Articles by Other Researchers 

Responses to Fibromyalgia and Abductees

By Katharina Wilson

I would like to thank all of the people who responded to my article Fibromyalgia and Abductees, especially the individuals who have given me permission to reprint their responses in this informal addendum. I have not yet received permission from everyone to publish their responses, so I may be adding to this addendum at a later date.

The following responses are extremely informative and very personal, and I encourage you to read them. In some cases only first names or pseudonyms are used to allow the individual their privacy.

Robin

Age: 42

Occupation: Computer Consultant, and mother of two children

Dear Ms. Wilson:

I'm blown away by your article Fibromyalgia and Abductees. I'm more convinced than ever that the medical profession needs to do further study. I'm including my bizarre medical history, which interestingly enough, correlates a bit with Kitty's, also beginning in 1987. However, it wasn't until 1994, that I realized I had been experiencing life-long contact. It was at that time as well that I realized my two children were also involved.

In your article, Kitty stated:

"In 1987, it became crystal clear to me that I was being abducted. At the same time I started having bad muscle spasms in my back and time loss episodes. I started losing the ability to remember words and explain things. From 1991 to 1994, I was visited several times a week. I was in such bad shape with the muscle spasms that I was bedridden almost the entire three years. The more I got visited, the worse I got, and I could see there was a connection. The doctors checked me for everything under the sun and nothing showed up except for Fibromyalgia."

In 1987, I was working in a demanding job as an Administrator in the Genetics Department at an Ivy League University. Stress was my middle name. Because of the severity of migraines that I was suffering with on a daily basis, my doctor referred me to a University affiliated Sleep Disorder Center. I had two sleep studies conducted. The first one was inconclusive because I remained in Alpha Delta sleep during the entire night. The second study showed that I suffered from two sleep disorders - Alpha Delta, and Restless Leg Syndrome. Muscle relaxants and anti-depressants were recommended. Because I wasn't comfortable taking either. I ignored the advice.

In June of 1987, I became pregnant for the first time. This was after six months without birth control, and having been told by several doctors that I would require surgery in order to get pregnant. [I'm DES exposed ]. The pregnancy was high risk, and I went into labor after six months. I was given anti-contraction medication, which fortunately, prevented a premature birth. In 1988, I gave birth to a perfect baby boy via C-Section.

In August of 1990, again after going six months without birth control, I become pregnant for the second time. Thirteen weeks into the pregnancy my cervix had to be stitched closed to avoid the onset of early labor. The pregnancy went full term and I gave birth to a perfect baby girl via C-Section.

In September 1991, I began having back spasms that were so intense, my husband rushed me to the emergency room. He was afraid I was having a heart attack because my breathing was affected. When the x-rays showed nothing, I was scheduled for an MRI. After the MRI, my doctor called and was very upset. She told me that a spot had shown up between my 5th and 6th thoracic vertebrate. The spot had all the markings of a tumor. She urged me to have a bone scan done immediately. I was at the University hospital two hours later. Fortunately, the results came back negative.

During this time my children were three and one. I was still in extreme discomfort and was given muscle relaxants and daily oral doses of demerol. Not a pretty sight. Next a CAT Scan was ordered. Since these doctors all knew me pretty well and that I was the mom of two young children, this unknown became very dramatic for all of us.

The day of the CAT scan results I met with my Orthopedist. He came into the examining room waving his arms emphatically saying "Robin, we don't know what the hell that spot is, but we know it won't kill you." He theorized it might be a calcium deposit, but that was his best guess. I had all the blood-work under the sun run on me - Lupus, Lyme, etc., and after everything came back negative, my Internal Medical Practitioner diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia.

Shortly after this extreme medical drama in 1991, I began to experience head to toe numbness. This really scared me because I have a first cousin with Multiple Sclerosis. I was immediately referred by my chiropractor to a neurologist in the neighboring town, since my doctor was on vacation. The neurologist ordered a cerebral MRI, which showed three distinctive spots on the frontal lobe of my brain. He referred to these as UBOs, or Unidentified Bright Objects. By this time, I had all the AMA could stand. [The spinal tap had come back clear but I had a severe reaction to the test which required another spinal to clot.]

I asked the neurologist what these UBOs were and his response was, "Nobody knows." The only information the medical community had about them at that time was that they were not life threatening, and they were commonly seen on the frontal lobes of patients who suffered with migraines. Since that time, I've learned that Whitley Streiber has these same spots. I have not been to a physician since this time regarding the Fibromyalgia. I was phobic about doctors to begin with, but the experiences that surrounded that period of time in my life have made me phobic to the extreme. With the exception of my OBGYN visits, I only go for sinus infections and migraine medicines now.

There is more physical strangeness, that is not related to FMS or Fibromyalgia Syndrome, but rather, to an experience that I want to share with you:

In 1994, my periods became erratic. Because of my DES history, my OBGYN ordered an internal ultrasound. The first one showed 2 non-echoing cysts. She immediately ordered the "Gilda Test." Those results came back normal, but again because of her concern with my history, she ordered another ultrasound. The second ultrasound showed the cysts had grown larger and an additional cyst almost as big as the other two. She recommended surgery as soon as possible, along with another ultrasound as a pre-op, the day before the surgery.

