Being a Doctor with Fibromyalgia, Here Are 10 Things I Wish People Knew.

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April 20, 2018 - By M G Rana, MD.

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I am a doctor who was also the victim of chronic illness. I am writing this article to spread awareness from my point of view about how to live with Fibromyalgia. This knowledge will increase among the sufferers of fibromyalgia and it will help them to strengthen their relationship with their disease.

Basically fibromyalgia is an invisible disease that has no cure and it is your partner throughout your life. Its severity may increases or decreases but it never go away completely. Some people can carry out their daily routines while others are totally home bound. Their symptoms are not apparent which may make it difficult for doctors to diagnose it. It also makes different for the loved ones to understand this disease.

Here’s What I Wish People Understood About It. Fibromyalgia is real and can be treated—but it requires a holistic approach. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, but there are effective treatments.

1. Feeling fatigued all the time

Constant fatigue is the most common symptom of Fibromyalgia. People often have to pay the price of attending any social event because afterwards they just have to take off for a day or week to rest. Rest is the only solution of this severe fatigue. Then they have to avoid events and gatherings until they feel better. Once this fatigue kicks in, it last longer than their imaginations and expectations.

2. Brain fog is extremely depressing

Brain fog cannot be easily described so it is source of frustration. People who are experiencing brain fog completely know what they feel and what they want to say. But they are unable to choose appropriate words to describe their feelings and emotions.

3. Nobody enjoys feeling sick all the time

Throughout my doctor career I never saw anyone who enjoys being ill. There was condition opposite to it. People were so frustrated and they eagerly want their disease and its symptoms to vanish away magically. They wanted magical treatment.

4. Not able to work

Those who are not fit to perform their daily life activities are not on vacations. The truth is they are struggling hard to get out of the bed daily, to take bath and to dress up. They are so sick that they don’t leave their home except for doctor appointments.

5. Fibromyalgia is least understood by the doctors

Doctors believed for a long time that depression and anxiety are the causes of fibro and all they can do is psychiatric care. Many doctors are unable to understand this condition, so that why patients waste their precious time in search for doctors who can understand their condition.

6. Many emotions are triggered by chronic illness

Chronic illness is often a loss of big part of our lives. We miss social interactions and adapt isolation. We are unable to work properly that leads to financial crisis and depression. Their extreme pain makes it difficult for them to interact with their loved ones. Even they are not able to use social websites.

7. Certain foods can trigger the symptoms

Gluten, dairy foods and processed foods are the culprits that can aggravate the symptoms. They speed up the inflammatory process which in return can aggravate the symptoms that last longer than usual.

8. Symptoms of fibromyalgia are least understood

Every sufferer of fibromyalgia experience it symptoms different, but some symptoms are common in all victims like headache,fatigue, nausea, vomiting and pain. They symptoms appear on and off with different level of severity, but they never go away completely.

9. Victims are more prone to dangerous infections

The immune system of fibromyalgia sufferers is overactive. Instead of fighting with the dangerous infections, it wastes its energy and attacks the body organs. People need to take medication in order to suppress their own overactive immune system.

10. Managing Fibromyalgia needs a lot of effort

Fibromyalgia sufferers need to be cautious of every single thing in order to avoid flare ups. They should avoid the pain triggering foods and take medications on the right time.

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