Fibromyalgia

[Morgan]

Real or not?

 

Does it actually exist?

 

 

[Radio Ga Ga]

Straight over my head?

[cosanostra]

Known a few people who suffer from this condition and they all have had at least moderately traumatic childhoods and various mental health issues throughout adult life.

Seems to be a psychological component but that doesn't make it any less real to the sufferers.

 

Was talking to a psychiatrist colleague about this a couple if weeks ago and he believes childhood trauma / mental health issues are a huge contributory factor towards this, non traumatic back pain and addiction in adults.

 

[Tazio]

14 minutes ago, cosanostra said:

Known a few people who suffer from this condition and they all have had at least moderately traumatic childhoods and various mental health issues throughout adult life.

Seems to be a psychological component but that doesn't make it any less real to the sufferers.

 

Was talking to a psychiatrist colleague about this a couple if weeks ago and he believes childhood trauma / mental health issues are a huge contributory factor towards this, non traumatic back pain and addiction in adults.

 

A girl that used to work for me suffers from it and ticks all the boxes you mention. It’s a bloody shame, she can’t work any more as her health swings from day to day both physical and mental. She also has a mystery condition where she can’t keep food down and lives in liquid food prescribed by her doctor, and despite this her weight has ballooned. 

[Unknown user]

16 minutes ago, cosanostra said:

Known a few people who suffer from this condition and they all have had at least moderately traumatic childhoods and various mental health issues throughout adult life.

Seems to be a psychological component but that doesn't make it any less real to the sufferers.

 

Was talking to a psychiatrist colleague about this a couple if weeks ago and he believes childhood trauma / mental health issues are a huge contributory factor towards this, non traumatic back pain and addiction in adults.

 

 

I suppose it's no different to PTSD in that way, there's no doubting it's a thing but you won't see a shadow on a scan or anything.

External stimulus can definitely fk the brain up though

[cosanostra]

7 minutes ago, Tazio said:

A girl that used to work for me suffers from it and ticks all the boxes you mention. It’s a bloody shame, she can’t work any more as her health swings from day to day both physical and mental. She also has a mystery condition where she can’t keep food down and lives in liquid food prescribed by her doctor, and despite this her weight has ballooned. 

 

Sounds like a complicated patient who would be extremely difficult to treat adequately.  

The psychiatrist I was talking with was part of a specific pain management clinic I was working at. We were ablating nerve roots in lumbar and cervical spines to alleviate pain.

From his patients he thinks about 50% of non traumatic back lower back pain sufferers and 60-70% of substance addicts suffered traumatic childhoods. Gambling addiction is different though and doesn't seem to have the same contributory factors.

Interesting guy. Could have asked him questions for hours.

 

[cosanostra]

13 minutes ago, ǝǝɥʇᴉɯS said:

 

I suppose it's no different to PTSD in that way, there's no doubting it's a thing but you won't see a shadow on a scan or anything.

External stimulus can definitely fk the brain up though

 

Aye, the lifelong impacts of childhood trauma can't be predicted easily but can be incredibly severe.

So sad that those first years when humans are most vulnerable that incidents can shape the rest of our lives in the worst ways.

[Marvin]

Its a contentious one isn't it? To sufferers its very real however to the more cynical among us its all in the head. In my last job I came across it often so there must be something in it. 

[CavySlaveJambo]

There is also a known link with Neurodevlopmental conditions (eg Autism) and Fibromyalgia/M.E/IBS. 

However they are neurological conditions already so it does make sense other nerves and nerve pathways could be affected. 

 

[cazzyy]

I've a friend who suffers from this condition, she can be totally floored for days/ weeks on end with it. A strange one is that she can't feel the sun burning her skin like the rest of us do and can get terrible sunburn as a result.

[JudyJudyJudy]

12 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

Aye, the lifelong impacts of childhood trauma can't be predicted easily but can be incredibly severe.

So sad that those first years when humans are most vulnerable that incidents can shape the rest of our lives in the worst ways.

I’m reading a great book just now about the impact of childhood emotional neglect . It’s an issue rarely discussed but the impact on an adult who suffered childhood emotional neglect can be very damaging in so many ways . 
 

 

[Unknown user]

4 hours ago, Marvin said:

Its a contentious one isn't it? To sufferers its very real however to the more cynical among us its all in the head. In my last job I came across it often so there must be something in it. 

 

It is all in the head but that doesn't mean made up though. Shell shock's all in the head, would any of us say it's not real?

We don't understand the brain/mind relationship well enough to understand how one affects the other.

[Craigieboy]

Definitely linked to mental distress and past trauma. I knew someone with experience if it and they ticked all the boxes. 

[heatonjambo]

17 hours ago, cosanostra said:

 

Aye, the lifelong impacts of childhood trauma can't be predicted easily but can be incredibly severe.

