While I was up at 2:30 this morning and couldn't sleep because it felt like someone was kicking me in my ribs, I finally caught up on this thread and then continued to think about
it all. I completely agree with the disturbing trend. When it comes up to people that I have Fibromyalgia if they do know anything it's the very little from the drug commercials. My husband and I laugh at those commercials. He's in advertising and it's funny because they're selling Fibromyalgia to larger community, not their drug to those with Fibromyalgia.
I went to a seminar last year that was put on by a health care system that two of my friends are a part of. My husband and I left work early, drove out to this seminar and I was FUMING within the first 5 mintues. It was clear this wasn't for people who already knew they had it, it was to try to convince other people that maybe they did and that they should go through THOUSANDS of dollars of testing to find out. I was doing my best the entire time to hold back my outrage. In a room of about 50 people, there were only 3 of us that had been diagnosed and about 35 who thought they had it. Well sure, a lot more people would think they had Fibro too if all it took was being tired, having aches and pains, not always sleeping well and getting headaches sometimes. I listened to this quack talk about adrenal fatigue and 2 out of 3 of us who had Fibro told him that our adrenal tests have always come back inconclusive therefore not being a true test of Fibro. He insisted that there were tests he could perform on people to tell them if they had it... WRONG. He wasn't talking blood work/scans to rule out other conditions. I finally threw up my hand and started yelling at the "Dr". I told him that the was contributing to the same problem as the drug companies and was failing to acknowledge that Fibro comes with a lot more than the few things he mentioned. All of the associated conditions that almost all of us never had before. That you literally wake up one day (or over a series of days, weekes, months) not the same person. This is part of the reason that they are beginning to change the diagnositc criteria for Fibro. The guy was taken aback by my anger and I blantantly called him out on the fact that he was just trying to convince people they had it so he could make money on these "tests". People in the room had their jaw to the ground. The other 2 people in the room with Fibro applaused, it was quite a scene I caused. But I was sick of it! I was so angry that I got sucked into a trap and I wanted a chance to educate others against the craziness.
I definitely agree that a positive attitude helps. It is sometimes hard to get there. I think living with Fibro is different for everyone. When it came on, where you were in your life, how the day to day is, etc. When I was first diagnosed I was automatically so thankful and relieved that it was nothing else. As I am going through this mega flare 4 years later and I have all the Drs and specialists scratching their heads trying to determine if it is just Fibro or something else, with the help of a psychologist I realized I missed an essential piece in the acceptance process. I never got angry or grieved the loss. While I am still thankful that I "only" have Fibro, it is still no walk in the park and I have to give validity to the feelings of anger and feeling blue when they come up. I don't have to dwell on them, but I have to acknowledge and validate them.