Fibromyalgia Myths
If you're living with fibromyalgia, you may have probably come across people who will say something to you that's completely ignorant about the condition or they simply just don't know what fibromyalgia is which causes there to be quite a lot of myths surrounding the widely unknown and misunderstood condition.
1. Is Fibromyalgia Contagious?
Fibromyalgia is not contagious.
Although not a lot is known about what causes it, we know that it is not at all contagious. So, you can shake hands with, kiss, and hang out with someone with fibromyalgia, and you will not contract it.
It's all in your head. No, it has been shown to be very real.
Although a lot of the symptoms are in your head, for example, brain fog or anxiety, imaging studies do show that the brains of someone with fibromyalgia do react to different stimulus different to someone who has not been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
2. Fibromyalgia Isn't Real
It's not a real diagnosis and it's just what they tell you when they can't find anything wrong with you. That's not true.
Anyone who has had a fibromyalgia diagnosis knows it is a very, very, very long process. There are no specific blood tests or scans that your doctor can use to diagnose you with fibromyalgia – it's just a case of ruling out anything else.
So, you will have lots of blood tests and scans, and you'll be asked thousands of questions just to make sure that it's not any of the other things.
One thing that makes fibromyalgia particularly hard to diagnose is the fact that a lot of the symptoms overlap with a lot of different conditions, and so it's quite difficult to pinpoint exactly what is wrong and is why it takes so long to get it diagnosed.
3. Fibromyalgia Only Affects Women
This is not true.
Although, eighty to ninety percent of sufferers are female. There's a lot of theories as to why this is but it hasn't ever been proven. There are plenty of men who sadly suffer from fibromyalgia as well, so it's not just a female only problem.
4. If You Have Fibromyalgia It Means You're Just Tired
You know that fatigue is so much more than tiredness, and fibromyalgia is far more than fatigue.
If you're tired, you can sleep or rest and you will feel refreshed and more awake. However, when it comes to fibromyalgia, the problem is if you rest or if you sleep, you still never feel refreshed, and even the smallest of tasks can leave you feeling exhausted – mentally and physically.
5. If You Have Fibromyalgia There's Nothing You Can Do
This is both true and not true.
There is no cure, at the moment, for fibromyalgia. However, it is non-progressive and it is non-fatal. So, there's nothing you can do to stop it, but there is a whole lot of things you can do to manage your symptoms.
These are just some of the myths that I found while looking online for fibromyalgia. Some of them might shock you that people believe that and then some of them you've probably heard a thousand times.
