BBC Wales Fibro Program: Has anyone... - Fibromyalgia Acti...

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BBC Wales Fibro Program

Mazz64 profile image
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Has anyone seen the program on BBC Wales called "Week in Week out"? I was chatting to a friend of mine who was visiting his mum in wales and he said there was a program on about chronic pain. a girl suffered Fibro for 5/6 years and was on all sort of meds, she went on a pain management program and now she is off all meds and about to climb Kilimanjaro!!

I watched this on BBC Wales iplayer and it seems to be true

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Mazz64
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Fibro cannot be cured but you can learn to manage it very well with the right combo of meds or in some cases mine included you can go into a remission where you feel almost your old self ... My remission lasted 7 years and then came back to bite me worse than before .... With the right treatment it is possible to live a good life... As my remission occured only a year after diagnosis I thought I was a) wrongly diagnosed ... Or b) cured ... Sadly neither was true but I have great meds now and with pacing I manage my fibro I am in pain every day but its manageable

If there was a cure there wouldn't be any volunteers here to answer you we would all be in Wales :)

Mazz64 profile image
Mazz64 in reply to

LOL very true, I was about to pack my bags, I have edited my question as I have now watched the program, it seem to be true for now, but as I know there is no cure I expect like you said she is in remission. some 20 years ago I had a what I now know to be fibro flare for about 8 months, was tested for Lupus ect and after the 8 months or so I felt fine so stopped going to the hospital and about 7 years ago back the pain ect came and finally diagnosed 4 years ago so I know what you mean.

so now I have to cancel my move to Wales oh well perhaps next time

It was an interesting program, I watched it after someone posted a link to it on here. It did give me some hope that I might not always feel crap! I've decided to push for a referral to the pain clinic because I don't feel my pain is being managed very well, they just keep throwing tablets at it (I'm taking over 20 tablets a day for various things). I see a rheumatologist at the moment as I also have RA. I used to be very active and do miss hiking across the hill with the dog lol.

I'm only just officially diagnosed this week by a Rheumatologist with Fibro.

How he explained it to me was that I would probably feel bad for a while then as I gets meds etc sorted will slowly start to feel ok then one day may feel so well I;ll think it's gone but then it may come back 10 times worse. But he said with proper management the flares may come few and far between and I will learn to pace myself take my meds and be in some control of this but it will never be gone.

Tht'a the way it was described to me anyway not sure if it it true time will tell...I do not believe there is a cure though..jmo :)

I was angry after watching the program which I felt give a very simplistic and misleading representation of fibro pain. I felt the programme came across as though fibro pain could easily be reduced and treated much cheaper by attending a pain clinic. At the pain clinic, the patient intensively talks to a 'counselling psychologist' giving the impression to the general viewer that fibro is a mental condition not physical one; and and also that physiotherapy can help, which has not been my experience.

I appreciate that a pain clinic probably helps the patient to adopt a more positive outlook which in turn helps you to cope with everyday functional activities but it doesn't take the pain away. Thankfully the level of my pain has reduced since I was first diagnosed with fibro 12 months ago. I could still very easily choose to stay in bed all day due to my pain but I choose to push through the pain to get to work every day. I am sure if I had the time to train, I to could climb a mountain but i know I would suffer and be very painful for a week after. Fibro is a complex condition,the causes still unknown and people experiences are very different. I think the programme was irresposible in its potrial of fibro, diminishing the debilitating effects of the pain which is not helpful when dealing with employers and people around you to help understand the condition.

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