I am a 46 year old female. Mother of three and grandmother of three--As little as five year ago --I was working in a foundry ( not a job most people felt was for females) ,I belonged to a club whose main interest were white water rafting and playing paint ball.We had a lot of fun, but strength and endurance were part of the game.

I loved running and playing with the grand kids. I was a pretty active individual. Then in a few short years I had torn my rotator cuff--had two surgeries on that, had to have my gallbladder removed, had a fall where I broke a couple ribs. Got the costrocondritis ( please excuse my poor spelling) I never seem to recover. I had so much pain in my chest,I thought maybe I could be having heart problems. I felt as if someone had put a girdle around my chest and it was constantly shrinking. I was becoming so tired. I would wake in the morning and be stiff all over.

It got to the point of taking naps for 15 or 20 minutes every few hours. I went to several doctors and was finally dx with fm by a neurologist. I felt some relief in the fact there was a reason for the way I felt yet I didn't understand much about it. I started looking up info on the internet. I read so much that described exactly how I was feeling. I wanted everyone in my family and my friends to hear or read what others were saying in hopes they too would understand.

It was during this time that a show aired on tv ( I'm thinking it was 20/20 ) . It showed some doctors saying FM was all in peoples heads. My family no longer wanted to hear about it. The man I had been involved with for the past 12 years had no interest in hearing about it. He seemed to think I was using FM as an excuse. The relationship came to an end. Why wouldn't it? We use to go dancing. Now I didn't have the strength. My legs would go weak when I did try. He assumed I just didn't want to enjoy myself anymore.I no longer wanted to play paint ball or go rafting. He couldn't understand how I could be so tired that I didn't even want to go out with friends. After all, I looked fine.

It's not like I had cancer or anything. I have tried to explain to people---This is not something I have chosen. I am now on SSDI. I am not now or ever have been--a lazy person. However in the eyes of other people, that is what they see. Last month, I decided to dust a shelf in my living room. That doesn't sound like a hard thing to do to most people. I got the step stool and started to dust. Before I had finished one shelf, I had a spasm in my right leg. Something I have on a regular basis. I fell from the step stool. I now have two compressed fractures in my back. Sounded like a simple thing, but there is very little that is simple for someone with fibromyalgia. My thinking process sure isn't what it used to be .There are times when I become confused while trying to speak. Or I feel like I'm on the outside of a window looking in and can't understand what's being said. If the noise level is high, or there are many people around it's like all the voices blend together and I can't understand what is being said.( this is someone who used to love a crowd) .

I feel that my world has been completely turned upside down..Now my days usually consist of ---making myself get out of bed, and no matter how bad it hurts--I take my shower. Get a little something simple to eat. I usually then take a little nap. As the day goes by I try to do what I can around the house, dishes, laundry, etc.,...I know not to overdo or I will be in more pain. Sometime during the day, I go on line with other people who are suffering with FM.I know from experiance how helpful support can be from others who are suffering from the same devils as I am. My kids and grand kids visit regularly. However I rarely get to spend alot of time alone with my grand kids.

It's a horrible feeling to know, you wouldn't trust yourself alone with the kids because if they fall--you might not be able to get to them or you forget what you're doing and don't feel you can care for them the way a grandparent should. As a grandmother, I don't want them to see the pain I am in. You know children can see the pain when adults just somehow look threw it. Name withheld upon request

I was diagnosed with FMS in 1994 after suffering for 4 years with migraine, cluster and tension headaches. Even after I was diagnosed with FMS none of my doctors made the connection with it and the migraines. Finally a physical therapist pointed me in the right direction and with her help we got the migraines under control through physical therapy.

Unfortunately FMS does not just give me headaches/migraines. I also suffer a myriad of other symptoms due to the FMS.

My biggest struggle with having FMS is finding a doctor that would look past the FMS and listen to me regarding any other pain or symptoms.

I had a doctor once that could not look past the FMS when it came to my other symptoms. When I came into the office complaining of anything hurting he would dismiss it and blame it on the fibromyalgia. The latest being my back. I took a bad fall in late June 2000. It took him three months to take x-rays. Turns out after changing doctors and having an MRI, the pain I was having was not due to FMS at all. It was discovered I have two herniated disks and degenerative disk disease.

My name is Debbie and I am a 42 year old mother of four with four grandchildren. I use to lead a happy healthy normal life where I enjoyed camping, hiking, bicycle riding, horseback riding and swimming.

That seems like an eon ago....just writing the words make me sad. You see, I was in an auto accident in December of 1997. I was rear-ended by a gentleman that had fallen asleep at the wheel and that accident changed my life forever. I was sent from specialist to specialist and even had a surgery performed that I really didn't need in hopes that this would be my miracle cure that would take me out of my world of pain. Well it wasn't and it didn't and after being seen by about ten more specialists, I was worn down, exhausted, in tears, in pain and morally defeated.

That was when I was sent to see a Rheumatologist who confirmed that I have FMS. While in a way, this was a relief that I wasn't losing my mind, it was in no way a cure. My husband is retired military and we were paying for the privilege to see government contract doctors that didn't believe in giving out any type of pain killers to relieve the pain so I was forced to go see and pay for a pain specialist on my own who is medicating me to keep my pain at bay.

This however is no way to live either. My joy in life has dwindled down to a point that I feel useless in society. I fought for and won Social Security Disability so I am contributing somewhat to my household, but it's nowhere close to what I used to make employed. I remember the things that I used to enjoy doing and it's a hard pill to swallow that I will never be able to do any of those things anymore.

I am tired all the time and even though I am taking medication to help the pain, it is still there. It is there when I wake up and it is there when I go to sleep. Sometimes it even wakes me up in the middle of the night. I have to pace myself to get anything done and I have problems remembering things to the point that I end up making 5-6 trips to the store to get one thing.

I just wanted to let you know how much this disease has affected my life. If I could change the past I wouldn't have been on that freeway at that moment, but I can't, so I do what I can do and that is to make people aware that this disease is very real and that sufferers need to be taken seriously. We need more awareness before we can even dream of findng a cure.
Debbie Gunn

My name is Virginia Lowery and I reside in San Angelo, TX. I have Fibromyalgia and I HURT, all over. I was a Nurse in a local Nursing Home, for over a total of 40 years, I gave of myself to the ill and disabled of my community. Now, I can no longer sign my name at times, let alone walk down a long hallway without horrible pain. I use a walker at times to aid my balance and prevent falling. I am home alone five days a week all day, with TV and the computer as my link to the outside world.

Having Fibro is no fun, let me tell you. I hurt so much, most of the time that even strong pain drugs do not relieve my pain. I have visual problems, which my glasses don’t help at times, and I can not sign my name at times. I have pain just using the mouse on the computer, so I sit a lot, watch TV and read when my sight allows me to.

While my husband works I am here alone. It is no Fun. My dogs keep me company and really look after me. I do have a nurse aid that comes two times a week for three hours to help me take a bath and clean my house a bit. Although she is a great help I feel awful having someone else do this for me, when I used to do this for others.

Yes, sometimes I feel sorry for myself, but who wouldn’'t. I am depressed; I take so many medicines I feel like I clink when I move. The docs tell me to exercise; well I am sorry I cant. The pain during and after exercising is horrible. On a good day on a scale of 1 -10 my pain level is 13. I am sure that so many others have a worse story of their own so I will quit now, Thanks for letting me blow off steam. But Please tell others for me to hear us. Docs don’'t often know what to do for me and I literally had to diagnose myself, as have so many others. When I finally got to see a specialist I had text book symptoms of Fibro.

That’'s all. Thanks so much for listening to me.

Sincerely,
Virginia Lowery