I'm afraid my scepticism is also screaming at me, Janet. I just ran the test on myself. I'd waited until now because frankly, right now I feel like a bad spelling of a certain type of oriental goldfish.
I feel this is of some use, for people in the US who are fairly new to the FM scene and need to understand more. But I'm a long-term pro and also, my situation is very different. The test marked me wrong for answering a question about prescription of opiate medications - because for me, it has become the FIRST line of defence against pain. I can't take antidepressants, I can't take NSAIDS, I can't take anti-epileptics. So for me, only opiates are left. And in Australia we have a lot of checks and balances to make sure we're not abusing these medications.
My other gripe with this site is the little videos tat kept playing, while I was trying to concentrate on answering the questions. People with FM can have a horrible time trying to concentrate. It struck me that the site was advertising for awareness and had traded usefulness for advertising. Also, our internet in Australia is one of the most expensive services in the world, and video is one of the most expensive things to download.
For a "newbie" at FM, this site could be a useful place to start. But labels vary from place to place, even within the same country. There are parts of Australia where CFS is a dirty word but FM is acceptable. Plus there are a lot of other conditions which could get caught in this diagnostic net. It's a blunt instrument.
I also didn't see a lot of similarity to the DSM IV diagnostic criteria. But then, it is the CFS diagnostic criteria I'm more familiar with.
Thanks for thinking of us, though. At least there is some information and support out there.
Marg
