With Fibromyalgia Awareness Day approaching (May 12), I thought this would be a good time to talk about why awareness of this or any illness is so critical. I would even go so far as to say that awareness is the cornerstone upon which future medical advances are built.

Few health conditions are more misunderstood than fibromyalgia. Unlike tendinitis or arthritis, where the source of the pain is usually easy to understand, fibromyalgia remains a bit of a mystery, as do the factors which cause it.

Doctors at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center on
Wednesday implanted one of the country's first medical
devices that specifically adapts and responds to a
person's pain.

Very interesting that this doctor mentions a quick diagnosis.

.....some aches are neither OA nor RA, but a distant relative in the arthritis family -- or not arthritis at all. How can you tell?

 

By:  Paula Spencer, Caring.com

Fibroymalgia has been living with me for 16 plus years. The first five years it kicked my ass now I'm kicking it's ass. I don't take any drugs.When I was diagnosed there was not much known about it. Some Doctors thought I was a head case. I may be but not about this.

What I started doing was getting up even if it hurt. I wanted to get back to my living my life. I changed my diet to a high protein lots of green leafy veggie. Stopped eating fast food, drinking cokes and foods made with white flour and any processed food. The change in the way I feel is great most of the time.I still have days I just want to stay in bed.

Not everyone with Fibroymalgia is the same.What works for me might not work for you. I hike,swim,dance and most of all I live my life. I hope you can also.

For those that know me, they know I have something called Fibromyalgia and I talk about it a lot! It is a sad, painful, confusing and complicated illness that over 11 million people suffer from and there is controversy surrounding the illness, which makes it even more difficult to deal with. Four days ago I was diagnosed with something else-Psoriatic Arthritis and Psoriasis. I am a little angry, upset and scared because my life is starting to be nothing but pain. I consider myself very educated and knowledgeable about Fibromyalgia and now I need to learn all I can about Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. If you have the disease or love someone who has it, please share any tips, suggestions, knowledge or ideas with me on treatments and all that comes with living with this disease. 

Fibromyalgia is difficult to live with and endure. You are in horrible pain, mostly all day, every day. You can't sleep because you are uncomfortable and toss and turn a million times and you never reach restorative sleep (or stages 3 and 4 REM sleep), so your muscles do not heal nor repair themselves. Fibromyalgia causes not only pain and sore muscles, but also stiffness, fatigue, sensitivities to sound, light and weather, migraines, gastrointestinal issues, numbness and tingling sensations, Restless Leg Syndrome and often Fibromyalgia patients start developing other conditions on top of the Fibro. Fibromyalgia affects all aspects of life. Work is difficult, if your body will allow you to do it at all, travel can be a nightmare and relationships are hard to maintain because you can't keep up with them and you don't function the way they do.

Do you or someone you know have Fibromyalgia?

"A growing body of research is linking fascial problems to FMS. Myofascial pain syndrome, which involves constant pain due to multiple trigger points, is extremely common in us and is considered a risk factor for developing FMS. We've had at least 3 studies shore up the link in the past year, showing that: .... "

Acupuncture is said to help lessen pain, relieve tension and provide relief. Many people swear it works and have suggested I try it, to help relieve neck and back pain and pain due to Fibromyalgia. But I haven't tried it yet. Have you??

Just some information about dental problems, pain in the teeth or jaw, TMJ or tooth loss that seems to be due from Fibromyalgia or rather, the complications from having Fibromyalgia. Dental issues do not seem to be discussed (in relation to Fibromyalgia) too often. Hope this information is helpful to some of you.

Almost everything you need to know about Fibromyalgia, including the 18 tender points (images/slides and descriptions also included), tips on how to cope with the pain, fog and fatigue, how to deal with friends and family, a list of some of the common Fibromyalgia symptoms and what foods are best......and best to avoid.

The American College of Rheumatology is proposing new criteria for diagnosing Fibromyalgia. This is good news to the millions of us with Fibromyalgia and this also may help those out there who are hurting, confused and don't know what is wrong with them.

Anyone with Fibromyalgia knows how miserable it is. The pain, the stiffness, the insomnia, the fatigue, etc. But Fibromyalgia doesn't just affect the one diagnosed with it. It can also have a major impact on your spouse, care giver or loved ones.

Over 100, 000 veterans from the first Gulf War have reported chronic musculoskeletal pain or Fibromyalgia...

A drug which could help to relieve the pain of Fibromyalgia loses FDA approval...

People are not getting the quality of care that they need or help to relieve their pain...

4 good habits to adopt if you have Fibromyalgia...

Type Your Article Here ...The ignition to my situation got activated a month ago per letter from my son .The little boy who yesterday was under my watch, and is now  head coach for a Ne. college,  wrote me, saying  that his words would hold impact, but about what?... "Dear Mom," it began..." I can't go through this any longer. Your falling asleep behind the wheel, leaves me expecting a call any minute from the police or Dad, saying you died... If you won't care about yourself, what about respect  for others  on the highway? I don't need more stress, so if you insist on driving, don't tell me about it. You should not be on the highway." I was jolted awake, by a well deserved kick.  I the once responsible mother, who now has M.S., was deeply ashamed of my actions. These sleep episodes had stunted my judgement, and were slightly euphoric, creating poor  judgement. Me? I'd  gone to sleep numerous times but  for split seconds only.  So, I hadn't hurt anyone. Sound reasoning,huh?

