Ladies suffering from Fm, how often do you feel like all the other dx are all just fm

[Betoschica]

I have RA, IBS, CFS, LUPUS, and several other members of the alphabet.. And I was just curious if anyone else wondered like I do if all of it is really just one thing.. Its just two much for a Doc to handle to have one disease do so many different things to someones body all at one time.. So they give it one name then  two then three and when its all said and done you sound like "alphabet soup"?
Just thought I would ask

[Betoschica]

Fibro is a neurological disorder, where we feel pain differently than others.. I have had Fm for 14 years, and I am not saying any of you are right or wrong because with FM there is just not enough research, nor studies.. I have heard that it can be seen when you actually look at a persons brain that had/has FM..
Thank you all for putting in your input, glad I got a discussion going..

[PlateletGal]

"Those with fibro feel lost...at least that is the way I feel most days."

I can relate. Sometimes I will feel isolated, although I have many friends. It is difficult to try to explain to people what I have to go through... especially since my treatment can make my symptoms worse.

I'm thankful for all of the support online and here in MedHelp. I'm glad you are here... I think we have a terrific group !

[PlateletGal]

Wow !  I guess Dr. Ravicz isn't the only physician who believes fibromyalgia can be an autoimmune disease. I know that Dr. Imran Khan, who served in the United States Public Health Service, appointed by the President of the United States, also lists fibromyalgia as an "autoimmune" condition. My chiropractor agrees. I like speaking with him, because unlike many physicians, he keeps up to date on the latest research on both fibromyalgia and CFS. I have a problem with these physicians who rely solely on pharmaceutical companies for their information. We recently did a poll here and none of the members said that they were getting better. (except me, that is).

The only three physicians who I know who successfully treated their own fibro & CFS are Dr. Nicolson, Dr. Mark Shaw and Dr. Teitelbaum.  All of these physicians mention mycoplasmas and bacterial infections and all of them have recommended and/or prescribed therapy to kill the successive infection. I'm currently on one of these "pathogen zapping" protocols and I'm seeing signs of actual healing. These treatments are not a magic pill. Depending on how long you've been ill, they can take years and make you feel worse due to herxing. (same thing lyme patients go through). But I'm sticking with it because I'm making so much progress already. For success stories, check out our Health Pages.

I'm not sure if you heard of Dr. David A. Jernigan, but he is an expert on lyme disease and cured his own lyme condition. He said that not everyone who has been exposed to the lyme bacteria, borrelia burgdorferi, has lyme disease. What happens though is if these people get ill or their immune system is worn down... then they eventually could end up with the disease.

Info that you may be interested in:

"Infectious agents and the etiology of chronic idiopathic diseases."


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9779355?dopt=Abstract  --- Infectious agents and the etiology of chronic idiopathic diseases.


http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol4no3/relman.htm --- Detection and Identification of Previously Unrecognized Microbial Pathogens


http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/full/39/5/1956 --- (Journal of Clinical Microbiology)
Does Blood of Healthy Subjects Contain Bacterial Ribosomal DNA?

[VaBreeze]

I totally agree PlateletGal.  The bothersome thing with fibro is that they will not place it as being autoimmune related (although I feel it is).  They are leaning more towards the area of it being a dysfunction in our motabolism...well exactly what does that mean?  I feel that fibro and cfs run along the same lines.  I can also spend the day doing something and then the next two in bed exhausted.  I recently read a book entitled "Thriving with your Autoimmune Disorder" (by Simone Ravicz, Ph.D., MBA) and fibromyalgia is listed as one of the disorders.  I feel like i'm just biding my time until something full blown happens...riding out all of these symptoms until that time.  Those with fibro feel lost...at least that is the way I feel most days.

[PlateletGal]

Here is a theory as to why people with fibro and/or CFS often experience other symptoms of other diseases and/or eventually have autoimmune problems :

"When mycoplasmas exit certain cells, such as synovial cells, nerve cells, among others that can be infected, they can stimulate autoimmune response."

http://www.immed.org/illness/fatigue_illness_research.html

[PlateletGal]

IMO... at least with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, it is a disease. I believe this only because I've experienced this illness after having a severe case of mononucleosis when I was only a teenager. Before then, I had always been healthy and never had any health issues. Unlike many other health conditions, if CFS patients push themselves too hard, the next day they will be in bed and completely exhausted. CFS patients have heart problems, due to viruses (just like in cardiomyopathy patients).

Just as there are new strains of the flu virus and other viruses that go around every year, I think there will be new illnesses and/or diseases as well. I also believe that CFS patients (possibly fibromyalgia patients as well) first experience immune dysfunction (due to EBV and/or other viruses or chemical exposure) and then later on... (like in my case) autoimmune problems.

[patsy10]

I would say the autoimmune diseases RA and Lupus are probably causing the FMS, CFS,IBS.  The syndromes (FMS, CFS, IBS) are not diseases but symptoms caused by a underlying disease process. FMS is diagnosed when all other diseases are ruled out,  all testing is normal, and no true disease has been found.  RA and Lupus can cause every symptoms present in FMS, CFS.

[PlateletGal]

From Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's book, "From Fatigued to Fantastic" --- pg. 85

"Although mycoplasma and chalmydia are common in the environment, they usually are fairly noninvasive. It may simply be that once your immune system is weakened, these infections can get into cells where they don't belong. When that happens, even some of the common ones that are normally considered noninfectious can wreak havoc. When these infections reproduce slowly, then tend to be low-grade and chronic, as opposed to the acute and more prominent symptoms seen with bacterial and viral infections that multiply and divide rapidly."

I'm sure all of us recognize the name Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum. Jacob E. Teitelbaum, MD is a best selling author, researcher and world-renowned medical expert on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. His theory makes perfect sense to me. An estimated 29% of fibromyalgia patients have a positive RA factor and another 25% have a positive ANA titer. In my case, I had undiagnosed CFS for years. My ANA titer had always been negative, but then eventually it became positive (1:640) and so now I have autoimmune problems.

[VaBreeze]

Fibro hasn't been classified as autoimmune nor as disease, but a syndrome.  They are currently leaning more towards it being a metabolic disorder in the CNS, but still don't know it's cause.  Pretty much everything you listed above are different illnesses and each needs to be treated as such.  I think that is why so many people with fibro. have had to go to umpteen doctors and suffer because all of the symptoms weren't looked at collectively.  You are so young to have to go through RA, CFS, FM and Lupus.  I really feel for you and hope you are feeling better soon

[PlateletGal]

Many people who have RA, CFS and other autoimmune conditions have mycoplasma infection. Of course these mycoplasmas keep invading and that is (my opinion and others) why we continue having additional symptoms and additional diagnoses.

You may want to consider checking out the Health Pages in this forum and reading the research on the pathogen killing treatments. Many of these treatments are helping and/or curing people with autoimmune diseases.