Doubting the Existence of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue
I read an article in the Arizona Republic that discusses fibromyaglia and chronic fatigue and the skepticism that each condition has encountered from the medical community.
I know a bit about this myself. As a disability examiner and in working on the representation side of social security disability claims and SSI claims, I found that many treating physicians were likely to "blow off" both conditions. And, of course, in the case of fibromyalgia, this situation is not helped by the fact that a number of psychiatrists continue to deliver the diagnosis of fibromyalgia for the patients they treat (further enhancing the perception that this is a condition that is rooted in someone's mental state).
Why do physicians treat chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia with skepticism and sometimes even hostility? My own feeling is that this may occur, to some exent, because these are conditions that are not entirely quantifiable. After all, both are still carrying the label of "syndrome", which essentially means that medical science does not know enough about the cause and origin of either, and, consequently, there are few treatment modalities. And, of course, there are those characteristics of modern physicians that we've all encountered at one point or another.
1. Doctors don't spend time with their patients. This is typically due to the number of patients they have. However, when a doctor's visit equates to spending 30-45 minutes in the waiting room and 10 minutes being seen, there's not much opportunity for doctor-patient discussion and getting a proper description of one's symptomology.
2. Doctors equate treatment with the prescription of medication. Period.
I may be wrong about this, but I'm not aware of any medications that exist solely to treat chronic fatigue, meaning that doctors who enounter this condition among their patients have little to do, based on their approach to disease management (prescribe a pill). This by itself may form part of the basis for their own skepticism, and at times annoyance and hostility.
Fortunately, for fibromyalgia sufferers, there is a new drug that has been approved for their use: lyrica. The prescription of lyrica may not only directly help FMS patients, but may go some distance in validating the existence of fibromyalgia in some doctor's minds.
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I know a bit about this myself. As a disability examiner and in working on the representation side of social security disability claims and SSI claims, I found that many treating physicians were likely to "blow off" both conditions. And, of course, in the case of fibromyalgia, this situation is not helped by the fact that a number of psychiatrists continue to deliver the diagnosis of fibromyalgia for the patients they treat (further enhancing the perception that this is a condition that is rooted in someone's mental state).
Why do physicians treat chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia with skepticism and sometimes even hostility? My own feeling is that this may occur, to some exent, because these are conditions that are not entirely quantifiable. After all, both are still carrying the label of "syndrome", which essentially means that medical science does not know enough about the cause and origin of either, and, consequently, there are few treatment modalities. And, of course, there are those characteristics of modern physicians that we've all encountered at one point or another.
1. Doctors don't spend time with their patients. This is typically due to the number of patients they have. However, when a doctor's visit equates to spending 30-45 minutes in the waiting room and 10 minutes being seen, there's not much opportunity for doctor-patient discussion and getting a proper description of one's symptomology.
2. Doctors equate treatment with the prescription of medication. Period.
I may be wrong about this, but I'm not aware of any medications that exist solely to treat chronic fatigue, meaning that doctors who enounter this condition among their patients have little to do, based on their approach to disease management (prescribe a pill). This by itself may form part of the basis for their own skepticism, and at times annoyance and hostility.
Fortunately, for fibromyalgia sufferers, there is a new drug that has been approved for their use: lyrica. The prescription of lyrica may not only directly help FMS patients, but may go some distance in validating the existence of fibromyalgia in some doctor's minds.
Return to:
Additional Entries
Asthma
Arthritis
Arrhythmia
Anxiety disorder
Angina
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