About.com Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Ah, housework -- that constant nagging bundle of stuff we all need to take care of, at one point or another! Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome make sure that we don't have the energy to keep up on it, and that when we finally get around to it, it's...

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This one can come from anywhere, but it seems most prevalent in the medical community -- "That's just what they tell you when they don't know what's wrong." The belief is that fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome aren't "real" diagnoses: doctors just give them to people they can't diagnose...

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In my article on grocery shopping last week, I asked you to share your own tips, and boy did you! Thank you for all of the wonderful, helpful comments. Several people brought up a really great idea: Have perishables bagged together & put in the car where they're easy to...

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I'm starting to feel like a broken record -- a third study European study has failed to uncover a link between XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome. Is this the nail in the coffin of this theory? Was all the hype and excitement for nothing? Are we back...

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It's hard to avoid cooking, but I sure wish I could! I was OK with it before I had fibromyalgia, but now the very thought of it stresses me out. If I'm doing something really simple and familiar, cooking's not too bad. When I have to keep track of...

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It's amazing how hard some things hit you. I saw the title of a BMC Medicine article titled "Access to pain treatment as a human right," and I started to cry. Actually reading the abstract brought up a complex mixture of emotions that included anger, sorrow and frustration. The...

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Grocery shopping wasn't fun when I was still pretty healthy. After fibromyalgia hit, it didn't just get harder -- it turned into a much-feared ordeal that was likely to leave me not just hurting and exhausted, but panicky and shaking. A trip to the grocery store seems to require all...

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When an illness is named for its chief symptom, it sounds like that symptom is the only thing that's wrong. Thus, the name "chronic fatigue syndrome" perpetuates the myth that people who have it are "just tired" and not really "sick" at all. This myth is like salt in the...

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Narcissism: exceptional self-interest; self-love that shuts out others; behavior which involves exclusive self-absorption. The terms "narcissism" or "narcissist" are rarely meant as compliments, so when I saw the headline, "Does Chronic Pain Turn You Into A Narcissist?" I clicked on it ready for a fight. As I read the article,...

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Classic Blog: March 11, 2009 Before I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I was sure I had lupus. The symptoms are extremely similar, and one of them that really had me convinced was hair loss. Every time I washed my hair, the tub was covered in it. Still, when...

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