Is Fibromyalgia Real? I’ve noticed, with pride, how far our young country has come in matters pertaining to tolerance. We have our first black president, (applause please), and people battling alcohol addiction are recognized as diseased individuals in need of understanding and medical treatment. More people with mental illness are being shown mercy when facing the court, being sent to medical facilities for therapy and medication instead of being incarcerated. (I admit this is a slow process and far too many people are being tossed into the system, but we have seen some advances.) The list grows as the handicapped sue local business to insure their buildings are accessible. Children with learning disabilities are given special education. Drug companies have been shamed into indigent/low income programs to insure needy people have access to vital medication. The elderly and handicap have easier access to wheelchairs, electric scooters, home oxygen units and more. These are all things I am truly proud of, things I may have lobbied and worked behind the scenes for, and they are all things for which I am grateful. Much more work needs to be done, but my point is . . . these are all causes people pulled out of the dark to put in the spotlight. Experts work tirelessly to insure their rights as citizens and humans. Why then, do the so-called experts come out in force to tear the bricks of research and advocacy out of the wall every time Fibromyalgia is mentioned? Perhaps they were scared by a big, scary Fibromyalgia monster hiding under their bed as a child, or maybe someone with Fibromyalgia insulted them at one time. Who can say what spooked these swelled head, wanna be experts, but they sure like to promote Fibromyalgia as a non-existent, fictional disease invented by drug companies to make more money. Worse yet, they say that telling someone they have Fibro can actually trick their brain into thinking that they are sick. Come again? As a proponent of free speech, I will defend their right to say what they believe in, but I have to question their motives. What would prompt a person to put their professional reputation on the line by negating the pain and suffering of millions? Pain and suffering that has been documented, tested and treated by thousands of health care professionals. These so-called experts pound their fists on tabletops around the world, insisting that Fibromyalgia is over-diagnosed. Well, perhaps it is, but at least it is being diagnosed and those who need help are getting help. As with any major movement, a subject will go from one of anonymity to one of prosperity before it levels out in the middle, right where it should be. As for my personal experience with being over-diagnosed, I can’t think of a single person in my circle that was lightly given a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. All of them, including myself, have spent thousands of dollars on EEGs, EMGs, stress tests, bone scans, MRI’s, CAT scans and blood work. We have been tested for Thyroid issues, Lyme’s, Lupus, MS, Arthritis, Depression and just about any other disease you can think of. One by one, our results came back negative, leading us to one conclusion, Fibromyalgia. Do I feel my diagnosis was easy, or handed down to soon? It took me 15 years to get help; I would hardly call that easy, or cheap. Is Fibromyalgia the correct name for the collection of symptoms that keep millions of people at bay with pain and fatigue? Who knows, time and research will figure that out. What we do know is that the pain, loss of sleep, brain fog, lack of co-ordination and sensitivity to light and smells is very real. It is very real to those who live with it and their families and friends. Is it real to the experts who puff up their chests and tell us that we should not believe in Fibromyalgia, or accept the current treatment advances? My guess would be no, it is not real to them or they would zip their lips and make sure their so-called expertise was better spent in digging for answers instead of flapping their jaws in an attempt to make an already tender, battle weary group of people feel bad about themselves. (Fade to dream sequence) A medical naysayer is taken hostage and placed in scratchy clothing that is three sizes to small and made to live in them. Their feet are shoved in tiny shoes that cut off circulation, with heels so high the very act of walking causes severe cramping in the legs, hips, butt and lower back. A large clamp encircles their skull, tightening until they wish they could remove their head. Smaller, yet no less powerful clamps are placed on various body parts, pinching, causing pain that escalates until they are begging for relief, but nothing they do can remove the clamps. Just for fun, let us clamp off some blood flow so they have numbness in their extremities, causing them to drop things, and burn their fingers on hot objects. Small knives could be inserted in their neck and shoulder muscles, and every time they try to relax, we turn the knife. A blow from a hammer to the jaws, some Ex-Lax one day, and an anti-diarrheal the next should cover Bruxism and IBS. Then, just for giggles we fill their bed with rocks and on the off chance that they fall asleep, we come in and zap them with a battery now and then just to make sure they don’t get a restful nights sleep. Nothing like the creepy, electric feeling of RLS to make you flop in your bed. Heck, even if you don’t have RLS your odds of a good nights sleep is slim to none. (End dream sequence) Does this sound too brutal? I guess so; I wouldn’t wish Fibromyalgia on my worst enemy. So why do these so-called experts wish it on us? © 2009 - Jane Kohler The opinions of Jane Kohler are not necessarily that of the FM S
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