There's a new phenomenom I have noticed lately. Women (white of course) who are in their 20's and 30's coming in with a history of fibromyalgia. It used to be the only people we saw with fibromyalgia were middled aged (white of course) women. Apparently the wealth is spreading.I have a feeling the reason this is happening is because there is probably big money in treating fibromyalgia patients. Drug companies make money. Doctors make money. Alternative medicine practicioners make money. Its all just one big money making family.
Only in America could an industry be built around this kind of stuff. Hey, its the American way, right?
Yup. Am seeing patients who are almost minors with fibromyalgia now. Need IV analgesia of course
ReplyDeleteI believe there are people with a lot of different conditions being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, mainly because doctors are either too lazy or too overworked to find out what is really wrong with them.
ReplyDeleteThose who are really in serious, soul crushing pain need to be treated with respect and empathy. i am both a nurse and a severe chronic pain patient. It is a real shame that when people in horrible pain come to the ER, they are judged rather than helped. I have been on both sides of this and I would rather be the healthy nurse any time.
I know you or I cannot tell who is in really bad pain and who is a drug seeker, but that's why we need to reserve judgement. Every time I heard the term frequent flyer in report, I cringed. Have some compassion. Better to be wrong than mean.
It is the reverse placebo effect.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe in it, it becomes real. Too much time spent indoors I think.
Fibromylagia, costocondritis and the good ol' "spider bite" are the quickest way out diagnosis' that doctors can dish out when there is really nothing discovered. What about RLS? Remember when the pharma companies had all those commercials out for RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME and now nothing.
ReplyDeleteIt's all a biz and everyone's buying into it.