The Fibromyalgia Help Book: Practical Guide to Living Better With Fibromyalgia
by Jenny Fransen, R.N., and I. Jon Russell, M.D., Ph.D.
Over 5 million Americans, most of them women, suffer from fibromyalgia, an invisible disorder that causes chronic muscle pain, fatigue, memory problems, lack of concentration, and numerous secondary symptoms.
The Fibromyalgia Help Book is a how-to guide that gives people with fibromyalgia practical tools for effectively managing the syndrome.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. You aren't alone
2. What is fibromyalgia?
3. What causes fibromyalgia?
4. Getting the diagnosis and finding a medical care provider
5. Medical management of fibromyalgia
6. Building a relationship with your physician
7. Developing your exercise program
8. Getting a good night's sleep
9. Making lifestyle adjustments
10. Employment issues
11. Memory and concentration problems
12. Managing widespread pain
13. Practical helps for specific problems
14. Managing fatigue
15. Managing stress
16. Managing flare-ups
17. Coping with fibromyalgia
18. Fibromyalgia in children
19. Fibromyalgia research
20. Starting a fibromyalgia support group
Resources
References
Additional Reading
Fibromyalgia Organizations of North America
United States Arthritis Foundation Chapters
The Arthritis Society of Canada
Helpful Organizations
Fibromyalgia Research Centers
Adaptive Equipment Resources
Relaxation and Guided Imagery Tapes
Internet
Index
About the Authors
Jenny Fransen, R.N., a rheumatology nurse clinician and director of the Arthritis Care Program and Fibromyalgia Treatment Program at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, MN., has worked with thousands of patients with fibromyalgia.
Fransen has originated the Taking Charge of Fibromyalgia class, initiated the first support group in Minnesota, and created the Fibromyalgia Warmline, a resource network staffed by trained advocates who are themselves fibromyalgia patients. Fransen's expertise as a FMS clinical practitioner is recognized by physicians’ groups who seek her out as a speaker and teacher.
Jon Russell, M.D., Ph. D is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, where he is also Director of the University Clinical Research Center. Russell is an internationally recognized researcher and clinical practitioner caring for patients with musculoskeletal pain disorders.
He is editor of The Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain and author of over seventy original publications. Russell has served as a committee chair of the American College of Rheumatology, appeared twice in Best Doctors of America, and received the Arthritis Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Reviews
“[The Fibromyalgia Help Book] is both a useful synopsis of contemporary fibromyalgia research and a practical hands-on workbook. It is written in a readily understandable way which will be invaluable to newly diagnosed fibromyalgia patients and a useful review to the ‘already educated.”
Robert M. Bennett, M.D.
Director, Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases
The Oregon Health Science University
“The Fibromyalgia Help Book is easy to read and understand, yet it conveys state-of-the-art information concerning fibromyalgia that will be helpful to patients as well as their health-care providers.”
Laurence A. Bradley, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
“Without a doubt, it is the most complete, factual and readable guide that has yet come on the market. The authors are well-respected, authoritative sources of cutting-edge information. They present the material in a holistic, humanistic, and compassionate manner.”
Carol S. Burckhardt, R.N., Ph.D.
Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases
Oregon Health Sciences University
“[The Fibromyalgia Help Book] is well written and covers a broad spectrum of topics including diagnosis, pathogenesis and therapeutic modalities. This is an invaluable reference for patients and their family and friends, as well as primary care physicians and rheumatologists who treat these patients.”
Dan Buskila, M.D.
Director, Rheumatic Disease Unit, Soroka Medical Center
Beer Sheva, Israel
“The authors do a brilliant job of making the book understandable to the newly diagnosed fibromyalgia patient with little or no medical background, and yet helpful to the many very well-educated patients who are trying to learn as much as they can about their illness.”
Daniel J. Clauw, M.D.
Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy
Georgetown University Medical Center
“This manual is written and organized in such a way that it is comprehensive yet highly ‘digestible’ and practical. Most importantly, it is full of hope without fostering unrealistic expectations or eschewing the central role of the individual with this pain syndrome in her/his own care.”
Perry G. Fine, M.D.
(Interim) Medical Director, Pain Management Center
The University of Utah
"The Fibromyalgia Help Book by Jenny Fransen and Dr. I. Jon Russell provides the patient with fibromyalgia with practical guidelines, which, if they are followed, can lead not to a cure but to a better quality of life. I recommend this book not only for patients but also for medical professionals engaged in multidisciplinary treatment programs.”
Karl G. Henriksson, M.D., Ph.D.
Neuromuscular Unit and Pain Clinic University Hospital
Linköping, Sweden
"The Fibromyalgia Help Book is the most comprehensive and understandable treatise on fibromyalgia that I have had the pleasure to review. It deals in a very practical way with questions I hear in my office every day. I plan to use this book for my patients.”
Glenn A. McCain, M.D.
Southeast Arthritis Care Center
Charlotte, North Carolina
"The Fibromyalgia Help Book succeeds in using lay language throughout and provides a clear and thorough description of fibromyalgia and the knowledge that we have about it. Anyone who is seeking to improve his or her knowledge of fibromyalgia will find the best available answers to the questions that he or she wants to ask about the subject.”
Harold Merskey, D.M.
University of Western Ontario
London, Canada
“Fransen and Russell have written a comprehensive—and comforting—guide for people learning to live with the pain and uncertainty of invisible, interminable illness. Medical knowledge with a minimum of jargon and common sense advice drawn from practical experience offer fibromyalgia sufferers a chance to restore control over their lives, without false promises of cure.”
Cheri Register, author of
Living with Chronic Illness: Days of Patience and Passion
“The Fibromyalgia Help Book is a treasure house of authoritative, realistic, practical, and encouraging information. Its simple, eloquent English conveys a wealth of good advice and understanding. I looked through it without finding any weak spots or feeling that something could have been said more clearly or more effectively.”
David G. Simons, M.D.
Clinical Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
University of California, Irvine