So sad that those first years when humans are most vulnerable that incidents can shape the rest of our lives in the worst ways.

You should read some Alice Miller books which discusses this at length 

 

Gabor Mate’ on ADHD is also very interesting on the subject on early trauma

[Herbert.]

It's a pretend thing lazy people use. It's the new bad back.

[Unknown user]

21 minutes ago, Herbert. said:

It's a pretend thing lazy people use. It's the new bad back.

 

 

Sorry, been needing to get that used in context!

 

There are always lead swingers but poor form to suggest everyone's at it

[Jim_Duncan]

10 hours ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

I’m reading a great book just now about the impact of childhood emotional neglect . It’s an issue rarely discussed but the impact on an adult who suffered childhood emotional neglect can be very damaging in so many ways . 
 

 

My son asked me for that very book. Told him to piss off and leave me alone. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

15 minutes ago, Jim_Duncan said:

My son asked me for that very book. Told him to piss off and leave me alone. 

 

[Herbert.]

8 hours ago, ǝǝɥʇᴉɯS said:

 

 

Sorry, been needing to get that used in context!

 

There are always lead swingers but poor form to suggest everyone's at it

 

?

[Morgan]

22 hours ago, Herbert. said:

It's a pretend thing lazy people use. It's the new bad back.

You really are a spare, Herb.

 

 

[Pap]

2 minutes ago, Morgan said:

You really are a spare, Herb.

 

 

 

Why? I'm sure you started the thread with this, partially in mind? 

 

[Morgan]

1 minute ago, Pap said:

 

Why? I'm sure you started the thread with this, partially in mind? 

 

Well, you’re wrong.

 

I started it because of a chat we were having with our doctor over dinner on Saturday evening.  She said that a lot of the medical profession didn’t, as yet, recognise it as an official ‘illness’.

 

I know of someone who suffers very badly from this, therefore was quite interested as to what folk thought of fibromyalgia.

 

It’s very real to my friend, sometimes she can hardly stand up, move freely or escape the headaches.

 

As usual though, @Herbert. is the edgiest, most outrageous and risqué poster on this fansite .

 

 

[Herbert.]

45 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Well, you’re wrong.

 

I started it because of a chat we were having with our doctor over dinner on Saturday evening.  She said that a lot of the medical profession didn’t, as yet, recognise it as an official ‘illness’.

 

I know of someone who suffers very badly from this, therefore was quite interested as to what folk thought of fibromyalgia.

 

It’s very real to my friend, sometimes she can hardly stand up, move freely or escape the headaches.

 

As usual though, @Herbert. is the edgiest, most outrageous and risqué poster on this fansite .

 

 

 

If it's not recognised as an illness then I was right it's the new bad back. If your friends headaches are that bad she should go see a doctor to find out why it could be a real illness. You as a friend should be telling her this instead of going by her self diagnosis she probably made while googling symptoms.

[Herbert.]

1 hour ago, Morgan said:

You really are a spare, Herb.

 

 

 

A spare what?

[Unknown user]

1 hour ago, Herbert. said:

 

If it's not recognised as an illness then I was right it's the new bad back. If your friends headaches are that bad she should go see a doctor to find out why it could be a real illness. You as a friend should be telling her this instead of going by her self diagnosis she probably made while googling symptoms.

 

Yeah, but to be fair, you know **** all about what she's feeling or the condition.

 

The NHS officially recognise it, you can be diagnosed with it.

[Unknown user]

There are tests to see if people are at it by the way, I found out later that they'd done one on me (no, I don't have fibromyalgia!) before they found out what's wrong - Hoover's sign.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover's_sign_(leg_paresis)

 

What really screwed with me when I found out was that I nearly failed - the neurologist was this tiny polish lassie with her hand under my heel. I didn't push down because I didn't want to break her, and at the end I mentioned it. Turns out that's the test - if you're a malingerer you're not really trying and don't push down. If I'd kept that thought to myself, I'd be marked as a skiver and might never have got to the diagnosis!

[doctor jambo]

On 18/09/2023 at 13:09, ǝǝɥʇᴉɯS said:

 

It is all in the head but that doesn't mean made up though. Shell shock's all in the head, would any of us say it's not real?

We don't understand the brain/mind relationship well enough to understand how one affects the other.

This.

After all, depression and anxiety are all in the head, yet have very real physical manifestations .

[Herbert.]

7 hours ago, ǝǝɥʇᴉɯS said:

 

Yeah, but to be fair, you know **** all about what she's feeling or the condition.

 

The NHS officially recognise it, you can be diagnosed with it.

 

It should be classified along with munchausen. It's bullshit. 

[Unknown user]

59 minutes ago, Herbert. said:

 

It should be classified along with munchausen. It's bullshit. 

