WHET Fibromyalgia?

It’s been overshadowed by Long Covid.

"Anxiety" and "gluten intolerance" became much more glamorous.

They're much more dramatic and call much more attention to the person than a non-directional pain to the touch.

When I was a kid, my Aunt had fibromyalgia and was unable to work, so she got disability. My Mom would always talk shit behind her back about faking it so that she could remain forever unemployed.

A friend of mine was always complaining about his fibromyalgia but he never talks about it anymore.

[quote]It’s been overshadowed by Long Covid.

And POTS, hypermobility syndrome, AuDHD, etc.

So tender to the touch….

Wee awl heave plaque psoriasis neow.

Yep Ehlers Danlos for the win

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is so much more than just being a tired person.

Well don't look at me, I just have early trauma

Just sitting here, doom scrolling with my developmental trauma yo

Karenface Thread.

What does WHET stand for?

R12

Whatever Happened To but someone long ago transposed the E and the H and a legend was born.

Ah, thanks NPO. Wasn't quite sure that was it's meaning.

One of the primary drugs initially used to treat fibromyalgia was originally developed as an antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication in addition to pain reliever.

It's been overshadowed by incompetent Pete Hegseth.

R15 Like Traxadone which was developed for depression but now is used primarily as a sleep aid.

Everyone now being somewhere on the Spectrum has distracted them from physical pain.

I was molested.

fibromyalgia is one of the fastest growing autoimmune/syndromes/illnesses on the planet. men are even being diagnosed, and we’re not even hysterical!

[quote]men are even being diagnosed, and we’re not even hysterical!

Well, get with the program!

They all died.

Fibromyalgia was one of the most talented imaginary illnesses ever. She also (claimed to have) had a lot of pain and struggle throughout her life. Despite that, she had a good heart, which is hard to encounter in a feigned disease. At a time when gay people were oppressed beyond belief, they identified with her struggles for validation, and she theirs.

Most parents test for it in utero now and have elective abortions if the genetic test is positive. .it's gradually disappearing.

It makes me happy that people are no longer tender to the touch!

What about gluten intolerance?

Quelle surprise R23

Everyone I know who has fibromyalgia thinks it's an autoimmune (or inflammatory) disease but it's not. It would be easier to successfully treat if it were, but the research has never gone anywhere.

Weirdly, autoimmune diseases are trendy right now, especially lupus. A rheumatologist friend is confused by the number of young female patients she sees who are crestfallen when they're told they don't have lupus, which isn't only rare but is also one of the nastiest diseases she treats.

There's so much processed garbage foods and microplastics everywhere, it's no wonder we have all kinds of new diseases. I'm just glad to be on the downhill slide, this world has gone down the shitter.

About 20 years ago I painted several rooms in my house and the ceilings. I woke up one morning a my chest felt smashed - or like a boa constrictor was wrapped around my chest. It was agony. It was hard to breathe, drive, sit, awful. I thought I was dying. I went to several doctors that acted like I was crazy or a drug seeker. On good doctor diagnosed me with costochondritis. It lasted exactly 10 months and then it went away and never came back. It was awful while it lasted.

Fibromyalgia is too difficult to put in a tweet or Instagram post or TikTok hashtag. It’s all about short acronyms now. #ADHD #neurodiv

Agreed. And the spelling’s tough to remember, too.

We could see if [bold]#myalg [/bold]catches in - but I don’t have high hopes.

R33 made me laugh. You could also add #warrior.

I built a cozy ski chalet in Saas Fee with my Morgellons fibres

People might be able to remember the (partial) spelling “myalgi” … MY + ALGI. It even kind of rolls off the tongue.

[bold]#MyalgiWarrior [/bold]

As a tattoo it could be quite the icebreaker!

