Chatelaine FM Article: Re: Article...what a step backwards for FMS education ...

» Windancr19 - Re: Article...what a step backwards for FMS education ...

For the first time in a long while, I am simply speechless. I just finished reading the above article Michelle talks about. At the very least, it is contradictory. On one hand, Gibson-Elliot (or whatever her name is) , states that those women who "work" ( as in a job or career) manage their overall FMS symptoms in a much more healthy way, and do not play the victim role the label of "Fibromyalgia" places on people diagnosed by physicians who just don't know exactly what is wrong with patients who seek their help for the *PRE-EXISTING* symptoms that drove them to seek relief in the first place. So, does the diagnosis of "fibromyalgia" create a self-perpetuating or, if you will, a "self-fulfilling prophecy" of a lifetime of unresolved illness? I resent that implication. I have NOT read ONE post here or on any other site in which I have found this to be true. Quite the contrary, in fact. Most of the posts here and on other sites usually deal with pro-active problem solving, giving support, and helping others to cope with this very real disease, always imparting hope. In fact, I felt guilty the first time, when in unbearable agony for 2 months straight, I vented same on this site, for rarely do I see this. Hence, I simply am hard pressed to find people who perpetuate a negative cycle, thus keeping themselves "ill" as she implies. Then, towards the end of the article, we are told that this same "researcher" mentioned above, finally found some relief from her FMS symptoms when she STOPPED working, (uh, excuse me, but , in my fibro-fogged brain, isn't this a direct contradiction to what she stated earlier , as related above??? ) She even goes on to say that she realizes she is lucky to have a husband to support her, thus, she has no financial worries to plague her, as she concentrates on her new daughter , and working only a few hours from home each week. Helllloooo?????? And, the final insult to our intelligence is the last paragraph.... she has now developed a "rash on her head and pain in her hands" , and had to seek out medical intervention once again... only to receive a *different* diagnosis this time, one much more positive, it seems, *psoriatic (sp) arthritis*. Now, that would certainly make ME feel better, how about yall??? As the saying goes, " a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet." What a set-back for those of us with this hellish disease...as if it isn't hard enough to get our own families to believe what we endure, now the general public is fed this destructive slant on the information available, and we wonder why we are not taken seriously by those who love and know us, much less strangers.

Windancr19 ~~~~~~~~ Annie

-- posted by Windancr19