 

Cool, but again, TF do you know?

[Konrad von Carstein]

11 hours ago, Morgan said:

 

As usual though, @Herbert. is the edgiest, most outrageous and risqué poster on this fansite .

 

 

Are you going to sit there and take this slur on your, ahem, reputation @JudyJudyJudy ?

[Herbert.]

58 minutes ago, ǝǝɥʇᴉɯS said:

 

Cool, but again, TF do you know?

 

I know everything. I'm a bit like Good Will Hunting. 

[Unknown user]

1 minute ago, Herbert. said:

 

I know everything. I'm a bit like Good Will Hunting. 

 

Good luck finding any on here!

[Lone Striker]

 

Interesting to read the views on this condition - and yes, it is a medically recognised condition - especially links to early childhood situations. 

 

 I have a friend who suffered from symptoms such as muscle & joint pain for decades, ever since he was a teenager - it was diagnosed as fibromyalgia.   He blamed his condition on the fact that his mother was an alcoholic and drank & smoked during pregnancy (his dad confirmed that she did).   

 

Reading the posts above, I wonder if the trauma of growing up in what must have been a chaotic environment (alcoholic mother that affected the relationship  with his dad and with him )  was maybe more of a factor.

 

Despite these physical symptoms, he's the total opposite of lazy now.

 

 

[Morgan]

5 hours ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

Are you going to sit there and take this slur on your, ahem, reputation @JudyJudyJudy ?

@JudyJudyJudy is several levels above the self-appointed genius that calls himself @Herbert..

 

Mind you, so is an apricot.

[Morgan]

7 hours ago, Herbert. said:

 

It should be classified along with munchausen. It's bullshit. 

If you ever get diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Herbert, then I hope your ears fall off. 👍

[Konrad von Carstein]

55 minutes ago, Morgan said:

@JudyJudyJudy is several levels above the self-appointed genius that calls himself @Herbert..

 

Mind you, so is an apricot.

Apropos of nothing, I've just had a peach 🍑

[Unknown user]

6 minutes ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

Apropos of nothing, I've just had a peach 🍑

 

[Konrad von Carstein]

49 minutes ago, ǝǝɥʇᴉɯS said:

 

You've just scanned 12 packets of space raiders?

 

You greedy bugger!

[Unknown user]

3 minutes ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

You've just scanned 12 packets of space raiders?

 

You greedy bugger!

 

3 🤩

[Tazio]

1 hour ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

Apropos of nothing, I've just had a peach 🍑

A suede apple. 

[Herbert.]

On 20/09/2023 at 15:48, Morgan said:

If you ever get diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Herbert, then I hope your ears fall off. 👍

A bit low that wishing pain and suffering on someone over a Internet forum. 

[cheetah]

Functional MRI show differences in brain patterns in fibromyalgia sufferers during pain stimulation. 

 

So a very real thing, and awful for the sufferers we see in the clinic.

[Unknown user]

25 minutes ago, Herbert. said:

A bit low that wishing pain and suffering on someone over a Internet forum. 

 

Not as low as accusing fibromyalgia sufferers of being at it

[Herbert.]

7 minutes ago, ǝǝɥʇᴉɯS said:

 

Not as low as accusing fibromyalgia sufferers of being at it

Is it warm up Morgans arse?

 

[Unknown user]

3 minutes ago, Herbert. said:

Is it warm up Morgans arse?

 

It is shan AF though

[escobri]

Nice wee video this.

 

[henrysmithsgloves]

5 hours ago, escobri said:

Nice wee video this.

 

Just watched a programme on BBC Scotland,there is a bunch of women swimming in the north sea to aid all ailments 🥶🥶

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/fifes-tidal-pools-and-love-of-wild-swimming-features-in-bbc-scotland-series-jules-and-gregs-wild-swim-4480606

[Spellczech]

I think a lot modern conditions are self-propagating. Babies instinctively know that crying gets them attention and this continues (perhaps literally or metaphorically) into adult life for some people...

 

100 years ago there was the idea of the British stiff upper lip which was basically compartmentalistion of bad experiences - "don't talk about the war" etc

 

Now everything has gone the other way and people are encouraged to offload bad experiences, thus reliving them again and again. Common sense dictates that this may not be an healthy thing to do, but it has created a lot of jobs...

 

Personally I think a middle ground is probably best - I had a few bad experiences when younger and I locked them away for a number of years. Once time had done a bit of healing I found it wasn't that bad to later talk about them, and now I don't feel the need to to talk about them or think about them at all. They are in the past.

[kila]

Hallucinogenics, such as LSD or mushrooms, may show some promise in treating things like this. Along the lines of opening up brain pathways and reconnecting, though the 'trip' may involve having to digest some of the awful experiences that are being blocked out.

 

It's a very interesting area on how to treat trauma.