Living with Fibromyalgia

As a child, I suffered with leg pain. Gnawing pain that interrupted my sleep. Our trusted family physician told my mother I was seeking attention, and that the only thing he suggested when I “whined” was to take a hottest bath for my legs.

As years went by, my brain would sometimes “take a break” and my husband thought I was truly un-smart. After his death, my painful symptoms didn’t just stay at night, and became an everyday issue. I finally had a friend who was a RN for a rheumatologist tell me she thought I had Fibromyalgia. I went to see him, and after hitting my tender points lightly with his “hammer-thingie” I went through the roof! I finally got a diagnosis. But I got better through mild walking in the evenings and my symptoms disappeared.

Years later, in college as an advanced life student, my symptoms returned with anxiety fibro-fog and then pain. The pain has increased expotentially over the years, and I am now on disability. My symptoms sometimes rule my life, but I try to use a variety of modalities to lessen my symptoms. Acupuncture done weekly as well as chiropractic adjustments help. But I will always need pain reducing meds to make it through the day. I am just thankful I have a diagnosis. I help others with FM by directing a 400 member support group. We all need to be heard. FM is real. We just have to believe that it is a part of us, it is not WHO we are!