Wednesday, January 26, 2011

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

P.S. Please "Follow" Chronicles Of Fibromyalgia on Networked Blogs on Facebook (link from my badge on the right). Thanks!

10 comments:

  1. I don't know why I feel like crying but I do. Leah. You. Speak. It. All. I appreciate you and your crusade. Let's keep going!

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  2. I wish I could remember some of that when I am actually in a doctors office! I have had instances of ONLY asking for a referral to a new doc and was told because in the past I had taken pain meds, that if I was just here looking for drugs Id have to go elsewhere.... so much disrespect for no good reason. I wish there was more we could all do when we get treated like this, instead of them making us out to be crazies.

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  3. Well you know what, I used to kind of roll my eyes when someone said they had Fibro... I thought it was one of those jump-on-the-bandwagon, feel-sorry-for-me fads.... until I got it.

    Now... I *KNOW* it's real. Very real. And now being on the flip side of the coin... know how it feels to not be believed or taken seriously.

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  4. Blue Lou there will be!It is one of my 13,000 projects I have going on right now...

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  5. Leah, I think every person involved with the decision making of social security disability needs to read your blog! Fibromyagia is not yet recognized by social security as disabling! That leaves us fibromyalgia sufferers to qualify because of other conditions which are less torturous than fibromyalgia. I would love the fibromyalgia crusade to start knocking on the doors of politicians as well as beat the doctor's doors down! I would be willing to help but don't know where to begin! Any ideas oh, mighty leader? Lee Ann

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  6. We are getting this Crusade off the ground, in Fibro time (always a little slower than the rest of the world) but there will be MANY ways we are going to attack and force our voices to be heard. Stay tuned!

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  7. I absolutely hate it when doctors say that it isn't terminal or life threatening. They obviously haven't dealth with the depression that comes FROM the symptoms. It makes you not want to live sometimes. I've come closer to death than they will ever know.

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  8. I find it unbelievable and sad that they dont take Fibromyalgia seriously but recognize things such as Hypochondria as a legit mental illness. I have care for people with Fibromyalgia and I can tell that their symptoms were not just in their head and their pain was and is very much real.

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  9. I Applaud you Leah. I thank GOD for you!
    Thanks for being the voice for all that are trying to conquer this affliction named Fibromyalgia. Go get Em CRUSADER !

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  10. hi leah,i just found your blog,ive had fibromyalgia for about 6 years,but was only diagnosed last year after insisting my dr refer me to a rheumatologist.I ended up going to two different ones as the first didnt want to diagnose me! I also have hms and costochondritis.Fibro has taken most things from me,i cant work,and i cant hardly walk.People say that fibro is not progressive,but i and others i know with fibro believe it is,as we've all deteriorated,despite maintaining as active lives as we're able to.Did it take long for you to get diagnosed? Im trying to manage my fibro through meds which arent helping much,but ive tried them all,and also tried acupuncture,massage,reiki,physio with three different physios,swimming etc with no luck.

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