I was reading on aother BB that a patient who has PN, went to a Rheumy
and was told:
"....He told me that I have developed fibromyalgia due to the pn,..."
I've never heard of this as a development of PN before.
Any experience from anyone?
Just curious.

IMHO, fibro is the newest guy on the block as a catch-all Dx.
It is not Dx'd by any chemical (bloodwork) or mechanical test. Its subjective.

I remember when fibro wasn't even recognized as a legit malady, and
it was difficult to get docs to admit it existed. There was a forum for it here,
and on the OBT(or still is), and there was a lot of complaining about just that fact.
Now Lyrica is advertising on TV as being OKed for the treatment of fibro by the FDA.

Anyway, I'm digressing (who me?), again.
Anybody heard of PN causing fibro?

to the pain lecture I attended last spring...

Fibro is thought to be central pain disorder, where the amplitude of nervous signals is higher than normal. Like a radio volume turned up very high.
That it has shown to be 8 times more frequent in first degree relatives, and is
now thought to be hereditary. Fibro patients interpret neuronal signals that are typically normal to most people, as painful.

That any TRIGGER, illness or syndrome of pain, will set it into motion.
Arthritis, car accident, huge trauma, intestinal infection (for IBS), etc
is typically needed. So I think PN qualifies as a trigger. But that does not mean PN causes fibro... in everyone. You have to be genetically wired to respond that way.

Thanks, Mrs D........do you think a rheumy might arbitrarily attribute fibro to a PN patient, who really doesn't have a family history of pain syndromes- that are not concisely diagnosed?
I mean, if there is some family history, but all illnesses or conditions have been recognized, & treated successfully with no indication of fibro in the past.

I realize that fibro would not have been Dx'd way in the past, as it is not a long-standing recognized affliction/disease/condition.(??)
It seems it is fairly new on the scene and there would be no past history that had been Dx'd as such. It would have to be a determination of a current doc that it had not been recognized, or was thought to be some other condition.(to be considered as hereditary)
As I mentioned, it is not something that can be definitively Dx'd by a blood test
or MRI or CT scan (would it show on a nerve velocity conduction test? If so, it would then be Dx'd by a neuro - wouldn't it?).
It seems it is determined by taking an oral history, putting 2+2 together
and coming up with 5.
From what I've read, many docs don't/didn't recognize it and patients who thought it might be applicable to them, were discounted & treated as if they were 'malingerers'.

There is alot of controversy still about Fibro. The new approval of Lyrica for it, has brought a new crop of argument over it.

Some doctors do not believe it exists, and others do.
And diagnostic criteria have changed. Trigger point analysis is not accepted anymore by the more advanced researchers.

I listened to Dr. Clauw at that seminar. If you google him you will see he is very active in Fibro research.
What I saw in my business was alot of women given heavy duty opiates and amphetamines to offset that, and then antidepressants in high dose and more and more... Dr. Clauw does not believe opiates should be used for Fibro.
So general doctors and/or rheumy's may not treat Fibro properly or even understand it. Controversy swirls everywhere around this subject still.

Uh, I have a question.

How can a doctor say something does not exist?? Take Fibro for example.

Over 8 years ago, there was a tv show called Strong Medicine. I will never forget this episode. The doctor was played by Janine Turner.

A woman is brought in crying hysterically in pain and she tells them "I have Fibromyalgia". The doctor just looks at her.

The nurse takes the doctor aside and says "what do we give her, she has Fibromyalgia?" and Janine Turner responds: 'there's no such thing as Fibromyalgia, it doesn't exist". The nurse then said 'But she's in pain, we have to DO SOMETHING!!!"

The main part of this episode was teaching Janine Turner that this woman had a real pain issue and by the end of the episode, she was given morphine.

I remember saying "How can a person have fibromyalgia, and a doctor says "there's no such thing", and then give the person meds for their pain??

I just don't get it.

A condition either exists or it doesn't, right? I mean, a person is not going to come in to the ER writhing in pain and make the whole thing up.

So how come now (and I saw the commercial for Lyrica), how come NOW there is an acknowledged condition known as fibromyalgia (I know two people who have been diagnosed by the way).

If this is so, how can some physicians still say "it does not exist".

Please someone explain this way of thinking to me.

I mean, physicians go to med school, they must learn about this, no???

But with many docs, their education about it has not advanced to current standards. For some professionals it ends after med school/internship or residency. No new thinking whatever. Some of us are lucky enough to have docs that don't close the book once in practice.
Here is an interesting site: http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/index.html
The symptoms, diagnosis, and associated conditions aspects are interesting and enlightening. These three portions of this site clear up many aspects of FM that overlap, or not with PN. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt?
Don't forget, Neuropathies were merely 'in your head' conditions/diseases/symptoms too, until fairly recently.
I know several fibro sufferers who are as bad off as we are, but in slightly different ways and I truly feel for them.
Mrs D, a question....is this one of those pain reflex reactions where the pain signal is triggered to ON and doesn't turn OFF? That's what I'm getting, sort of like some chronic muscle spasms, except it's 'nerve spasms'?
I hope this does [or doesn't]clarify things to some degree. It does for me. I think.
Good thoughts to all! - j