Guest guest Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 Hi Harald,I just thought I would let you know that the U.of Calgary had developed a test for Fibro.There was a wright up in the paper last week.Now docs will not be able to say " it's all in your head " Lynne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 Thanks, Harald! Sally here-your posts are always succinct, informative and appreciated by me and I'm sure others in the group. I was told I had fibro from '92-'99, and did have all those symptoms. Feel that it was a precursor to RA (I have Reiter's or Reactive Arthritis) and am pretty sure I have Lyme's disease. Got bitten by a tick in spring of '92, never went to dr. and in the summer of '92, my life as an athlete started going to hell in a handbasket, with one injury after another. At least, the fibro did not cripple me like the RA has-that started in '97-DX as gout, then seropositive in '99. Have been on AP since 12-'99-1st Doxy-not enough-then Mino and now feel I have my life back to a great extent. NOTE TO TONY RE: NEW RHEUMY BEING CRAZY- MAKE SURE TO READ DR BROWN'S BOOK WRITTEN BY HENRY SCAMMELL, CALLED " NEW ARTHRITIS BREAKTHROUGJH " . YES, YOU SHOULD GET A 2ND OPINION AND TRUST YOURSELF, YOUR INSTINCTS, AND NOT YOUR NEW RHEUMY. MOST DOCS ARE BIG-TIME CONTROL FREAKS IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!!! Just my opinion (think I'm copying you, Marge:) Sally in Little Rock rheumatic Is it RA or Fibromyalgia? > > > > Dear Group, > > Fibromylgia means " pain in the muscles. " It is a disease which has many > similarities with RA, except that it tends to affect muscles, ligaments, > tendons and other soft tissues. Like RA, it is associated with morning > stiffness and can affect joints. Mild cases are associated with a bit of > muscle pain along with some generalized pain and stiffness. Symptoms may > come and go, and the pain may shift from part of the body to another. In > more severe cases, some parts of the body always hurt, or all of the body > may hurt, sometimes quite severely. > > The pain of fibromyalgia is often associated with other symptoms, such as > sleep disorders, fatigue, irritability, depression, dizziness, headaches, > cramps, tingling, numbness, irritable bladder, diarrhea, and memory lapses > (dubbed " fibro-fog " ). These associated symptoms become worse as the pain > increases. Because there are so many possible possible symptoms which vary > from patient to patient, the disease has been dubbed " fibromyalgia > syndrome, " or FMS for short. An estimated 5% of the population suffers from it. > > Fibromylagia is difficult to diagnose. Blood tests come back normal. The > most common diagnosis has been, " You're OK. It's all in your head. " Only in > 1993 was fibromyalgia officially recognized as a syndrome by the World > Health Organization (WHO). It remains a phantom illness for most doctors, > and there are no designer drugs yet for it. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) > may just be another aspect of FMS > > The official American Academy of Rheumatology diagnostic criterion for > fibromyalgia is based on the ability of an examiner to find 11 out of 18 > places in predetermined areas on the outside of the body that are painful > when pressed upon. These are located on or near muscles, tendons or > ligaments, which attach the muscles. These painful areas, dubbed " tender > points, " can move from one area of the body to another, causing the pain to > vary from day to day -- or they can stay in place. For a map of the 18 > locations, please see http://fibromyalgia.ncf.ca/womanfm.htm. Many are seen > clustering around the neck and shoulders. The truth is that fibromyalgia > will vary from person to person, and does not necessarily follow the map. > Any muscle, tendon or ligament is fair game. > > Just because you have been pronounced to have RA does not necessarily mean > that you have actually have RA. You may have fibromyalgia if your pain is > in your muscles and tendons, or if your muscles feel as if they have been > pulled or overworked, even if you have not done any exercise. > > My next posting will be about what causes fibromyalgia. This will be a > short posting, since the medical profession does not have much of a clue. > My posting after that will be on how to treat fibromyalgia. > > Sincerely, Harald > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > . > > > > > > > To unsubscribe, email: rheumatic-unsubscribeegroups > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 31, 2004 Report Share Posted August 31, 2004 Thanks, Lynne. I just did a search and found this informative link that I thought I would share with you all. http://www.cra.ucalgary.ca/arthritis/handbook/3-FM.pdf BTW, I had to turn off my Zone Alarm in order to access it. Re: rheumatic Is it RA or Fibromyalgia? > Hi , The article was in the news > paper that is now gone to the recycler > plant.Maybe if you google University > of Calgary you might find something > there Lynne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 31, 2004 Report Share Posted August 31, 2004 Dear & , Thank you for the link to the pdf article, which presents an overview of fibromyalgia and fibromylagia syndrome (FMS) symptoms. The following statement is noteworthy: " Because FMS is often accompanied by stiffness that tends to be worse in the morning, FMS may initially be mistaken for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). " The article includes some misleading statements, including this one: " People with FMS have tender points on palpation in up to 18 specific areas. " In fact, the number of tender points can be larger than 18. The number 18 is part of the official definition of fibromyalgia by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR): to obtain a formal diagnosis of FM, a doctor must find at least 11 of 18 specified tender points, or surface points that are painful when pressed upon with a specified force. In fact, a patient can have more than 18 tender points, and will probably have tender points other than the 18 specified in the ACR list. It is only that tender points outside of the official ACR list will not be considered for an official diagnosis according to the ACR criterion. Just because you don't have at least 11 of the specified 18 tender points does not prove that you don't have FM or FMS. Sincerely, Harald At 05:11 AM 8/31/2004 -0400, you wrote: >Thanks, Lynne. I just did a search and found this informative link that I >thought I would share with you all. >http://www.cra.ucalgary.ca/arthritis/handbook/3-FM.pdf > >BTW, I had to turn off my Zone Alarm in order to access it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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