I have fibromyalgia. I havent told many people. Ive maneuvered my work life around it, so im not on disability or anything. There's 3 parts to it; low mood, exhaustion and pain. If i go out for a night drinking, i have to make sure theres nothing the following day that is very important. I never have energy. The pain just appears in the most randomn parts of my body. Sometimes i could cry with the tiredness, and at one point I thought i had Narcolepsy as my body slowly goes to sleep, like someone slipped something in my drink. My mood is generally low. I find myself trying to save energy so its there for work stuff. Theres been a new idea, that We dont ever go into REM sleep; and so our bodys dont regenerate properly. Ironically i eat so well, as diet is the Only thing to give you a decent start. So i look really good; which doesnt help people understand that youre actually sick. I dont tell people, i just get on with things, but since covid (lockdown was a godsend, i was so burnt out) ive started to say No to people. Before i used to believe if i said no, it was beating me. Ive just woken up, mood is ok, tiredness is ok but ive been in bed since 5pm yesterday) but the pain in my body has me lying here, even though i need to pee. I spend a fortune on rubs like Deep heat and Voltarol but u start rubbing it on one body part then another and its gone so quickly; at 14 quid a tube. A pill called Tramadol helps, but its hard to get, only on prescription but also makes me very sleepy. Mostly i wud beat myself up, believing im not as motivated as others or even that im lazy or depressed. My DR was old and didnt believe in Fibromyalgia so i only got diagnosed a few years ago. Anyways, i think this may be the post i eventually put on my social media as it wud make life a lot easier if people just know im Still getting life done, achieving, being successful despite this crap. But today is a good day. 😁

It’s all about Gender Dysphoria today.

Ehlers-Danlos is where it’s at!

Team ‘Chronic Anal Warts’ here.

If I ever developed the symptoms that people diagnosed with fibromyalgia describe, there is no way I’d accept that diagnosis. If I was that sick and unable to function, I’d say keep looking until you find something.

…and over this BS.

What about my child's peanut allergy??! If they even SMELL peanuts, they go into a coma!

A college has CFS. He's always been an energetic overachiever, so it's easy to dismiss the skepticism that accompanies the diagnosis. He 's an academic and has made the study of it one of his life's works--like I said, he's an energetic overachiever, so it's just one of multiple lines of reserach.

R29: Autoimmune-related diseases are not easy to treat.

There’s nothing more annoying than people whose weaknesses and limitations do not mirror your own.

Since Ginny in Billing became George in Billing and had his prosthetic cock installed, the fibromyalgia symptoms have magically disappeared.

It went the way of multiple personalities.

I suffer from GAD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I'm literally crying and shaking in response to EVERYTHING!

Sticking with my Lupus

R29 I blame Flannery O’Connor—but I blame her for most thingsx

I can only speak for myself, but my neurodivergence takes precedence over my fibro.

[quote] A pill called Tramadol helps, but its hard to get, only on prescription but also makes me very sleepy.

Same here! My fibro melts away when I get my hands on schedule 4 drugs. What's even better is 20 mg of Vicodin chased by a mug of white wine. (Not red, because red gives me migraines).

[quote][R29]: Autoimmune-related diseases are not easy to treat.

Quite a few are easier to treat now than they ever have been in the past. I've had one since I was a toddler in the 1980s and there was little in my doctor's arsenal then but steroids and a few ineffective DMARDs. My quality of life was terrible for decades and I spent a lot of time in the hospital. Biologics have been a huge game-changer for many autoimmune conditions, with the added bonus of being targeted therapies that aren't always as harsh on the rest of the system as older treatments.

I'll have fibromyalgia again when I need some extra attention

She had fibromyalgia and her body is in a ditch by the railroad tracks.

Disease du jour rotation has been going on forever.

I am fortunate enough to have avoided fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, lupus, multiple personality disorder and even restless leg syndrome.

My real fear is being crushed by falling space junk.

Stanky puss.

Are you tender to the touch op?

I had a doctor incorrectly suspect I had lupus once. I had some tests done and I didn’t. It was just a rosacea rash which is much easier to take care of. That shit is terrifying and you could die. I don’t know why people want lupus.

I have a TRANS KID! Aren't I doing enough?

Marry me, R51.

I have all of these diseases!

Claim brain cancer or go home.

People call it chronic pain now

I think there are a few people who abuse the system, so to speak, but auto immune diseases are real.

Rheumatoid arthritis is very real. I have permanently deformed joints to prove it.

[quote]Rheumatoid arthritis is very real. I have permanently deformed joints to prove it.

That's one of the biggest things people don't understand about autoimmune diseases, the magnitude of the damage they can cause. Among Lena Dunham types on social media there's also a lot of confusion about how flares work and how the immune system works in general.

