My Fibro

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I recently had a patient refer to her fibromyalgia diagnosis as "My Fibro". Kind of like it is an entity with which she has a relationship.

I realized that I had heard that term a lot, but really don't hear "My Hypertension", or "My Obesity".

What's up with that?

Specializes in Critical Care.

Do people go on disability for fibromyalgia? I know it can be painful, but so much so that one can't work at all? That I hadn't heard. There are treatments for it like elavil or lyrica for instance.

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I'd just like to say, that even though my brain tries as hard as it can to assign stereotypes to people (because of their diagnosis, age, health history, race, social status...whatever), I'm proven wrong just about every time I go to work.

We're nurses...we generally see people when they're having a bad day. We need to remember that when we're issuing out generalizations.

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
Do people go on disability for fibromyalgia? I know it can be painful, but so much so that one can't work at all? That I hadn't heard. There are treatments for it like elavil or lyrica for instance.

It depends on the progression of the condition. I know some with it who are in a wheel chair

I believe I have two choices. I can lay down and surrender to this damm disease, or I can live my life around it

State of mind wont necessarily cure anything, it should hopefully keep me out of a wheelchair and living the life i want to live

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Do people go on disability for fibromyalgia? I know it can be painful, but so much so that one can't work at all? That I hadn't heard. There are treatments for it like elavil or lyrica for instance.

Yes they do, but it can be incredibly difficult to obtain benefits because there no objective tests to prove the diagnosis.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
A coworker that has fibro and chronic back pain proudly proclaims she is against taking any meds. She wouldn't be caught dead taking anything to actually get rid of the pain like lyrica and looks down on people that actually take meds to feel better. Yet she is in constant pain and can barely walk, does this even make sense?

She sneers at me for taking meds for my migraines because I want pain relief, I'm not one to suffer unnecessarily and there are meds both to prevent and to treat pain why not use them. Though we both may have different trials in life, I think I'm the one with the better quality of life because I'm open to medicine that can take away the pain. I just don't get her attitude. It makes no sense to me.

As a fellow migraine sufferer, I'm with you. I take migraine meds as soon as I feel one coming on. I don't know how old you are, but perhaps I can offer you some hope. Many times migraines get better, in some cases disappearing, as you get older (40s-50s). When I was in my 20s-30s, I would barf my brains out with them and often go to the ED, sometimes twice in the same day. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how I was treated by the staff.

Now, while I get some bad migraines, they're nothing like they were years ago. I also don't get them with the frequency I used to. I never puke with them now, and I haven't been to the ED in 10 years. (At least not for a migraine. I'm a klutz, so I've had a few trips to the ED for broken bones, scalp lacs that needed sutures, etc.)

Getting older does have some perks! ;)

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
No, I didnt.

I would qualify to be on disability and not to work, I choose to work, as a result most of my leisure time is spent recovering from that

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about the same time I graduated from nursing schoool and was determined that I wasnt putting all that work in to not make a career out of it

It would be soooo much easier not to work. However I'm too stubborn

Oh dear, I hope this thread doesn't devolve into bashing people on disability. Some are so disabled physically and/or mentally that work is not an option, and I'd like to think my fellow nurses understand that "being stubborn" doesn't always keep someone working.

It takes a lot to be approved for SSDI, the standards are very strict and most people are denied the first time they apply. I know one woman with fibro who is on her third appeal; I think she deserves disability payments because she's in so much pain daily and her meds don't control all of it. (I, on the other hand, got SSDI on the first try.) There is still a lot of confusion out there regarding fibro and whether or not it's "real", which I'm sure is why she hasn't gotten approved. I hope that changes soon, for her and everyone else with the disorder.

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Specializes in Oncology.

I understand the not wanting to take meds thing. I also have migraines. I was getting them sometimes 3 times a week and resisted going on a preventative med for ages. My primary care doctor managed them for years. She mentioned adding a prophy med twice and I shot the idea down twice. I hated the idea of being on another daily medication and felt like going on a daily one was accepting defeat.

Finally I had to go to a neurologist for an unrelated issue. He couldn't believe I wasn't on a prophylactic medication and asked me all the right questions to guide me to admitting how much it was affecting me.

Now I'm on two preventative meds. And it's a miracle. My stress level is down, I'm happier, and less anxious. I didn't realize in the midst of it how much I was avoiding committing to anything. I wouldn't want to pick up OT, because that was just another chance to get a migraine and risk calling in. I didn't want to invite people over to my house, because that could mean canceling, or a migraine the day before leaving me unprepared and stressed the day of. And when the headaches would start I'd feel panicked and helpless, probably making them worse.

Anyway, that's my schpeal on why med avoiding, not always a good course.

My goodness I've turned this thread into my personal diary.

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Do people go on disability for fibromyalgia? I know it can be painful, but so much so that one can't work at all? That I hadn't heard. There are treatments for it like elavil or lyrica for instance.

I think age is a major factor. I also think it depends on how healthy you are before/ during diagnosis. For example, Obesity + Fibro can take a severe toll on the body to the point of severe disability.

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