Categories: uncategorized
Date: 15 January 2009 22:28:44
Today the thing was semi-officially given a name. The general professional seemed to agree with me that this was the correct name. This person has now referred me to a specialist - who may confirm the name, or perhaps decide upon another. For now, tho, the name is fibromyalgia. Yes, wibfolk, for a while now I have been experiencing a range of symptoms, none of which had any obvious physical cause. In the course of my to-ings and fro-ings, I asked questions and did some research (i.e. looked on Google). Today, when yet another avenue of possible cause had been exhuasted, I decided to lay out all of my symptoms before a friendly and competent GP (not an entirely mythical beast). He considered things for a moment, and then asked me for my opinion. As it turned out, he was thinking along the same lines, and has now referred me to a specialist who deals with nebulous syndromes such as this. In case you were wondering, fibromyalgia is one of those things, along with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME, that still causes a deal of scepticism amongst health professionals. I am just glad that I can be referred to someone who believes in the stuff sufficiently to specialise in it. As for how I feel, I would say that my reactions are mixed. I have been dealing with tiredness, aches and pains, digestive probs etc etc for a while now, and to begin with I just ignored it. Actually seeking help for even one of the symptoms was a blow enough to my proud 'I don't need the medics' attitude. As it turns out, one part of me is relieved that a name has been put to my collection of symptoms. On the other hand, I know that this condition is cannot be cured with a pill or procedure, and this is in itself a mixed blessing. In order to increase my quality of life, I will need to make changes to how I eat, exercise and generally live. That puts me at risk of becoming like one of those people with imagined food intolerances who cannot touch anything for fear of coming out in a rash. There is some poetic justice in this as I was scornful of people with genuine, but difficult to define, food issues for far too long. Ah well, perhaps this is the kick up the backside I need to start to take more care of myself!