1. You get to lay in bed all day because Fibromyalgia is fake
You get to lay in bed all day and eat marshmallows while watching Mexican soap operas. There is certainly no pain involved because after all you are faking it. Really it’s great to watch everyone else go on with their lives while you sit in bed hopped up on painkillers (you are a druggy after all). If only everyone could be so lucky. Fibromyalgia is definitely fake.
As much as healthy people like to think being too sick to get out of bed would be a nice rest, it's actually hard to watch everyone go on with their daily lives when you cannot Click To Tweet2. You get to see your doctor every single month even though Fibromyalgia is fake
It’s so much fun to go sit in the waiting room for hours in those stiff chairs, it certainly doesn’t exacerbate your condition at all. It’s even better to be regularly reminded that you are fat and that you need to exercise more and that your pain is just all in your head. Everyone needs to be told on a regular basis that they are fat and that it’s their fault. You even get to waste money you don’t have on the $300 doctor’s bill. Paying the doctor who didn’t help you is really awesome. I love that Fibromyalgia is so fake that I can be *gaslighted by doctors who don’t take me seriously.
*Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment.
3. You get to pay for outrageously expensive medicine
You get to take lots of prescription medicine which costs a lot and works very little. Nothing can beat taking more pills than an 80-year-old. There is just an amazing thrill of looking at your 10 bottles of medicine and trying to remember what to take when. It’s even better when you have to go to the pharmacy to buy a pill organizer and the check-out person asks if you’re buying it for your grandma. It’s a good thing this fake disease is preparing you for when you are an old person, you’re going to be a pro at this “sick” thing. One day all your friends in the nursing home are going to come to you for advice.
4. You don’t have to socialize with people ever
You can actually go weeks without seeing anyone! As everyone knows, it’s great to stay home all day every day completely immobilized. After all, no one actually likes going out with their friends and having fun. Really we all just want to stay home in bed and not experience anything ever! It’s truly an introvert’s dream.
5. You get to sponge off other people
It’s really enjoyable to not have to work and to sponge off others who would never make you feel guilty about it. You’re privileged to spend years fighting to get minuscule disability benefits (if you can afford a disability lawyer), which you probably can’t. Oh well, what’s wrong with mooching a little bit more? If you can get disability benefits you get to live the life of luxury on $900 a month. You really get to live high on the town with that kind of money. While you’re waiting for appeal after appeal to go through you get to sponge off whomever you want! You never feel guilt though because you have no conscience. You truly are the luckiest person in the world.
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This is very clearly satire. Feel free to rage comment before reading the article.
Nailed it!! 😉 Just found your blog via a friend (worldofjayce)…Looking forward to connecting with it! ~Brynn, Lupus Interrupted
At first I thought that you were bashing us fibros. Then I realized where you were going with it. You are right, There is nothing fun about fibro! I used to be a social butterfly and now im so bored and wishing I was with family and friends.
I take great joy in the fact that when someone googles "fibromyalgia is fake" this blog post comes up on the first page of hits =) Maybe someday my sarcasm will change someone's mind!
Wow I very nearly come in hot on you there! Hahaha. I have fibromyalgia and 6 other incurable illnesses I’m also currently being tested for Cushing’s disease and so far the testing is coming back positive. Having a really rough time lately your most is spot on and in a horrible way it’s nice to know I’m not alone. Keep your head up x
Thank you for this! Could have written it myself! ❤️
Thank you for this! Could have written it myself! ❤️
I was getting very angry when I first read the title. Its like don’t knock it til you have try it. Fibro. Don’t say its not real until you’ve spent days in bed.Hurting like you have the worse case of the flu that could be imagined.Losing precious time with the ones you love. Its real its real.
I purposely made the title inflammatory because I get tons of google queries for “fibromyalgia is fake.” I really enjoy that they get directed to my website, and hope that maybe they learn a little something about how ridiculous it is to think Fibromyalgia isn’t real. No one in their right mind would pick this disease!
Hi, ive had fibro since 1998 , at first the doctors thought i had lupus, it took almost 10 years for them to diagnose my illness. Im a hot mess now.. Thanks to chronic fatigue , sore muscles, bones ,even my skin hurts. Unfinished projects that i start when i feel good. No this is not fake! What really makes me mad is when ignorant people say ” You dont look sick” Wow! If you only knew! Keep your heads up fibro brothers and sisters and keep moving it could be worse. Luv Auntigrama
I hate that too. I look like a totally normal person even when my pain is at it’s worth. Too many people view disability as something that’s easily invisible, which makes it really hard for those of us with invisible illnesses.
Whoever wrote this ignorant comment must be uneducated! If you don’t believe Fibromyalgia is not a real chronic condition, please take mine. I would love to share my pain, Fibro fog, and the ability to form a complete sentence. Do some research and stop saying stupid shit that you know nothing about! Idiot! Your first priority should be to get an education! #facts!
Whoa. The person who wrote this blog is being sarcastic. They have fibromyalgia and know it is terrible.
Hello! I am researching fibromyalgia for a paper I'm working for my graduate program in health communication. A major focus of my paper is discussing the terrible stigmas associated with fibro, and number one with a bullet is this notion that it's "fake." Sure enough, I googled "fibromyalgia is fake", and your wonderful page came up. I don't have fibromyalgia and only know one person with it, but in my past month of researching, my heart pours out to all those afflicted, and I just feel so upset when I see some of the terrible things strewn across the internet – I can't image how it would make you and your peers feel.
