or resting comfortably when the doctor comes in the room (hint: if you're able to do either, you are not in the 8-10 range)

Apparently emergency rooms are a hotspot for fibro sufferers. A lot of rheumatologists, neurologists and immunologists aren't willing to prescribe opiates to deal with the pain and recommend dietary changes, PT and NSAIDs instead. That doesn't always go over well, so the people who don't want to hear it head to the ED. Nice.

How does your friend account for people who are absent all of those signs, but have the complaint of chronic pain?

I trust my doctor that I don't have it (thank God). However, my doctor was the one brought up the possibility of fibro and then, decided to screen for it although I don't fit your friend's criteria at all (only 5 lbs overweight, no psych disorders, no allergies to any OTCs and won't take opiates except when I've been hospitalized, worst pain was a 7 the day I was injured, but it has lingered at a 3 or 4 for weeks).

Well, did you go to the ED complaining of pain, asking for narcotics/opiates after other doctors brushed you off? No. So you're not the group that PP's doctor friend sees in the ED. (Being a doctor seems to make you incredibly cynical, it seems. It certainly has made my brother very cynical and suspicious of people who complain of pain and then ask for painkillers at the ED.)

As someone noted upthread, some people have fibro, others may have something else that may eventually be diagnosed, and others simply want painkillers.

I can't help but think though that at some point people who have been diagnosed with fibro come into the ER for other things than pain mgmt (food poisoning? a strange rash?) and that's in their self-stated medical history but perhaps some of them don't fit the friend's profile. Does he figure that they don't really have fibro either? If so, what does he think they have instead?

ER for pain management = drug seeking

Please read carefully before you respond.

I'll try to restate for your convenience: If Patient A doesn't fit your friend's profile (normal weight, good mental health, no drug allergies, etc.) and comes into the ER for a complaint other than pain (vomiting and dehydration during flu season, for example) but her medical history included fibro, what would your friend think?

You're responding to more than one poster. I wrote 23:35 but not the initial quoted post, or the additional post.

I have no idea what the initial quoted post's doctor friend thinks about people who show up at the ED for food poisoning and also have fibro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was always under the impression that Fibromyalgia was one of those hokie conditions suffered by middle-aged, multiple-cat-owning, wrist-brace-wearing women. But now a friend of mine says she has this "condition", and she doesn't fit the profile. I don't know whether to be sympathetic and read up on it, or just ignore it and let her deal with it (yes I know, some friend huh). Anyone dealt with this?

OP I think it is fine to ask this question on an anon board. I had a disabling condition that docs couldn't figure out what it was (they finally did -- and I thought is this real or BS?) Turns out it was real. I think the stereotype might be more confusing cause and effect. Being in constant pain changes you. Hope your friend gets better.

[Anonymous]

I remember a few decades ago having a relative diagnosed with lupus. She was told it was all in her head for the better part of three years, that women got these fake illnesses when they had an empty nest or entered menopause. She suffered terribly from the social stigma and not being able to get disability on top of her physical pain and fatigue.

+1 This happens a lot with diseases that docs have not figured out yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone keeps posting these "is fibro real" threads - Jeff, is it the same person?

Yes, it is real. But the medical community hasn't fully figured it out yet.

Fibro is painful and awful. Having friends and family not believe you and dismiss you as a crazy cat lady multiplies the pain tenfold. Imagine if you had a broken leg and people were sneering at you for not walking on it.

Y hasn't fully figured it out, I mean the cast majority of doctors now recognize it as a real syndrome, wither all symptoms, but they don't fully understand the why or the how to treat it.

Sort of like where lupus and ms were decades ago.

[b]Um...Lupus has been recognized for over 200 years, and MS for over 100...

Fibro is recognized as real in that doctors recognize there are patients with symptoms. But, like many syndromes, when there is no infection, no nerve activation at the site of pain, etc...no Physiologic cause of pain...it's root is usually psychiatric. So does the medical community recognized fibro? Yes, in as much as they recognize depression.

[/b]

You are a jerk. They also sent those folks home to suffer and die back then (lupus and MS) Just wait -- your perfect health won't last forever.

[Anonymous]

It's really a thing and could be caused by inflammation.

