Health Watch: Fibromyalgia Seminar

ATLANTA - Fibromyalgia is an illness that doesn't show up in x-rays or on a blood tests, but people who suffer from fibromyalgia say the pain is so intense, it can be hard to get out of bed.

Author and life coach Martha Beck knows about that pain and she's lived with it for years.

It's Beck's job as a life coach to help people find direction in their lives and she knows what it's like to feel lost.

At 18, Beck started experiencing excruciating pain all over her body, but it took years to find out why and what she could do about it.

Beck wrote her 400 page graduate school dissertation with her fingers taped up and she used pencils to type because her hands and every part of her body hurt.

"Almost every single day, I would function as best I could, then I would go lie down in my bed and I would shake, just letting myself feel the pain. And then I would cry for a couple of hours and that was just standard," said Beck.

Beck said she lost her 20's to Fibromyalgia, a pain disorder that made her entire body radiate pain. It took 12 years for Beck to be diagnosed with the condition.

"If you've ever had a sore throat that is so painful you fear swallowing and any motion hurts. It's like having that sore throat pain in every muscle of your body," said Beck.

Lynne Matallana went to 37 doctors before she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and founded the National Fibromyalgia Association to push for more research and support for sufferers.

"I still am frustrated because fibromyalgia is, we laugh we call it the orphaned red-headed stepchild because it doesn't get the attention," said Matallana. "Because it still is thought of as something that really isn't in existence and it is real, and it affects over 10 million people. And it affects their lives so dramatically."

Most fibromyalgia sufferers have tender points all over their bodies. It's still not known what causes fibromyalgia, but the central nervous system seems to kick into overdrive, turning up the body's response to pain.

"How can somebody shake someone's hand and actually feel excruciating pain? Well that's because our brain is not translating that signal appropriately," said Matallana.

Beck says thanks to exercise, and a lot trial and error, she no longer hurts every day.

"I'm almost symptom free and that's what we want people to be today, that's why we're doing this," said Beck.

Beck will share her story and tips for coping wit pain at a seminar for Atlanta fibromyalgia sufferers Tuesday night. Beck's advice is for patients to learn everything they can about their illness and how to manage it.

"Go to the internet and find out everything you can. And of course the internet has lots of stuff on it, but the knowfibro website has really good, solid, well-researched information and knowledge is power, man. You can get your life back," said Beck.

Beck says she's living proof there is hope.

"Tell your friends. Tell your relatives. Because somewhere, lying there in agony is a person who could get up, could walk around again, and be part of life again. So there's huge hope. And that's the main message we want to convey," said Beck.

Beck will be hosting a seminar for fibromyalgia sufferers at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the W hotel on 14th Street in midtown Atlanta night.

For more information on fibromyalgia, go to http://knowfibro.com/index.jsp or www.fmaware.org .