Not to sound dumb, but what do you mean by AS....also, I had an extremely high HLA B27--What exactly does that test mean..?

I was diagnosed with FM back when I was 10. It was called soft tissue rheumatism then. They offered no help or advise to my parents or me. So I just dealt with the pain. The problem was was that doctors missed a bone lesion that wasn't found until I was 27. So every time they told me to go exercise, things got worse because the lesion was in my tibia. When the dead bone was eventually removed my FM did decrease a little but unfortunately domestic violence revved it up again. Once I got out of that my life turned around hugely. I still have fm but I can manage it more now. I'm a big believer in meditation and have been delving into Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) Therapy more and more and seeing progress.

Hi @A MyFibroTeam Member .... HLA B27 indicates Ankylosing Spondylitis if you also have 'symptoms'. I had a positive test and the rheumatology Doc said 'well 5% of the population have it with no symptoms so I dont think you have it' ..even though my GP believed I did have it....i sat there looking confused...'well the reason im here is because i have the positive test AND symptoms' ?!? ....she just retorted your problem is 'mechanical'....come back if it gets worse....right yep go on another waiting list for 2 years to get another appointment :P .....a few years later i was sent to CMAT who worked with consultants and they diagnosed Fybromyalgia and IBS

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So I'm not the only one who's symptoms go way back, i think the problem is that with FM there's so many different symptoms that they are never linked together, each one treated as a single problem and by the text book....I often felt like i had hypochondria because as soon as one problem appeared and when it eased i would get another straight away, physio only ever made things worse. I still believe I have AS as well as FM but to be honest here they are not interested in diagnosing people, they say the treatments the same so why worry about it...The system is so overloaded here they don't spend the time to delve into what's really wrong. I tend to believe there must be certain triggers to FM such as infections etc, when i was young i contracted a few childhood illnesses back to back without time to recover inbetween and after that i seemed to get all the pains etc. I also have had very high CRP and ESR blood results for a very long time (years) and it's supposed to indicate immune system problems but they don't or won't see the link.....One Dr said to me that FM is not an immune disorder.....

@A MyFibroTeam Member yes the posters real funny....It was on the wall of a youth centre that i take my son to....Couldn't resist taking a pic on my phone

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