One thing to remember, is that it is essential to rule out everything else before diagnosing fibro, but not all doctors do.
This is why I was wondering if he'd had an MRI of his spine. Have they ruled out any disc problems that could be affecting the nerves?
I was totally not expecting to be told that I had a disc problem and I seemed to have some of the same symptoms. Just a thought.
He hasn't had an MRI yet. Our insurance is very strict on when they'll do one and they want to do some additional analysis first. Even when/if they do one, it will cost us about $1000 out of pocket for the deductable. Yowch! If it pinpoints the issue, it would pay for itsself a million times over though!
Medical costs are insane, even with great medical insurance that paid 90% of everything, we still ended up having to file bankruptcy due to my medical expenses (Hubby lost his job essentially because of my illness for taking time off work to take me to doctor's appointments. Even though he always made up the work by working extra hours. His company had unreasonably strict attendance policies, and even though he was "theoretically" protected by FMLA, they fired him stating performance problems even though every one of his employee evalutations were stellar. They didn't even give him a single poor performance review before firing him (as it turns out, in less than a year the plant moved to Mexico, and they begain firing as many people as they could, to save money. Hubby was just the first of many to be fired. Hubby probably could have sued, but we didn't).
If we had to do it over again, I don't really know what we'd do. On one hand, the diagnostic tests are very important, and yet I still wonder whether all of the tests were necessary (and if not, which ones wouldn't have been).
I did learn to look at prescription drugs differently. I had no idea that pharmacies charge such a wide descrepancy of charges. A medication one pharmacy may charge $200 for, another might charge $50. Not to mention that there are drugs that are virtually identical. The new version of a drug may cost 30 times as much as the older version, where the improvement is only that the newer drug is extended release so you can take one pill a day instead of two or three (Taking one pill is nice, but I'll gladly take two or three pills a day in order to save $200 a month).
Our primary care doctor is very understanding of cost issues. He has Walmart/Sam's Clubs discount list programmed into his blackberry (most drugs are $4, and the rest are either $7 or $9).
What's really shocking is that when I originally switched to the discount meds, how many of them worked better for me than the more expensive versions. There were only a few meds in the last six years for which there was no cheap equivalent (and my doctor gave me samples for those whenever he could).
I know this is a bit off-topic, but with any chronic illness, it's important to know that you can save tons of money, just by knowing that there are cheaper alternatives. I assumed that there would be greater risk of side effects in the older medications, but apparently it's just a tactic of drug companies. Come out with a "new" version of a medication when that medication goes to generic. People (not just patients, but even prescribing doctors) assume that newer is better, so many will choose the new, just because it's new, not because it's better.
Even doctors that try to be smart can fall into the trap. For example, our doctor knowing we have money issues, will give us free samples of new medications. Because they're free they save us money. But when the company stops giving out samples after the med has been around for a while, if it is working for the patient, the doctor and the patient probably won't want to switch.
I faced that with a recent blood pressure medication. When a generic version came out, my doctor and I were both reluctant to switch, but in the end we decided to take a chance. I'm glad we did, because it saves us more than $50 per month.
When you have a chronic illness, you have to learn to be a smarter consumer of medical services (really though eveyrone should be. Part of the reason medical costs are so high, is because so few people ever question the expense. Comparision shopping really isn't part of the norm).
Oh yeah, I know how it is paying for medical stuff. I have a $5000 deductible plan, so I'm paying out of pocket for my stuff.
I was able to shop around for the MRI and pay the self pay rate which saved me quite a bit, I think.
I paid $472 cash, but they would have charged my insurance company $1400!!! It's outrageous how our medical system is in the US. Craziness.
Since I got the cash/self pay rate at the imaging place, I've been asking everywhere now if they have a lower self pay rate. So, far the doctor's and physical therapy haven't been any cheaper
I feel for you all. Last summer I had two sleep studies and was Dx with sleep apnea. They wanted $500 out of pocket for the cpap. I called all over and no one would finance it and the rental costs were outrageous too! I still need one, but I know it's do to this weight, which when (not if, but WHEN) it comes off will likely not be an issue anymore.
My mother has fibromalgia, and it is both a physical and emotional burden on her. She stays depressed because of the constant pain, and nothing ever seems to lessen it, though she may be lucky and not have as much pain some days. She can manage to clean the house, but it will cause her more pain. She isn't able to exercise, and when she does go to town, she is in so much pain once we get back that she sometimes has to lay down (well, she usually sleeps in a chair, because the bed makes her more stiff).
