Current Fibro Situation, Really Need Advice

J

jngairman

New Member
Registered Member
Hey everyone! So I'm going through a rather tiresome situation and my leadership and med group have not been very helpful. Here's my timeline:

August 2018- graduated Loadmaster school
November 2019- experienced a traumatic aircraft incident, we almost crashed into another aircraft in-flight and I was in the cockpit so I saw it all happen
December 2018 to about March 2019- had to see mental health for therapy because I had trouble sleeping and feeling a sense of loos of control because of what happened
April 2019- diagnosed w/ fibromyalgia.. I've gone to physical therapy for fibro, 2 neck sprains, TMJD, and back pain for over a year now
June 2019- medically disqualified from being a Loadmaster. The flight doc pretty much told me medical retraining was my best option and to "disregard" the fibro diagnosis because I could get kicked out for it

I wanted to stay in at the time and my pain was manageable so I opted for retraining. Celebrex and mobic have me too much stomach pain so I just recently switched to Arthrotec which works much better.
Retraining didn't have any good options, plus my pain had gotten a whole lot worse in the last 6 months. So my leadership said I could voluntarily separate. I just recently found out that with an MEB separating me I'd be getting 100% of my gi bill instead of 80% and I'd be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Med group is saying there's not enough evidence for an MEB, but I'm on a rheumatoid medication and I haven't been able to take a pt test in a year. I want an MEB so I can get the benefits I should be getting with a medical separation.
What can I do? I'm bringing my medical records to a meeting with my commander and squadron flight doc tomorrow because the doctor who disqualified me "got rid" of my fibro diagnosis med records.
 
How the meeting go? You cannot force your PCM to initiate an MEB just because you want to your medical records have to back up the impairment. Just not taking a PT test isn't enough work performance is also a factor. Many docs still think Fibro is a modern form of hypochondriac disorder and thus blame your problems on many other factors.
 
Any doc that thinks fibro is a manifestation of hypochondria is not paying attention to their journals. Way back in 1994 fibro patients were assigned to three group in a double blind study (meaning neither the patient nor the provider was aware of what medicine the patient was receiving).

"After 1 month, 21%, 12%, and 0% of the amitriptyline, cyclobenzaprine, and placebo patients, respectively, had significant clinical improvement (amitriptyline versus placebo P = 0.002, cyclobenzaprine versus placebo P = 0.02, amitriptyline versus cyclobenzaprine P not significant)."
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In plain English patients that got meds has less problems, patients that got a placebo had zero improvement! If you run into a doc that thinks fibro is hypocondria, please file an IG against them.
 
I’m wondering if there is a way to retrieve those fibro records, everything is digital now, so it should be there.
 
I do know that they won’t initiate a MEB for fibro unless it was by a rheumatologist so your first step might be a referral to one. Your PCM has to initiate it, but having the “official” diagnosis might sway them, especially if you lay it on thick about how you are struggling to do your job. Throughout my whole process I was pretty much told not to lie, but to approach all my appointments like it was my worse pain day. I don’t know if that helps.
 
I got the diagnosis from a rheumatologist, but at the C&P exam it was written that it doesn’t interfere with my ability to work. That’s not entirely accurate. It’s a ‘constant or nearly constant pain’ so how could it not negatively affect work? Guess I need to complain about it more so I have it for my appeal and FPEB...
 
I've been put on limited duty twice for fibromyalgia. The last time the rheum said he usually doesn't give limited duty out for it but would for me (he had already brought up the med board but I told him i wanted to wait until at least october when the limdu would expire. I hit my 20 April 24 this year and I did not want to go through 11 years of fibro with the last 4 being the worst.

As to how it effects work, i think its a little different for you than it is for me. If i recall from your other posts your're in the medical field? You guys have it tough from the get go because they do not like to separate you. As an O-3 Marine, it got to the point that i cant pt with any regularity and if i do its pretty much limited to the elyptical. I cant stand for more than 5 mins which rules out formations/ceremonies. So i wrote to how i cant perform the basic requirements of a Marine, let alone a Captain. I also spoke about how the cognitive aspects effected my work. I couldn't follow conversations, i just couldn't grasp the ideas being presented and putting them together. I was almost constantly in a fog which effected the same abilities as well as having faith in the decisions i would make. I think the cognitive issues are actually the worst as they cut down your confidence in being simply an adult. However, I am also diagnosed with mild cognitive disorder so who knows which ones are which. As an Intel Officer with those issues I cannot be trusted to synthesize and present intel to the CO so that he could make a decision. How can I do that when I am not even confident in my decisions so i spoke about that. I have flare ups every month or two, even though I'm on too long a list of medication, which can last between 1 to 5 weeks. During that time i can barely walk, during the worst days I would have to take leave to just stay home. I just had one last week and luckily i had already planned to be on leave, but I spent the whole week on the couch. So I spoke about how the flare up affected my dependability.

Hope that helps a little with how fibro can effect your work. But yeah even now it always seems like its a fight when you speak to doctors about the PT portion. I havent been able to conduct any real PT other than 15 mins on the ellyptical and you think i am fit to run the PFT and CFT? If i had to do that now i would destroy half my body. Anyways, now im getting long winded.
 
