AGAIN, I ONLY have Fibromyalgia, that is MY ONLY DIAGNOSIS!

Well, I DO have to apologize for not following up sooner on this board. I have wanted to sit and write to you, fellow Fibro-sufferers, but life took over.

Now, to get right down to business. I have done many presentations in front of Fibro/Chronic Pain support groups about ways to improve life with this challenge. I have had "moderate" success and I believe it's because I might be different than many of the "attendees" in personality AND affliction.

I found that many of the people I speak to (I usually have them introduce themselves and tell what their "pain illness" is) have "other", possibly more "primary" illnesses, and that Fibro is their secondary diagnosis.

For example, I'll hear "Well, I have Lyme disease, Fibro and CFS", or "I have borderline Lupus and Fibro".

Fibro is always listed last on their number of illnesses or at least is listed with OTHER illnesses. Honestly, the last presentation I did, I told all of them after they had introduced themselves, that I ONLY had Fibro. They sort of all looked down at the floor when I said that.

So, I continued with, "OK, I get the distinct feeling that I struck a chord with you all when I said that I only have Fibro. Is that not ENOUGH for me to talk to you about chronic pain? Am I somehow diminished by ONLY having Fibro?"

Well, the leader of the group, spoke for them and said, "Well, it's just that most, if not all of us, have MORE than just Fibro and ONLY having Fibro can be easier."

REALLY, I thought, but I said nothing except, "OK, well, in spite of that, I'm going to do my presentation anyway!" with a smile on my face.

I wanted to lash out, but I did not. I began to talk about the most important things to consider with Fibro. So, if you are someone who is suffering with MORE than Fibro, you may get a bit annoyed if I don't deal with your "primary diagnoses", but I'm not going to do it.

I truly believe that many of the people in the audiences were in one of two groups; either they were just like me and only had Fibro but would not admit it, OR, they truly DID have another primary diagnosis and were being perfectly honest

People don't want to admit they ONLY have Fibromyalgia because it just doesn't seem credible enough. So, they tag something else on there for credibility's sake.

Listen, STOP IT. Just admit that you only have Fibro and we'll fight the stigma together. Because if you DO only have Fibromyalgia (and usually CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome goes hand in hand with it!) that is perfectly ENOUGH to make your life a HUGE challenge.

So, that will end this post. I'm tired of defending Fibromyalgia as a legitimate illness, Consider it done and also, if you ONLY have Fibro and need some support, keep reading. The next post will follow immediately and I will tell you the first TWO most important things  to do when you have Fibro.

Thanks for reading my rant,
Mo M. :)