As you can tell from the title, this web page is about a condition called Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS/FM/Fibro). I was diagnosed with FMS in 1998; however, I experienced the symptoms a year earlier. My mother and twin sister both deal with this disorder also. It has affected our lives tremendously. We can no longer enjoy shopping, watching movies, taking road trips, and basically enjoying life like we used to (especially anything concerning standing for long periods of time). We still go out and live life, but it usually takes a couple of days to recover. The pain is always worse the day after.
I started having the symptoms before my sister, which were many times misdiagnosed by doctors as growing pains. I went through many tests including a MRI, bone scan, milagram, and multiple blood tests to find the source of the pain, but the tests revealed nothing. My sister started showing symptoms about a year after I did. Our mother took us to a specialist in Augusta, GA, but he had the nerve to say it was "all in our heads." (I found out years later that he has now accepted Fibromyalgia as a painful condition and has written articles about it.) The answer he gave us seems to be the easy way for doctors whom are clueless about this medical category to dismiss their patients. Soon after that visit, we tried a rheumatologist in Warner Robins, GA. He was the answer to our prayers. He listened to us and understood what we were going through. He helped our pain with medication and sent us to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL for further observation. It was there we were diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (September 1998). About a year later, my mother was diagnosed with the same disorder. She had always blamed her problems on a previous car accident. She is now dealing with Rheumatoid Arthritis and other disorders along with Fibromyalgia.
Our personalities have definitely changed from being in pain all the time, but we have our own support group at home. We are so lucky to have each other to talk to because the worst part of dealing with Fibromyalgia is the frustration of other people not understanding what you are going through and the kind of pain that is endured. People with this disorder look as though nothing is wrong with them, but they are usually in a great deal of pain that seems to be worse some days and better the next, but it is a continuous struggle that never ends.
Please visit the links below to find out more about Fibromyalgia Syndrome.
| FIBROMYALGIA | Find out what Fibromyalgia Syndrome is and how many people are affected by it. |
| SYMPTOMS | Learn what the symptoms are and how they affect you. |
| MEDICATION | This page informs you of what medications helped me and what medications didn't. |
| POEMS | Read a few inspirational poems to help you through life dealing with this painful syndrome. |
