Fibromyalgia Diagnosis
Fibromyalgia diagnosis is simply a process of elimination. Ruling out other illnesses, conditions and diseases takes time. The overlapping and mimicking symptoms of Fibromyalgia can be associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Rheumatoid arthritis, Thyroid conditions such as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Lupus, peri-menopausal and menopausal symptoms plus many more.
It is reported that many Fibromyalgia sufferers take years to finally receive a Fibromyalgia diagnosis.
Getting a Fibromyalgia Diagnosis
It took five years, five GPs, three rheumatologists, one endocrinologist, one dermatologist one gynaecologist, many blood tests, a bone density scan and X-rays before I finally got my Fibromyalgia diagnosis.
Mine is not an uncommon story because of the many overlapping symptoms to other illnesses and conditions. In my case I was going through the menopause plus being diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis causing me to have an underactive thyroid.
Receiving a Fibromyalgia Diagnosis
Receiving a Fibromyalgia diagnosis can be quite an anticlimax. For months and maybe years you have been waiting to find out exactly what is wrong with. You need answers to why you are suffering so much pain in different parts of your body. You need answers to why you are so fatigued you cannot live a normal life. You need answers to why you have a myriad of different symptoms that are affecting your mental health, your cognitive function, your digestive system etc.
You need to know why, despite all the tests you have undergone and that have come back clear, what on earth can be wrong with you.
According to the NHS to receive a Fibromyalgia diagnosis certain criteria has to be met.
- That you either have severe pain in 3 to 6 different areas of your body, or you have milder pain in 7 or more different areas
- That your symptoms have stayed at a similar level for at least 3 months
- That no other reason for your symptoms has been found
Some doctors and specialists still use the “tender point” examination. This is where a doctor applies gentle pressure to 18 specific "tender points" throughout the body. If they are painful then you are likely to diagnose as having Fibromyalgia.
My third rheumatologist used the "tender points" test on me. I cried out “ouch” to everyone she pressed. She then gave me my Fibromyalgia diagnosis and handed me a booklet to read.
I cried my eyes out in the ladies toilets before going home. I read the booklet from cover to cover. All the words seemed a blur apart from “Fibromyalgia is Incurable”.
I could not accept that and began in earnest to find my Fibromyalgia cure.