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it felt like to be pain-free and only fleeting images of what it was like to move easily.

This disease does more than 'just' cause constant pain and horrible fatigue. It does more than cause memory problems, make us sensitive to fluorescent light, affect eyesight and hearing, give us IBS, make simple math hard, reading difficult, myofacial pain, TMJ Disorder, Restless Leg Syndrome, migraines, muscle spasms, weakness, weight gain or loss, intolerance to cold, throw off equilibrium, interrupt sleep patterns, allergies, sensitivities to medications, painful water retention, and so much more. Oh yes, it does so much more.

It destroys who we once were. It seems to steals our strength, our jobs, our independence, our intelligence. Worst of all, it steals our families and friends.

We are viewed differently with the onset of this. As our cognitive abilities are interrupted and we forget things and/or have trouble processing information because we're constantly trying to think clearly through the pain and fatigue, people misunderstand so we are called 'dense' and 'stupid'. We can no longer run and move as others do nor for as long so we are called 'lazy'. We are called 'lier' by those who refuse to educate themselves. If you're are single and have this, you notice the dating pool is now a puddle. Who is willing to date someone with limitations?

The question "Well, why can't you just deal with it?" is often asked. "You said you were fine. Now you're not? What gives?" When we say 'I'm good, thanks' it means that we're the same as we were yesterday, no bad flare-ups of pain or that we are good, compared to how we are on our bad days but we are not nor will we ever be what we once were.

Nearly every one of us who lives with this has at least one friend or relative who has stopped visiting, phoning, or corresponding because of the changes that ensue. Marriages have been ruined ( it had a hand in ending mine, he never understood and chose not to educate himself) and sufferers left lonely and alone. Depression can follow compounding our symptoms. People think that it can't possibly be as bad as we say. Unfortunately, it is. Yes, there are medications that can help ease the symptoms but they are not eradicated. These pills do not cure us. We remain afflicted with Fibromyalgia for the rest of our lives.

I and my life are mere shadows of what once was and what could have been. I have lost friends, had to reorganize how I do things, when I do things, and even what I do. I was once

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