What labs are you drawing for total body pain/fibro work up?
On recent thread someone mentioned: ESR, Vit D, intracellular Mg, B12, folate, homocysteine, TSH, CBC, EBV, CMV, pregnenalone
I usually get CBC, CMP, ESR, CRP, Vit D, ANA screen, RF.
There is no real workup for this.
You can't really diagnose fibro since it just has vague symptoms that can only be diagnosed "clinically" with some amalgam of symptoms.
The "disease" largely exists because of conmen like this Clauw at University of Michigan who is a consultant for Pfizer who pushes Lyrica to "treat" this condition. Also, when they started to get grants from the NIH, suddenly there was flood of people studying this "disease".
This article basically sums up the politics behind it:
Drug Approved. Is Disease Real?
This is just another example of how "evidence" based medicine is often just a sham made up based upon big pharma interests with paid off consultants who are mostly frauds and do fake research.
Even the guy who came up with the diagnostic criteria for this "disease" doesn't believe in it anymore.
"The diagnosis of fibromyalgia itself worsens the condition by encouraging people to think of themselves as sick and catalog their pain, said Dr. Nortin Hadler, a rheumatologist and professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina who has written extensively about fibromyalgia.
“These people live under a cloud,” he said. “And the more they seem to be around the medical establishment, the sicker they get.”
Dr. Frederick Wolfe, the director of the National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases and the lead author of the 1990 paper that first defined the diagnostic guidelines for fibromyalgia, says he has become cynical and discouraged about the diagnosis. He now considers the condition a physical response to
stress, depression, and economic and social anxiety.
The diagnosis of fibromyalgia itself worsens the condition by encouraging people to think of themselves as sick and catalog their pain, said Dr. Nortin Hadler, a rheumatologist and professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina who has written extensively about fibromyalgia."
Interesting how all the lead researchers who aren't paid off by big pharma don't believe in the diagnosis anymore.
Im sure this is "honest" medicine though since 101N loves to quote this Clauw guy as if he is some honest broker.
This "disease" also shows you the corruption at the FDA.
Of note: "The F.D.A. reviewers who initially examined Pfizer’s application for Lyrica in 2004 for diabetic nerve pain found those results unimpressive, especially in comparison to Lyrica’s side effects. The reviewers recommended against approving the drug, citing its side effects."
Gee I wonder how they got the approval for Lyrica despite the FDA's own panel rejecting it?
Funny how the "senior" people (political) decided the "risk/benefit" is fine despite such weak evidence.
