Fibromyalgia for Dummies

Rating:
Summary: Warning!!
Review: Be ready for a great book! I liked this book because it is comprehensive and written in easy to understand language. If you've just been diagnosed with FM, check it out. Readers might also find "Treat Your Own Knees" and "The Multifidus Back Pain Solution" helpful as well.

Rating:
Summary: Sleep chapter included
Review: Because sleep is such an important component of fibromyalgia, the authors included an entire chapter on sleep in Fibromyalgia for Dummies (Chapter 14), explaining sleep stages, identifying key sleep problems, offering a self-test so readers can analyze if they may have a sleep problem, and providing practical and helpful suggestions for readers with fibromyalgia and sleep problems

Rating:
Summary: Woefully Lacking
Review: By far the least informative book I've read on Fibromyalgia. It's far too simplfied and woefully incomplete. For instance, the most diffinitive diagnostic tool for Fibromyalgia, the 18 pressure points, is barely mentioned. Called "tender points" in this book, the location and description of these points, how this test is correctly administered, and the important of the test are missing. Without them, you do not have Fibromyalgia. Also, I realize this book is "for Dummies", but give me a break, no one is this simple. More substance and a lot less fluff are needed. Even the writing is mediocre at best. Instead, I strongly suggest you read "Inside Fibromyalgia" by Mark J. Pellegrino, MD (who has the condition himself.) This is my number one reference, easy enough to understand, but solid medically with accurate and sensible diagnostic and treatment help. Also, "Living Well with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia" by Mary J. Shomon (a patient herself) is much better researched and better written than "Dummies." This is a serious subject and even a "Dummies" book should be more comprehensive than this!

Rating:
Summary: Empathy and practical information
Review: Fibromyalgia for Dummies has great info on what causes fibromyalgia, what it really feels like (with many anecdotes from people with fibromyalgia) and what you can DO about it, including medications, lifestyle changes, and much more. And if your doctor thinks fibromyalgia is a pretend problem (as some still do), the book tells you how to find a new doctor who understands and will help you. Written in the easy-to-understand style of the Dummies, the authors explain fibromyalgia in a caring and helpful way. If you have fibromyalgia or think that you may have it, you need Fibromyalgia for Dummies.

Rating:
Summary: It's all here
Review: Great book--you'd be a dummy NOT to get this thorough comprehensive guide to fibromyalgia. It's easy to follow, but full of the latest research. I really liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Falls short of real and useful information.
Review: I think this book fails to supply the most important information to those with fibromyalgia. It makes the dissorder seem so mysterious, when it is not. Much is known about FM that this book skims over or doesn't mention. Sleep is the major component to FM, because of a deficiency of serotonin, preventing us from getting delta sleep, the restorative sleep that revitalizes energy, and heals/relaxes muscles. Check out "Fibromyalgia" by Daniel J. Wallace. That does a much better job.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful and thorough
Review: I've read a number of books by Christine Adamec over the years and I've yet to be disappointed. This one is another winner -- a comprehensive yet easy-to-read guide to living with fibromyalgia. The book is extremely well researched and full of genuinely helpful information. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Dr. Michael L. Johnson
Review: If you have been newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia, this is one of the first books you should read. This book is very informative and I use it in my lending library at my office along with a few others. Fibromyalgia is REAL!!! Patients are not "faking it to get attention" or "imaging their pain". If some doctors would simply check the FMS patient's neurological signs they(the doctors) would find out that a patient cannot "fake" these important neurological findings!! This is a great book.

Dr. Michael L. Johnson, author of "What Do You Do When the Medications Don't Work--A Non-Drug Treatment of Dizziness, Migraine Headaches, Fibromyalgia, and Other Chronic Conditions".

Rating:
Summary: Dr. Michael L. Johnson
Review: If you have been newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia, this is one of the first books you should read. This book is very informative and I use it in my lending library at my office along with a few others. Fibromyalgia is REAL!!! Patients are not "faking it to get attention" or "imaging their pain". If some doctors would simply check the FMS patient's neurological signs they(the doctors) would find out that a patient cannot "fake" these important neurological findings!! This is a great book.

Dr. Michael L. Johnson, author of "What Do You Do When the Medications Don't Work--A Non-Drug Treatment of Dizziness, Migraine Headaches, Fibromyalgia, and Other Chronic Conditions".

Rating:
Summary: Great overall guide
Review: Like all of the Dummies and Idiots books, this is a well laid out, easy to follow guide that feels like it's a simple read but is chock full of all the information you could ever want on the topic. I love the easy going style - beats heavy medical texts on the topic - and disagree completely with the other review - no padding here, just chatty, well written easily digested information. We're talking a healthy salad of information, not empty calories, here!