As a specialist in RTMS for Fibromyalgia, I was moved by the story of Kirsty Young and her search for the cause of her chronic pain.
The article in the Telegraph by Kirsty Young was very brave and moving. Fibromyalgia is a neuropathic condition and I liked the way she referred to the joint pain as a type of migraine. We can now treat the pain with neuromodulation (RTMS) which has additional benefits of helping with the secondary anxiety. The anxiety comes from never knowing what to expect from your body, minute to minute. The condition is often incorrectly lumped together with primary psychiatric conditions. It is a physical condition (constant uncontrollable pain) with understandable secondary consequences such as anxiety and mild depression. Fatigue and exhaustion are also crippling partners of the condition. All these components need to be rephrased as physical in origin and treatable.
Let’s not be defeatist or negative in the future. Acceptance and willingness to work with patients are very important factors for the advancement of the ‘invisible’ disorders. Let’s support them.
