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~~~Fibromyalgia~~~ REal Or NoT rEaL??
Okay, so I was talking to a nurse friend of mine and made the comment that Maybe I have Fibro. because I just hurt all the time now and all over. Not just where I sustained injury anymore. It's been creeping up slowly, but personally I feel it's from being a little ......."inactive" you might say. So when I say this......she laughs at me and says that Fibro. is "Not Real" its a bunch of people looking for pain meds.......whoa! She says doctors don't know what to do, this is something---a woman thing----that has been going on since the beginning of time. That doctors look at patients and label them to have this "disease" to shut them up cause they don't know what else to do. States that fibro. is not a real disease, rather these patients are mentally deficient to put it nicely, and that there is nothing to really support. Not to say that it is not defined, but in the medical profession it is really not recognized by physicians????
Real or not Real........that is the question?......Opinions anyone?
Nauty.........
Real or not Real........that is the question?......Opinions anyone?
Nauty.........
Just wanted to note it is not just a female thing. Morgan Freeman suffers terribly from fibromyalgia
I don't think it's necessarily a can-o-worms Newgirl. I really listen to this woman because she has been through more aspects of nursing than Bayer has aspirin. She really gives me great insight into what is behind the scenes.....what other nurses and doctors really talk about. I love to hear it, cause I wanna know.
Just because Fibro. is 'Not determined" doesn't mean it's not real. Like Mary said...they thought PMS was all in our heads. I am living proof that it "Is REAL" and it took a lot of time for it to be "uh, determined".......The fact that is recognized by disability is "huge" . The fact that there are meds for it, doesn't mean shiat, I mean if enough of us said we had a strange odor seeping from our toes, there would be a pill for it.......and the fact that they use Lyrica doesn't mean squat. Lyrica is pretty much an updated version of Neurontin, and has been prescribed for nerve pain for a long time. The fact that is is not as expensive, they figure they'd tweek it so they charge an arm and a leg for this new disease........okay...I will stop there or you will be watching me build a soap box......and a mighty fine one too.....lol.
Oh, I did miss a point about lyrica......its also acts a an anti-depressant......go figure?
I did not bring this up to stir a pot........(oh, sure)lol...I just found it interesting for my friend to say that....as I always do when she gets on her soapbox, but if you get anything out of it.......this is what a lot of doc's are saying behind our backs and thinking.......Not all ...for sure, but I trust what she says.......shes been around !! She has told me Gyno stories that make my skin crawl. I won't let a male doctor go there after things she told me. The females are pretty bad too, but .....anyway....I will shut my pie hole now.
Luv to all.....
Nauty................
Just because Fibro. is 'Not determined" doesn't mean it's not real. Like Mary said...they thought PMS was all in our heads. I am living proof that it "Is REAL" and it took a lot of time for it to be "uh, determined".......The fact that is recognized by disability is "huge" . The fact that there are meds for it, doesn't mean shiat, I mean if enough of us said we had a strange odor seeping from our toes, there would be a pill for it.......and the fact that they use Lyrica doesn't mean squat. Lyrica is pretty much an updated version of Neurontin, and has been prescribed for nerve pain for a long time. The fact that is is not as expensive, they figure they'd tweek it so they charge an arm and a leg for this new disease........okay...I will stop there or you will be watching me build a soap box......and a mighty fine one too.....lol.
Oh, I did miss a point about lyrica......its also acts a an anti-depressant......go figure?
I did not bring this up to stir a pot........(oh, sure)lol...I just found it interesting for my friend to say that....as I always do when she gets on her soapbox, but if you get anything out of it.......this is what a lot of doc's are saying behind our backs and thinking.......Not all ...for sure, but I trust what she says.......shes been around !! She has told me Gyno stories that make my skin crawl. I won't let a male doctor go there after things she told me. The females are pretty bad too, but .....anyway....I will shut my pie hole now.
Luv to all.....
Nauty................
Originally, I think doctors diagnosed people with constant pain as having fibro because they could not find anything else. Personally I dont think it has anything to do with whether that person really has pain or not but speaks more to the doctor and their attempt to find the real problem. Not that their isnt one or that it is a mental thing. I think that is hogwash! If they delved in a little deeper and really listened to their patient they might be capable of providing real medical help instead of another reason to dispense drugs. All we need is another label to make us sound like we have mental problems, when it is mostly the medical profession that is inadequate. They might want to spend more than five minutes with those patients and take the time to actually listen.
And its more than just women, Avisg.......maybe more women than men - but not even gender specific.......Most GP's still consider it a catch all type of diagnosis for when they are stumped.
Its a very odd disease that many doctors are very sceptical about just as they are with chronic fatigue syndrome some say the two go hand it hand ,There is a problem of some sort women all over the world are not making up pains all over that are not there .They need to do more research.
I have had fibromlyyia for 7 years, I was told it it the nerves in my body not shutting down but they are overactive and causes the pain. The Social Security would not regonize it when I was approved for disability but now does. There are several medication specificantly for fibromylgia now that are not narcotics. There is a test, certain pressure points that a doctor can push on that will not hurt someone without Fibro but will sent a Fibro patient off the table in pain. Doctors now add a couple of extra just to see if the patient is faking just to get medication. I lived for years with people tell me that it was all in my head and there was nothing wrong with me. I would not for a minute wish they suffered from Fibro, but anyone who does understands that something as simple as a hug is very painful.It is true that women suffer from it more than men because they just don't want to acknowledge they have pain. ok will get off my soapbox now. sorry if i offended anyone, not my intention.
