The Burden of Proof Rests Heavier on Misunderstood Illnesses.

Here at a time when the FDA is finally approving drugs for the treatment of fibromyalgia (Lyrica being the first so far) the media pipes up with the, "Is It Real?" question again - some outlets more politely than others e.g. the recent New York Times article - I won't even bother to link to the other articles in that vein which have been quite a bit more insulting. Feeding a portion of this latest rash of articles is the fact that Dr. Frederick Wolfe, who had originally "discovered" fibro in the early 90's has now decided it's a psychosomatic illness.

I'm of two minds about the situation. The reality of the condition I don't feel is in question. The fact that doctors allow it to be the final diagnosis and cease looking any deeper I feel is a problem.

Having been diagnosed with fibro and CFS a decade ago, I'm angry it took me 10 years to get the more accurate diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos. There are a portion of doctors treating Fibromyalgia (and to be fair, CFS) as a wastebasket diagnosis. Can't figure it out? Blood work odd but not overtly dangerous? Fibromyalgia!

Do I believe this collections of symptoms labeled Fibromyalgia exist? Absolutely! Do I believe that once that diagnosis is received it's the end of the diagnostic road. Emphatically NO! There are subsets within both Fibromyalgia and CFS, and until a larger portion of the medical community starts taking a serious look at that effective treatment and true respect of these illnesses are a ways off I fear.