Women Living with Fibromyalgia

Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I'm reading it
Review: I was introduced to this book by my fiance (now my husband), who bought it for himself - to read and understand what I'm going through and to better help me. He urged me to read it, too, but I did not want to learn anything about it, mostly because much of what I've read before contained so much 'doom and gloom'.
I'm so glad that I am reading it now, and like the previous reviewer, I was overcome with emotion to see myself continually, not realizing just how many symptoms I just chalked up to being 'normal', or the "course of time". But as my symptoms became more constant and more severe this past year, it was time to understand just what was going on and I found so much reassurance in seeing that so many others experience these bizarre happenings within their bodies, too.
Although I have not finished the book yet, I do want to add this: I am surprised to not see more mention of just how much dietary and lifestyle changes make a huge difference, and strongly urge people to look at those in the Raw Food lifestyle who can testify to the change in their health. See Nomi Shannon's website, for example: http://www.rawgourmet.com/gourmet.html whose Raw Gourmet book is sold on Amazon, as well as many others.
You CAN become well or at the very least MUCH, much better.
And you can take control back, and do so naturally.
I recommend this book for your family and friends to read, as few people really understand, and this book is very helpful.

Rating:
Summary: Angry and Disappointed
Review: My hope when I bought this book was that I would find inside it encouragement and helpful advice. The author presents a very biased sample of women who I do not believe are representative of the greater population of people with fibromyalgia. Most (thought not all) of the women in this book identify themselves as sick and disabled, have stopped working and many come off as feeling sorry for themselves. I believe one can have a medical condition without being "sick" all the time. I also think that a lot of the people who are disabled by FM also have other diseases and those are likely more resposible for the disability than the FM alone. The general information about the syndrome contained in this book is available elsewhere and indeed is not the purpose of the book, but the women's stories did not provide me with the kind of information and support I was looking for. For example, 50 women listing all the medications they take or have tried tells me nothing. And I felt I was being more encouraged to go on disability after reading this book than I did to go on with my life. This condition is painful, annoying and distracting but it is not a death sentence.

Rating:
Summary: This is me!
Review: When I started reading this book, I began to cry. I saw myself over and over again. And it is so comforting to know I am not the only person feeling this way, hurting this much. I am not quite finished yet, but so far I have learned so much I didn't know and also found suggestions for coping I hadn't encountered. Now if someone could only come up with a cure!