No, I'm a SWO LT (USN). I actually had a civilian rheumatologist tell me that I couldn't possibly have fibromyalgia because I was male and only 40 years old. However, she marked my DBQ as having all the symptoms associated with fibromyalgia as well as the pain being constant or nearly constant. I have occasional flare-ups that make existing back and neck pain even worse. I was just in the ER for that this past weekend. As far as 'fog' I get that sometimes, but since I am newly diagnosed, I expect that to get worse over time. I have flat feet and carpal tunnel - that got me waived from the last cycle. Since my entire body just seems to ache, I was just curious if fibromyalgia was a justifiable reason for another waiver.
 
Ahh that's right. Yeah it is an uphill battle from the start. My symptoms first appeared in 2009 and didn't get the diagnoses until 2015. My cognitive issues started appearing about 2 years ago, and like the rest it just keeps getting worse. As far as the rheum writing a waiver, it all depends on the rheum and your relationship with him/her. I was lucky that mine put me on limdu because he said he really never does but would do it for me. I was told the same thing that its usually older women that get it but i was what (counts fingers) 37 when i was diagnosed, 42 now. It's a catch-22 with finally facing the reality of the situation because I've asked myself many times if i made it much worse than it would have been by waiting the extra two years and toughing it out. I was in a unique situation though as I was out of my field going to school for two years and being an environmental officer for the last two, I really did not have to do any sort of unit PT or ceremonies at all. So I had the space to be able to tough it out as long as I completed the PFTs/CFTs.

I would say fight for the waiver. Hopefully your rheum is responsive to it. Or at least get it partially waived. That would still relieve a lot of the stress surrounding it. I just to go nuts mentally for the months before each test telling myself that all I have to do is pass, O-3 is the last rank I would make so when I finally hit that in 2016, a lot of the stress melted away. It's amazing how much stress really makes your symptoms worse/unbearable so i started looking for how I could reduce stress in every day life. Since I was basically on my own for 2 years the PFT/CFT was really the only thing I had to do with the reserve unit and set my goals for school so that it didn't give me a lot of stress.

Rambling, again. Yes if the rheum says they wont present your case on how your diagnoses prevent you from being able to train for the PRT and that it would be physically detrimental for you to have to take it because your fibro prevents you from conducting PT 5 days a week. Give examples like the ER visit due to the symptoms. Throughout this entire process from 2009 to now I've come to realize that if you go in informed and at least ask most times the doctors wont have any issues with it. I did the same thing with my psychiatrist. I waited for months before asking if we could try a stimulant as the fatigue was killing me and she said "Absolutely, I think that's a great idea." She still talked to all my other doctors first as it can increase intercranial pressure and resting HR and blood pressure. With all the medication I was/am taking I thought she would think i was just trying to get more drugs (in a nefarious way) so I never asked.
 
chaplaincharlie said:
Any doc that thinks fibro is a manifestation of hypochondria is not paying attention to their journals. Way back in 1994 fibro patients were assigned to three group in a double blind study (meaning neither the patient nor the provider was aware of what medicine the patient was receiving).

"After 1 month, 21%, 12%, and 0% of the amitriptyline, cyclobenzaprine, and placebo patients, respectively, had significant clinical improvement (amitriptyline versus placebo P = 0.002, cyclobenzaprine versus placebo P = 0.02, amitriptyline versus cyclobenzaprine P not significant)."
source : Error - Cookies Turned Off


In plain English patients that got meds has less problems, patients that got a placebo had zero improvement! If you run into a doc that thinks fibro is hypocondria, please file an IG against them.
Click to expand...

What if diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, but dr won't give any medications to help with the pain? Told to do physical therapy, but the physical therapist refuses to continue sessions due to worse symptoms and increased pain
 
a.img said:
What if diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, but dr won't give any medications to help with the pain? Told to do physical therapy, but the physical therapist refuses to continue sessions due to worse symptoms and increased pain
Click to expand...

I got one better lol... I had a female rheumatologist tell me that since I was only 40 years old AND a man, I couldn’t possibly have fibromyalgia even though she verified my tender points and checked off all the symptoms in the DBQ...
 
a.img said:
What if diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, but dr won't give any medications to help with the pain? Told to do physical therapy, but the physical therapist refuses to continue sessions due to worse symptoms and increased pain
Click to expand...
One could go to patient advocate and request assignment to a new PCM.
 
USN_1997 said:
I got one better lol... I had a female rheumatologist tell me that since I was only 40 years old AND a man, I couldn’t possibly have fibromyalgia even though she verified my tender points and checked off all the symptoms in the DBQ...
Click to expand...
Fibromyalgia is predominantly but not exclusively found in females. Age is even less a factor in diagnosis. Again, I would be requesting a change in PCMs via the patient advocate.
 
I have Fibro & now going through an MEB. I am a male, 36 yrs old. I take Gabapentin (nerve pain) 800mg x3 daily, Baclofen 10 mg x2, x3 daily & Zoloft 150 mg. It all helps but does not come close to getting rid of my pain. Get a new Dr.!!! Judging by your pic, you are a civilian. You may want to try and get a medical marijuana card.
-Steve
 
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