Just wanted to thank you for this great post. I wish you the best of luck & good health!! 🙂
if you are doing a research about this Fake disease, then maybe you should do a research about what really cause these symptoms. fibromyalgia & Lupus are fake disease made to protect doctors from malpractices. these disease are like a garbage disposal and the doctor will use them when they don’t know what to tell you and don’t want you to come back and sue them for malpractice.
I know the people who suffer from these diseases are actually in pain and they have so many symptoms. most of people who suffer from these diseases don’t recover or cure from these disease simply because the doctor giving them medications that wont cure the disease (since they don’t know what is it).
as a research person you need to search for facts and see if there is vitamin , nutritional or environmental factors that cause these symptoms. doctors has an ego and they will tell you things with certainty and sometimes will act like if they are GOD and they know it all and have control over everything, but they don’t.
my recommendations for anyone who suffer from either So called fibromyalgia or Lupus to take charge of your life, change your diet , change our routine, try to eat organic, walk, drink water, incorporate Olive oil & Honey in your diet. Don’t rely on your doctors they are human and make mistakes, the difference, doctors will never admit they wrong because they don’t like to be sued. and each patient will be just a collateral damage.
fibromyalgia & Lupus are fake diseases
Dear best advice,
You’re an idiot. It took me 20 years to FINALLY get a diagnosis. I HAVE changed my diet. I DO eat clean. I avoid sugar. I exercise. I have tried every suppliment and vitamin if I think it will help! I live in the tops of the mountains to get out of the pollution. I fight my diseases Every. Freaking. Day. . . And yet I still feel like shit most days.
The only thing you have done by replying to this blog is show how uneducated and “un” researched YOU are. I pray to Heaven that your ignorance hasnt caused more sick days for your family member with fibro. But Im betting you contribute to their sick days with your sorry attitude.
I dont usually wish this disease on anyone, but I hope you have the joy of experiencing one or two of the plurality of autoimmune diseases we fight with daily so you can be a walking billboard of irony and perhaps educate others on the idiocy of judging others.
Enjoy your health while you have it. I hear karma is a bitch.
How about you do some research? Lupus can be fatal!
I disagree with you saying Fibro is fake. Fibromyalgia is very real, even you admitted there are many symptoms. But you can’t pretend to know the cause those symptoms. Changing diet and habits might cure something else, but not fibromyalgia.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201026005840/en/EpicGenetics-Announces-Research-Activity-with-Mayo-Clinic-to-Advance-Fibromyalgia-Diagnostics
because you said some really valid stuff there that I’d agree with but as a sufferer of fibro myalgia and other conditions.. As you don’t suffer from fibro nor I expect lupus, you might need to research people with the above conditions and you will find an array of symptoms that correlate with their saud illness.. For example, my best friend has the butterfly rash and has been diagnosed lupus, she’s also exhausted and all the other things.. Myself I have lots of different pains like oil burning, what I call tiger biting leg and exhaustion never remedied by sleep. The pain types are all different and since I’ve read what they are called, I can still see that they are according to my own names due to the way they explain the pain types.. It exists. And it’s crippling and that’s not half the story
Hi M.! I know it’s been three years since you’ve commented, but I’d like to thank you for reaching out to us, and for your kindness.
I am not going to dignify your trolling with much of a response. I'm just going to leave it here as proof of what people with Fibromyalgia have to deal with every day from cowards like you who can't even use their real names.
Well said….trolling indeed 🙂
Thank you! ….and i appreciate your sarcasm. Sometimes its the only thing that can make me laugh on bad days.
To
Unknown and 9032fff8-7f2e-11e5-b66d-4f8091d179e0
Psssssst!!! Your ignorance is showing!!!!
Yes, you are "flying low" and you obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about. Uneducated are we? I don't believe education begins or finishes with traditional school years or a University education for that matter. Education is a lifelong learning experience. You need to get some education on the actual facts instead of allowing your twisted view to permeate the air around you. Actually, maybe if you were to experience auto-immune disease yourself you would perhaps understand what we have to go through and put up with from ignorant people who really don't know what they are talking about. I do think it is probably the only way you will understand this is not a "fake disease". By the way, we don't ask for this diagnosis, it is what we are given by a specialist. I can't take pain meds for my pain either because I have another condition that makes it dangerous for me to do so. I have never taken illegal drugs and I try to go without prescription drugs as much as possible reducing the amount prescribed to half because I am aware of the effects it can have on my health long term, after all, I actually do want to get better, but nothing I have tried so far has worked. I'd question those who diagnosed someone with Fibromyalgia if that person was truly faking it because the majority of us are not!!!
Wow, you lowered yourself with your insults much farther than he did with his rude comment. Maybe next time you should just ignore rude people (then it won't look like he got to you).
Ty for writing this. I take 0 pain meds! None! I was a successful person making very good money. I'm sick now. I have other medical stuff I never had. I would love to go back to work. I can't stand the fact that I'm sick now. It ruined my career, my marriage and almost my life. So screw anyone who thinks we are faking this.
