Hi everyone! A little about me I am a mother to 5 kids (4 girls, 1 boy), and married. After my 5th child I started to have pains and wasnt understanding them till a yr. later I decided to go see my Dr. and ask her, she told me that I might have arthritis or fibromyalgia. So referred me to a rheumatologist and she said yes that I had fibro. So she gave me meds and told me that is all she can do and told me to exercise. And before I walked out the office told me not to think about applying for disability, she wont approve it. So I stopped seeing her and changed insurances and Dr.'s and this Dr. I see tries his best but says he just dont know what to do. So besides the Dr. situation, my family dont believe me that there is something wrong, I mean they do but dont know how to understand it and dont realize that I can be in serious pain at times. I feel like theres no one to vent to or talk to, so I decided to get on here and see if I can find a friend or two or more!
Hi Mickie and welcome! Yes, we understand what you're going through and I'm sorry about your doctor situation. That totally stinks! And who the H does your former rheumatologist think she was telling you to not try for disability??? If you are disabled by fibro (and most of us are!) then you need and deserve disability. And it sounds like you may be in need of another doctor still. I mean, fibro can't be cured. But the pain can be reduced some. And sometimes some other means of controlling pain helps some fibro people, like (ugh) exercise or tai chi. If your doc can't get your pain level down some, then maybe it is time to look again.
Here is a way that a woman with lupus explained her illness to her friend: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/wpress/articles/written-by-christ...
And here is another great letter explaining fibro to family and friends: http://www.fibromyalgiatreatment.com/letter_to_normals.htm.
If you like either of these letters, you could print them out, make a few copies and hand them out to important people in your life. And speaking of which, why not try printing out some of our conversations, so they can see for themselves how others with fibro feel?
And guess what? You now have a fibro friend! I will go and "friEnd" you right now. All you have to do is accept the request, if you want to.
Thanks for coming to us. We'll try to help you with your illness. We're here to listen and support others and we take that vow seriously.
Gentle hugs,
Petunia