Share Your Feelings on the Awareness of Fibromyalgia

HEALTHJOURNEYS
Deidre Tranter Fibromyalgia

I was diagnosed back in 2000 for Fibromyalgia. I was 40 years old. I started out with muscle pain in my thighs and it gradually spread everywhere else except my lower legs and lower arms. I was diagnosed with Arthritis back in my early 30's in my hands and knees. Everything else I have, I have spent a lot of money on trying...

View More

Is there more awareness in the world of fibromyalgia compared to when you first got diagnosed?

I think there may be some but still a lot of people don't get how it is. When I was first told I had Fibro, because I still pushed through working and everything, nobody believed me. I have bills to pay, I still had to work and suffer the consequences for it. It was thought that I had pulled a muscle in my groin area because I worked in a casino and did the stocking of things so I was lifting and so on. When they sent me to a Rheumatologist, she said Fibro after a scan. There isn't anything that can be done to get rid of it, it is forever. 

What do you think when you hear a celebrity is also suffering from fibromyalgia?

I imagine there is a lot of stress being a celebrity and having to deal with being in the public and not have any privacy. They can limit what they do and do some parts, etc. to keep making money. Where people like me, don't have a choice when it comes to paying bills. You do what you can until you just can't anymore. 

What do you think should be done to raise more awareness on fibromyalgia?

I think doctors that are supposed to examine you for disability should be doctors that know what you have been through, not one that has never seen you. There needs to be more doctors that are advocates for people like us. People need to stand up for their family members that have this. They have awareness marches and things for everything else but I don't think they have that many for this. More places you can go to that you can watch a video that will show how this affects people.