Does fibromyalgia get worse with each successive generation?

There was an interesting string of posts on the GuaiGroup Support Group (www.fibromyalgiatreatment.com) about whether fibromyalgia gets worse with each successive generation.

First off, for those of you not aware of it, fibromyalgia runs very strongly in families. If you have it, then there is a very strong chance that one of your parents had it.

If you have children, you have a 50-50 chance of passing the gene on to each one of your children.

Now, the question under discussion was whether fibromyalgia gets worse with each successive generation, as some people noticed that they showed symptoms much earlier than their parents, (who in many cases were never officially diagnosed), and their children are showing symptoms even earlier.

One of the admins, Gretchen Parker, had an interesting response to this thread:

>>..Having said all this I have to agree that Dr. St. Amand is right. We each
>>are born with a different genetic complement that portends FMS at some time
>>in life. If we are dealt the full genetic complement it shows up early. If
>>we only get a little bit of the genetic complement it comes on later. I
>>don't think its a given that it gets worse with each generation
- Gretchen

Interesting to think that the FMS shows up when the genetic compliment tells it to. I often wondered if I've had "FMS since birth," since this is a hereditary disease, or have I only had since I was 18, when my first major symptoms of headaches and back pain began? When did my FMS really begin?

Anyway, I always enjoy reading posts on the GuaiGroup that make me think, and this one tonight got me to thinking. I guess it's an issue that's been on my mind a lot because I've been wondering if I've passed the FMS gene on to my son, Alex. He's showing several symptoms, but sometimes I wonder if I'm just being paranoid. His feet ache, so we had orthodics made at the podiatrist, but he says his feet still hurt. Pains in the bottom of your feet are a fibro thing. Or, it could just be that his orthodics aren't quite working right. He's shown signs of irritable bowel this Spring. But, perhaps that is just a food allergy. He grinds his teeth very loud at night, (bruxism), which is a common fibro thing, and he also kicks his legs like crazy at night. (Restless Leg Syndrome is another telltale fibro sign.) Oh, and several times he's complained of pain in his mid-back. Growing pains. Dr. St. Amand says growing should not hurt. But, these could all be unrelated things, too.

Just to be on the safe side, I want to get my son checked by Dr. St. Amand. I don't think there is anyone else in the world who could get even diagnose pediatric fibromyalgia. I don't dare mention this to my son's pediatrician. I know I would get greeted with a look of scorn, and get told that there is no such disease as pediatric fibromyalgia. Hell, most doctors don't even believe fibromyalgia is a disease. How could I expect them to believe a child of someone with the disease could possibly have it, too?

(sigh)

This is going to get a hell of a lot easier once they have a blood test to confirm the presence of fibromyalgia. Just a simple blood test, like they have for Lupus, and some of the other arthritic conditions out there. It would change the whole status of people with fibromyalgia in the medical community. Without a blood test, or a way to "prove" we have fibromyalgia, we'll always still be stuck in this grey, murky, realm of the skeptics. It's like have lepracy or something, except our leper colony is mainstream America.