To all sufferers of the mysterious disease fibromyalgia, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that a drug has just been approved for the disease. The bad news: It may not be a disease at all. Or is that the good news? Wait, what the hell’s going on?
As reported in today’s New York Times, the FDA has approved Lyrica, a pill that combats pain associated with fibromyalgia. But many doctors insist that fibromyalgia is either a psychosomatic condition, or simply whiners complaining about pain natural to the human existence: “As diagnosed,” writes reporter Alex Berenson, “fibromyalgia primarily affects middle-aged women and is characterized by chronic, widespread pain of unknown origin.”
In other words, doctors have no idea what it is—and for that matter, how Lyrica helps defeat it. The side effects, however—swelling, dizziness, sleepiness, and weight gain—are undoubtedly real. “The potential for weight gain is a special concern,” writes Berenson, “because many fibromyalgia patients are already overweight: the average fibromyalgia patient in the 2007 survey reported weighing 180 pounds and standing 5 feet 4 inches.”
Whoa, New York Times, you can’t just sneak a tidbit like that in at the end. Are you saying the the average fibromyalgia sufferer has the dimensions of Don Rickles? Think maybe there’s a connection there? — Gus Garcia-Roberts
This article appears in Jan 9-15, 2008.
Ever noticed the drug companies develop new drugs and then a syndrome is ‘identified’ to fit the efficacy of the medication ?
I almost fell outta’ my chair when they coined the term Restless Leg Syndrome…
It’s ass-backwards and valuable public and private resources are being squandered.
Home school before they force you to put your kid on speed or downers…don’t let them do it. Picture your kid grinding his teeth all day and fighting a dry mouth or yawning with eyes stinging, trying to stay awake…
And to think the people with the heavy hands that pen the ‘scrip actually took a sacred oath…squalid…
I really think it’s dangerous for you to be misleading people about what Fibromyalgia is.
You don’t even address anything of significance here, what is your point?
Fibromyalgia has been scientifically proven to exist, and while it’s definitely NOT understood by doctors (and clearly not by the uninformed public.) doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist and shouldn’t be treated.
Not to mention, restless leg syndrome is real, it’s actually a neuro-motor disorder related to Parkinson’s.
File under “signs that we’re all %^%&ing uneducated and like to spout off about things we know nothing about.”
Anyone with half a brain can go and look up and see that Fibromyalgia is a real syndrome that is recognized by the World Health Organization, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a whole host of others. Before you spout off about something, you should at least bother to see if everything you are saying is completely unfounded (which it is). The writer who wrote the article you are quoting from also did not do their share of research. Yes, there is some speculation of what type of disorder it is, but not whether or not it actually exists. When you post something like this to the whole internet, it really is just showing your ignorance.
Gus Garcia-Roberts: Imbecile (and shitty writer).