It's weird how you have Lyme disease & Fibro, when Lyme disease can cause many of the symptoms that Fibro supposedly causes. I'm not saying that Fibro isn't real but my wife was diagnosed with it & then it turned out she had Lyme disease.
Tupac, Lyme is so simple to be tested for. It’s a simple blood test. Oh & Lyme doesn’t “cause” Fibro. But, your wife could have both Lyme disease & Fibro. But you know that!
You are absolutely wrong about how easy Lyme disease is to detect.Many Lyme disease blood test have came back negative when the patient in fact was later to be positively diagnosed with Lyme disease.
What a horrible post from the unknown post person. Obviously, that person has no empathy for people who have Fibromyalgia.
That person probably kicks his or her dog, too. Some folks don’t have any empathy, and they base broad-reaching assumptions on a small set of experiences that don’t give a true picture of the reality many suffer on a daily basis. All I can say is I pray they don’t wake up with a chronic condition like fibromyalgia one day themselves because eating “crow” is most unpleasant.
You’re a much better person than I am. Not me; I hope that they DO wake up with fibro. I was a Nurse who wasn’t sure I believed in fibro, but I never, not ever, did I once make any disparaging remarks about fibro patients being liars or malingerers. At worst I thought that they were suffering from aches & pains that went along with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Which brings me to my next point; it may well be a syndrome & not a disease, but we accept many other syndromes as legitimate diagnosis, so why the stigma with this one. It’s been a medical diagnosis since the 70’s, it’s been described in detail since long before that (look up Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton), & has been accepted by the AMA, so it’s the troll that hasn’t done his research & doesn’t have his facts straight; not us. At any rate, there’s no excuse for looking up an illness that you don’t believe in just to get your rocks off by making hateful, vile, disgusting, & rude comments about people that you know nothing about, & furthermore about a medical condition that you have no medical education on. That makes the troll the pathetic one, so we’ll ignore him so he can go back to smacking ice-cream out of kids hands, kicking puppies, & pushing walkers out from underneath old ladies. And yeah; I hope he wakes up with fibro.
I feel the same way
I wouldn’t wish Fibro on anybody, including my ex husband and his new wife for political party leaders that I don’t support. And that’s saying a LOT.
Supposedly there are things in blood work that will show up, along with the other criteria “required” for a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. The three months of pain are a drop in the bucket, and the “tender spots”… well, my spots aren’t exactly in the same place as the “models”, but they’re there, that’s for sure.
For me, the main thing that makes being ill the most frustrating; unpredictability. There is little to no indication just exactly WHAT or WHERE is going to hurt, backfire, or quit operating properly next.
What a horrible post from the unknown post person. Obviously, that person has no empathy for people who have Fibromyalgia.
Yeah, some people just like to troll. I only feel sad for them, because apparently they have nothing better to do with themselves.
I really cannot believe this post I’m like REALLY REALLY .some Eejit that have no absolute clue what the hell there talking about I’m flabbergasted .Well I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia M.E and osteoarthritis 6 years ago but think I have had it longer, so Eejits I have worked most of my life never ever been on benefits and I’m 50 years old and gave up working a year and a half ago I have been in agony and so exhausted I could no longer do it anymore I’ve always been a big girl thyroid problems but I do love my food .my last job I was a Support worker cycling round town seeing to elderly the infirm in there homes in.all weather’s can be predictable in Scotland.but it got to a stage I tried to carry on to the point I was in years on my shift so my husband told me to pack it in .I love music festivals ,dancing ,socialising to I can’t drink anymore I can socialise depending how I am that day so I’m really down as my whole life has changed .So how dare you slag people off with this debilitating condition you ignorant person would not wish it upon anyone .but people like you who have no idea I wish it on you .to all sufferers I’m with you absolutely terrible.
It's a catch all diagnosis. Fact. I don't know what's wrong with you….here… take this diagnosis. There isn't a tool for diagnosis so anyone that can't be diagnosed is…you guessed it… diagnosed with fibro.
Lazy wife syndrome, I have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Fibro. I also work a 40 hour week, you try it.
The reality is, and I see it everyday as a multi-specialty nurse, there are and will always be people who use Dr. Google to determine and self dx themselves. The process for determining true Fibromyalgia is through the process of elimination essentially. Lab work is number one in crossing possibilities off the list. However, I personally know someone who is faking fibromyalgia to keep from working even a part time job. Lives off the system, has stated her children are my financial responsibility, and her parents pay her bills. She’s 49. I see her out doing things that most folks with fibromyalgia “as bad as hers” would never be able to do. So, people do fake it and I find it despicable. Because people such as yourself have to defend those real symptoms and dx as a result! Keep doing what you’re doing.
How do you know she is faking it? Cause she can do something? “I see her out doing things that most folks with fibromyalgia as bad as hers would never be able to do.” How do you know how bad her fibromyalgia is? And why do you assume it would prevent her from doing those things?
I have a coworker who is trying to get disability for hers. She brags about taking all day shopping trips with her Mom and sister. She is so lazy that she won’t even throw her own trash in the trash can at work. She is bubbly and giggles at every man that walks through our office doors. I’m not saying all people fake having it but this woman does. She was recently denied her disability.. So now she’s wanting more hours. They just cut my hours and another coworkers hours foo. But she wants more hours to mooch from the company.
