by Alexandra Heep

Created on: January 10, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

What Does Fibromyalgia Feel Like?

I was diagnosed with FMS (Fibromyalgia Syndrome) a few years ago, and probably have had it for about 15 years or so. It's hard to say, as it's not something you get overnight, plus it took many doctor and hospital visits for someone to assign a name to something that others labeled as "being in my head".

I could focus on what this illness is, what its causes are, and what other conditions (like IBS, CFS, allergies, depression) seem to go hand in hand with FMS. I could also tell you about how insurance carriers, job loss that led to loss of insurance (loss of said job ironically indirectly caused by this health issue), underinsurance, having to change doctors and insurance due to factors beyond control, lack of family and support, etc; affect this condition.

However, I am not here to rant about doctors who try to cover their helplessness with prescribing drugs that don't work, nor the inadequacies or shortcomings of the health insurance system in the USA. Nor do I disrespect people in those professions; I am simply trying to create an understanding of something that does not seem so bad on paper and in textbooks.

I want to tell people what it actually feels like to have it, and how it affects completing the simplest basic tasks that are expected of humans to be part of society. If only one doctor could read this to understand what it is actually like to have "nerves signaling pain mistakenly" - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yes, the pain can follow you into your dreams.

I would like people to understand that FMS patients are not drug seeking hypochondriacs, on the contrary: most of us have grown sick and tired with the endless circle of side affects of taking something that does not cure what we have, but only covers it with a coating of slightly less irritable symptoms.

Like many other conditions and syndromes, FMS will not shorten your life. It simply makes you wish at times that it would. Since it "only" diminishes the quality of your life, it's not very high on the list of priorities, when we have more serious health issues like cancer and HIV to deal with.

I call FMS the "amplification" disease. With me, it simply amplifies everything: sound, light, smell, touch, pain, temperature changes, and vertigo/nausea. This does not sound so bad, does it?

Let me elaborate a bit:

Sound: Have you ever had a hangover headache, or a migraine? It's like that. Any sound (like the dog barking down the street or the guy playing his radio in

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