The morning of the pre-op ultrasound I woke up on the couch in my family room. I had slept there because I had been having frequent experiences and was too frightened to sleep upstairs while my husband was working the midnight shift. As I got up to walk into the bathroom I smelled an odor all over me. It smelled like I had sex the night before! As you know, there is no mistaking that odor, but what was puzzling was that I had not had sex the night before! I was rushing to get ready for the appointment at the radiology office, so I didn't give much thought to the odor until later on in the day when I returned home. After returning home and thinking about this anomaly, I became enraged. I called an abductee friend of mine who had been involved with a number of abductees over the years. She told me this was not unheard of, and that she had even known women to wake up with semen on them! ACK! My response was half flippant: "Well, whatever they did to me had better heal me!"

Three hours later my OBGYN called. She was almost giddy. She told me right off that she was canceling the surgery. The pre-op ultrasound showed that of the three non-echoing cysts, one cyst was remaining and it was normal. She didn't really offer any explanation as to what had happened. She had been so worried about me, and was clearly overjoyed that the surgery wasn't necessary. I had my own explanation, but I didn't share it with her. This ordeal spanned a period of approximately three months. I have been healthy ever since.

My hope in sharing this with you is to offer more details in the event that you receive similar reports from others. I'm curious if any other Fibromyalgia patients had spinal or cerebral MRIs and if there were any unexplained spots on their films. I stand willing to contact the various institutions that have my files on record, should a physician be interested in seriously researching my case.

I believe you've done something really important in publishing this article Ms. Wilson. Tell your friend Kitty that I know exactly how she feels. I also can't remember shit!

Thank you and warm regards -- Robin

Caitlin H.

Age: 45

Occupation: MA in Journalism; freelance script editor

Dear Ms Wilson:

I read your article regarding the possible connection between Abductions and the chronic medical problem known as Fibromyalgia. I found the article well documented, especially the sleep sequences, but there are two factors which were not addressed that I personally feel should be included if you decide to continue research on this matter - one of which is medically documented, the other is a personal observation.

First, I've dealt with Fibromyalgia (FMS) since the early 1980s. I won't go into the grizzly details of the eight-month long diagnostic process, but I will say I was heavily medicated with narcotics and central nervous system (CNS) inhibitors to control the excruciating pain. It wasn't until after the diagnosis, that I learned the profound danger associated with narcotics, CNS inhibitors and FMS. Even though they help control the pain associated with Fibromyalgia, the use of narcotics and CNS inhibitors is contraindicated because of the negative influence on the stages of sleep. Certain medications are indicated for the accompanying sleep disorder because of the beneficial effect such medications have on the production of serotonin.

Second, during my years of study on this puzzling condition, I developed two classifications of the syndrome, Primary and Secondary, which I feel has some bearing on the abduction phenomenon associated with FMS. I also have Sjogren's Disease (dry eye, dry mouth), which, like FMS, is rheumatologically related but is not considered an arthritic condition per se. Sjogren's Disease is classified as Primary, without an underlying arthritic condition such as osteoarthritis, and Secondary, with an underlying arthritic condition such as osteoarthritis.

Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis of exclusion. To the best of my knowledge, there is no medical test to confirm the diagnosis. Sjogren's Disease, however, is a medical marker for diagnosing FMS. I hasten to add that not all patients who have Sjogren's Disease develop FMS, nor do all patients who are diagnosed with Fibromyalgia have, or develop, Sjogren's Disease.

It makes sense to me then to classify patients with either Primary or Secondary Fibromyalgia. Primary (without an underlying arthritic condition) is my particular brand of this puzzling disease. In my study of FMS, some patients with Primary Fibromyalgia oftentimes experience a rare cessation of symptoms, going in and out of flares, with each flare varying in intensity and duration. Those with Secondary Fibromyalgia usually do not experience relief in the course of the disease. It is Primary Fibromyalgia that I feel predisposes [a person to] abduction.

Two of the symptoms shared by Fibromyalgia patients are short term memory loss, and disjointed, and sometimes violent, dreams. Those with Primary Fibromyalgia often experience a worsening of those symptoms during a flare. The marked increase in memory loss and dreams during a flare serves as a perfect cover for abduction.

It is important to note two points here. First, many physicians, even rheumatologists, do not recognize FMS as a viable diagnosis, labeling the symptoms psychosomatic. Secondly, many patients are classified as hypochondriacs since test after test reveals nothing medically wrong with them. Because the exact process of the disease is not yet understood, it's likely that physicians treating patients during a flare wouldn't consider an increase in short term memory problems and the dreams significant. At the same time, those with Primary FMS and an undiscovered history of abduction, the increase in those two symptoms would not seem unusual, but simply confirm the fact that they are indeed in a flare.

In my case, I notice a marked increase in unusual occurrences when I am in a flare, and I have made the following conclusions.

First: When I awaken from an abduction during a flare, it feels as though I was drugged. This leads me to believe that my abductions involve some kind of narcotic because the symptoms of Fibromyalgia are exacerbated. Second: A non-flare abduction (for me) is rare but they have occurred. When they do, I still have that sensation of being drugged, but the non-flare state is unchanged. If abductions continue with regularity while in a non-flare state (this happened to me in 1992), the abductions themselves cause a flare because of the disrupted sleep and the continued use of narcotics.

Because the exact etiology of Fibromyalgia is unknown, this leads me to a third, and really off-the-wall conclusion: The abductions themselves are the cause of this puzzling disorder.

I sincerely hope you will continue your investigation into this phenomena. I can only speak for myself when I say that you will answer a whole slew of questions I have been tossing around for years. -- Thank you, Caitlin.

By Katharina Wilson © Copyright 1997