I found your article on fibromyalgia to be very balanced. I'd like to add that many other diseases, including autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cause similar symptoms and may be misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia. If your patient has symptoms that aren't helped with the usual treatments, someone needs to listen to her, believe her, and take a complete history.

When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1994, I was treated as if I were mentally ill and making up my pain for attention. When I had episodes of extreme pain and incoordination, I was blamed for them or told I was depressed. I was given nothing for my pain. In reality, I had Raynaud's disease, Ehlers-Danlos hypermobility syndrome, osteoarthritis, and multiple sclerosis. But because I'd been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, no one would consider whether other conditions could be causing my symptoms.

When treatments don't work, it may be the diagnosis that's wrong.

MARY E. REPP, RN, MS

Rapid City, S.D.