Next, my husband hit on my three hours of sleep nightly, and eating a poor diet. The diet centers about  chronic pain, and needing to grab something in order to huddle up in a comfortable writing position. And why don'I go to bed?  I grew up surrounded by alcoholics, and  denial, a strong defense mechanism.  My addiction is staying up to work on my passion-writing. My husband finally said, "You are killing yourself."...Personally, I think it's more that I feel my life will be shortened and I want to leave an echo behind. Writing is my echo.  Nevertheless, I told both husband and son that I would discuss their issues with ,  my neurologist, an outstanding, unusual young man. I thought I'd leave his office with a little advice, a smile, and knowing  I probably wouldn't change. The doctor discussed pain, sleep, a medication that I skip, and my next neurological cognition test.-They are difficult and stressful. We were almost done. Just the reflex test and  I'd be on my way..

Oops!  The driving confession.  "How much sleep to drive safely ?" I asked.  He gave me a  hesitant. sad smile. "You're not going to like this, but I don't want you on the highways anymore.. Only around town.You have extensive damage in your brain's white matte, over forty lesions brain lesions. Lesions are scars on brain and spine where cells attack. Shocked, I smiled and said fine. He explained that my reflexes would be too slow in a crisis.  " O.K.,"  I  agreed.  My town is a 2 mile square.  Heading home ,I realized this was my last trip on the road that had led me from one stage of life to another and another, the last big journey being to college at 32 to get my master's as a therapist... I feel so "normal."  But, I also knew that my doctor, my son, and my husband, see things I don't see. Thank goodness, I haven't killed anyone. I will grieve;  I will grow.A first grandchild will come in December, a girl, a blessing.  I had some anger today and I cried once, and I justified using highway30. My husband rejustified NOT using any highway. So the same road that led me to new sights, people, and skills--now leads me onto a new road and new discoveries. All loss and change have ultimately resulted in growth and contentment. There, you have my story.  

.This has been a very bad year. As I sat at my computer thinking and reading the thoughts of others, I realized how much I really didn't give a rats ass about anything. Wow, it really hit me hard. I had some emotional issues in my 20's and took my delivered dose of Med's and therapy. Actually took Paxil for so many years , until one day I thought screw it. If I am going to be a nut job, so be it. I have to say I did not totally run amok....some of you out there might disagree....lolrotf. BUT I did manage to find a common ground in life where I realized @!$%# happens and no one promised me a rose garden.

I finally became OK with my core values and decided to just let the flack fall where it may. I was way to old to be held hostage by my own indecision's about who and what I was AND MAYBE ,WHAT I WAS, REALLY ABOUT, was OK. So I sort that out and I still feel like crap. Then I remember my old long time friend , Fibromyalgia. I have had it so many years it seems like I forgot I had it. Life was just a world of one kind of pain,or another. I thought that just was what being alive meant. I have Ostio-Arthritis so bad my hands look like a Bonsai Tree. I drop every other thing I grab and it seems life is a succession of bending my corpulent self over, every other time I grab something , as it falls right through my grasp.The Arthur is so bad, made the Fibro float away so far, the grey cells forgot to remember my old friend.

It hit me last spring that my neighbor across the street...my age, seemed to always be bragging about still climbing a ladder to clean her gutters...she is like a Gad-fly. She flits here and there and preens her slim,nimble body like a Peacock....{male,that is] Me I hobble here and I hobble there, I am jealous. That bothers me also. See I am one of the old hold outs that believes in GOD. It took allot of meditation to not be really, really, pissed at Him. It has seemed He has heaped and inordinately large amount of "CRAP" on my plate. Then I see the Gad-Fly and boy that can do it for me....bummmerrrrrrrrrrrr. If I see her up on the roof I have to restrain my self from wishing she'd fall off. One day she did, fall off the ladder into a gopher hole....Well that did it...Now I have to listen to how much pain she is in because she "strained a muscle" in her back. So I made a deal with God..... I'll never wish for her to fall off the roof,if He just shuts her up! OK , I got side tracked.

Fibromyalgia....well in 1970,when I was diagnosed...possibly Lupus at the university of Oregon Medical School, I sort of did the Ostrich thing and thought if I was going to live a long and full life I had to "FORGET ABOUT IT". I soon found there was no-one remotely interested in the fact that I had A LITTLE PAIN. Where? every where, "Yah,right" they'd say. I even had a doctor once actually say to me,when I listed it as a presenting condition...."You mean, there really IS a real medical condition called,Fibro....what"? I thought it was just a bunch of whiners!!!!! I resisted kicking him in his crotch and asking him to whine for me.

So my fellow Fibromyalgia sufferers....that is a word right? It does not get any better. It does not go away. In fact it is worse. It makes me depressed even on a good day,when my brain says,"Hi World,lets dance"....It is a sneaky,@!$%#ty,not fair illness and so every day NOW....I take the pain meds..."how addicted can a 70 yr old woman get and who cares anywayJust give me the drugs and let me live a quasi normal life,even if it is not on a ladder...( I offered to take her up on her offer to clean my gutters) me bad! I even ordered up my "medical Tobacco" card as my grandson calls it....There have to be some perks to off set the down side, right?

Did I have a point when I started? I do not know. Maybe you all do not care.... It could be the pain meds,

all-time-ers/old-time-ers, dementia, or just plain OLD....but who gives a rip anyway....Have a good one, one and all.

Costochondritis... is one of the many fun conditions that having Fibromyalgia bestows on me. Has anyone else had this or heard of it?

No one can figure out what causes Fibromyalgia... Is it an impaired central nervous system that causes the illness? Infections, such as Mononucleosis? A brain abnormality? Severe physical and emotional trauma? When will we know? If we don't know what causes it, how can we cure it?