It may have taken you some time before your condition got bad enough for you to even consider going to a doctor. You may have tried numerous home remedies before you realized that your symptoms were much more than just inconvenient. It may have taken your doctor some time to realize that you may be suffering from a condition that remains a mystery to the medical field: Fibromyalgia.
In the beginning, your doctor may have told you to take an over-the-counter pain reliever and get more rest. Finally, when all other possibilities were exhausted, you received your diagnosis. The reason this condition is so hard to diagnose is partly that it has no known cause. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason why certain people suffer from the condition while others do not.
Its symptoms could be anything
One of the main issues with diagnosing Fibromyalgia is the fact that its symptoms vary from person to person and may be indicative of other conditions as well. In fact, your symptoms may come and go and change from time to time. Even so, the majority of patients share the following common symptoms:
- Sleep-deprivation and fatigue seem to be commonplace these days. However, if you suffer from Fibromyalgia, your fatigue goes far beyond being tired since your exhaustion makes it nearly impossible to function and perform daily tasks.
- Deep muscle aches and shooting and sharp pains all travel throughout your body. You may experience odd twitches and throbbing.
- You may experience burning sensations, tingling and numbness.
- Your pain may be at its worst in the morning, but other things such as the weather, physical activity and stress can make your pain worse. Even not engaging in physical activity and your fatigue can make your pain worse.
- You can never seem to get enough deep sleep, which obviously contributes to your fatigue. In fact, during random times while you sleep, your brain will “wake up” and deprive you of the restorative sleep your body needs.
- You may find that you suffer from other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, restless leg syndrome and migraines. You could also experience cognitive difficulties, vision problems and ringing in your ears, among other things
It’s not hard to imagine that based on these symptoms, reaching the correct diagnosis may not be easy. In the meantime, you may not be able to work and find it difficult to even get out of bed. You may need some financial assistance in order to support you and your family.
Obtaining Social Security Disability benefits for a condition that presents a mystery to your doctor may seem like an insurmountable task. Fortunately, you can make use of the legal resources available in your New Jersey community to help you obtain the benefits you need.
