I assume that it exists. I also assume because it is kind of vague there are people who take advantage of it. Like the OP, I've known some. Sadly, those people cast a negative shadow on those who truly do have it.
I had the flu last week and hadn't felt that bad in years. This was the first year I hadn't gotten a flu shot in a while. I was even having some slight difficulty breathing one of the days. Waking up soaked in sweat constantly.I saw over the weekend like a third of eastern iowa schools are missing 10% or more of students due to illness. Last winter was especially brutal being the first one back since lockdowns, so all those pent up viruses went crazy. I suspect more of the same this year. I usually get one cold each winter, but my kids have already brought home two this fall.
I had the flu last week and hadn't felt that bad in years. This was the first year I hadn't gotten a flu shot in a while. I was even having some slight difficulty breathing one of the days. Waking up soaked in sweat constantly.
See I could point to my 102 temp. as evidence I felt like ****. What do the fibro people have?I think you were faking
![]()
Sure, if you believe thermometers.See I could point to my 102 temp. as evidence I felt like ****. What do the fibro people have?
I agree. I think it's probably an actual condition for some but is also a huge "go to" condition for those constantly searching for something wrong with themselves.Fibromyalgia | Arthritis | CDC
Basic information about fibromyalgia, including common symptoms and treatment.www.cdc.gov
The condition is real, but it's likely over-diagnosed because of the wide array of non-specific clinical signs (pain, soreness, stiffness, fatigue, trouble sleeping, anxiety/depression, cognitive decline) kinda like Celiac disease except that actually has a defined cause. Can't deny that people occasionally suffer from the pee-poops, but that doesn't mean they all actually have a gluten-sensitive enteropathy. The lack of an observable sign that is specific to that disease/condition is the source of a lot of the confusion in those that suffer from it and the source of a lot of the doubt from those that don't......also the lack of a defined cause doesn't help. Much easier to understand something when we can see both the cause and effect: kid falls out of tree-->broken arm, pretty straightforward.
My mom was diagnosed with fibromyalgia several years ago.........and I'm very skeptical that her situation actually fits into this condition. She's battled severe depression and anxiety for around 20 years, and those symptoms were present long before she felt fatigue/soreness/low grade pain. She taught second grade for ~40 years and helped on the ranch in the summers. She's 68 years old, has had a pretty terrible diet for a very long time, has put on probably 50-60 pounds, and makes no effort to get any physical activity which would likely help many of the things she's going through. Her doctor is quick to prescribe medication regardless of the situation and almost never talks with her about lifestyle choices that may be impacting her health......so she's also on all kinds of medication, each of which has a list of potential side effects. I think their are many contributing factors that are causing the vague symptoms she is having.....it's just easier for her to say she has a condition rather than take accountability and work to eliminate some of those factors.
My dad is 70, and has worked his ass off raising cattle for the last 50 years (something he absolutely loves and was born to do). He's slightly overweight and his diet is terrible, but he's incredibly physically active essentially every day of the year. He's often sore, stiff, fatigued, and forgetful......does he have fibromyalgia?
At the same time this country has never been more obese, more sedentary, or older than it is right now. Massive numbers of people carry around far too much weight for decades: think that might cause some inflammation in ligaments/tendons/joints that evolved to function under far less stress for far shorter lifespans? What is the long term effect of decades of terrible diet choices/malnutrition and lack of physical activity that led to the weight gain in the first place?
These questions are incredibly difficult to answer and take years of epidemiology investigation....I certainly don't have the answers. But we need to start doing two things: take a preventative, long-term approach to promoting health/wellness and take mental health far more seriously than we have in the past.
Ill make a long post about Fibro here in a second (and why its a touchy subject) but Celiac is a bad reference because it has an actual diagnostic testing to determine if someone has it so it isn't "over diagnosed". Many people will claim they have it or gluten intolerance without ever going in for tests and that is almost always due to a lifestyle choice.Fibromyalgia | Arthritis | CDC
Basic information about fibromyalgia, including common symptoms and treatment.www.cdc.gov
The condition is real, but it's likely over-diagnosed because of the wide array of non-specific clinical signs (pain, soreness, stiffness, fatigue, trouble sleeping, anxiety/depression, cognitive decline) kinda like Celiac disease except that actually has a defined cause. Can't deny that people occasionally suffer from the pee-poops, but that doesn't mean they all actually have a gluten-sensitive enteropathy. The lack of an observable sign that is specific to that disease/condition is the source of a lot of the confusion in those that suffer from it and the source of a lot of the doubt from those that don't......also the lack of a defined cause doesn't help. Much easier to understand something when we can see both the cause and effect: kid falls out of tree-->broken arm, pretty straightforward.
