How Likely is it for a 16 year old male to have fibromyalgia?
May 3, 2010 by admin
Filed under Fibromyalgia Answers
I am 16 years old and I just found out yesterday from a rheumatologist that I have fibromyalgia. What are the odds of that?
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it is more common in females–
but i have ahd symtps since i was 5
be aware teh FMS is HIGHLY Over diagnose dby incompetant docs who use it as a genral label for pain..
the best traetment is to educate your self–and confrim teh diagnossi on your own
make sure teh doc did the right blood tests and imaging studies
don’t blindly follow the doc–you need to be your own doc
being that fms is highly overdiagnosed–the atcual rate is much less than stated—so teh reference to 2% is 2% taht are diagnosed–teh number taht actulaly have it area or less
It is absolutely possible. I believe men have it more often than is believed, but for different reasons, are not diagnosed. One being that they don’t go to doctors to confirm. My brother has it, but has not been diagnosed. He is able to live his life almost normally, and work, but is a lot more tired than others, has weak immunity, and pain. My sister and I have both been diagnosed and she is able to function mostly normally, whereas I am almost completely debilitated. My dad has it somewhat, with especially weak immunity, but has never been diagnosed either. I think because other parts of his body are stronger and help downplay the fatigue. It just depends on your constitution, inherited genetic weaknesses, the “hits” to your system, such as chemical exposure, big traumas, mold exposure, and much more.
I have found much better results in getting to the root causes of my condition, instead of covering up the problems with drugs. Although for some, that may be the answer. I am on an anti-depressant which was given to me at the very beginning of my journey, and while it has been helpful and probably necessary for keeping me from being so depressed over losing my life and my productivity, it has also caused lots of side effects such as weight gain when I never had a weight problem before. There are other ways to treat if you can find doctors who are open and willing to really listen, and if you research.
I know about 3 men for every 10 women that I’ve heard have fibromyalgia. I think it is a misunderstood illness and that makes it very hard. Some don’t believe it is real, and that makes it even more difficult to deal with all the pain and exhaustion that are hindering your life at the least, or debilitating you at the worst. Most doctors do not understand it, but I am glad more are coming to accept it. I know there is an adrenal component to it, as well as a big immunity issue. I’m not sure which came first, but immunoglobulin shots (which are expensive and hard to get) and cortisol have been somewhat helpful for me. For cortisol testing, saliva testing has proven to be the most correct. Adrenals are the beginning of kind of a snowball effect on all other hormones. Many with fibromyalgia or CFS have thyroid issues (and many are finding much better results treating with T3, or armour thyroid than synthroid. More info at http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com) The adernal glands are vital to treat when there is an issue, and if you can get on it sooner rather than later, you have a good chance of recovering them completely or mostly. I think there are other issues involved with fibromyalgia, but this is a big one, and some have gotten better just by treating adrenal gland issues.
For immunity, I am also looking into low dose naltrexone at the moment. More info on that can be found at http://www.ldninfo.org and http://snapl.stanford.edu/research/ldn.html (the 2nd one is a study on fibromyalgia.)
I hope and pray you find the answers that are right for you with this illness.
Most likely somewhat less than 0.5 percent, but much better than winning the lottery.
Per the Mayo Clinic, “Fibromyalgia occurs in about 2 percent of the population in the United States. Women are much more likely to develop the disorder than are men, and the risk of fibromyalgia increases with age.”
Per the National Institutes for Health, “For unknown reasons, between 80 and 90 percent of those diagnosed with fibromyalgia are women; however, men and children also can be affected. Most people are diagnosed during middle age, although the symptoms often become present earlier in life.”