What it's like for me living with fibromyalgia:

                                                  An Insider's View:


      An estimated six million people world wide are currently coping with the "invisible illness" known as Fibromyalgia.  It’s been called the “invisible disorder” because you are unable to tell if someone has fibromyalgia just by looking at him or her, but for the people who have this chronic disease, the pain is all too real.
       Some have likened it to having a an unseen bruise all over your body, others like you were ran over by a semi, some like someone jabbing you with fire hot knives, and others there are just no words to describe the sheer magnitude of their pain. As most people have seen those charts in medical offices and hospitals that say rate your pain one to ten and ten is the worst pain ever you must keep in mind that is for people who don't live with a chronic pain ailment such as Fibro.
       On those charts a ten is more along the lines of: "Okay this is really about the time I should go to the E.R., but no one will believe me so I better just stay home stage. 
      This is the stage where the first things that rubs me the wrong way whether it's an article of clothing or some one saying the wrong thing I explode into a vile monster  who attacks anyone in it's path until the flare is over.
       That's one of the worst parts of this illness, but the one that's the most disturbing of all is that people either don't believe you have an illness, or that you are exaggerating your symptoms to get out of things such as housework, employment, etc. I have had people say: "It must be nice having Fibromyalgia." When I looked at them as if they had two heads they went on to explain; "If you don't want to clean your house you can blame it on a flare or want to get out of doing something blame a flare." I hate to tell that friend and anyone else who feels that way If you think like that then you obviously have no idea just how hard it is living day by day with a chronic illness.
        Just how hard is it? When I asked my doctor what I could take that would take away my pain completely without being a narcotic he shook his head and told me I would only reach manageable levels of pain. Without opiates I would be in at least some pain every day for the rest of my life. What a mood crusher it was then, and still now three years after diagnosis.
        Another hard part is everyone whether they have this disease or not has their own opinion on how I should manage my illness in order to get better. First off I will never " get better", and two just because something works for one person doesn't mean it works for another. I have been losing weight, started eating healthier and getting more exercise, etc and guess what? NOTHING, and I repeat NOTHING  has improved my fibromyalgia. Have I given up? NO! and I NEVER will because that's how much I want to improve the quality of my life.