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[Guest guest]

You could be right about at least some of the cases of 'rheumatism', but my

mother, who was an RN, told me that rheumatism and Rheumatoid arthritis were the

same thing. I really don't know. I do know my aunt had RA really badly, and she

called it 'rheumatism'. It is possible that anyone with aches and pains back

then did just call it 'rheumatism' generically. So, yes it's possible that some

of them actually had FM. I actually began having symptoms when I was very young,

and from what I understand now, the 'crisis' I went through in 72 was possibly

just a major flare, but I'll never know for sure. The sad thing was, back in the

50s and 60s, nobody took the complaints of children, especially in the absence

of any medical 'proof' very seriously. I do know I also had (and still do) ADD,

but nobody knew about that either. It was a stressful childhood, because nobody

believed that I was that tired, or hurt that badly, or was really ill. On top of

which, if I got a 'bad' mark in school...the equivalent of a 'C', say, nobody

believed I was working to the best of my ability either. Therefore, I was simply

looked upon as 'lazy', and that label has followed me for most of my life. Which

goes far toward explaining why I have other mental problems today.

I wish someone would 'fix' that miracle drug so we could have it available

today. Was it an opiate, or another type of drug? It seems as though scientists

would be working as hard on new pain meds as on anything else. Of course, all of

the newer ones lately have had some horrendous side effects too. Maybe it just

isn't possible to develop one that's both safe AND effective?

Thanks for the information.

Peace and Love

Caroline

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