Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain LIFE Spring 2015, Issue 11 | Page 28

non-pain problem (96% of respondents reported stiffness).
This was shortly followed by
physical weakness, effort intolerance, reduced mental abilities and the effect of weather
changes. Environmental intolerance to noise, perfumes and
cold was reported in 75-92% of
subjects. Existential problems
such as feeling guilty about being a burden, feeling hopeless
and depressed, friends’ inability to understand, wondering
how it will all end and sometimes feeling suicidal (39%),
provide a vivid picture of what
it means to be a person with
fibromyalgia.
Suicidal ideation has been described in several recent papers;
and this current survey adds to
the increasing recognition that the frustration of
having a poorly recognized chronic pain disorder to
lead to thoughts as to “where it all ends,” and “maybe
ending my life is one way out.”
WHAT ARE YOUR SOURCES OF INFORMATION
ABOUT FIBROMYALGIA?
Medical practice has been forever changed by the
ability of patients to consult the Internet. Doctors and other healthcare professionals are not
the only fountain of knowledge. In general, this
is for the good, as many studies have associated education with a better outcome. It certainly appears that fibromyalgia patients are not an
exception, with the majority obtaining information
from the Internet in addition to consultations
with healthcare professionals, as well as reading
books and publications.
WHAT IS YOUR WORK STATUS?
Fibromyalgia patients often have difficulty
remaining productively employed due to increased pain on activity, severe fatigue and
problems with memory and concentration. In
this survey 25% of the subjects were fully employed and 10% had part-time employment.
Eight percent were unemployed and unable to
get a job. Some 11% of subjects rated themselves disabled, but could not qualify for Social

28  Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain

Life

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Security Disability (SSD). However, 27% of subjects
were receiving SSD payments. Some 16% subjects
were retired. Overall these figures are very similar
to published data.
OTHER DIAGNOSES
Virtually all fibromyalgia patients have developed
some other medical problems by the time they reach
middle age. As you can see in the current survey over
1,000 of the 2,178 subjects had low back pain and over
800 suffered from migraine headaches. About 30% of
subjects had ostheoarthritis of the hands, knees and
hips; in many subjects this will considerably add to the