Interesting Websites (Super Long Post)

I was trying to find you all some info about wls and fibro. The search I did was for Fibromyalgia and weight loss surgery.  Here is some of what I found. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=15308 There is two points in this next website that deal with weight loss surgery and Fibro. (#2 and #3) It also lists some of the results from the previous website. This website also has some other information that you all might find beneficial. Go to home and it has some information about a new drug to treat Fibromyalgia. The first of its kind.  http://www.myalgia.com/FM_BMI_Diabetes.htm The rest of the websites I found pretty much just echoed this same study.  As always the problem is that fibromyalgia is just not as "studied" as other diseases. There are more and more new studies that are being done because people are finally getting a diagnosis, a REAL diagnosis. Doctors are finally understanding this is not in our heads, it is real, very real and very painful.  In my personal opinion,  and this is just my opinion, I see alot of overweight individuals who experience severe pain and a good portion of their pain is due to their weight. Does that mean they don't have fibro.. I don't know, I am not a doctor nor do I play one on T.V. , but to come out on the other side in complete remission, I have a hard time believing it. Not because I want to continue to believe I will never get relief from my symptoms but because I know the nature of this illness.  As research has been done, I have read as much as possible about the research results. One key thing is that it looks more like it is caused by a brain chemical imbalance. However, I am not 100% sold on this yet. The only reason I even mention it now is that so many times symptoms are treated with antidepressant drugs and it brings the symptoms of the fibro into a controlable state. Livable if you will. Not everyone experiences this relief with the drugs but a good portion do. I know that they are using Cymbalta as a treatment now but also wellbutrin has been used with good results.  My major problem with these drugs though is that I personally am chemical sensitive. I find it terribly difficult to take these medications. I would sooner deal with my pain than deal with the side effects I get from these drugs. UGH! Can't win for losing! Here is where my issue with the brain chemical imbalance comes into play. I also have a rare genetic disease. It is called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In researching this syndrome I found out that 50% of all Ehler's-Danlos patients also have Fibromyalgia. That doesn NOT mean that all fibromyalgia patients have Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome.   The Ehler'sDanlos Syndrome has nothing to do with brain chemicals. It has everything to do with being born without a specific gene that creates colagen in the human body. Colagen is the glue that holds all our muscles, joints and organs together. There are different types of Colagen in the body. The type I was born without is Colagen 19.  It makes my skin paper thin as well as super stretchy.  It is very tramatic to the body. Which lends to the "trama bringing on Fibro" theory. I know that I have had this genetic issue my entire life but went undiagnosed till I had my second child in 1998. Only in the past three years have we found out about it. My son has a more severe case of the Ehler's Danlos than I myself do. It took spending most of his life at Childrens Hospital here in Arkansas before we found out exactly what was going on. Having said all that, I know that the trama to my body has been on going for years. I am 33 years old now so I have had 33 years worth of trama, however, I became severely ill when I was 19 years old. The doctors told me it was a virus. I became symptamatic with the fibro shortly after getting over this virus. So, once again, does it come from a virus? Does it come from Trama? Does it come from the chemical imbalance in the brain?  I guess what I am getting at with all this is how can losing a large amount of weight make the fibro go into remission? I wasn't morbidly obese when I got sick. I packed on the pounds through several rounds of steriods when they thought I had lupus when I was 19 and then proceeding to have three babies with the extra weight already packed on. For me, my answer to whether or not I will go into complete remission is simple. I probably won't see remission. I do know that my symptoms have improved but have not disappeared. I've lost 75 lbs with my lap band. I have a long way yet to go and am thinking seriously of having a revision. I can see how my health has improved with the surgery and I want to continue on Just in Case!   Amy