What do you think of fibromyalgia?

Nurses Stress 101

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What do my colleagues here think of fibromyalgia? It's sufferers seem to mainly women. I'm very skeptical about it. Is it a psychological disorder? I don't mean to dis anyone here, please forgive me, but every patient I've ever taken care of with this disorder strikes me as neurotic. Since there is no actual lab test the definitively confirms the diagnosis, I remain suspicious regarding this disorder.

What do you know about this condition?

Sorry if I come across as defensive, but until a person experiences the very real, sometimes almost unbearable pain of fibromyalgia, that person will not understand what it feels like. Just because someone with fibromyalgia doesn't "look" sick, doesn't mean they are not miserable.

EXACTLY! I have interstitial cystitis and the pain can be unbearable. While I'm handing my resident their Norco and it is 5 minutes late they throw a temper tantrum. Meanwhile I'm standing there on my feet being yelled at while my bladder is on FIRE, but I walk around with a smile on my face. I put up a GOOD front. Thank God that after 8 years of having it, I finally found a good doctor and clinical nurse specialist that understand my pain. I get bladder instillations, and now my pain is at least bearable and I can finally start to fall asleep and not wake up every 45 minutes because of the pain.

Some responses on this thread sicken me.

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No one on here is an expert on Fibro and whether it is or isn't real. It's all just opinions. However if you have fibro it is VERY real to you and not "all in your head" as has been suggested by speculators in the medical field.

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Specializes in Oncology.
No one on here is an expert on Fibro and whether it is or isn't real. It's all just opinions. However if you have fibro it is VERY real to you and not "all in your head" as has been suggested by speculators in the medical field.

I think "all in your head" is a phrase that gets more of a bad rap than it deserves. The mind-body link is strong. Even illnesses with well understood physical physiology are strongly effected by emotional/mental things. I know I can work myself into an asthma attack if I'm very emotional, even if that emotion is positive, like excitement or humor. We all know that stress exacerbates hypertension, angina, and even hypercholemia. I know my blood sugars are harder to control in stressful circumstances. I know a disappointment or being sad can trigger a migraine. I don't think saying that fibromyalgia can be triggered by emotional factors is discounting how much it affects people suffering with it.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I don't have it but I have coworkers who do. You'd never know by looking at any of them that they suffer from it.

Pain is whatever the person says it is. The pain of fibromyalgia is very real to them, and just because there's no obvious cause to the pain doesn't mean their report of pain should be discounted.

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I think "all in your head" is a phrase that gets more of a bad rap than it deserves. The mind-body link is strong. Even illnesses with well understood physical physiology are strongly effected by emotional/mental things. I know I can work myself into an asthma attack if I'm very emotional, even if that emotion is positive, like excitement or humor. We all know that stress exacerbates hypertension, angina, and even hypercholemia. I know my blood sugars are harder to control in stressful circumstances. I know a disappointment or being sad can trigger a migraine. I don't think saying that fibromyalgia can be triggered by emotional factors is discounting how much it affects people suffering with it.

But no one is denying that one has angina or hypercholemia. Absolutely stress exacerbates symptoms. But they exacerbate symptoms of a condition that already exist. Not the other way around.

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Specializes in Emergency, ICU.
Yoga has been a big help to me too.

Anne

The two family members I mentioned in my earlier post actually are not related (both are in my family via marriage). They also don't really know each other.

They both have this illness and came to similar treatments after years of being:

1) ignored and treated like loonies by some doctors or

2) mid-diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or whatever phrase kind of fit.

Today, both have changed their lifestyles to a clean living type of thing and also practice yoga and meditation. They both feel taking control of their physical well being helped them tremendously.

Both still have pain daily, but flare ups are rare now. I think the mind and the body are deeply connected and can work for or against each other.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Case Management.

I was given this diagnosis several years ago. A few years later, I was also diagnosed, nearly simultneously, with diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disease, and arthrittis. A couple of years after that, I broke my leg in a freak accident, and developed compartment syndrome, which beat childbirth and kidney stones hands down for severe pain I wouldnt wish on anyone. The broken leg and its aftermath increased my pain tolerance. What used to be pain I would rate 6 or 7 is now a 3 in my mind. The everyday pains are still there, but now I never get the flares where I have excruciating muscle pains all over my body

anymore.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

The ignorance and judgmental attitude admitted by the OP in this thread is really disheartening.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
The ignorance and judgmental attitude admitted by the OP in this thread is really disheartening.

OP not only asked what many, MANY healthcare providers have questioned, but did so in an open, honest way, whole admitting some skepticism. He/she has added responses over the life of the thread indicating an openness to new ideas & thought processes.

Truly, toomuchbaloney, your response is the most judgmental by far (so far).

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Specializes in Oncology.
The ignorance and judgmental attitude admitted by the OP in this thread is really disheartening.

This has been the most civil, respectful discussion on this topic I've ever seen amongst healthcare providers.

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Specializes in ER.

I've been impressed by the great input here. I tried to be respectful in expressing my concerns here. No one overreacted to my initial statement, but instead, shared their personal experiences. That's so much more effective than going on the attack!

Thanks you all for the excellent discussion.

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Specializes in Public Health.

To the skeptics, the scientific method is there for a reason. All of science is there to help us understand our environment.

The stress response does indeed exacerbate existing conditions, the body's response to stress hormones is a chemical one. Until we understand what causes consciousness, we cannot answer this question.

The nervous system is still a bodily system, psychological problems ARE physical problems because chemicals, emotions, etc are physical tangible things.

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