Researchers investigating the physical basis for the condition have documented numerous chemical differences between those with and without fibromyalgia.
The research findings are beginning to change a few minds, said Laurence Bradley, a psychologist and professor of medicine at the University of Alabama's medical school in Birmingham. He also does research into fibromyalgia. "I think there is much more acceptance of this now than there was 10 years ago when I first got involved in the research," he said.
Some of the most recent evidence comes from an experiment in which Clauw and a colleague, Richard Gracely, used a device to apply pressure to the thumbnails of a group of subjects, half of them with a fibromyalgia diagnosis, half without. The researchers watched the activity in the subjects' brains with a magnetic resonance imaging machine. The differences were impressive, according to Clauw.
The fibromyalgia patients were quicker to report pain. More significantly, the brain scans bore out their claims. Activity in the pain-processing region of the brain was much greater in the fibromyalgia patients.
The bottom line: The fibromyalgia patients' claims of greater pain were proven true by the MRI pictures.
"The majority of the scientific community that studies pain didn't find this to be a revelation," he said. "This was an incremental step that corroborated a lot of things that had previously indicated abnormalities in people with fibromyalgia."
There's more evidence that something's amok in the pain systems of people with fibromyalgia. Several studies have found they have two or three times the normal amount of Substance P, a compound involved in sending pain messages in the body.
Researchers also have found that people with fibromyalgia have relatively low levels of several compounds that diminish pain sensation. One of them is the hormone cortisol, an anti-inflammatory compound that the body produces particularly when under stress. Another is the brain chemical serotonin.
People with fibromyalgia also seem to have lower levels of endorphins, a family of compounds that elevate mood and dampen feelings of pain.
The research findings are beginning to change a few minds, said Laurence Bradley, a psychologist and professor of medicine at the University of Alabama's medical school in Birmingham. He also does research into fibromyalgia. "I think there is much more acceptance of this now than there was 10 years ago when I first got involved in the research," he said.
Some of the most recent evidence comes from an experiment in which Clauw and a colleague, Richard Gracely, used a device to apply pressure to the thumbnails of a group of subjects, half of them with a fibromyalgia diagnosis, half without. The researchers watched the activity in the subjects' brains with a magnetic resonance imaging machine. The differences were impressive, according to Clauw.
The fibromyalgia patients were quicker to report pain. More significantly, the brain scans bore out their claims. Activity in the pain-processing region of the brain was much greater in the fibromyalgia patients.
The bottom line: The fibromyalgia patients' claims of greater pain were proven true by the MRI pictures.
"The majority of the scientific community that studies pain didn't find this to be a revelation," he said. "This was an incremental step that corroborated a lot of things that had previously indicated abnormalities in people with fibromyalgia."
There's more evidence that something's amok in the pain systems of people with fibromyalgia. Several studies have found they have two or three times the normal amount of Substance P, a compound involved in sending pain messages in the body.
Researchers also have found that people with fibromyalgia have relatively low levels of several compounds that diminish pain sensation. One of them is the hormone cortisol, an anti-inflammatory compound that the body produces particularly when under stress. Another is the brain chemical serotonin.
People with fibromyalgia also seem to have lower levels of endorphins, a family of compounds that elevate mood and dampen feelings of pain.
Fibromyalgia is a catch-all term when doctors can't actually figure out what's wrong.
1. No it's not people just trying to get pills, that's offensive to those people in pain.
2. Maybe it's in some of their heads, but most is probably something real.
I was told I had fibromyalgia because they were looking in the wrong direction for what was actually wrong. I now have a real, and better diagnosis. I am neither a pill seeker nor crazy.
1. No it's not people just trying to get pills, that's offensive to those people in pain.
2. Maybe it's in some of their heads, but most is probably something real.
I was told I had fibromyalgia because they were looking in the wrong direction for what was actually wrong. I now have a real, and better diagnosis. I am neither a pill seeker nor crazy.
LOL, So if the doctors can't figure it out, the patient must be the wacko? LOL
They use to think that women were faking PMS.,and any woman that has had PMS, Knows it's real.
I'm pretty sure a lot of doctors believe it's real, as do the drug companies, since they're coming up with meds to treat it.
They use to think that women were faking PMS.,and any woman that has had PMS, Knows it's real.
I'm pretty sure a lot of doctors believe it's real, as do the drug companies, since they're coming up with meds to treat it.
OMG Nauty.................You've read my mind once again. I've been having the same problem. Aches and pains all over, not just in my normal pain places. I was thinking the same thing ......inactivity or water retention. I've found if I'm retaining some water my joints will hurt. As far as Fibro being real or not.......I haven't a clue. For myself i usually look for self inflicted things, like poor diet, not stretching or exercising. I'm afraid if I go to the doctor he will say.......no wonder you feel like ****.....you don't take care of yourself. So instead I down a few more Advil with some brownies to coat my stomach. lol
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