nancia

i've had fibro since i was 18. my mother thought i was just a complainy neurotic whiner hypochondriac. they kept testing me for ra and lyme and everything else, until one very intuitive dr started poking me and i was jumping out of my skin with pain. and that's when i was diagnosed at age 35. i'm 60 now and feel 102. but i look great for 102! lol. a little saggy baggy for 60, but when and if i get to heaven they will know i used what God gave me! 8-) my dr was very smart! altho he diagnosed me with fibro he did not put it in my records as such. if he had i could have been refused various health coverages in the future. also, when you have a disease that is not accepted as real there's no need to claim officially that you have it. i am able to take lyrica, and becasuse of it i can get out of bed most mornings, or nights when my schedule gets upside down from not being able to sleep. i've come to like keeping 'vampire hours'. but i can feel my depression increase from lack of light. i struggle to balance everything and end up usually with nothing. i had a headache for 3 months. the pain shot from the back of my head thru my left eye. nothing touched it but morphine. i don't want to become a prescription addict, so i try not to take it all the time and just live with the pain. now at least, the headache comes and goes. when i do sleep it's often for 4 - 12 hrs., and i often wake up with the headache. it's not the worst pain i've ever had, but it is very wearing. i can honestly say that this is one misery that does not love company-- i don't wish fibro on anyone! i never know what my next day or night, will be like. still, it beats the alternative, but some days, just barely. i have so many other things going on, that i find it pretty funny. for instance, i've developed a tremor in my hands. i have to be very careful when i eat out as it can look like i'm trying to start a food fight. peas go flying, or hopping across the table. my fork will suddenly hit my dh in the head, etc. not as bad as animal house, but pretty embarrassing. i try to laugh about it and eat at home. the harder i try to control it the worse it gets, so laughing about it helps me bring it down a notch. good thing i have a warped sense of humor! i've needed it! with your headaches, try ice if heat doesn't work. i have so much inflammation that i use more cold therapy than hot. everyone has to find their own way. good luck on your journey!