"The Vapors" by any other name...

An FMeditorial

Approximately four percent of the population have Fibromyalgia. Of that number of FMsufferers, it is estimated that approximately 80 percent of these, are women.

In my opinion, that is a major factor in why FM is still being misdiagnosed and often disregarded in the Medical community. The Medical and Political arena is still largely made up of the male population...and as cynical as it sounds, I strongly believe that in this "patriarchal" society, womenıs illnesses are frequently back-burnered.

Lately, there have been an influx of women now being diagnosed as having FM. I am afraid that FM is truly becoming the "waste-basket" diagnosis that it was once thought to be by the Medical profession. Is FM the new "PMS" diagnosis? Now that there is a substantial number of the Medical Community who accept that PMS is a real medical problem, are we now being told that we have FM instead.

Doctors, I implore you to take FM seriously, and do all the hard work that is required to identify the problems and separate the issues of this illness.

FM is not MPS, although people with FM often have MPS, and FM is not IBS, although many FMsufferers have IBS etc.

• [i.e. insert symptoms here...Restless Leg Syndrome, Depression, TMJ, Weight gain, Migraines, Tender Points, Trigger Points, Fatigue, Pain, Widespread and Acute Pain, Sleep Apnea, Insomnia, Loss of Cognitive powers, Loss of IQ, Inability to concentrate, Worsening Vision, Dizziness, Back and Spine pain, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Loss of strength in hands, Numbness in extremities, PMS, Flares, Sensitivity to Chemicals, Sensitivity to Barometric Changes, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...the list goes on].

To resolve and cure FM, each issue must be examined and looked at both individually, and as a whole, so that we can determine what makes FM, FM. Once we do that, and Isolate what exactly FM is, we can then begin to heal and cure a person with FM in an orderly manner; resolving each symptom in a "top down" manner. We have to define the hierarchy, or it will ever be that elusive "waste-basket syndrome" and subsequently dismissed as the "vapors of the nineties".

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Your Comments are welcomed..please email me at: jlg@whidbey.net