My mom was diagnosed with fibromyalgia several years ago.........and I'm very skeptical that her situation actually fits into this condition. She's battled severe depression and anxiety for around 20 years, and those symptoms were present long before she felt fatigue/soreness/low grade pain. She taught second grade for ~40 years and helped on the ranch in the summers. She's 68 years old, has had a pretty terrible diet for a very long time, has put on probably 50-60 pounds, and makes no effort to get any physical activity which would likely help many of the things she's going through. Her doctor is quick to prescribe medication regardless of the situation and almost never talks with her about lifestyle choices that may be impacting her health......so she's also on all kinds of medication, each of which has a list of potential side effects. I think their are many contributing factors that are causing the vague symptoms she is having.....it's just easier for her to say she has a condition rather than take accountability and work to eliminate some of those factors.
My dad is 70, and has worked his ass off raising cattle for the last 50 years (something he absolutely loves and was born to do). He's slightly overweight and his diet is terrible, but he's incredibly physically active essentially every day of the year. He's often sore, stiff, fatigued, and forgetful......does he have fibromyalgia?
At the same time this country has never been more obese, more sedentary, or older than it is right now. Massive numbers of people carry around far too much weight for decades: think that might cause some inflammation in ligaments/tendons/joints that evolved to function under far less stress for far shorter lifespans? What is the long term effect of decades of terrible diet choices/malnutrition and lack of physical activity that led to the weight gain in the first place?
These questions are incredibly difficult to answer and take years of epidemiology investigation....I certainly don't have the answers. But we need to start doing two things: take a preventative, long-term approach to promoting health/wellness and take mental health far more seriously than we have in the past.
I didn’t have time to look up heart disease until now so I waited to double check myself before commenting, but do you suspect that men make up most of the majority of these studies since they are the most likely to suffer from them? Massive heart attacks are 70-89% (wide number that the info reports) occurring with men. Also, men are considered 4x as likely to be an alcoholic than women.
So are some of these studies just trying to help the greatest amount of people and not being sexist in their studies?
Depression hurts.Ill make a long post about Fibro here in a second (and why its a touchy subject) but Celiac is a bad reference because it has an actual diagnostic testing to determine if someone has it so it isn't "over diagnosed". Many people will claim they have it or gluten intolerance without ever going in for tests and that is almost always due to a lifestyle choice.
I despise this phrase. It has been used to dismiss women and girls and minimize very real issues for as long as I can remember. And yes, it was used on me. That was BEFORE I eventually had to have a hysterectomy.Is there any chance that it is all in their head? I know 2 women that have such bad social anxiety that the idea of going out in public will actually make them ill.
The bolded part about women does make it difficult, you would have to agree? Throw in the typical agreeable study participants and you may slam the brakes on many studies. I think of the men and women I know, and ones who have been able to participate in human trials, and men definitely are and have been willing to take the chance more often. Should a drug that can be helpful to men be put on the backburner and held back due to not enough women willing to participate in the study? My thoughts are if you have something that shows promise, then run the studies when you can, say it helps these people and then try to line up the areas of the people that you couldn't at first.
I didn't realize that phrase was exclusively for women.I despise this phrase. It has been used to dismiss women and girls and minimize very real issues for as long as I can remember. And yes, it was used on me. That was BEFORE I eventually had to have a hysterectomy.
I didn't realize that phrase was exclusively for women.
Perhaps because they don't have the physiological variations that women do, or at least not as many, and their health is not compromised as easily?The bolded part about women does make it difficult, you would have to agree? Throw in the typical agreeable study participants and you may slam the brakes on many studies. I think of the men and women I know, and ones who have been able to participate in human trials, and men definitely are and have been willing to take the chance more often. Should a drug that can be helpful to men be put on the backburner and held back due to not enough women willing to participate in the study? My thoughts are if you have something that shows promise, then run the studies when you can, say it helps these people and then try to line up the areas of the people that you couldn't at first.
I havent heard anyone use this phrase since the 90s...goes hand in hand with "you're being hysterical". It's far more common to see it used in reference to women.
Perhaps because they don't have the physiological variations that women do, or at least not as many, and their health is not compromised as easily?