A phenomenological study of fibromyalgia. Patient perspectives

Objective - To describe the way in which the fibromyalgia patients understa nd the meaning of their illness. Design - Qualitative, empirical phenomenological psychological method. Setting - A collaborative transdisciplinary interview study of patients' de scribed experiences of living with fibromyalgia. No therapeutic relationshi ps existed between patients and researchers. Subjects - Eighteen patients with fibromyalgia were interviewed. Ten of the 18 taped interviews were transcribed and analysed. Main outcome measures - Patients' narratives, described experiences of livi ng with fibromyalgia. Results - The patients were intensively involved in efforts to get their se lf-images as ill persons confirmed. Their experience was that the disease s tarted dramatically, with a variety of capriciously appearing symptoms of u nknown cause that gave rise to the suffering. The fibromyalgia patients see med to develop strategies to cope with a precarious self-image and find way s to manage the thought of what the future would bring. Conclusion - The meaning structures revealed in the patients' ways of descr ibing their experiences of living with fibromyalgia seemed to be partially constituted by their efforts to stand forth as afflicted with a disease, wh ich could be a may to help them to manage the demands that they placed upon themselves.