http://www.allsup.com/about-ssdi/ssdi-guidelines-by-disability/fibromyalgia.aspx

Hi,

I'm giving you this link from Allsup. I used Allsup to help me after I was denied. I have conditions in addition to Fibromyalgia. After reading your post I was curious on Allsup's information on obtaining SSA benefits for someone with Fibromyalgia. I hope the information is helpful to you.

I'm too brain foggy to go into the SSA guidelines to read through what they do and do not list......but maybe this is enough to give you a fresh direction?

I am so sorry that this has been such a struggle when you are so ill. I wish you the very best in gaining help from a reliable and good resource. Allsup was very helpful to me. Gentle hugs, hope and care.......

I don't know if i'm fixin to help or hinder here....but yes .i can relate.
i have been at war with this thing for a lot of years..........."come to terms " seems an appropriate phrase.
myself.i am struggling with acceptance......every time i attempt to go there...i end up in resignation instead.
Acceptance can allow, if not peace, then at least a letting go of frantic struggle.thereby creating a personal atmosphere in which we can calmly and rationally asses and adress the various aspects of this condition that CAN be affected, to some degree, in our favor.that's what i find during my brief stays in acceptance.resignation on the other hand.....which looks so much like acceptance in that they both have their roots in acknowledgement......brings to focus loss and weakness..and mires us there.............the two are so difficult to tell one from the other, i'm finding.........that i only know for sure which one i'm in when i look at myself and see if i'm living or dying.
Acceptance allows room still for hope.
Resignation has room only for despair.
i personally shamble down a path that travels both.....figuring out the signposts is what will eventually bring clarity to my world.....and with that clarity i intend to find hope........and down hope's road......that's where Peace is.


I hope that, at the very least here.......i have been able to let you now your not alone......nor are you uncared for.
PEACE

Hi rsimmons,
It really IS insidious! Great term for this syndrome. It bites when a Dr tells you, "No cause, no cure!". Coming to terms with it and those words are very difficult! I feel such sympathy for you in having to fight for any assistance after paying into it for SO many years, doubly so when your already weak and in pain! That is wrong on many levels. I understand your pain & frustration, the feeling of 'hanging on by your teeth'. I can't offer much advice regarding your fight for benefits. I can only offer support and hopefully some comfort in knowing your NOT alone, your among friends and fellow sufferers. Hoping 2012 brings you much needed relief from the financial fight and many less painful days. Gentle (hugs) ML

Yes, I can relate. I have found acceptance, but I couldn't tell you exactly when that happened. It was more gradual than all of the sudden. I've had this for 11 years now so I've had some time. Hopefully you'll get there eventually too. It's much better than fighting it in an unproductive way.

Don't get me wrong, I still buck it, but I buck it knowing the outcome ahead of time and don't fret when I'm flaring because I know that this too shall pass. I still do things that make me hurt worse for days, like last night, I went to a NYE party. It was fun, but by the end, I was in excrutiating pain. I just accept that that's how it's going to be and go with it. I can't give up my social life for this illness. It's not emotionally healthy. I guess I've just accepted that pain is a part of my life now. I wish I could tell you how, but I don't really know.

rsimmons have you thought about getting a lawyer? i had been denied also so a friend told me that there are lawyers that do nothing but disability cases. that is the only way i was able to get approved. he charged nothing unless he won the case. so in the end i got mine and he got his.

i wish you all the best and don't give up. don't let this monster get the best of you.

hugs

Hi there,

First let me say how sorry I am for all of your troubles. This system is not a fair, just or equitable one for working people. We work and pay most of the taxes and yet we are begrudged decent affordable healthcare, a safety net in case of illness, and the list goes on. I am beginning to realize that fibromites are discriminated against by most doctors. After desperately researching different treatment options, my doctors won't even consider certain options. You'll become addicted.

After reading a similar site based in England, I realize that they often have more humane treatments for people like us. They send people to support groups, counseling, and offer treatments like lidocaine drips that have never been mentioned to me. No one offered mental health counseling or anything else.

I am struggling to come to grips with this and some days I just lose it and break down and sob. Most of the people at this web site are good role models and seem to handle it better than I do. It will be one year ago this Feb that I became symptomatic.

My heart goes out to you and to all suffering with this disease. I pray every day they will find a cure or at least medicine that can control it without harming us in the process.

I am sorry that you find yourself in this position. I used Allsup too. They have a 98% success rate. I was approved in 6 months.

And yes, Fibromyalgia (FMS) is not a disease. It is correctly referred to as a syndrome. A syndrome is a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like.

Typically for you to to be approved for SSD, you must have underlying problems such as depression, panic attacks, degenerative disc disease or other "perks" that are associated with FMS. It is pretty well impossible to get it just for FMS. And, if you don't have a proven track record of treatment over time, that can also be an issue. It is also possible that your doctors are not being supportive when asked if you are still able to work.

I'd give Allsup a call (you can find them online) and see what they say.

As far as acceptence goes, it is easier to do that than continue to deny the existence of this illness. I'm not saying give up. I'm saying that it is possible to reach a somewhat comfortable coexistence and just roll with it.

I'd like to suggest that you consider ordering the book "Fibromyalgia for Dummies." Like all of the dummies series, it contains good basic information on this syndrome. It may help you come to a better understanding of how to manage and cope with FMS. It is available through Amazon online.

Good luck to you and God Bless.

i hear ya! I get frustrated when I cannot do the things i used to be able to do, at times, i feel like just fading away, the pain is so bad. At first i thought, docs have to be wrong, but they are not.

i am in "remission" right now. but then i will have days and days of pain all the time. i do not know when it will happen, normally if i do too much, or under stress.

I have a job, but i cannot do shift work because one shift i could be fine, next one, i have to miss, not fair to them and not to me.

we all have triggers, still trying to figure out mine, as you will too. and serce thanks for the SSA benefits info! happy new year

I'm also having a hard time facing this Fibro. I'm still holding down a full time job, and there is days where I think I'm not going to make it though the day. I get so tried of being in pain, and being tired all the time. I come home some days and just cry.......... Just wish someone could come up with an answer for Fibro............
I just keep praying for relief...........
Happy New Year..........

Some days are better than others. Some days I wake up (eventually) and am determined to get healthy. I'm going to eat right, exercise, and get my strength back. Other days I wake up (eventually) and I can't move and I just want to lie in bed and cry. For a while I had more of those second days than the first. Now it's about 50/50. I often wonder if there is even any point in trying... if I even CAN get better, or if I'm just going to waste away to nothing. But then I read posts on this board that give me hope, and I think - even if I could just get a LITTLE stronger... So I drag myself out of bed and push through another day.

Saturday we went to a friend's farm. She runs a horse rescue. We spent three hours helping out around the barn, fixing pasture fences and shoveling manure. Sunday I could hardly walk. But it was worth it to do something good for a friend, get outside when the weather was nice for a bit, and enjoy being helpful and productive. Those are the days I work for. The days when I feel like I'm alive.

Today it's almost noon and I'm still in bed in my pj's. Oh well... one day at a time...

Wow--thank you all for your replies. Your sharing and support means so very much. I can see that I am not alone, that there are people who really do understand and know exactly what I am going through.

I am sorry that you do, because it means you suffer the same hardships that I suffer, but it is also somehow comforting to hear others know what it is really like to live this way.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,

rsimmons

I'm still trying to come to terms. I have always been a very athletic, active person-and still try to be on the days I can move. I am slowly learning that I have to say "no" to things I would have gladly done in the past like coach my kids sports teams or volunteer for church activities. I have a tendency to agree to things on my good days, then regret it when bad days come along.