At the age of 18 I was an old, washed up ballerina with a high ANA count and the best insurance money could buy at the time. I saw the heads of the department of Rheumatology at Oregon Health and Sciences University monthly (for three years), and I was being watched for Lupus initially, but had been given a tentative Fibro diagnosis. I was horrendously achy, but also, I was a dancer of 15 years who had been through 7 orthopedic surgeries. I resumed dance during the time I was an OHSU patient.
My statements will be highly controversial, but they are my truth in my life story; I was never intended to live with a lifetime fibro label. Fibro was an excuse for appointments and a lot of nonsense because I had superb insurance. It’s now 12 years later, and I am doing just fine. I ache, but that’s life after being a child and young adult athlete. When I was 19, my pediatric rheumatologist, a professor and absolute expert in the field told me point blank that he did not believe Fibro was an actual disease, and that he didn’t want me to be told and believe that I was sick. I was so offended at the time, but today, I SO appreciate him and his guidance. I was miserable because of the stress my body had been through due to my training, and I had suffered from (as we all most likely do) Mono/EBV. Truly, it was after my bout with mono that things seemed to be harder for me.
My Rheumatologist assured me that Fibro needed more research but wasn’t really looked at the same as any of the other rheumatological diseases by him or his peers.
It’s my opinion that the medical industry (big pharma) was quick to catch on to this malaise of Fibro for the complete purpose of profit. My experience makes me highly skeptical of Fibro, because I saw the very best in the country prior to the days where big pharma drug companies saw this condition as the money maker that it currently is. Everyone I know has Fibro these days. At least that is the truth here in the PNW.
If you are sick, hurting, and in pain, you need a proper diagnosis. I believe in your pain and symptoms! If you aren’t well, there is a reason! I’ve been there personally!!! Fibro is a band-aide, not the best that is out there for you!
For me, my path was something so different, and I’m so grateful to the doctor who sent me down this much better road. To this very day, I still have a high ANA count from time to time, and additional symptoms that lead me to be watched for Lupus. I refuse the label of Fibro and all that goes with it. I have EVERY fibro symptom and those darn sore spots (no joke, I am so tender in so many places). I fight it this by: 1. Faith in Jesus 2. Eating a great diet 3. Getting my rear up for daily exercise (even when it hurts, as it almost always does.) I struggle with fatigue that seeks to stifle me, random fevers that confound me, and pain that seeks to limit me, but I make a choice to fight for a great life. And when I lean towards prayer, good nutrition, and exercise, I do so so much better.
I say this all with love, as my story is just my singular perspective.
My step daughter was diagnosed with Lupus. However she did have a rose colored patch on her face before the diagnosis. After they gave her drugs it is line she swelled up and ended up in the critical care a few time, twice having a procedure to drain her swollen midsection. Another strange thing is found out she drank hard liquor and this diagnoses came after her mom and her had a fight and she moved out fir a month. So her Lupus came after she came back home.. Her mom seems to put unwanted pressure on people because she refuses to take responsibility for herself..I just wonder if any of this had to do with her getting sick??
My step daughter got diagnosed with lupus. Thus was after hearing she was a hard drinker and moved out because of a huge fight with her mom. Moved back in after a month she had been out, then shortly after had A lupus diagnosis.. I wonder if was correct diagnosis. They prescribed pills she was so swollen after then had to go to critical care to be drained.. wonder what us going on. She does not work even though she had fir a while before, then quit. All before this happen?? .
I had never heard of it till they put it as an advertisement on tv. As I listened to I used to be a doer now I don’t have the energy, I said that’s me. But even then I didn’t put my problems together with it. Then last year my sister called and told me she had been diagnosed with fibro and rhumatoid artheritis and I needed to be tested cause it was auto immune, I didn’t even know what that was, she said inherited. After I was diagnosed with fibro, no rhumo, and I started to research I realized that my mother had it but was never diagnosed. I have put together all my symptoms I’ve had for years and they are symptoms of fibro. I had not been diagnosed and had been told I was just Makin excuses or it was all in my head. But it was a relief to me because all my symptoms were so varied and all over I couldn’t really tell a doc what was wrong. All they could do was treat the symptom at the time. Anxiety then panic attacks, then cramps, sore throat and ears, I took Tylenol like candy for aches and pain, had total exhaustion, was told I had a illness that mimicked mono and until the weather cooled down I wouldn’t feel much better, and I did. So how can someone who new nothing about it fake it. Believe me it was a relief to have a diagnosis. I’ve read there are 60 symptoms settled on for fibro, of the 60 I have 36 and of those 36 I have all the symptoms of MS. Which in itself is a symptom and one of several that has to be treated apart from fibro. I will have an MRI Aug 24,2016 to either rule out or diagnose MULTIPLE SCLAROSIS. so for anyone who thinks it’s not real I hope and pray tour never diagnosed with fibro of whom I’m sure most are men cause it rarely hits men from all I’ve read. Maybe we get it from all the things we have to deal with in men. Sorry couldn’t resist. But honestly I hope no one has to find out the hard way cause its defiantly real. God bless all yall out there sufferin with me maybe we need a fibro face page to comunicate. Yall take care out there and I’m prayin for us all .
