How Many people here Have Fibromyalgia?

I agree, there are lots of us Fibros here at myLot. I was diagnosed back in 2001, after 14 years of mis-diagnoses. I also suffer from CFS, RLS and IBS. Its awful. Stress causes flairs, which in turn causes more stress. Seems to be a vicious cirle. I didn't work outside the home for a long time because of the IBS. There is no rhyme or reason to the IBS attacks, and having one in public is something I don't ever wish to do, if you know what I mean. Anyhoo, welcome to myLot, and be prepared to meet some awesome people! Hugs!

Another Fibro sufferer here. I don't know that it is something that I will ever be comfortable saying out loud. But that is something that I am having to try and adjust to. I was diagnosed just over a year ago, and to be honest, I feel like s%*t! I don't know what to do, what not to do. What meds to take, what not to take. I feel like I am at a total loss. And I have just begun the application process to be denied disability. I do currently work part-time (11 hours on a flex-schedule), so I am sure that I won't qualify. As much as I hate to say that I am glad I'm not alone, I take comfort in knowing that I am not alone. I do agree that at least right now the fatigue is the worst. There are times that I have so much that I need to do, and all I can do is sit, and/or fall asleep. It's not as if the sleep is doing me any good either. I am ALWAYS tired, which doesn't make any sense to my children, husband, friends, or the rest of my family. Do any of you have success in explaining the way you feel to anyone? Just to share, I have been married for almost 10 years. I have 3 children, ages 8, 6 and 4. I am ONLY 28 years old. Why do I feel like I should be 100? I was treasurer for the PTO. I actively volunteered at the elementary school for any activity asked. I baby sat for extra money, until I did not feel safe taking care of other people's children. For that matter, I don't feel safe taking care of my own children. Bless their hearts, I hate that my children have had to grow up so quickly in so many ways. Will there every be anything easy in life any more?

I am a fellow sufferer of fibromyalgia. Righ tnow, it seems that fatigue is the worst part of it. I have been off work for almost 3 weeks and feel 10 times better than when I am working. I have to go back next week...so we will see how I feel then.

Yes, there are a lot of us here with fibromyalgia. I think everywhere you go these days you will find someone with fibromyalgia. There are a couple of great chat rooms. Fibrohugs.com is a big website and very busy. I don't go there anymore because it is just too busy and I can't keep up. ivillage.com has a fibromyalgia message board. I go there every day. They also have message boards for everything under the sun. I started off on parenting message boards and then found the fibro board, and then the writing boards. There are soap boards too. You will find a lot of people here with fibro but you won't necessarily get a lot of responses from them because I don't think they are well enough to stay on the computer for long stretches of time. Hope you have a pain-less weekend.

I have fibro and chronic fatigue, as well as a handful of other things. I'm currently in a relapse that I've struggled with for a month now. Today I saw a sleep specialist and I'm going to be retested to see if my apnea has worsened. I've been diagnosed for at least ten years. My poor health forced me to retire early and I couldn't get approval for disability retirement. So my income is very much reduced. Sometimes I get really discouraged and begin to think I'm depressed. But I won't let myself go there again. I fight with whatever I'm able. Right now I'm doing lots of resting between commitments. I keep reminding myself that in the past it has always gotten better, so I expect to get better this time. I appreciate all the folks on myLots who encourage us when we are down. Support systems are SO important.

I have had Fibromyalgia since the late 1980's. Back then there wasn't even the word Fibromyalgia -- it was called Fibromyositis. There are lots of skinny people who have FM so being heavy or thin has nothing to do with whether you get FM or not. Sounds like it's time for a Dr. change for you. If you're trying to get your Long Term Disability there are people who work full time just making sure you get denied so that's not the way to go, really. LTD is nearly impossible to get from your former employer. In trying for SSDI you need to have a doctor who is willing to document that you're disabled. I used a Social Security Disability attorney and was approved the first time. I was one of the first people to get SSDI for FM...it was combined with OA as the disabling conditions. Now I have severely crippling arthritis and am glad I got approved then because I seriously could not and even more now can't work. Check into an atty. for SSDI because they only get paid when you get the disability. They do the mounds of documentation it takes for you.

I don't have FM, but my wife does. When she suffers, I also suffer because I feel powerless as to what I can do.