Dr. Dean Edell: By all accounts, Shari Ferbert appears healthy on the outside. But she suffers from an illness that constantly pummels her body on the inside.
Shari Ferbert: It's chronic pain, every minute, every day.
Dr. Dean Edell: Even worse than the pain is the response she gets from doctors.
Shari Ferbert: They just don't understand it. They don't understand the symptoms of it," said Ferbert.
Dr. Daniel Clauw: In many cases, people will see an average of six to eight physicians before they are ultimately diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.
To learn more about how Fibromyalgia pain is process Dr. Daniel Clauw looked blood flow in the brain.
Dr. Daniel Clauw: The abnormality in pain processing and Fibromyalgia is somewhere between the spinal cord and the brain.
Dr. Dean Edell: Fibromyalgia patients and healthy subjects were given a brain scan, while a device applied fast pulsing pressure to their thumbs.
Dr. Daniel Clauw: When we gave the Fibromyalgia patients a low-pressure stimulus, they had a high rating of pain. But in the controls it was barely detectable.
Dr. Dean Edell: Proving that even mild touch, which wouldn't faze most people, is perceived as very painful in the brain of a Fibromyalgia patient.
Dr. Daniel Clauw: Fibromyalgia patients have the volume control turned up too loud on the pain processing areas of the their brain.
Shari Ferbert: Maybe it is the time to announce it.
Dr. Dean Edell: Shari believes the more research the better which is why she decided to start her own Fibromyalgia support group.
Shari Ferbert: Our main goal is to do something about it.
Dr. Dean Edell: Now instead of focusing on the pain she is working on finding answers.
I am Dr. Dean Edell.
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