Thanks for the website. Love the satire. I am an college educated woman whose career this disease has ruined. I went through so many tests and seemed to jump through hoops to be diagnosed. My diagnosis was made by a highly regarded Rheumatologist who then went back into research. My GP then told me “We don’t do fibromyalgia here.” So, he basically said to find a new doctor. I didn’t want to accept the diagnosis at first. I kept being told by people that it is not real, BUT the pain is REAL! The brain fog is REAL! The fatigue is REAL!!!!! After years of working with this disease to find treatments, I KNOW it is REAL!! I hurt so much!! I can’t take narcotics for pain, nor am I on disability due to my own personal situation, however, I know that they’re are people like me who are, and they deserve it! I am sure there is a few people faking it, but the majority of us are truly hurting. God bless them.
I occasionally write for a website that tries to inform and offer advice to people about fibromyalgia. I myself do not have the illness, but I have done my best to extensively research the syndrome.
(Don’t worry, I never pretend to claim I have fibro in my writing. The pieces I write are not about living with fibro, but about new research or treatments.)
The problem I’ve run into while writing is that rather than becoming more sympathetic to fibro the more I learn, I have become less. And a large part of that has nothing to do with medical reports that “prove” fibro isn’t real because there are just as many that “prove” that is is. It’s the fibro community.
Of the comments I have seen on the many, many different website and articles I have visited, there is a frankly annoying tone to many of them. Our website’s Facebook page is filled with posts about how much it hurts to have fibro, how their lives have been ruined, and how everyone who suffers from it is a hero. It seems to be a constant source of petting one’s own ego, and it is very off-putting to read.
Many people who say they have fibromyalgia, including some comments on this very page, then proceed to list off four other medical conditions they also have. At a certain point, it seems like enough is enough. It’s hard to believe that someone so sick could even be alive. Not to mention that fact that some of the most symptoms are the same as those who have experienced depression.
And maybe that is the crux of my “issues” with fibromyalgia. I have been depressed before and I overcame it without any pills. I have seen loved ones struggling through the pain of a long recovery process following surgery, and they forced themselves to work through the pain. Everything in my life has indicated that mind can overcome matter.
I’m not making this comment to be hurtful or to troll, but because I sincerely hope that those who see it might offer some insight. I want to believe that fibromyalgia exists, and I do believe that people who have fibromyalgia think they are in pain. But I need some help getting there. I want to be a better writer, I want to have a stronger understanding of my audiance, and I don’t want to feel like I’m pandering when I tell people how strong they are when they say they are living with fibromyalgia.
So please, my intent is not to insult, I just want to understand. Can anyone help me?
Hi.
First, congratulations on overcoming depression without pills. Depression sucks, right?
Second, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia by a doctor. I went to another doctor, to get a second opinion, he also got to the same conclusion.
I am not sure fibromyalgia is real. It might be. It might be not. That, to me, is not the point.
The way I see is: it doesn’t matter if one calls it fibromyalgia, depression, muscle tension (because I think it might be something like that, at least in my case), a psycomathic disease, a sleep problem, getting old or just “globs globs”.
What matters, to me, is: how to deal with this? What can I do? What works?
So I tried Lyrica. The pain got away! I woke up feeling rested! I also felt really, really, bad. The side effects were awful. I stopped taking it. Symptoms got back.
Are they psychosomatic? Did the medicine worked as a placebo? Are this thing “for realz”? I really don’t know.
What I found out is this: if I try to ignore the pain and do things “in spite of it” it gets worse. But, if I “do things – rest a little bit – do more things”, I can keep going and eventually do everything I need to do.
I’m not sure I helped you. I hope you keep the research and get an answer. Good luck!
You know why we talk about being in Pain? Because I certainly am in so much pain that about 80 % of my faculties are used in the monitoring of my pain levels. I take pills, exercise, use heated blankets and have to costantly manage my pain. Therefore it’s pretty much all I have to talk about, because it’s pretty much all I think about.
And we talk about being hero’s or warriors because we are. The probability of suicide is 25 times higher for someone with fibromyalgia than it is for the general population. It is unbelievably and inexplicably difficult to be in such unremitting pain. And it’s not surprising that we want to end it all. So by boosting one another when we feel low, we may save a life.
And if you’d lost your job, your income, had to fight with doctors and insurance companies for treatment, used all your savings, lost friends, gained weight, not able to have sex with your partner, not having the energy to tidy or even contribute to the housework, you might need a little ego boost too from time to time.
The human body is incredibly strong and resourceful. People are born with defects that in other animals would have caused spontaneous abortion. So Heck yeah, we can handle a lot. It doesn’t diminish us, it makes us resourceful.
As you probably know, fibromyalgia can be primary or secondary. In cases where it is secondary, something else has ravaged the body to the point where there is pain in all four quadrants of the body and 11 out of 18 points experience disproportionate pain. So there are other conditions required for this. In cases where it’s primary, remember that it’s taking 80 % of my faculties. I now have a problem with my autonomic nervous system because the pain is so overwhelming that my brain cannot perform all the functions that it should be doing without me having to do anything about it. So I have a second condition. The other thing is that because fibro is a diagnosis of exclusion, you go see ten or more departments to try and find any explanation for all your symptoms before your fibromyalgia diagnosis, so you are likely to get investigated and therefore diagnosed with stuff that might otherwise have gone unnoticed as a mild background thing gets picked up.
