Fibromyalgia all my life

So you think you might have fibromyalgia or a doctor has said you have it and you are at a loss as to just what it is and what it is not.

You will find many conflicting stories, depending on where the writer is coming from.

Personally, I KNOW what fibromyalgia is... and is not. I have had it since the age of 17. It was triggered by a car accident. For six months I was immobile from the waist down. No medical reason could be found. Eventually, my legs began to function. The doctor gave me "nerve" pills, saying it was simply the trauma of the accident.

I endured years of pain, weeks of immobility, being in a wheelchair, been unable to speak for days at a time, confusion, frustration and yes, depression. finally in 1985 a doctor who was young, ambitious and sympathetic decided he would research until he found what was wrong with me because all the normal tests were negative. And he did. He found "Fibromyalgia" in a huge medical book he got from somewhere. He called me to his office, carried in the book and tested my 18 tender points. I had 18 out of 18. We were elated! I had a syndrome (which has since been accepted by the AMA as a disease). Knowing relieved the depression.

It has taken decades for me to learn to climb out of the Hell of Fibromyalgia and into the Heaven of Fibromyalgia. I still have pain but it does not have me.

the most important thing to KNOW is that FMS will not kill you. On those days that you feel it is unbearable just remember that. No matter how bad it is, it will not kill you. Another thing to realize is knowledge is power. The more you know about the disease, the more you will be in charge of it instead of FMS being in charge of you.

I highly recommend for starters you purchase "Fibromyalgia & Chronic Myofascial Pain A Survival Manual," second edition. The first edition is also great, but most of that information is in the second edition. Of all the books on the market on the net and off, this is, in my opinion the best. It truly will give you a good perspective of the multifaceted disease Fibromyalgia.

More Later.