Runwithwolves
New member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2015
- Messages
- 1
- Reason
- Other
- Diagnosis
- 00/0000
- Country
- US
- State
- Mn
Hi everyone! I have recently been diagnosed with myofascial pain syndrome. It took me a long time to get any doctor to diagnose me with anything at all. I have been suffering from tmj disorder, a sleep disorder and chronic neck and back tension along with a slew of other random symptoms. I also suffer from anxiety and depression. I am seeing a new doctor since my old doctor decided that I must be a hypochondriac because she couldnt figure out what was wrong. This resulted in a ton of notes in my medical records attributing my symptoms to anxiety. That made me pretty mad, but worse, it made me terrified to speak up about my symptoms again for fear that more notes would be added. My new doc basically said that he would not diagnose me with fibromyalgia because "those people never get out from under that diagnosis".He told me that before he even did the fibro exam or discussed my symptoms in depth. He did diagnose me with what he called "fibromyalgia like myofascial pain syndrome". I Plan to get a second opinion but as reluctant as he seemed he is actually the first doctor to try to help me cope with my chronic back and neck pain. I have pain in other areas as well but it pales in comparison to the neck, back and jaw pain. He gave me an rx for gabapentin and I took it and for the first time in years felt that I had some energy again. I will continue to take it. It has really felt like nothing short of a miracle to me. Even though I now have a label for the pain I have been experiencing, I still feel like people don't take it seriously and even had a close friend tell me I should try "positive thinking" to ease my pain rather than medication. It's so frustrating. I've tried everything in the book, I understand that my outlook is critical and that is why I have faced humiliation in the doctors office over and over again. It really is humiliating to have someone imply that it's not that bad, that it could be corrected if I did the right things. Having a proper diagnosis is critical to understanding what the right things are. This doctor also told me that chiropractic medicine is a "crock". I bit my tongue from saying that my chiropractor has given me relief when no one else cared to even listen to me. I feel like I have to bite my tongue and put up with criticism just to ensure I get the treatment I need. I'm just hoping that this medication continues to work and help me because nothing else has. Anyway, until I can find a doc that is not so biased about diagnosing people with fibromyalgia, I will take what I can get. It's just so unprofessional to tell someone you won't diagnose someone with a disease because in your opinion it does more harm than good. That's like saying "before we test for diabetes, I just want you to know I'm not going to diagnose you with diabetes because people who are diagnosed with diabetes are worse off than those who aren't" and then topping it all off with a "diabetes like disease". Seriously. That is not science. I'm scared to find another doctor though, they might tell me it's anxiety again and I'm not sure I can handle that right now. Any tips, advice or suggestions welcome.