It's NOT Lupus

I am forever getting tested for Lupus and it's never Lupus. Thank goodness. I had my follow-up with the rheumatologist yesterday. They tested for typical inflammatory diseases including lupus and rheumatoid and they were all negative for anything of concern. He did see an abnormality in my left center knuckle, apparently it looks like swiss cheese. I will be going back in 6 months to see if it is stable or degeneration of some sort. His diagnosis stands at Fibromyalgia. I have decided not to take any medications yet. His parting shot as I left was that Fibromyalgia is the most painful and fatiguing of the diseases he treats. I certainly wouldn't want anyone to feel worse than I do on a regular basis but I would have expected RA or Lupus to be worse. Maybe the trade off is that Fibromyalgia does not have any known tissue damage.

Anywho, the pain and fatigue are more tolerable while I'm not working so I want to process the new information I have about the disease. I have trouble accepting this as a disease as opposed to a symptom. One of the treatments is aerobic exercise so I want to see if I can find something that will not hurt too much to do every day. I am also going see where therapy takes me as I feel like I am making more progress there right now than I ever have before. I also want to keep my mind clear for the writing and classes I'm working through.

We'll see how it goes.

Many smiles to you all, Ms. Fortitude