Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, "yuppie syndrome", rheumatism, Lupus, and any of the other colorful scarlet letters we allow people to walk around with each day in this country are utilized differently depending on whom the patient is seeing.

The reality is that each of these patients has a story to tell if we take the time to listen to them. "I have been seen by 9 other doctors and all of them tell me I have Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I have tried physical therapy, medication pain management, psychology and psychiatry, exercise, and trigger point injections. There is little consistency in my experience. JRheumatology 23(3):534-9, 1996, there is a diagram defining 18 points of pain which is used to diagnose fibromyalgia, however, their research suggested that a patient does not necessarily have to qualify for the 11 of 18 points to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Patients come to me fearful, hopeless, distraught, tearful and humbled. According to the Fibromyalgia Network, this condition "only takes about 5 minutes" to diagnose.

In 12 years of practice, I have heard this statement hundreds of times.