Gulf War Chronic Medically Unexplained Illness

[Fibro31]

Hi,

     I'm currently 60% disabled, having been recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia though suffered with it "undiagnosed" for 6 years before I was actually given a diagnosis, Fibromyalgia is medically unexplained, I've done tons of research already on the disorder, my question now is can anyone point me in the right direction to validate my claim when it comes to Gulf War Syndrome, what evidence would be heavily weighted evidence in proving Gulf War Syndrome illness?  My understanding is that no nexxus needs to be formed between service and the illness only pre-qualifying factors of whether I fit into the category of a Gulf War Vet which I in fact do.... More so where can I find Training Letters?  And any information pertaining to the health effects on Gulf War Veterans and the use of Anthrax vaccine and Malaria pill both of which I was given amongst other vaccines.  ANY information that would help me in filing my claim under the presumption of Gulf War Illness would be great.  Thank you much, this is my last claim I will be filing with the VA and prayerfully no other illness pops up in light of all the crap and toxins I was exposed to in country...

[k5one]

http://www.ngwrc.org/docs/2013 NGWRC Self-Help Guide.pdf

 

This is a great resource for preparing your claim.

[Vync]

After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia myself several years ago, I understand how it feels. There's not really a single treatment guaranteed to work. One thing you might also want to consider is a sleep study to determine if you have sleep apnea. My rheumatologist said that a lot of his patients that have fibro also have SA. They got me on a CPAP/BIPAP machine and it does seem to help reduce the effects of the condition. It is also possible to get SA service connected too. For fibro patients, SA tends to often be overlooked.

[ArNG11]

After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia myself several years ago, I understand how it feels. There's not really a single treatment guaranteed to work. One thing you might also want to consider is a sleep study to determine if you have sleep apnea. My rheumatologist said that a lot of his patients that have fibro also have SA. They got me on a CPAP/BIPAP machine and it does seem to help reduce the effects of the condition. It is also possible to get SA service connected too. For fibro patients, SA tends to often be overlooked.

Yo Vync how have you been.  Long time no speak. I gotta be honest the way I have been feeling these last couple of years it's hard to discern due to having arthritis and several back and neck injuries that cause me pain most of the time.  How long of an incubation period before suspicious symptoms and a diagnostic test confirming the disease.? Really just curious and interested.

[chuck57thSig]

ArNG11 - Fibromyalgia, from what I understand, is the diagnosis my VA rhuematologist gave after he had done all the blood, urine, bone density, etc. etc. tests he could come up with and excluded everything possible... last option... Fibromyalgia or chronic pain. Also at this point any "qualifying" (I believe that means "boots on the ground") Gulf War Vet who presents with the symptoms between August of '90 to a date yet to be determined has a presumptive for either Fibromyalgia or chronic pain. Basically Fibro has up to 18 "pain points", Chronic pain does not.

[Vync]

Yo Vync how have you been.  Long time no speak. I gotta be honest the way I have been feeling these last couple of years it's hard to discern due to having arthritis and several back and neck injuries that cause me pain most of the time.  How long of an incubation period before suspicious symptoms and a diagnostic test confirming the disease.? Really just curious and interested.

Hiya ArNG, I have been keeping busy and still working (when I'm not out sick).

The chronic pain from the spine/radiculopathy issues led many docs to just say it was referred pain, not fibro. I joined the Army in 1990 and started having fibromyalgia about four years later after a series of in-service injuries, including a car wreck. I was not deployed to the Gulf, but was in during the same time. I ended up leaving the Army in 1995 because of the constant pain. Back in the early 1990's, not much was known about fibromyalgia as a specific condition, they just tried to treat the individual symptoms separately. The pain progressed over the years and it has become a real problem. To use analogies, I often feel like a wad of chewed up bubble gum or the floor of a taxi cab.

What Chuck posted is pretty much accurate. My non-VA rheumatologist put me through the ringer, but finally diagnosed it a few years ago. My doc said fibromyalgia is known to be a diagnosis of exclusion and they had to rule out everything else and look for a set of criteria and related issues. I had various tests, meds, prayers, MH counseling, therapies, etc... The pain points were really what pointed him in the direction of fibro. Then he said he wanted me to have a sleep study. I was like, what's a sleep study got to do with fibro. He said something about sleep apnea and alpha intrusions (whatever that is) appearing together in some fibro patients. Sure enough, I went and the intrusions appeared. They invited me back the next night for a follow up study, tried CPAP, then tried BIPAP, which cleared the intrusions and I actually awoke the next morning with much less fibro pain than usual. My doc said that not all patients respond to CPAP/BIPAP, but mine helps as long as I can keep the mask on throughout the night.