Peter's Fibromyalgia & Personal WebSite

What do YOU do First?

I am writing this for those visitors who have recently been given a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia Syndrome ... or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ...or Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome ... or Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome .... or Myalgic Encephomyelitis. Hopefully I can steer you to some good information so you can get all the information you need to calm you down.

You have probably arrived here because of a link from another site... or it came up in a search engine. So you already know that you are not alone. So take a few deep breaths, calm down and prepare yourself to do a lot of reading. The more you know and the more you understand, the better equipped you are to deal with, cope with and plan for the road you are now traveling.

As you are probably aware ... this is a personal website ... so on this site you will read about me and my symptoms & experiences. I also express my opinions and way of thinking ... which not everyone will agree with ... but like I said, its my own personal site so I can do and say what I feel is right and the truth as I see it.

So ... where do you go from here? I like to direct people to a couple things I have written for this web site ....Misdiagnosed or Not? Food for thought andWhy do we assume ....?. Also on this site, you will find the Web Links section where you will find almost 500 links to information and articles which I feel have helped me over the years.

Now ... in an effort to make it easier for you "newbie's" (meant affectionately ) ... I am placing a few links to sites and information that I feel would most benefit a person newly diagnosed. I hope you find it of benefit.

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome (FMS/MPS) from Devin Starlanyl - an extremely good site with a lot of good accurate and pertinent information. While on this site ... make sure you read the pages

I am not citing Devin's site as the "definitive" site for information... but it is one I trust and I find the information provided to be accurate.

Next ... you will likely be looking for information that you can give to family & friends to try to help them understand what you are experiencing and how they can help. Also ... wanting to learn ways to cope with this yourself ... tips and tricks. Again ... some shameless self promotion ... there are the links in my Web Links section, and of course some more below (in no particular order)

Another site that some people find to be of assistance is ...
Insulin resistance, Type 2 Diabetes, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain, Insomnia, and Sleep Problems ... Managing Fibromyalgia: A Non-medical Approach- Information and Ideas from Miryam Ehrlich Williamson.

A couple other sites with a lot of links to helpful information are

You may or may not get involved with the newsgroups, chat sites and forums with other FM'ers ... but if you do you may find the following links of benefit

FIBROpedia words that should have been words, as created by people who participate in the discussion of Fibromyalgia on alt.med.fibromyalgia. They are wise and otherwise
Newsgroup Shorthand and Definitions

Finding a good "safe" forum so you can ask questions and receive answers from other people with FM et al can sometimes be a daunting task. These are a few that I can recommend

Fibromyalgia Friends Discussions - Suite101.com - I just started going to this site in 2005. A great bunch of people
Men With Fibromyalgia (MWF) Forums - despite the name ... the site and the forum are not just for men, although it is all geared towards men and their perspective. This is the forum I frequent most often. This site, I feel, might also be of benefit to the spouses of men with FM. The spouses can maybe garner a better understanding on what their man is going through and maybe not talking about.

Well .. hopefully this will help start you on the road to knowledge. Just watch yourself out there. There are people and companies out there only too willing to try to sell you "snake oil". Beware the people who say they had Fibromyalgia but are now cured. Believe me ... if there was a cure it would be on all the FM websites and in the newspapers. But there are treatments that some people have tried and found some benefit. Just keep in mind a phrase that you will hear repeated time and time again ... what works for one or some ... doesn't necessarily mean it works for all. So if you try something and you find no improvement ... don't give up.

Take care. I hope all your tomorrows are better than your todays.