Raise awareness about Fibromyalgia by understanding its symptoms, impact, and the importance of support for those living with this chronic condition.
Being eighteen is often described as a time of new beginnings, independence, and endless possibility. For many, it marks the start of adult life with dreams waiting to unfold. But for some of us, eighteen looks very different. When I say I am 18 and fibromyalgia ill, it’s not just a statement about my health—it’s a declaration of reality in a world that too often questions the validity of young people’s pain. Yes, I am…
Living with fibromyalgia already feels like a full-time battle—one that requires constant adjustments, relentless strength, and a deep understanding of your own body. But when perimenopause enters the picture, it brings a second wave of physical and emotional changes that can leave even the most resilient individuals overwhelmed. For many, going through perimenopause with fibromyalgia is not just a health challenge—it’s an identity-shaking experience. Understanding what it’s like to manage both conditions at once means…
My Preferred Pain Scale as Someone With Fibromyalgia Living with fibromyalgia is a lesson in endurance, adaptation, and radical honesty with yourself. Over the years, I’ve learned that standard pain scales just don’t capture the unique and complex ways fibromyalgia affects my body and mind. “Rate your pain from 1 to 10″ — this seemingly simple question feels almost laughably inadequate when your entire existence can be consumed by fluctuating discomfort, fatigue, and fog. So…
Fibromyalgia is more than a diagnosis. It is a constant companion of pain, fatigue, and fog that weaves itself into every corner of your life. But while managing the symptoms is a challenge on its own, trying to face fibromyalgia without a support system is an entirely different kind of suffering. It’s one that goes largely unspoken, yet deeply impacts the ability to survive and cope day by day. What it really means to not…
What Fibromyalgia Has Taught Me About Communicating With My Husband Fibromyalgia has changed every part of my life, but none more profoundly than how I communicate with my husband. It has tested our patience, deepened our compassion, and reshaped how we express love and understanding. This condition, with its unpredictable symptoms and invisible nature, demanded more than physical adaptation — it called for emotional growth and a whole new language of connection. Before fibromyalgia, our…
Trauma has a way of settling deep in the body. For some, it leaves scars that are visible and understood. For others, it weaves itself into the nervous system, slowly reshaping how the body responds to the world. When trauma leaves you with fibromyalgia illness, the connection is not always immediate or easy to explain—but it is real, and for many, life-altering. Fibromyalgia is a complex chronic condition marked by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances,…
When My Long-Term Disability Was Revoked Because I ‘Don’t Look Sick’ I never imagined that having an invisible illness would mean I’d have to fight to prove my suffering to strangers. I never thought I’d hear someone in a position of power imply that looking well equates to being well. Yet that’s exactly what happened. My long-term disability was revoked because I “don’t look sick.” That sentence changed everything. The decision was more than just…
I walked into that appointment with hope. It had taken weeks to build up the courage to ask for a referral to a specialist, and even longer to convince myself that my symptoms were valid. The fatigue, the pain, the brain fog—they were interfering with every part of my life. I knew something was wrong. I needed help. But when the doctor looked at me and said I wasn’t “sick enough” for a referral, the…
I have fibromyalgia, and yes, I’m disabled. That sentence often surprises people. There’s an uncomfortable pause, a moment of disbelief, and then the all-too-common response: But you don’t look disabled. This reaction cuts deeper than most realize. It invalidates an experience rooted in chronic pain, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and emotional struggle. It minimizes the very real limitations that define my daily life. Fibromyalgia is invisible, but its impact is not. It changes how I move,…
When fibromyalgia entered my life, everything changed. The rhythms of my body, the way I moved through the world, the plans I had for the future—all of it shifted under the weight of unpredictable pain and fatigue. But amid the uncertainty, one constant remained: you. This is for the boyfriend who jumped into my new fibromyalgia reality without hesitation, fear, or judgment. You didn’t just stay. You adapted, you learned, and you loved me differently…