Fibromyalgia is to be recognised by health professionals in Northern Ireland as a long-term condition. People who suffer from it complain of aches all over the body, as well as profound fatigue. Other symptoms include headaches, sleep deprivation and difficulty concentrating. Despite the severity of symptoms, people living with the condition in NI have said their voices have gone unheard and their symptoms ignored. Chronic aches After being inundated with complaints, the Patient and Client Council in Northern Ireland three years ago pressed the case for fibromyalgia to be recognised as a long-term condition. Having interviewed sufferers and lobbied politicians and health professionals, dedicated services are to be established across the health trusts. Image caption Martina Marks said she has had to live with pain for the last 10 years Martina Marks, who lives in County Down, said it was a relief to be taken seriously. "I have lived with the pain since 19...
Lady Gaga's announcement on Twitter that she suffers from fibromyalgia was met with an abundance of well wishes, but more moving were the empathetic responses from others coping with the condition. Not only did fans feel for the "Born This Way" star, they could relate — many gushed with gratitude that Lady Gaga stepped up to raise awareness for a disease that is all too often misunderstood, misdiagnosed or just missed altogether. "Very often fibromyalgia patients go from doctor to doctor searching for an answer," says Dr. Elizabeth Volkmann, assistant professor of medicine in the division of Rheumatology at UCLA . "Doctors will look for lupus or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and when they don't find either, they'll stop there." Fibromyalgia doesn't lend itself to a strict definition or diagnosis. Essentially, “it’s a disorder characterized by widespread muscular pain, often accompanied by other symptoms such as fatigue,” ...