Status
Not open for further replies.

debbie1954

New member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
4
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
06/1984
Country
US
State
Idaho
Hello all. My name is Debbie and I have had fibro since my early 20's, was diagnosed at 30 and have had it for 30 years. I quickly realized, way back when, that there was a big stigma associated with it, so I stopped telling doctors, or anyone I even had it. I just dealt with it.

I worked for 30 years as a nurse and then developed other health problems that forced me to apply for SSDI, which I got on my first try. I have been on it since 2003.

I have since developed Rheumatoid Arthritis too and a host of other autoimmune stuff. I used to go on fibro sites, trying to find one where people weren't laughing about falling off their chairs because they were on so many pain meds. That was difficult for me to deal with. I understand the need for people to need pain meds, but that kind of use is part of the stigma with this horrible disorder. I guess that is judgmental, but trust me when I say I know the pain involved with this. I have never taken anything stronger than tylenol or ibuprofen, but we are all very different. I just wanted to discuss this with people who at least made sense.

So I gave up trying to find the kind of forum I was looking for a long time ago. I am hoping this site will be better, because, although RA is terrible, fibro is too. Combine the two and it's a nightmare.

I hope I haven't offended anyone, that is certainly not my intention and I totally get that people on here will be taking meds for pain. But I just wanted to get this out of the way right up front.

I know my fibro has been exacerbated by the arthritis and the pain is worse than it's been in a long time. My RA is very specific, the fibro, more diffuse. Easy to tell them apart. Anyway, here I am and if I have already offended, I do apologize....:?:
 
Hey Debbie,

No offense taken, at least not by me. I agree with your strategy to deal with chronic pain if it works for you. As you pointed out, everyone is different, everybodys needs are different. I, at least for the most part, am just using tylenol and ibu's also...and an occasional brandy. Unfortunately, as with the case of many of us, I rarely have true pain relief. I hope that we all can help each other in some way. At the very least, we have some kind of understanding of each others challenges. Welcome to the group!

Kelvin
 
Welcome , nope I'm not offended , I take meds .i can't move without crippling pain without them.some ppl deal with pain better then others ,some have less pain then others. There's no right and wrong way of dealing with it.
I'm very open about having it.if other ppl don't understand me that's there look out. I cope on a small amount of meds compared to a lot of ppl. And two right it scare the shit outta me that one day il be as bad some some poor ppl here.
But to each there own. I truly believe stigma will always be there if we're to worried to admit we have this.or else we might as well lock our selfs up in a dark room for the rest of our lives.
And I don't want the next generation to suffer the stigma we do today.
 
Thanks for the replies. Back when I was diagnosed, there was no such thing. Back then, they believed MS was just hysterical woman disorder! There have been so many discoveries about MS since then, and now I am happy to see they are actually finding actual reasons for the symptoms for fibro also. I actually worked in 2 separate doctor's offices and the receptionist was REQUIRED to ask the women if they had fibro or took pain meds! I was so appalled, I quit both jobs.(As it turns out, one of the doctors in one of the offices turned out to be nothing more than a licensed drug dealer.) If the answer was yes, they refused to accept them as patients.

I take 4 mg of valium a day for an inner ear disorder and get all kinds of crap for that by some doctors and friends, and family. I will, after I trust a doctor, tell them I have had fibro for a long time. I am very open about it outside of their offices, however. A rheumy I saw recently told me that you can't have RA and not have fibro. They just go together.

So I can see that the stigmas, thoughts, and research is changing and fibro is finally being seen for what it is. Real and very disabling. I guess that's why I ventured into this forum.

Thanks again. I can't take ibuprofen, and I have realized how useless tylenol can be. I keep hoping the meds for my RA will, at some point, help the fibro too...again thanks!
 
Well I do t have RA .so u sure can have one without the other.maybe if u have RA first ?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top