So if you have any follow up questions, please let me know.
Thank you. Well said.
it is an abnormality where the brain does not process incoming signals
What an arsehole l so hope you get it you patronising twat.
You might want to read the article before you start calling names. Just a suggestion.
That was a reply to the guy who said uneducated people get fibromyalgia.
I’m so glad you found a label for yourself. “Chronic Mom”= I’m a victim, but I’m a MOM which is “the hardest job in the WORLD!” Get off the cross, we need the wood. Fibro is nothing more than a misdiagnosed personality disorder, which are basically incurable. Just easier to throw drugs and mental illness than to call it out. Especially when the sufferer is angry and hell-bent on being a victim.
I was married to a “Fybro” bullshitter for 10 years. Best thing I ever did was divorce. What nonsense. Can choose the moment when you’re “sick”. Yeah. Right. Complete nonsense.
She ended up holding batteries to try and cure this “disease”.
I just smile now.
Get over it, you fakers.
Well surprise surprise it time somebody burst all of you postings little bubble.It is a made up diagnosis for typically neurotic woman and yes many are simple looking for pain pills and are yes you guessed it hypochondriacs who need to see shrink not be clogging up walk in clinics and emergency rooms where truly sick people need to see the doctor.Here is a shocker for you lots of people have painful days lots of people get fatigued often lots of people have days where they just don’t feel that well and your no different.Why do you suppose 90% of meds to treat this fad are antidepressants because your not physically sick,your mentally ill and it’s just that cut & dry.Life has its ups and downs and for many can be painful but they just keep on trucking….and then there’s all of you.Then there is the question how many of you get a disability check?
First off Uknown you are ignorant!!
Second, do you even have a H.S. Diploma or GED?
I myself have a Bachelor’s of Art Degree…….
I also have, yep you guessed it!!!!!!
That Fake Disease/Condition, FIBROMYALGIA. But, I didn’t get a fancy certificate to frame and hang up to verify I have it, so it must be Fake!!!
I have been suffering with symptoms since 2008. I did not understand at first what was wrong with me. Everytime I went to my Doctor, he would tell me it was stress. Yes, I was stressed. I has going through so many different issues from Chronic pain all over my body to depression, weight gain, and ths worst fatigue. Imagine the worst flu fever ever, then imagine living with that fever everyday for years, until your Doctor finally sends you to a specialist, only because You, yourself, told the Doctor that you believe you might have Fibromyalgia, then imagine you have 2 young children to raise as well as work full time in a very stressful environment. Then imagine having to explain what Fibro is to everyone you have to communicate with Supervisors, Co-workers, Friends, Family, your Partner. They all reply the same ” What is that??? “Fibromyalgia” !!! (while pronouncing wrong). They look at you baffled, then you imagine them thinking: like okay, …. you don’t look sick, so what is it, is it contagious, WTF do you have, how did you get it???
Then they ask more questions and you tell them to ” just Google it”, because you’ve experienced pretty much every symptom listed and you are tired of repeating yourself.
You should really watch what you say or do, because all things have a mysterious way if coming back to you.
God Bless,
FibroManiac
Hello, Fibromaniac.
Honestly, any “disease” that cannot be confirmed through a blood test or a scan or any other accepted medical check must be just a bit suspect?
I believe the accepted test is to push 18 points on your body and if 11 or more are “sore”, then you’ve hit the jackpot. Sounds more like crackpot to me.
It used to be called chronic fatigue syndrome, then yuppy flu, then chronic tick-bite fever, now an impressive fibromyalgia.
The only symptom it doesn’t cause is laryngitis. What a pity.
Actually it shows up in brain scans. Apparently you havent done the research you thought.
It also doesnt show up in blood because it is thought to originate in the mitochondria of cells and affects all sufferers differently, thus the problem with just one test.
Perhaps you haven’t read the book of Job in the Bible? Much of what he suffered sounds extremely familiar to fibromyalgia sufferers.
Be careful with your judgements. I was a naysayer also . . . And then I was diagnosed. Karma is a bitch. May you soon join our ranks. 🙂
Hi
I, too thought depression, mental illness, chronic illness, fibro, Lyme, and any other “illness” you couldn’t see was questionable and possibly unbelievable, – “if you don’t look sick, you’re not sick”, “of course people lie”. I never actually accused anyone, just at times skeptical of their illness. How stupid of me? To have a handful of liars ruin the reality of chronic illness. I was skeptical all the way up to that fateful day I started to physically ache. I started to have flu- like aches like I had a fever combined with fatigue/exhaustion like you get again with the flu. Every. Single. Day. Long story short, after doc appts, labs, bloodwork, tests, imaging, xrays, the doc told me it was fibromyalgia. I thought fibro was different, -“not what I’m experiencing?!”….But I don’t know, I still question my diagnosis bc I don’t know. But just like the other comment I don’t care what you call it, all I know is, is that I feel it! And It has changed my life. And UNTIL you know what it is like you have NO idea what people with invisible illnesses go through. I have learned two things since becoming sick: 1. No one knows what you’re going through UNTIL they have experienced it themselves, and 2. You don’t realize what you take for granted.
