Pages

25 February 2012

Fibromyalgia and Arthritis


First of all, I want to again extend condolences to Andrea Boeschaar on the loss of her mother to cancer this past week.  Diana, Teresa, and I ask our readers to continue to pray for Andrea.  Diana and I know first hand how difficult a time this is to get over our mothers’ deaths. 


Weekend topic: Fibromyalgia
If you missed Andrea Boeschaar’s post on dealing with fibromyalgia, go back to Monday of this week.  She has a lot of wisdom about dealing with a chronic illness.

When I first got diagnosed with arthritis and told I had fibromyalgia (later confirmed as RA) I was urged to get Arthritis Today   the magazine of the Arthritis Foundation.  I am surprised by the number of people who do not know about this premier source of information about arthritic inflammatory conditions, including fibromyalgia.  The issues are usually pretty evenly balanced among the various types of arthritic conditions.  There are a bunch of great resources within the website, including one for ease of use products   You can also sign up to follow them for dailytips from the Arthritis Foundation on Twitter.

If you are someone being treated for fibromyalgia, keep in mind that many people with this are eventually diagnosed as having sero-negative Rheumatoid Arthritis.  And don't listen to people, including medical doctors(!) who refer to the condition as a waste-basket diagnosis, as someone recently told a friend of mine.  One way to keep up-to-date with the research is to get the magazine and to also check the website for the Arthritis Foundation. 

Thank you, again, Andrea for opening your heart and sharing your story with us.  And we will keep praying as your continue your journey in overcoming, through time, with God's help.

Our winner will be announced Sunday afternoon in the comments section below.

14 comments:

  1. Thank you for the post, Carrie. I feel that fibromyalgia is one of the most misdiagnosed and misunderstood diseases there is. I can't tell you the number of people who I have heard say that there is no such thing as fibro. My sister has it and her family thinks it's something the drs. have made up b/c they don't know what is wrong with her. They feel like she just needs to get over it.

    My neighbor's poor daughter is just in her 30s and is in so much pain some days she just can't get out of bed, and I know many people just don't understand it, or perhaps thinks it's all in her mind. Thankfully she has found a good medical facility that is helping her with her symptoms. Thank you, Andrea, and Carrie, for raising awareness of this debilitating disease.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for this information about Fibromyalgia and the Arthritis Foundation. When I was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago, it seemed like doctors wanted to call fibro "all in your head." Thank God for my husband who believed in me and my determination that chronic illness was not going to define me. I've ordered the magazine to try to keep up with what's new and Andrea's book because I've often contemplated the plight of the women who have endured in previous generations.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I didn't know about Andrea's mother. I'm so sorry. I'll pray for her and her family. And I"m forwarding her post to a friend of mine who has Fibromyalgia. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tell your neighbor to make sure the daughter sees a rheumatologist and that they check for RA or Lupus, too, DIANA. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I send my sympathy and prayers to Andrea and her family. I have been using the magazine and website as a source of information for quite some time.Thank you for the feedback.
    ldwrncpn@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  6. CINDY, there are misinformed docs who still say nonsense like that. I think some of them might really mean that you have to rule out everything else before you go with that diagnosis. Also, many people diagnosed with fibro end up over in the Lupus or RA or spondylitis diagnoses. "You are going to find some GREAT stories in the Arthritis Foundation's magazine.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MARYLU, DIANA and I felt terrible when we found out why our sweet ANDREA was not around early in the week. And since we had both lost our own mothers within the past couple of years you can imagine how we felt. Keep praying for her.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LORI, feel free to send me a FB msg privately or email as to your reason for getting the magazine. There are so many people who have inflammatory conditions who don't even realize this magazine is available. I love the stuff from AF.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have fibro, as does my mom, both of her siblings and numerous of her first cousins. So far I only have one first cousin with it. But I only have three cousins total on her side. My dad (an internist) treats both of us and was part of the first "wave" of doctors to recognize it as a real condition and treat it as such, way back in 1997 when it was still whispered about in elevators at his medical conferences.

    I don't exactly hide it, but I don't go around talking about it a lot either. I get two reactions. One: Have you tried such-and-such, read this book, been checked to see if you have a leaky gut, etc. Grr. Two: What's that? Thankfully I have never heard it's all in your head, and if I did the person saying it would get a heaping bowlful of what-for.

    I do pretty good most days and manage it with only one daily prescription med, Aleve, glucosamine and muscle relaxers when I need them. I'm having a bad evening right now with lots of pain in my arms, but it's mostly the weather and the fact I didn't sleep too good last night combined with peeling potatoes and sweeping.

    I'm also in the camp that makes the disease even more mystifying. I literally do not remember ever being able to sleep normally, or my muscles not aching somewhere. And I have no traumatic event that started the symptoms. For my mom it was losing her dad in 1996 and moving on the one year anniversary.

    ReplyDelete
  10. RACHEL, I am so sorry to hear that. I have to take back something that I said in that it was a family doctor who gave me appropriate treatment in GA rather than the rheumatologist I saw, who was a rude jerk. My family doc gave me meds that would treat either RA or fibro and they gave me some relief. I am with a great Rheum. practice now. I had pain, too, from the time I was a little kid but of course back in the olden days they just thought I was whining. I was. But I had a reason because I was in pain. Praying your night goes better!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Another great article, Carrie. Thanks for being so open. Rachel, I'm so sorry you are suffering tonight. I'll be saying a prayer for you. Carrie, looking forward to checking out your links. Thanks!

    Debbie Lynne

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank You Carrie for this article, there are a lot of people that suffer from both of these illnesses. Thank you for sharing about the resources that are available.

    ReplyDelete
  13. CONGRATS to our winner, LORI WELLER, for a giveaway of one of Andrea's books! Will send you an email, also!

    ReplyDelete

Google Analytics