Hello all!
I figured that after all this time spent searching stupid websites and "news articles" written by non-FM people, it was time I started talking to the source.
I'm a relatively new diagnosis of FM, having started my journey in January 2009 with routine blood work for joint pain. My results came back positive with Anti-ANA, aka the marker for Lupus, so my general practitioner at the time referred me to a rheumatologist. My FM "diagnosis" finally came in October 2012, from my rheuma, with a prescription for Cymbalta. Shudder.
I have been discounted for Lupus (yay!) and Sjogrens, seen more specialists than I care to admit (gastro, neuro, opthal, ...), taken drugs I never want to touch again (Elavil, Effexor, Cymbalta and Lyrica), and been called neurotic on more than one occasion after spouting my list of symptoms.
I'm thankful for the fact that my symptoms don't seem to be auto-immune. Nor do they seem to be as difficult as those of others (I classify myself as mild-to-moderate, depending on the day). But never having a definite diagnosis (exclusion diagnosis what?) or knowing if it really is all in my head? Or trying to describe my pains to my family and friends, who think I'm exaggerating or lying and look at me with those eyes (you know the ones)? Not so much fun.
I'm really looking forward to talking with some real people that have a clue of what I'm talking about.
I figured that after all this time spent searching stupid websites and "news articles" written by non-FM people, it was time I started talking to the source.
I'm a relatively new diagnosis of FM, having started my journey in January 2009 with routine blood work for joint pain. My results came back positive with Anti-ANA, aka the marker for Lupus, so my general practitioner at the time referred me to a rheumatologist. My FM "diagnosis" finally came in October 2012, from my rheuma, with a prescription for Cymbalta. Shudder.
I have been discounted for Lupus (yay!) and Sjogrens, seen more specialists than I care to admit (gastro, neuro, opthal, ...), taken drugs I never want to touch again (Elavil, Effexor, Cymbalta and Lyrica), and been called neurotic on more than one occasion after spouting my list of symptoms.
I'm thankful for the fact that my symptoms don't seem to be auto-immune. Nor do they seem to be as difficult as those of others (I classify myself as mild-to-moderate, depending on the day). But never having a definite diagnosis (exclusion diagnosis what?) or knowing if it really is all in my head? Or trying to describe my pains to my family and friends, who think I'm exaggerating or lying and look at me with those eyes (you know the ones)? Not so much fun.
I'm really looking forward to talking with some real people that have a clue of what I'm talking about.
