Fibro And Fabulous ™

Though I don't completely disagree with this article due to my own experiences, I can't help but wonder if men who suffer from Fibromyalgia, largely a women's disease, would agree with this writer's sentiments.  I'm curious.  Curious indeed. http://americannewsreport.com/nationalpainreport/a-pained-life-gender-bias-in-pain-treatment-8820101.html

http://www.esquire.com/features/morgan-freeman-interview-0812-2#ixzz2KQPinRqg

Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia varies.  There are many positive reports of women going into a remission of pain while pregnant in their first and second trimesters and then have the pain return for the last trimester.  Others, like myself, may experience no severe pain flares, even after delivery. Having said all of this, I do not believe I am part of a small privileged few by having less pain during pregnancy-- quite the contrary-- my as flare-free as possible days came with a little extra work.  My first born was a little tough, I had not been diagnosed yet so a lot of the pain and fatigue I had was partly due to not knowing my illness, and partly due to my thinking everything was just pregnancy related.  It wasn't hard to assume that my symptoms were just the pregnancy because many of them overlapped.  I had lower back pain, fatigue, bloating, chemical and food sensitivities, and muscles that didn't work as well.  All of these symptoms, including muscle weakness, or being

Apparently the fears I expressed in an earlier post entitled First Test to Objectively Diagnose Fibromyalgia   may possibly come to pass with this latest article I've come across. http://americannewsreport.com/nationalpainreport/could-fibromyalgia-be-labeled-as-a-psychiatric-illness-8819773.html It saddens me that we may wind up being classified as a psychiatric illness because I truly believe that Fibromyalgia is so much more than just a psychosomatic disorder.  There are many, many other factors like food and chemical sensitivities, bloating, dizziness, vertigo, RA, thyroid issues, IBS, and migraines-- to only name a few-- that patients suffer from.  And what's sad is, many of these can be medically measured.  Our pain can also go into remission or flare when the weather changes.  This is not caused by a lessening or increase of stress in our lives-- it's just part of the disease.  Many of us, including myself, have had symptoms since birth and it's taken us yea