[quote] I had a doctor incorrectly suspect I had lupus once. I had some tests done and I didn’t. It was just a rosacea rash which is much easier to take care of. That shit is terrifying and you could die. I don’t know why people want lupus.

Seriously. Are posters really that clueless about diseases like Lupus? I watched my beloved aunt, a kinder person you will never meet, die of it at 53. It's a painful, prolonged death. Six months later my face broke out in a butterfly rash which is a classic symptom of Lupus. I rush to a doctor (fortunately a good one) in terror. He takes one look at me and says it's rosacea, get outta here.

Fibromyalgia is not an autoimmune disorder. It's a mental condition that afflicts fat lazy females who want an excuse to avoid working.

Some claim Epstein-Barr virus can be the cause or play a role. I know I was sore after blacking out at Epstein's bar!

That Roseanne Barr disease?

Fibromyalgia developed agoraphobia, and can't leave the house.

I honestly cannot make up my mind about fibromyalgia. It sounds real to me, and I've known someone who had it, but there is so much stuff out there making fun of it as a "fake" and a psychological syndrome in people who want attention that I can't help doubting. I'm not usually that easily swayed. Is it because there's no incontrovertible diagnostic test to confirm it, or that the diagnosis seems to be based on self-reported symptoms? Maybe people should quit sounding off on things they're not sure about either. If it's real, you're making life harder for the people who have it.

I'm fairly tender to the touch myself, since I have RA (not self-diagnosed, lol), but I'm lucky and it's pretty mild. I get away with the standard baseline drugs and don't have to use biologics.

What about the gobloots?

On social media, there's a woman I follow with appalled fascination. She also has "anxiety" and makes it sound like a disease like MS, as well as neuropathy, "chronic pain," long COVID, and most recently ADHD (a form of neurodivergence), which she blames for losing the latest in a long series of jobs. She lives with (lives off) her mother and blames her for many of her problems.

Last August she started a GoFundMe for, just, like, you know, life. Goal was $8,000 and she raised ... $25.

BUT SHE'S NEURODIVERGENT!

R31

About six years ago, I was in an intense gym class when all of a sudden, I had an excruciating pain on the left side of my chest. I have very low blood pressure, I’m in great health, and have no family heart disease history but it was horrible and sudden. My friends were concerned enough to walk me out of class and make me call my husband, who is an internist. He was concerned by how I sounded - I couldn’t breathe without pain - so sent me to the ER to get tests run.

Of course, nothing was wrong, heartwise, but we ultimately discovered that I had torn an intercostal muscle…similar to your diagnosis, so I completely empathize with that pain. It’s so bad. And it took forever to go away.

Every so often, I’ll feel a twinge in the same spot and get anxious.

It became “Remote Working,” OP.

Quit your bitching! A little brain worm didn’t hold me back.

My cousin died of lupus in her late 50's. It is a terrible way to live and a terrible way to die. Very sad.

Science happened.

[quote]Brain imaging can distinguish fibromyalgia patients from healthy controls with high sensitivity and specificity, according to two papers published nearly simultaneously in Pain late last summer, by groups at the Universities of Colorado and Michigan, respectively.

"distinguish fibromyalgia patients from fakes" - FIFY

However, this test is not considered final and is used in conjunction with other evidence (patient interviews). New technologies need time to be adopted. 😂🤣😂🤣

That reminds me of Lupus Hochenfloogen, the first and only massage therapist for livestock in Minnesota history. We lost him in the great cramp.

Ok I’ll own up to it. I have fibromyalgia. It sucks. It’s real.

But now that most doctors won’t Rx opioids for it anymore the number of people who have it are…fewer. Markedly fewer. Back when it was an excuse to get opioids there were a lot more people who were “tender to the touch”.

Fibromyalgia may be real, but I bet 95% of the people claiming they have it are fakes.

The "neurodivergent" gal at r76 has had a busy 24 hours:

[quote]I'll just be crying for the rest of the foreseeable future if anyone needs me I guess

[quote]I had a credit for Uber Eats and I used it and the person delivered my food to the wrong house. And now they won't bring it back or give me a refund. I'm so hungry and I'm going to cry.

She also set up an Amazon wish list for her nine-year-old, which strangely includes several $40 Kiehl's beauty products.