So, you've now found a doctor who believes you and you're in his office.
Wait a minute, before you even get into the office of this doctor, what do you need to do?
Well, ideally, you've kept a log of your symptoms, particularly the really bad ones. For example, if you have severe fatigue and IBS, those would be topics of interest. Also, how severe is your pain on a daily basis? Where is the pain? When do you hurt the worst, morning, afternoon or evening? Do you sleep or wake up several times at night?
These are things that will be important to address when you go into the office to discuss your symptoms. It's important to write things down because, often due to fibro-fog or simply nerves, we forget what we're going to say or ask. Which brings me to my next point, write down questions. I would start by asking, if you haven't already, how many Fibro patients the doctor sees on an ongoing basis. That would be indicative of how he or she is doing as a Fibro doctor in general. If you're their first one, reconsider staying with this physician. But let's assume that you've already found that they treat a large group of Fibro patients.
If you're like many Fibro patients, your main concerns will be sleep, pain and fatigue. But I know there are more. Some Fibro patients are on disability because their IBS is so bad that they cannot stay away from a bathroom or they are cramping and in pain abdominally from that problem. So, there are many different symptoms that you'll want to address as your personal "worst".
The doctor should offer you solutions, but not start necessarily at writing prescriptions for medications. They may have you go for accupuncture. However, it's important that you stress the severity of your symptoms. If you are in such pain that you are unable to sit still, sleep, eat or function, the doctor WILL want to prescribe something for pain.
The bottom line is this, you want to leave that doctor's office with some sort of HOPE. This will be huge. Sometimes simply the validation of "Yes, you have Fibromyalgia and here's how we will start your treatment program" is enough to give you the hope you need to move on. If your pain is treated your sleep may improve. If your pain is treated and the doctor sends you for massage treatments, your pain will lessen AND your sleep will improve yet again.
There are many variations of this theme. The point is, you've made the first step towards a life of quality, not misery. You're going in the right direction.
Take one day at a time and follow the doctor's instructions. If, after a week or so, you are feeling no better or worse, call the physician up and tell him. Explain what you've done and not done and make a list of your new or worsening complaints. Writing things down with Fibro is huge. Sometimes if our pain takes a break, we may forget how bad it really was, only to have it return after the conversation with the physician.
Keeping a diary or journal of you symptoms during this time is extremely important. It will serve as a reminder for your discussions with your medical team.
In addition, keeping this diary of your symptoms does something else. Further down the road, you will read it and realize that you're feeling much better than those days in your journal.
Your hope of feeling better will finally have come true.....and it WILL! Count on it!
I'm living proof! Press on, my Fibro friends, press on.
Blessings.......
Mo M.
Wait a minute, before you even get into the office of this doctor, what do you need to do?
Well, ideally, you've kept a log of your symptoms, particularly the really bad ones. For example, if you have severe fatigue and IBS, those would be topics of interest. Also, how severe is your pain on a daily basis? Where is the pain? When do you hurt the worst, morning, afternoon or evening? Do you sleep or wake up several times at night?
These are things that will be important to address when you go into the office to discuss your symptoms. It's important to write things down because, often due to fibro-fog or simply nerves, we forget what we're going to say or ask. Which brings me to my next point, write down questions. I would start by asking, if you haven't already, how many Fibro patients the doctor sees on an ongoing basis. That would be indicative of how he or she is doing as a Fibro doctor in general. If you're their first one, reconsider staying with this physician. But let's assume that you've already found that they treat a large group of Fibro patients.
If you're like many Fibro patients, your main concerns will be sleep, pain and fatigue. But I know there are more. Some Fibro patients are on disability because their IBS is so bad that they cannot stay away from a bathroom or they are cramping and in pain abdominally from that problem. So, there are many different symptoms that you'll want to address as your personal "worst".
The doctor should offer you solutions, but not start necessarily at writing prescriptions for medications. They may have you go for accupuncture. However, it's important that you stress the severity of your symptoms. If you are in such pain that you are unable to sit still, sleep, eat or function, the doctor WILL want to prescribe something for pain.
The bottom line is this, you want to leave that doctor's office with some sort of HOPE. This will be huge. Sometimes simply the validation of "Yes, you have Fibromyalgia and here's how we will start your treatment program" is enough to give you the hope you need to move on. If your pain is treated your sleep may improve. If your pain is treated and the doctor sends you for massage treatments, your pain will lessen AND your sleep will improve yet again.
There are many variations of this theme. The point is, you've made the first step towards a life of quality, not misery. You're going in the right direction.
Take one day at a time and follow the doctor's instructions. If, after a week or so, you are feeling no better or worse, call the physician up and tell him. Explain what you've done and not done and make a list of your new or worsening complaints. Writing things down with Fibro is huge. Sometimes if our pain takes a break, we may forget how bad it really was, only to have it return after the conversation with the physician.
Keeping a diary or journal of you symptoms during this time is extremely important. It will serve as a reminder for your discussions with your medical team.
In addition, keeping this diary of your symptoms does something else. Further down the road, you will read it and realize that you're feeling much better than those days in your journal.
Your hope of feeling better will finally have come true.....and it WILL! Count on it!
I'm living proof! Press on, my Fibro friends, press on.
Blessings.......
Mo M.
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