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ARISING How should we manage fibromyalgia ?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Copyright Year | 2000 |
| Abstract | We read with interest your leader, “How should we manage fibromyalgia?”. We were puzzled by Paul Reilly's statement that a comprehensive pain management programme...has the best chances of success, although even rheumatologists can practise amateur cognitive behavioural therapy in the clinic”. Is Dr Reilly really suggesting that a rheumatologist's amateur eVorts oVer the best outcome for people with fibromyalgia? Dr Reilly oVers no evidence to support this statement. He does, however, find evidence to raise questions as to the value of patient self help groups. Dr Reilly cites a 1992 paper that reports an association between membership of such a group and worse prognosis in chronic fatigue syndrome. As the authors emphasised the caution with which the results should be interpreted, it is surprising that Dr Reilly has used this evidence to inform his clinical practice. Firstly, this is ancient research. Things have moved on. Although we would agree that some so called self help groups can end up as a circular review of symptoms, self management courses, which we at Arthritis Care espouse, are a very diVerent matter. Challenging Arthritis is a self management programme—and that title was chosen very deliberately. It is run by people with arthritis for people with arthritis. It gives people the skills to take control of their lives and their arthritis. It is practical and positive, and it works. The eVectiveness of similar programmes in the USA is well recorded. Experience in the United Kingdom shows similar results, including better understanding of symptoms, improved communication with medical staV, and increased use of exercise and relaxation techniques. Probably most importantly of all, self management programmes significantly decrease pain, fatigue, and anxiety. So it is extremely important to diVerentiate between navel gazing self help systems and courses such as ours, which encourage people to take control for themselves—and which work. Similar courses run on the Challenging Arthritis model are now available to people with other chronic conditions. Given Dr Reilly's desire to disabuse patients of the notion that their fibromyalgia is his problem alone, shouldn't eVective courses which encourage people to take control for themselves be a welcome adjunct to his treatment, even if it is run by a patient self management group? |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/59/6/490.4.full.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/59/6/490.1.full.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/59/6/490.7.full.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/59/6/490.2.full.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