I do thank you to those with fibromyalgia and/or chronic illness for reaching out and sharing what you’re going through, because if not for you I wouldn’t know what to expect, what to learn from, what to watch for, how you feel and what your symptoms are and to have comfort knowing that I am not the only one going through this. Because no one knows what you’re going through UNTIL you’ve been there before.
This is very true. Thought I believed in Fibromyalgia/Invisible Illness before I had it, I also didn’t understand how bad it could be. I thought a lot of it was caused by people not trying hard enough. Jokes on me now!
And you….
I’ve never met a man with this “condition”. I’ve never known a man that I could even imagine claiming this “condition”. I’ve also never known an active and fit woman who claimed this “condition”. Only folks I’ve ever met that claim this “condition” display classic signs of not only laziness, but also in most cases attention and drug seeking behaviors. So what am I supposed to think?
Probably because 90% of people with fibro are women. Sadly most medical studies are done on men and women’s bodies are ignored. There just now realizing that women’s bodies are a lot more complicated then men’s. I suggest instead of assuming that everyone is faking it that you do some actual medical research. What are you supposed to think? Think that you should read up on things instead of having ignorant opionions.
And it just so happens it’s also mostly women on TikTok listing off their self-diagnosed “illnesses” and treating them all like exclusive victims clubs.
Melodramatic and attention-seeking. The perfect
Millennial/Zoomer “disease”
Thank you for this! Could have written it myself! ❤️
I’ve never known a man who was pregnant either, so pregnancy must be fake.
I wanted to put it out there in case it helps even one person…..I had pretty much all of the symptoms a lot of people describe as fibromyalgia. I gave up gluten and within 2 weeks I was like a different person – no pain, no brain fog, no fatigue, no depression etc
Obviously not ALL the symptoms, maybe some of them, because what you had was not fibromyalgia.
Ok, I will not lower myself to the level of an obviously uneducated individual, who doesn’t even have the guts to attach their name to an attack.
I am a 47 yo woman of 6 children. I was diagnosed at 25 when Fibromyalgia was not even recognized by most doctors. I have a 4 year College degree and no I am not over weight! My husband and I also own our own business, so sitting in bed with my mouth full of marshmallow bonbons is not an option.
This disorder does not discriminate, yes more women then men are diagnosed with it, but children are diagnosed with it also. People are so judgmental, and unless u have felt what they have felt, you need to keep your opinions to yourself.
You might want to actually read the article before you rage comment. You’re at chronicmom.com “A day in the life of a Mom with Fibromyalgia and Lyme Disease.”
Im sorry was that comment to me?
My apologies. It looked like you were talking to me. I just responded to 3 angry comments by people who didn’t read, so I assumed that’s what you meant.
I’m sorry I did not label my comment. This is in response to the unknown coward above.
I don’t take pain medication, ie. Narcotics or for that matter Ibuprofen either, because they don’t work.
Good for you. I do take pain medication because it works for me. You can find it if you google “How access to opioids changed my life.”
Im sorry for you.
As a 14 year old thats been living with Fibro for over 3 years and has had to change her whole way of life, I can tell you that your blog is absolutely wrong!! Among my many other health issues and battling being in the hospital all the time, Fibro is one of the worst pains that I feel on a daily basis. I can tell you have never felt the pain of Fibro so you just hop to saying its fake. WAKE UP CALL its real and anyone who has it isn’t making it up! People living with invisible illnesses are one of the strongest people in this world. They are forced to get used to their pain and deal with it because they have to be able to support themselves. For people like you that have no idea what its like to have an invisible illness, you’re the reason we try to hide our illnesses because only others living with them will understand. Your article is a great example of how uninformed our society is today.
Hey Olivia. Her post was satire ~ it’s not her sincere thoughts about it, but sarcasm directed at people who do think it is not a real battle. She is living with it herself.
is there a support group for spouses of those that suffer with this disease? I am dealing with so much anger bc of it and it’s just 1 of the diseases my spouse has come down with in the 1st year of marriage. I feel duped. the year long courtship was amazing but 2 mos later, they quit their job, and are bed ridden. I have put 5 years into this and everyday I think of cutting my losses and walking out. they not only lost their quality of life, I feel like mine is also slipping through my fingers, weather it’s a real disease or not, I don’t care. I am left feeling like an angry broke roommate, who is only here to pay bills and provide insurance. sex is non-existent. any attempt is rebuffed and everything centers around the pain they feel… what about my pain? I go to bed wanting to just die. we have had 0 intimacy in over 3 years. I am 40. there is no reason we can’t. I’ve had opportunities for affairs but I haven’t. the sex was amorous at first but it all got cut off once the fibro was diagnosed. so the job was quit, the sex got cut off, I don’t why I sit here on a holiday yet again — just watching my life tick by. they have the energy to go on trips w family no problem, meanwhile I’m stuck running a house by myself. there are no kids involved. does or can this go away? is there any hope as far as a cure or remission? meanwhile we are drowning in medical debt and copays.
Oh how I relate to the post.
My girlfriend now claims 6 years after we met that she has fibro. Luckily we didn’t move in together or my life would be unlivable. Sure she can run 3 times a week to the old folks home to attend to her mother for hours when there is paid care. But when it comes to getting a knife and fork out of the dishwasher she doesn’t think to take the basket out..just one knife and fork.
