Essay on Fibromyalgia Fact or Fiction - 1684 Words

Fibromyalgia: Fact or Fiction Imagine waking up every morning stiff, all your muscles in your body soar, extremely tired and on the verge of exhaustion. The simple task of taking a shower and getting dressed makes you need to lay down for just a few minutes and rest. Your legs ache from a short walk up the stairs last night on your way to bed, as if you ran a marathon in your sleep, and your skin literally hurts to the touch of your clothes as they rub against you. Your blood pressure is up and you can feel the pain emanating from every part of your body. You can’t, for the life of you, find your keys as they hang from the keychain in your hand, because the pain and agitation you are feeling all over has clouded your mind. You are finding†¦show more content†¦In 1990 a way to diagnose fibromyalgia was being developed and written into guidelines by the American College of Rheumatology, the first guidelines for treating this diagnosis was published by the American pain society by 2005 and an actual prescription medication was approved for this disease in 2007 (Pfitzer). As you can see fibromyalgia has been around for quite some time, it just didn’t show much progress between 1820 and 1976, but the outlook for those suffering has never been better. Researchers are continuously making progress although it is a slow progress it is progress. Throughout the years of this age old disease there have been many myths about fibromyalgia such as â€Å"it’s a rare disease† and the truth is, it is not a rare disease, in fact it is quite common and is estimated that there are several million people in the United States alone that suffer from its effects. Some say â€Å"it is all in a person’s head†, that too is a myth. Studies have proven the pain is real thru imaging of the brain and control test show that a person with fibromyalgia feels pain more intensely than those without fibromyalgia. There are those that also claim tha t fibromyalgia is a â€Å"woman’s† disease, although about 80% of those who suffer are women it is not limited to women only, there are men and even children who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and is not restricted to any ethnic group.