by Laurie Boris

Created on: February 23, 2009

Congratulations! You have fibromyalgia.

While this is not exactly what you want to hear, since you hurt all over and probably don't remember the last time you had a good night's sleep, in a way you have been given a gift. Many people can go years - even decades - suffering through irritating and sometimes debilitating symptoms, insensitive doctors, invasive tests, and a bucket of money without actually finding out what's wrong with them. But you have information. And that's power.

So now what?

Unfortunately, very few MDs will have answers for you, except to write a prescription. And, more discouraging, one of the aspects of having fibromyalgia is that you may respond in unexpected ways to drugs. So it could take a while before you find a medication - or a grouping of medications - that work for you, with side effects that you can endure. Or, you may decide to forgo the medication route altogether. Whichever way you choose, like nearly everybody else who learns to make peace with FM (as is commonly called), you will have to become your own expert. And that's another gift, if you choose to look at it that way. Many people can go a lifetime without the simple awareness of what's going on in their bodies and how to take good care of themselves. You get to learn on the job.

As for your doctor's job, he or she will probably start by treating your most pressing symptom. This is usually pain or sleep problems. Chronic pain can impair your ability to function. It's also exhausting. Imagine hurting so much that you can't drive your kids to their soccer games, or have to miss out on hobbies that you once loved. It's important to get that function back so you can rejoin the world of the living, which is important to your mental health. And also, some studies show that left untreated, chronic pain may lead to a kind of rewiring of your brain so that you always feel that pain.

If over-the-counter drugs like aspirin, Tylenol or Advil don't do it for you, your doctor might give you an RX for a prescription NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) like Mobic or naproxen. Or you could be given Lyrica, a relatively new drug that has helped a lot of people. As for stronger drugs, like Vicodin or OxyContin, many doctors are leery about prescribing these. Some state laws require lots of paperwork for this class of drugs, and some doctors have an ungrounded fear that you will become an addict. But if you are in severe or debilitating pain, he or she might give you a small dose, at

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