Im approaching 69 and she 62. Funny how she can run up a hill faster than me .
So what is the difference?
I was not entitled to one penny in benefits and had to keep working hard renovating properties until I was 68. Thats 10 years AFTER I had a very serious heart attack where I was told I had half an hour to live. (only one follow up appointment after surgery)
Now that I am fully retired 4 years after my official retirement date and running a home and part time business and looking after very young granchildren at least one day a week. I sleep terribly, I ache terribly every morning, I can have trouble walking up stairs some days, take pain killers and a carrier bag full of other life controlling drugs. My doctor sees me once in a blue moon.
I watch my life..or whats left of it vanishing daily whilst she refuses to travel because its to hot/cold/wet/dry/high pollen count,IBS etc.
As I was told once. There is only one solution to any illness.
Live life to the full whilst you can because one day you will die.
I want to see the world and experience as much as I can not dwell on my illness , my old age or anything else. You are a long time dead.
no kid—get away now–im suffering just as you are and am the same age–we have an 8 yr old daughter that i refuse to see half the time at best–im stuck—get out–cut your losses–i wish i could
Thanks for this article. Some of the comments are so damn ridiculous, some of ya’ll need the shit slapped out of you. Maybe there are some who lie about having a chronic illness to be lazy, but then there are the rest of us. I’m a single mom of a little boy and still roll my ass out of bed to a 40+ hour job. Not to mention other chronic health issues I deal with. I pay my own damn bills and dont depend on anyone for ANYTHING. I feel like shit but life does not stop. So for those of you ignorant bastards with something to say, fuck off. I notice they’re mostly men. Most of you couldn’t walk a block in my shoes, let alone a mile. Shit, most of you act like little pussies when you catch a cold/flu. You’d probably jump off a bridge if you had to cope with a “fake” illness.
Of course it’s mostly men, because mysteriously it just so happens to be mostly women who get this. It’s a mental disorder, get therapy and stop making everyone miserable with what amounts to mental illness
Did you ever think, the statistics are telling you how hard it is to function with these diseases. These diseases don’t just pop up one day. Some people start dealing with symptoms as small children. My parents took me to doctors to find out why I had tremors from the time I was in grade school. It was muscle weakness. When I was in Junior High school, I wanted to be like the other kids. I tried to take my own life, because I knew something was wrong with me. I was tired and hurt all the time. While all the other kids were doing kids stuff, I was praying for one day of feeling normal. 50 years ago, doctors could not diagnose any of my symptoms.
It’s a little difficult to go to college when you fought to get through High School. I got okay grades, got my diploma. Not enough strength to go to college. Just because people don’t further education doesn’t mean they are stupid. You can be well educated AND STUPID.
Do I believe people diagnosed with Fibro are in pain? Yes. Do I believe they have a “disease”? No.
But I DO believe it is a “syndrome” born of mental illness.
I’ve watched one of my employees go down this path of mental illness to the point of a diagnosis of Fibro. Her behavior at work; attention-seeking, faked fainting spells, desperate headaches, sensitivity to light, and the list goes on.
How is it that people with a Fibro diagnosis are suddenly diagnosed with 14 other “illnesses” that are nearly impossible to explain and/or treat? And new ailments just keep coming and coming?
If you truly want to “cure” your illness you should be seeing a mental health therapist first. Getting to the root cause of your pain will help you overcome your physical symptoms.
And you know this based on what experience or sources? Sally said, so I know it’s true.
Sally, I have been getting help with my mental health LONG before ever getting diagnosed with fibro.. This is NOT some thing i just made up in my head.. I have 3 kids the youngest being 7 and he being the one that has to suffer because I am in too much pain to do anything.. And the cycle is so vicious… I get depressed cuz im in pain and then being depressed causes more pain because I am in the bed not able/wanting to do much from the depression which therefore puts strain on my body causing me more pain.. And sleep?? 4get about it.. See, i cant sleep cuz im in pain, but all i want to do is sleep cuz im in pain and depressed cuz of the pain, so, due to lack of sleep, THAT causes more pain which then causes more depression and more sleepless nights.. Unless you have lived with it, you cannot comment about it.. You have no idea wut we go through on a day to day basis.. Some days just taking a shower can wipe me completely out.. When my son wants me 2 play with him, i have 2 make a decision… Go ride bikes and be in pain for the next 2-5 days, OR, disappoint my kid once again just so i dont have to be in pain.. Whats your choice??? Its not an easy decision to make EVER.. If i want to be able to do the normal functions as a mother like cook clean bathe him laundry… Then biking is NOT the choice to make.. Whats your choice sally?? Which would you choose?? Choose wisely now, because the wrong choice could leave you not attending to your motherly duties… Oh, I almost forgot… Im also a SINGLE mom.. NO help, and still gotta make it to work… Ok, now whats your choice???
https://themighty.com/2020/09/suicidal-fibromyalgia-chronic-pain/
There are studies that show fibromyalgia patients are 10 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Fakers.
We are still not allowed to opt for termination, through an organisation such as Dignitas.
When people can make more money keeping you sick than they can on you raising a few thousand bucks for a way out… Maybe then it will be different.
As it is, justgiving.com will not accept fundraisers to be euthanised because you are sick of living with fake-fibro every day.