Do You Have Fibromyalgia or CFS?

The question, Do you have Fibromyalgia or CFS? assumes you have symptoms similar to both illnesses, but you’re not quite sure how to classify what you’re experiencing. Your doctor may even be a bit puzzled.

It’s not uncommon to get a different chronic illness and then Fibromyalgia follows, especially if the beginning illness leaves you sedentary and involves a degree of pain. And on the flipside, it’s possible to get Fibromyalgia first and then (example) CFS, so your illness sequence doesn’t give you a concrete answer. That’s exactly how my illness manifested in earnest when I became so sick.

Some of the same add-on conditions or symptoms often accompany both illnesses, such as being prone to stress, TMJ (temporomandibular joint dysfunction or syndrome), a dysfunctional thyroid (usually low thyroid) and/or HPA axis condition (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis), allergies, swelling of joints (Arthritis), pain in the limbs, hips, back, shoulders, neck, etc., sleep dysfunction, energy impairment, and immune system irregularities.

(Podcast is 17 minutes 48 seconds.)
Let’s compare the two and really see what is different…

• People who suffer with Fibromyalgia tend to hurt with more intense pain and in more places of the body than Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. *If you’re someone who has CFS and you hurt like the dickens, don’t brush off this statement as being false. Instead, consider getting tested for Lyme Disease and Lupus.

  Lupus Syndrome symptoms:
  If you simply consider Fibro and CFS by themselves and alone, Fibromyalgia is considered more of a chronic pain problem, whereas CFS if considered more of an immune system irregularity condition.

  The exception to all this may be people prone to migraine headaches, however “having migraines” is not within the definition of either illness. It is common to hear of people with Fibro and CFS complain of having frequent migraines or “suffering with a new headache pattern”.

  • Fibromyalgia also differs from CFS in that for Fibro, a person must have at least 11 of the 18 designated tender/ trigger points active at any one time. Note: that’s how some people do not quite qualify for Fibromyalgia because they don’t have at least 11 of these points -or- their doctor doesn’t know how to diagnose their condition properly. (*One other scenario, their doctor doesn’t “believe” in Fibromyalgia and therefore will not give such a diagnosis to any patient.)

  
  The same “logic” applies to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome because there are still physicians in the world who (1) do not believe it is a true illness, so how can they possibly diagnose the health problem as being CFS? -OR- (2) do not know how to diagnose it, so instead the patients gets three or more additional diagnoses, each one indicating an area of the body that could be dysfunctional.

  An example of this can be seen with recurring sinus problems. If I had $10.00 for every sinus infection a doctor diagnosed me as having, I’d be a semi-wealthy woman today. Did I actually have sinus problems? Yes, I did. I took plenty of antibiotics to “prove” it. Today, at certain times of the year, I still struggle with my sinuses. When that happens, instead of running to the doctor for an antibiotic, I often work on sinuses and immune system using my Sacred Cellular Healing (SCH) technique. It helps to keep my immune system performing at peak capacity and, more times than not, I do not sicker with a sinus infection. *That means I don’t have to take multiple antibiotic prescriptions and that’s good!

  In a nutshell, I use SCH to boost my immune system to stay healthy and avoid getting sick.

  But some twenty years ago, was I experiencing a breakdown of the immune system as it deteriorated in capability and functionality? Yes, you better believe it. I was sick week after week with sinus infections. That one symptom pointed towards the reality of me having CFS.

  If you’re sick and a bit confused as to which illness you have or if you have both, consult my Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome pages on our sister website, Get Well Health. It is fairly inclusive and includes much of the information you want to know about this topic. Do you have Fibromyalgia or CFS?

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