Fibromyalgia Awareness: Understanding Condition & Supporting

Giving Through the Pain: Discovering the Value of Volunteering When You Have Fibromyalgia

Living with fibromyalgia often narrows your world. Pain, fatigue, and unpredictable flare-ups can make it difficult to maintain regular routines, pursue career goals, or engage socially. Over time, it’s easy to feel disconnected, even invisible. But for many with fibromyalgia, volunteering offers a surprising and powerful path back to purpose, community, and self-worth. It becomes more than just an act of giving—it becomes a lifeline. The value of volunteering when you have fibromyalgia lies in…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

Young But Real: I Am 18 and Fibromyalgia Ill, and My Pain Is Just as Valid

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…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

Double the Storm: What It’s Like Going Through Perimenopause With Fibromyalgia

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…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

7 Honest Truths About My Preferred Pain Scale as Someone With Fibromyalgia

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…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

Alone in the Ache: What It Really Means to Not Have a Support System When You’re Fibromyalgia Ill

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…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

9 Life Lessons: What Fibromyalgia Has Taught Me About Communicating With My Husband

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…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

The Pain Beneath the Pain: When Trauma Leaves You With Fibromyalgia Illness

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,…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

11 Hard Realities: When My Long-Term Disability Was Revoked Because I ‘Don’t Look Sick’

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…

by chronicillness•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

Infection is Root Cause by Fibromyalgia: Exploring the Link Between Chronic Illness and Pathogens

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and cognitive dysfunction (brain fog). Despite decades of research, the exact cause of fibromyalgia remains unknown. However, one emerging theory suggests that chronic infections may trigger or worsen fibromyalgia symptoms. Some researchers propose that latent or persistent infections—such as viral, bacterial, or fungal pathogens—could alter immune function, cause widespread inflammation, and contribute to nervous system hypersensitivity, leading to fibromyalgia. This article…

by Dr Alex Robber•05/15/202508/22/2025•0

Denied and Dismissed: When a Doctor Turned Down My Fibromyalgia Referral and Said I’m ‘Not Sick Enough’

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…

by chronicillness•05/14/202508/22/2025•0