Fibromyalgia in Montréal: where to find help
Most of the answers are not at an osteopath’s office. The organisations below do work that no practitioner replaces.
An association of people who live with it, in Montréal
Fibromyalgie Montréal, also called the Association de la fibromyalgie de la région de l’Île-de-Montréal, is the reference organisation for the area. It sits at 911 rue Jean-Talon Est, suite 224, and answers at 438 496-7448. Its site is fibromyalgiemontreal.ca, in French.
What it offers, according to its own pages: support groups, a pain-management programme, workshops and talks, adapted activities such as yoga, Pilates and meditation, and documentation. Regular membership costs around thirty dollars a year and is reserved for people living with fibromyalgia; other categories exist for family members and organisations.
It is not a clinic and it does not replace medical care. Its value lies elsewhere: contact with people living the same thing, and structured self-management tools. No practitioner provides that.
Finding the association for your region
Founded in 2015, the Société québécoise de la fibromyalgie brings together the regional associations across Québec. Its stated mission is to unite, support and represent the organisations that help people living with fibromyalgia and those close to them. Its site is sqf.quebec, in French.
That is where to find the association for your own region, if you are not in Montréal. Its documentation page gathers what it publishes.
Living with chronic pain, beyond fibromyalgia
The Association québécoise de la douleur chronique addresses all pain that lasts, whatever its name. It runs a listening line, support groups in person and online, talks and documentation, and advocates with the authorities. Its site is douleurquebec.ca.
gerermadouleur.ca is the resource people know least and are most surprised by. Free, bilingual and Québec-made, it brings together the Réseau québécois de recherche sur la douleur, a teaching chair at Université Laval, Université TÉLUQ, the Association québécoise de la douleur chronique and the Société québécoise de la douleur. It hosts a self-management programme you follow at home, at your own pace.
Talking to someone right now: 811
811 is free and answers day and night, every day of the year. Two services live there: Info-Santé for a health question, and Info-Social for psychological distress, anxiety, or simply needing to talk. The service is available in English.
Info-Social covers every region of Québec except the Cree Territory of James Bay and Nunavik. You reach it from a landline or from a mobile with a Québec number, and a relay service exists for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
For a life-threatening emergency it is 911, not 811.
What the public system provides for fibromyalgia
In 2021 the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux published a document titled Algorithme de prise en charge de la fibromyalgie, available from the ministry’s publications. It is in French.
Its interest for you is not medical but practical: it is the document your family physician is meant to work from. Knowing a pathway exists, and being able to name it in an appointment, changes the conversation.
My connection to these organisations
People who arrive at my practice have often spent weeks looking and found nothing but clinic advertising.
I am affiliated with none of the organisations above and I receive nothing for naming them. Osteopathy is not part of the public pathway and is not reimbursed by the RAMQ. And my receipts are not accepted by every insurer, for a reason explained on the fees and insurance page.
If after all that you want to try a gentle manual approach, the page on osteopathy and fibromyalgia explains how I work.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a diagnosis to contact an association?
The criteria vary between organisations, and regular membership at Fibromyalgie Montréal is reserved for people living with fibromyalgia. To get information, though, a phone call is enough, and it is the fastest way to find out where you stand.
What exactly is 811 for?
Info-Santé for a health question, Info-Social for distress, anxiety or simply needing to talk. Both answer day and night, every day, in French and in English. For a life-threatening emergency it is 911.
Are these resources free?
811 is free, and so is gerermadouleur.ca. Association membership costs a few tens of dollars a year and opens access to its activities. The fees shown on each organisation’s own site are more current than this page.
Are you affiliated with these organisations?
No. I am affiliated with none of them, I receive nothing for naming them, and none of them refers to me. This page is a list, not a partnership.