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Only your physician can diagnose you with fibromyalgia and then treat you. Reading this is a very good idea, but it still doesn't really cut it when it comes to making an actual diagnosis in your own individual case. What I can give you is a simple self-test to use to help you determine if you may have fibromyalgia syndrome. |
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Grab a piece of paper and jot down your answers to the following 'yes' or 'no' questions, or print this page and answer right next to the question. Then, read the analysis at the end of the list. If you think that you may be a possible candidate for fibromyalgia, make an appointment with your physician and find out for sure. 1. Do you have a lot of pain in certain specific areas of your body? If so, do the areas lack any obvious damage (such as bruising or swelling)? 2. Is your body pain sometimes severe? 3. Do you have trouble sleeping on three or more nights per week? 4. Do you feel exhausted about half the time or more? 5. Do people often ask you if you're sick? 6. Do you turn down social invitations rather than risk having to go out feeling achy and tired? 7. Do you find yourself wondering whether your aches and pains will ever go away or if you'll feel like this forever? 8. Are you always losing thing and forgetting things? Do you have so much mental confusion that you sometimes wonder if it could be an early onset of Alzheimer's disease? 9. Are you having trouble finding a pattern to your pain - some days it's bad and some days it's not? 10. Have you started to feel really "down" about the pain and fatigue that you've been experiencing? Are you wondering if depression could be the problem? The more you answered "yes" to the higher the chance is you may have fibromyalgia, although every person's case is different. That's why even if you only answered "yes" to one or two of the questions, but you think that you may have fibromyalgia, a consultation with your physician is a good idea. Now, here's some explanation of what may be happening to you, depending on you answers to the questions. Keep in mind, though, that only your doctor can actually diagnose you with fibromyalgia. Question 1: If you're experiencing pain in specific parts of your body, but you're not seeing any bruises or any apparent evidence of damage ( and neither is your doctor), these painful areas may be the "tender points" that are characteristic of fibromyalgia. See my section on "Fibromyalgia Tender Points" Question 2: If you said that your pain is sometimes very severe, this is another indicator that you may have fibromyalgia. Be sure to consult with a physician to find out. Question 3: If you have trouble sleeping three or more nights per week, you have a serious problem. The problem may or may not be connected with fibromyalgia (although nearly everyone with FMS has sleep problems), but you need to resolve the serious sleep deficit you’re building up. If you’re a walking zombie because you’re not getting enough sleep, you can’t perform well at work or home, nor will you be a happy person. Also, if you’re prone to developing fibromyalgia, this continuing bad pattern of a lack of sleep every night will make your other symptoms, such as your pain and fatigue, much worse. Question 4: Severe fatigue is a chronic problem among nearly everyone who has fibromyalgia. Often, it’s linked to a lack of sleep. But it may also be an element of FMS as a medical problem. You may also have chronic fatigue syndrome, and your doctor will need to help you sort it out. Question 5: If you agreed that those you care about, or maybe even strangers around you, are asking you if you’re ill, something about you probably doesn’t look right. You may be displaying your chronic pain on your face without even knowing it. On the other hand, other people tell individuals with fibromyalgia that they look "fine" and "great" and the pain and symptoms aren’t reflected in the face or body language of the fibromyalgia sufferer. If this has happened to you, you’re definitely not alone. Question 6: If you’re turning down a lot of invitations that you would have accepted in the past, you really need to have a serious talk with yourself to find out the reason why. Is it because of pain and fatigue? Or could you be having a problem with depression - a very common problem and highly treatable for people with and without fibromyalgia? Question 7: When your pain is constant and chronic, asking yourself if it’s ever going to end is only natural. But what you need to do is consult with a physician. You may have fibromyalgia, or you may have another problem altogether. Question 8: If you constantly lose things or forget things, you may have the mental confusion that stems from fibromyalgia. You may also have attention deficit disorder. You may also be trying to do too many things at once, and you need to take some items off your plate. How do you know which it is? You make a stab at analyzing what you’re forgetting and when. If you can’t even begin to do that, and you also are experiencing chronic pain, fatigue, and sleep problems, you may have fibromyalgia. See you doctor to find out for sure. Question 9: If your pain is severe on some days and then far less of a problem on other days, and you think there doesn’t seem to be any sort of pattern to it at all, you may be seeing the chronic ups and downs of fibromyalgia. Widespread pain that can appear in one part of your body one day and migrate elsewhere on another day is common, as are days when you feel really bad, bad, and only mildly bad. Question 10: If you’ve been felling pretty melancholy and maybe sort of overwhelmed by all your many aches and pains, you may have depression. Many people with fibromyalgia have both depression and FMS. But before rushing off to the nearest psychiatrist to ask for Zoloft or the latest antidepressant approved last week by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as a first stop, consider talking to your regular doctor or to a rheumatologist. Why? Your primary problem may actually be fibromyalgia, and if your medical problem is treated an then your symptoms subsequently improve, so may your sad mood. Many doctors prescribe antidepressant medications to treat pain and FMS. Before making an appointment with your doctor you may want to arm yourself further by testing your "Tender Points". Go to my section on "Fibromyalgia Tender Points" for more details. |
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