Originally Posted by Pi**{ie

As someone who knows 2 people closely with fibro: one old and one young. I find this to be a really sad comment. Do you know there are now standard tests for fibro? I've been tested myself(I didnt have fibro my pain is truly centered in the joints), there are 22 pressure points and you have to have more than half to have to be considered a fibromalgia patient. Plus you have to have chronic fatigue, and sleep problems. The 22 points do not corrolate with joints, or places where ligaments/tendons meet. They are also not locations where nerve endings are met. They are in multiple places as fibro patients have wide spread pain of the muscular system. That pain causes joint stiffness etc. A patient with fibro also has to have been ruled out from a number of conditions. There is also a drug protocol on the market for fibro patients, the most responsive drug is Lyrica. I reccomend she try that if nothing else works for her.

Of course according to you my arthritis is probably in my head too right? That only took 3 years for a top rheumatologist to figure out why my joints were consistantly pissed. I have negative antigens, I have 1 mri and 1 xray showing the slow moving ******* in my back/pelvis only slightly. However my hands, feet, and knees currently scan clean yet they currently cause me the most issues. My bowel disorder has never been doccumented to have this type of arthritis go chronic like it has in my case, and it rarely is associated with this type. I also have the rarer type of IBD arthritis that is caused by RA genes, and typically goes to full blown RA eventually without antigens but only in chronic IBD patients mine is undercontrol by diet. 2 months ago my dr after 3+ months of me battling chronic exhuastion and pain that did not respond to steroids decided that my arthritis had moved to the full blown stage. They put me on a full protocol to not just reduce pain but to at this point stop my body from snacking on my joints. This is something I avoided for the last 2 years since full diagnosis knowing I eventually would have no choice on.

So the pain is not in her head its real, and that pain causes depression etc. I know because the pain I had put me in the **** hole for several weeks. I can sympathize with her, and I hope that through exercise she finds some relief. Bottom line chronic pain is debilitating no matter the form, and its people who want to say thats in your head that slow down finding the cause and fixing it. No one should be told they dont feel what they feel. Their bodies are telling them something is wrong. Its not always a pill that fixes it either, sometimes its a combo of things. Being active helps reduce inflamation, and muscle fatigue over time. It also teaches the body how to use oxygen more effectively, and releases endorphins. Plus she'll be leaner and less weight means less pressure on whats hurting not matter the cause.