The First Year: Fibromyalgia: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (First Year, The)
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List Price: $15.95
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Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Written By: Claudia Craig Marek
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.74
EAN: 9781569245217
ISBN: 1569245215
Label: Da Capo Press
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: 2003-05-26
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Studio: Da Capo Press
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Editorial Reviews for The First Year: Fibromyalgia: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (First Year, The)
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Fibromyalgia affects between three and six million Americans—80 percent of whom are women—yet remains one of the most difficult conditions to identify and diagnose. In the tradition of the other titles in the First Year series, The First Year—Fibromyalgia uses a unique approach—guiding readers through their first seven days following diagnosis, then the next three weeks of their first month, and finally the next eleven months of their first year—to provide answers and advice that will help everyone newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia come to terms with their condition and the lifestyle changes that accompany it. Starting with the day of diagnosis, patient-experts Florence and Marek provide vital information about the nature of fibromyalgia, choosing the right doctors, treatment options, psychological issues, holistic alternatives, self-management strategies, illustrative charts and tables, and much more. The First Year—Fibromyalgia will be a supportive and educational resource for everyone who wants to take an active role in the management of their condition.
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Consumer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: WOW!!
Comment: I was recenty diagnoside with FM. This book opened by eye to alot of things I never knew. Everybody should read this book!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very informative
Comment: I've just started reading "The First Year: Fibromyalgia". The information in it is what I've been searching years for. The book has answered all of my questions and so much more. I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with Fibromyaligia or thinks they may have it. I take it to the doctor with me, so I can refer to it when I'm trying to explain some of my symptoms. This book will let you know you're not crazy and you are not alone.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very good information - maybe too technical for some
Comment: This book is chock full of really good information about fibromyalgia. However, it may be a bit overwhelming for the newly-diagnosed and those unfamiliar with the myriad medical terms used to describe it. For a less intimidating version of much of the same information, see Tender Points: A Fibromyalgia Memoir Filled with Practical Advice
Customer Rating:
Summary: General overview especially useful for those who don't have the affliction.
Comment: The strength of this book is that it's written by a fibromyalgia sufferer who is also an experienced therapist and expert from practice. There's nothing more irritating than the glib books, often written by physicians with thriving practices, that casually dispense one prescription after the other--some Prozac, some exercise, some meditation, some organic food--as the "cure" for the condition. Someone with fibro will always encounter those who know what's best for her, or those who judge a "heroic" brief performance as representative of the sufferer's perfectly good health, or those bright and bouncy optimists who praise people with boundless energy, thus letting the fibro sufferer know why praise is not merited in her case, or those wise moralists who constantly point out undeniably tragic cases as a message to the fibro sufferer of how comparatively lucky she is, or those self-preoccupied "normal" types who condescendingly catalog their own problems, translatable as "we all got troubles, just like you".
Marek, on the other hand, thoroughly understands and validates the psychology of the patient, ranging from grief and depression over losing what can never be regained to resentment and anger toward those who are "normal" (like the successful, pain-free physician for whom it's "easy" to make any claims about the disease and his patients). She's uncommonly realistic about the disorder, stressing acceptance of a life-long affliction as a key to coping with it and getting the most out of life with what resources you have left. Whatever it's called--fibromyalgia, ibs, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, somatoform disorder (there's a discouraging amount of overlap--the condition is as real, unshakable, undeniable as the loss of a limb, and those who have it can not always make plans for the future, or even be at their best discussing someone else's future at day's end. And while going out for dinner may be within the realm of possibility for someone with fibro, the "price" for doing so can be far greater than any restaurant tab. For this reason, the book, or at least some of its chapters, may be of at least as much value to a spouse or close relation as to the patient herself. Some of the quoted testimonies by those afflicted with the condition practically tell the story by themselves.
There are a few caveats. The author promises not to make recommendations since she's not a physician. As a once-assistant to Dr. St. Amand, the chief proponent of the guaifenesin regimen, she briefly presents the approach (without pushing it), but she does take as a scientific "given" its emphasis on pressure and trigger points, mapping the body, etc., when in fact much of this practice and vocabulary is relatively alien even to many physicians who are sympathetic toward patients with the disorder. She's also big on the "hypoglycemic" solution, stressing the avoidance of all sugars (even certain vegetables) and, of course, caffeine and stimulants. Finally, her praise of the computer as a "godsend" may be over hasty, especially in the cases of those who take the path of "virtual" reality at the exclusion of endeavoring to get out into nature and society.
Also, she draws far more comfort from the naming of a disease (she explains how "fibromyalgia" didn't "exist" as a recognized syndrome until as recently as 15 years ago) than would some readers. Let's face it-- a physician can look at his patient and authoritatively pronounce a diagnosis of "chronic fatigue syndrome," "depression," "IBS," "somatoform disorder," "ADHD" or "fibromyalgia"--any number of so-called "functional illnesses"--and some patients will no doubt gain solace from such a definitive-sounding diagnosis. But at their core (or lack of it) these terms are often essentially meaningless, even to the point of being interchangeable. In fact, I wonder if someone who's heard them all might not find it refreshing for a change to meet a doctor who said, "I can't find anything abnormal in the tests. I frankly don't know what's producing your symptoms." (It goes without saying that publishers of books about all the aforementioned taxonomies would not place themselves in this latter category.)
In sum, this is a comprehensive if general overview. The organization is a bit misleading, since it doesn't provide a truly useful step by step, month by month regimen or protocol (the date markers are primarily an arbitrary organizing device employed by the author). Nevertheless, for someone who isn't read deeply in the subject, the book is easily recommended as a common-sense introduction to fibromyalgia. The author finishes her introduction with a quote from Wordsworth's "Immortality Ode," the same lines that echo through Natalie Wood's mind (and the soundtrack) at the conclusion of the movie "Splendor in the Grass." Later in the book the author credits the quote to Whitman. At least both poets had two-syllable last names beginning with the same consonant, both wrote in the same century and both spoke English--and it's a great poem, regardless of who gets the credit.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great resource!
Comment: I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2004, and I wish I had found this book then! It is well-written and informative without being wacky like a lot of the Fibromyalgia books out there I've come across. This book has helped me more than anything else, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for solid information on the subject. I've read parts of it to my husband, and it has helped him to understand and be sensitive to my needs. What a great book!!!
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