My gosh when i saw this I was so excited, i know that sounds dumb, but i have felt so alone, i knew of one member here who had fibromyalgia, but that was all , yes Karen i have it, i was diagnosed over 11 years ago, two years after the birth of my daughter.

Yes Fibro is a miserable chronic illness and very unpredicatable, it is the reason i donot work outside of the home,because it is so up and down i doubt whether i could even hold down a job, i would be off sick way too much and i take my hats off to anyone who continues to work, you amaze me, i find just the day to day running of the household too much sometimes,but i do my best. it has changed my life tremendously and not for the better, what people donot realise is so many things go along with this miserable condition, it is often referred to as the irritable syndrome, because it does just that irritates so many parts of the body, not just simple aches and pains.

I gave up on trying any of the medications suggested as they made me feel worse, i take panadol only which i think is like your tynenol, not sure on SP, and i take Arcoxia maybe two pills per month only or when i have a bad flare up, i have just had one of those and am still getting through it.

I do believe my condition was brought on by extreme stress when my baby girl arrived, i had to wait six wks for another heel prick test, as they did not take it right and there were concerns she might have had cystic fibrosis, she also had another problem in hospital the worry and stress i think sparked it off.

It is not a hereditary condition, but my mother had symptons years ago and my sister seems to have some, but luckily they are not too bad, everyone is different, you can have all the same symptons, some of them and it can be from mild to severe,i fear my Melissa has it as she often complains of sore legs from walking, whereas none of her friends who do the same do.

yes having this is not fun at all, but i am thankful it is not life threatening, but there are days i just want to crawl into a hole and never get out of it, i am very lucky i have such a supportive husband, he is my rock, my own family really don't give me the understanding i need, but he lives with me, see's my pain and suffering and so even though at times it is extremely hard on him , he just hangs on in there for me.

Being in ongoing pain unfortunately causes depression too, so that is a normal part of having a chronic illness, one that is difficult to deal with, but normal all the same.

I have learn't over the years just to take each day as it comes, and also that making plans ahead just cannot be anymore.

Fibro Fog is another thing that just makes me so fustrated at times, i want to scream,luckily for me it only hits now and then he he.

Thanks so much for starting this thread, it has been so beneficial to me just to come here and to let people have an understanding of life with fibromyalgia, it is very mis-understood and is really the invisible disability.

Because Doctors cannot find what actually causes Fibro and because it is mainly women who suffer from it, although i do know a male with it, and they cannot find a cure, they labelled sufferers for years as it is all in the head, my gosh if it were i would be relieved then i could do something about it, that made me extremely angry and i wished every doctor who even thought that could spend a day in my shoes,I used to think trust me to end up with something that is thought of like that,CFS is also very similar to Fibro as is polymyalgia, difference with the poly is a blood test can diagnose that, not the same with Fibro,( luckily that view is not the standard anymore and the research they are doing is coming up with new things all the time,still we are a long way off for a cure i think.,but one can only hope.)

PS karen the bit that bugs the heck out of me is when i will just turn my head to look at something, like a normal person and bang my muscle feel likes its locked, happens in the big muscle in the shoulder all the time and i am in agony anything from days to weeks, i wish they could do an xray and see what happens, until i had fibro i used to think i had pulled a muscle ouch it really is the worst,along with fibro for those who donot know often comes IBS i was first diagnosed with that before Fibro, you also have to watch out for Thyroid conditions, i am very prone to that because of the fibro and my mother has had both types,gastric reflux, and the list goes on and on lol.

I dont write this for sympathy , just in hope to educate people who have either heard of the condition or who have not, and really have trouble working it out, as to me that is the key for us to have some understanding, and to me that is all i ask for.