I bet if she might improve if she went on a primal or paleo diet (gave up grains, legumes, peanuts and sugar) even for three weeks, just to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is more real than restless leg syndrome

RLS is a recognized neurological condition.

I have that. When I get over tired my legs jerk very hard, is very noticeable and cannot be stopped without medication. Like spastic. It is not something I would like to "share" with anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's really a thing and could be caused by inflammation.

I bet if she might improve if she went on a primal or paleo diet (gave up grains, legumes, peanuts and sugar) even for three weeks, just to see.

Ugh, I don't have fibro but I have several minor inflammatory conditions. They are not easily cured/managed by a paleo diet.

[Anonymous]

If autoimmune, diet could help. My asthma improved when I cleaned up my diet. The problem with dietary restrictions is that they can have side effects as well. No added sugar is fine, but I know people who developed IBS after going paleo.

Almost all of these autoimmune diseases travel in packs. To the lay person, they can look like hypochondria.

We have the asthma-allergies-eczema cluster in my family. So I have that on top of three other much more serious chronic conditions (two of which are relatively rare but can be confirmed by medical tests and are not mistakable for anything else). Yes, I have a dedicated shelf for medication in my early 40s. However, I take the bare minimum of any medication that I need to be able to physically function, only one is for pain, and even that is not narcotic. I also work full time (except for sick leave) and am a divorced parent with 80% custody.

There's a lot of things that I could do that would make me more comfortable physically like disabled plates or braces. All of them would come with the scorn and condemnation of strangers who know nothing about me.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like bullshit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"I was just cleared for fibro yesterday".

OP again. So when you say "cleared", what do you mean? Is there a test for it?

My doctor probed a number of points on my body that are typically extremely tender in fibro patients. It is usually bilateral. My tender spots were unilateral (except for the base of skull). He thinks that I wrenched my neck, shoulder, and back when I was knocked down (an object fell on my head from above).

These are the spots he was looking for

[Anonymous]

Why wouldn't you believe it is real OP? Of course it is real. People are suffering from it every day. Is IBS real? Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea if it's real, but according to one of my friends who's a physician and works in the Emergency Department, the following signs are almost always present in people who suffer from it:

- Minimum 40-50 lbs overweight
- At least one Axis II psych disorder
- Stated allergies to OTC pain relievers such as Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, etc. Can somehow tolerate opiates with no trouble, though! Funny how that works.
- When asked to rate their pain on the 1-10 scale, answer will always be somewhere in the 8-10 range, even if the patient is sleeping or resting comfortably when the doctor comes in the room (hint: if you're able to do either, you are not in the 8-10 range)

Apparently emergency rooms are a hotspot for fibro sufferers. A lot of rheumatologists, neurologists and immunologists aren't willing to prescribe opiates to deal with the pain and recommend dietary changes, PT and NSAIDs instead. That doesn't always go over well, so the people who don't want to hear it head to the ED. Nice.

How does your friend account for people who are absent all of those signs, but have the complaint of chronic pain?

I trust my doctor that I don't have it (thank God). However, my doctor was the one brought up the possibility of fibro and then, decided to screen for it although I don't fit your friend's criteria at all (only 5 lbs overweight, no psych disorders, no allergies to any OTCs and won't take opiates except when I've been hospitalized, worst pain was a 7 the day I was injured, but it has lingered at a 3 or 4 for weeks).

Well, did you go to the ED complaining of pain, asking for narcotics/opiates after other doctors brushed you off? No. So you're not the group that PP's doctor friend sees in the ED. (Being a doctor seems to make you incredibly cynical, it seems. It certainly has made my brother very cynical and suspicious of people who complain of pain and then ask for painkillers at the ED.)

As someone noted upthread, some people have fibro, others may have something else that may eventually be diagnosed, and others simply want painkillers.

I can't help but think though that at some point people who have been diagnosed with fibro come into the ER for other things than pain mgmt (food poisoning? a strange rash?) and that's in their self-stated medical history but perhaps some of them don't fit the friend's profile. Does he figure that they don't really have fibro either? If so, what does he think they have instead?

ER for pain management = drug seeking

Generally speaking, being in the ER for any reason = drug seeking. Healthy people don't usually hang out in the ER.