Fibromyalgia: Overcoming a Debilitating Disease

By Veronica Wainman

Classes, papers, exams, and late night’s can be enough to make any college student want to rip their hair out. Add in dealing with a chronic illness that can cause your entire body to ache with pain, and even the most mundane day-to-day can seem downright impossible.

For Krista Raymond, a Plattsburgh State sophomore, coping with a chronic illness is not only part of her daily routine, but necessary if she hopes to continue towards her goal of becoming an elementary teacher. In seventh grade, Raymond went into a doctor’s office believing that she had strep throat, and ended up being diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

According to Dr. Patrick Wood, fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder in which patients suffer from long-term pain and tenderness in joints, muscles and soft tissue. Patients can also experience sleep problems, depression, and fatigue.

After being diagnosed, Raymond began seeing a neurologist to treat the painful and debilitating headaches that used to plague her, and a rheumatologist who was able to focus specifically on her fibromyalgia. “I have been to every doctor under the sun. Dealing with the symptoms I experience can be hard, especially the way they come and go. Right now I am taking amitriptylin, an anti-depressant which curbs my symptoms and helps me sleep at night,” she said.

Anti-depressants are a popular choice for treating patients suffering from fibromyalgia. The first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of fibromyalgia was Lyrica in 2007. It was followed by Cymbalta, an anti-depressant that same year, and Milnacipran in 2009.

For Raymond, living with the disorder has not held her back from leading the life of a normal teen girl. “I was still able to do well in high school, and I was a member of the varsity soccer team,” she said of her first few years after the diagnosis.

For the most part, Raymond tries to look past her disorder, and live as if nothing is wrong with her. Unfortunately, after a decision to try and live a normal life without the assistance of medications, she was incapacitated by her symptoms. Chronic pain, the inability to sleep, and constant headaches made the first part of her sophomore year unbearable. “I just didn’t feel like myself anymore. I had always done well in school, and now no matter how hard I was working or how much effort I put in, I just couldn’t keep up with the work load,” she said.

Overwhelmed by her disease, Raymond decided to take a medical leave of absence from school to focus on getting her symptoms under control. To get back on track, she resumed a treatment regime involving the use of anti-depressants, and said that she feels back on track. Her symptoms have begun to subside, and she is no longer struggling to sleep. “I would defiantly advise anyone with fibromyalgia to stick to their medications,” she said.

The National Association for Fibromyalgia supports the research of many experimental treatment programs focused on fibromyalgia, and hopes that eventually doctors will be able to find a way to treat what is believed to be the main cause of fibromyalgia, problems in the central nervous central.

Raymond plans to return to PSUC in the spring of 2010, and will resume her life as just another college student. Even though she is faced with an obstacle many of her peers will never have to deal with, she feels that she is no different from anyone else. “I’m still just like any other college student. I’m just trying to get everything accomplished that I need to, and still go out and have fun every once in a while,” Raymond said.