Validity of the Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia

by Melissa
(New York)

I feel I was diagnosed a little too early with Fibromyalgia. When I first was diagnosed, I didn't dispute it as my symptoms were in line with criteria and they weren't severe enough for me to care to question. This was six years ago.

After two years of having my medications be effective, they stopped. I had been following the diet suggested, taken the supplements prescribed (vitamin d, b12, magnesium), I was exercising 3-4 times a week, but I was noticing I was starting to get weaker. I was feeling more elevations of pain and less beneficial effects from my exercise regime. In fact, exercise was causing my body to tense up and it would not release on its own.

I continued to work, exercise, and eat well because I wasn't fully grasping I was getting worse. I also had it my head that Fibro doesn't get starkly worse. It took me a year and a half to realize and accept my condition was getting worse.

Present day, I am currently experiencing spasticity, seizure like episodes, severe pain on the right side of my body and almost the entirety of my spinal cord( points of pain origin located in the serratus muscle area, shoulder, and hip). I'm having instability in my gait, I attribute it to the stiffness and pain of my hip.

I've almost completely given up on trying to understand what is happening to me. I've generally adopted the mentality of wanting to do symptom management as I've gained an aversion to wanting to do tests, diagnostic procedures, or acquire a new specialist. I feel like I am working backwards as I understand how Fibro should be diagnosed after other reasons have been excluded.

I have essentially found tests to generally be counter productive and only seem to serve to continuously prove the point of how they feel I am on the severe side of this syndrome. I hate when they do the tender point tests as it seems ridiculous to diagnose on its basis alone, as I feel when there is pain naturally it will hurt when its pressed upon it. I find the criteria to be entirely too ambiguous.

So to make a long story long, I am concerned I am not receiving the proper treatment. I want to be more functional and to not have as many limitations as I do. I feel frustrated by the fact of how some of the specialists I've seen don't even seem to want to look into an alternate cause of my ailments.

The doctors which have been trying to do more are unfortunately limited by their specialty. I am seeing a new neurologist who seems really willing to help me either figure this out or acquire a more concrete treatment plan(I've been stuck in what seems like the starting phases of treatment).

I'd like to know if you feel I may in fact have the right diagnosis because I have been conflicted as to whether I'm just not accepting the reality of my condition.