Hi, everyone.

I can confirm, officially, that the fatigue, pain, dizziness etc I have been suffering for some time now is definitely fibromyalgia. On Monday I had an appointment with a rheumatologist, and he confirmed the diagnosis by prodding me all over, and noting where I said "OW." Which was pretty much everywhere. I kept yawning throughout the consultation, because I was typically weary, which again tied in. It's a relief to have it confirmed.

I need to stop drinking caffeinated beverages, which is going to be hard. I love my tea, and the occasional cup of coffee. I need to keep doing the hydrotherapy and the walking, and take low dose paracetamol several times a day to take the edge off the pain.

I was going to post this on Monday night, but on Monday, I ate some dodgy sushi for dinner and... you can probably work out the rest. At least I got to spend yesterday in my nice comfy chair watching Dragon Booster and patting Tilly.

Right now, I need to go and have a bath, because I had a hydrotherapy session this afternoon, and the smell of chlorine on my skin is starting to annoy me.

Early in December, I reported the bad news that I'd been tentatively diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). I was partially expecting it - research I'd been doing on pain pointed in that direction. The doctor who made the diagnosis sent me for a blood test to check various things, possibly even whether I had bubonic plague. The pathology technician certainly needed to draw a lot of vials from me.

What I didn't report, because I hardly turned on the damn 'puter for most of December, was the wonderful news that I couldn't possibly have FMS, because nothing showed up in the blood test.

Yes, folks, apparently now FMS can be diagnosed from blood tests. I can't possibly be in constant, screaming pain. I have no conceivable reason for my pain!

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I will assume everyone's picked up their jaws now. Because one of the first things any literature about FMS will tell you, is that it can't be diagnosed from blood tests. Or X-rays. Or CT Scans. Or anything other than personal history, the presence of pain for no good reason, and tenderness in various parts of the body.

I pressed the doctor for something further, because hey, I knew something was seriously wrong, and all I got was the advice to "take it easy, try and get more sleep and codeine for the pain."

( The story of the second round of doctors and tests, with a better result, sort of. )

All this has me wondering. Are illnesses like FMS, Chronic Fatigue, even things like Crohn's Disease or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, modern illnesses, or have they always been around and just getting diagnosed more effectively these days? I can't help thinking there's a bit of both in there. Crohn's-like diseases were described back in the 17th century, and there's a popular theory that Alfred the Great, in the 9th century, had Crohn's. Looking at my family, I have 3 living relatives who've got it, my great-grandmother had similar symptoms, and my cousin (in her late 80's) says her mother and grandmother had similar symptoms as well. It was just never diagnosed.

As for FMS and Chronic Fatigue, where there's no test and no clear physical indicators? You read a lot of "women's hysteria" or "the vapours" in Victorian novels and medical texts. Many of the symptoms sound like FMS or Chronic Fatigue, and were dismissed at the time as signs of women's inferiority (yeah right - I'd like to see some of the men I know cope with headaches that last for days). Heck, even before Louis Pasteur anyone who suggested that microscopic organisms might cause disease was regarded as a nutter. Ignaz Semmelweis, an Austrian doctor in the 1840s, was committed to an asylum for daring to suggest that medical staff wash their hands before delivering babies.

Just because a disease doesn't have a known cause, or even diagnostics that can be pinpointed, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Perhaps, within my lifetime, researchers will be able to pinpoint the cause of Crohn's, and find a cure. Maybe someone of us will be able to find a diagnostic that indicates FMS, proving that it does indeed exist, and from there find a way to help manage it better, even cure it.

Maybe. The world is a very interesting place.

The doctor yesterday made a diagnosis that I was hoping he wouldn't, but was 3/4 expecting...

Fibromyalgia.

Oh joy.

But there isn't much doubt - the constant pain is a bit of a giveaway, especially when he prodded me all over and it hurt on most of the bits. And then there's the headaches, the environmental sensitivities, the fatigue and disturbed sleep, the frequent spaciness... if the shoe fits, there's not a lot I can do.

BUM.

Very quick update, cos it's late.

The recurring illness that I thought was a (real) flu lurgy turned out to be glandular fever, and it hit bad (again). But it's gone for the moment, so normal services should resume soon.

Hey, maybe I'll start posting regular updates too.

The flu lurgy came back, and I have spent the last 3 days feverish, coughing and generally feeling like shit.

I used up all my work sick leave less than half way through the major bout that started July. Now I'm using up all my paid leave because I'm bloody sick all the damn time. Since I started work, it's been a cause for celebration each year if I make it to the end of the year with sick leave remaining (I've been working 12 years now, and managed that feat 5). The way I'm going, I'll be happy to make the end of the year with any leave of any kind intact.

jane_stockton thinks my latest bout of yuk feelings, as evidenced by my last post, may be due to the weather. She may be right. It's winter here, and it's so cold even Canadians are admitting it's cold. You know it's cold when someone who grew up on Thunder Bay thinks it's cold. And it's wet and windy, not good weather for making people feel happy.

And on Wednesday afternoon, the flu/whatever lurgy came back, so I've had the past 2 days off work. I feel bad about having been away from work in July more than I've been there, but one good thing about working in a hospital, management encourages you to stay away if you're sick. Not only that, there's only so much time you can spend sitting on your couch staring at the TV before you start to get screaming bored, and I need another needlework project.

Should be feeling better tomorrow.

Over the past 2 weekends, I was planning to do some sewing, post some Deep, Meaningful Posts, garden, and go to the annual Tocal Tourney (run by the fair Barony of Mordenvale... this year with Royals!). The best laid plans....

On the afternoon of Thursday July 3, I had a bit of a tickle in my throat. jane_stockton came over that night, for takeaway and to continue watching my bootleg Dresden Files DVDs. After she left, the throat tickle got worse and I crashed into bed really early (as in, before 10PM). When I woke up the next morning, my throat felt like someone had rubbed it with sandpaper then set fire to it. I was so sick, that night I fell asleep during Silent Witness and Spooks, which is absolutely, utterly Not Done.* I had an inkling this was going to happen, so I'd whacked a tape in the VCR, and anyway I have series 5 of Spooks on DVD.** I couldn't eat for about 2 days, and forget about going anywhere. And my nose was bleeding too much of the time to think about sewing.

So, 3.5 bottles of horrible cough medicine, a course of antibiotics, 4 boxes of tissues and 2 packets of cold and flu tablets, and I'm pretty much recovered. But I'm still coughing a lot, and my voice still sounds funny. ***

Hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to post something meaningful. But right now, the backlog of unread emails is frankly disturbing, so I'd better do something about it.

* jane_stockton went completely silent in shock when I told her about this one.

** And a good thing, too, because those Evil People at the ABC are CUTTING BITS OUT. I couldn't believe it when I realised it.

*** Funnier than it usually does, anyway. My voice is weird at the best of times.