Fibromyalgia Is Not Santa Claus Or The Easter Bunny

Fibromyalgia is not something one can just choose to believe or not believe in. It astounds and confuses me that many in the medical profession have taken this attitude. The medical community named Fibromyalgia when patients started coming to them with a new set of symptoms none of their existing diagnostics could categorize. That was many years ago and sadly the number of Fibromyalgia patients keeps growing and growing, as does the number of doctors that don't want to deal with us. I cannot comprehend the logic that resides in our medical community. Doctors, researchers and scientists know full well that new illnesses and diseases spring up constantly. They challenge existing schools of thought, methods of diagnosis and categories of classification. Yet because this ailment they named Fibromyalgia is not terminal or readily diagnosable with existing diagnostics it has become a phantom illness, something one can choose to believe or not believe in. I just don't understand...

Mr. and Ms. Doubting Doctor, there is something wrong with me. Quite frankly I don't care what you want to call it, but dismissing me, degrading me, calling me a liar with your refusal to believe I am actually suffering with intense, severe and life-altering symptoms is blatant disrespect. The "I don't treat Fibromyalgia patients" attitude only shows what a limited and ignorant professional you are. Your refusal to acknowledge what your superiors have named Fibromyalgia goes to prove your continuing education is NOT up to date. Have you learned anything new since graduating from medial school? Do you not read JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine, the variety of other medical journals that keep your knowledge relevant and current? Do you not attend conferences and lectures to continue learning as the fields of medicine and science progress? Shame on you for practicing in a field that requires constant re-education to remain a viable practitioner of medicine when you do not have the heart to understand its progression.

Your flippant "I don't believe in Fibromyalgia" attitude has done MAJOR harm to a large and growing number of patients that are very sick. It has spread doubt amongst their families and friends, those they depend on for support. It has caused undue hardship from employers and disability assessors as each person struggles to continue to support themselves while experiencing constant and pervasive pain, to name just one symptom of Fibromyalgia. The pure emotional and psychological anguish the impact your attitude of disbelief has caused Fibromyalgia patients is, in and of itself, a violation of the Hippocratic Oath. You have done plenty of harm to the patients that suffer from a central nervous system sensitivity that results in a heightened sensation of severe body pain, deep sleep disturbances, cognitive impairment and confusion and other myriad of symptoms, regardless of what name you want to give it. So unlike Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, the illness that has been named Fibromyalgia is real, as real as the air you are breathing into your lungs right now. It is not something you can just decide if you want to believe in. It does exist. So take a moment to educate yourself on this confusing, understudied and currently incurable ailment because it is indeed real, regardless of what name you want to give it.

Thanks for joining,

Leah

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