PLEASE READ MY STORY AND SHARE! Below is my story of my struggles with fibromyalgia. For those who have already read it, I did add extra (the last two paragraphs) to the bottom of my story which I submitted to hopefully help fund research... I will explain... So, the FDA is considering 20 different illnesses to help fund research for. Fibromyalgia is one of them. They want those who suffer to submit stories and explain how it has affected their lives and if medications have helped. For most out there who suffer there sadly is not much help out there and if you are lucky the best medications on the market for fibro may take away up to 30% of your pain. (If you are one of the lucky ones, which many are not and can expect much less of an improvement in pain levels). Imagine still experiencing 70% of pain after you have been in a bad car accident, or broke a limb, etc... and then imagine that is what you can expect to experience for the rest of your life, as well as the myriad of other health problems and conditions that are overlapping with fibro. That is why we so desperately need more research for this debilitating condition. Below is my story I submitted to them, which I wanted to share to raise awareness. Also attached is the link to not only submit your own fibromyalgia story if you suffer as well but they also take donations. So, if you are one who donates please help our cause! A CURSE AND A BLESSING... Since fibromyalgia awareness is something this world needs to take more of an interest in, I wanted to explain what living with chronic pain is like and what better way to do that than to tell my story. So here is my curse and my blessing… Chronic pain is unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. It’s nothing like pain from a surgery or from an injury. It’s relentless. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, no physical therapy, medication or time can heal my pain. It is with you every moment… every second… of everyday. It took a problem-solving, hardworking overachiever and it broke me. Years later and I am still trying to put the pieces of my life back together. My dreams became unachievable, my life forever difficult, forever changed. People stepped out of my life, they didn’t understand. Having lived it myself I realize they couldn’t possibly! How do you explain to a healthy person what my life is like each day? That I awake each day to a nightmare? That each morning my 27 year old body feels like an 80 year olds. That waking up feels like I have been run over by a Mac truck several times. That getting up sounds like rocks shifting into place… Snap, crackle and pop. That your body feels weighted down by hundreds of extra pounds when your struggling to get out of bed. That exhaustion sets in and showers turn to baths. That its not just constant unrelenting pain and fatigue that you live with either. That you experience constant headaches and migraines. That you battle bladder, stomach and nausea problems on a daily basis, and the bathroom has become your friend and third most visited place in the house besides the couch and your bed. That your out of breath and struggle to walk small distances or climb stairs. That you experience brain fog, have memory problems and have lost intelligence. That at times being able to think or concentrate becomes an impossible task. That you can never experience comfort again and can find no comfortable place, position or clothing. That doctors and hospitals become all too familiar. That there are always medications, bloodwork, lab work, and testing. That medical bills are always coming. That older and wiser family members ask you what they can expect from ultrasounds, cystoscopy’s, colonoscopy’s, laparoscopy’s, MRI’s, etc… That depression sets in because even simple, daily tasks become too difficult and too much to bear. That restless legs keep you up at night. That sleep can be unreachable or you can’t get enough. That the bed has become a restless place filled with tossing and turning all night long. That you will never get a break from your reality because no vacation is a getaway from your daily battle, your worries never left behind. That each day the whole world continues to go on around you when you feel as yours has ended. That you spend each day watching everyone around you live a life you can no longer dream of. This is my curse. But as each day goes on it becomes a bit more bearable, you stop looking back on the life you once lived and begin to look towards the future. You find your joy in the simple things in life. You come out of the fog you were once living in and open your eyes to the incredible beauty of the world around you. You see what others do not. You have more understanding and a profound compassion. You begin to not judge others, not knowing what secret life may be going on behind closed doors. You try and smile more and be grateful for everything in your life you do have. You truly appreciate and love those who stood by your side, they are now your true friends, your true family. Through turmoil and strife you have finally become the person you have always wanted to be. This is my blessing. That was my story. Yet it doesnt explain my determination. It doesnt tell you who I was before the fibromyalgia. It doesnt explain that I was the girl who in beginning stages of fibro went back to college after 7 years and took 20 credit hours/7 classes my first semester back. Getting all As and Bs while still working part-time I might add. It doesnt show you the girl who worked 65 hour weeks for 5 years. Or the 17 year old girl who instead of partying with friends for graduating high school spent her summer doing 26 credit hours/13 hour days to finish and receive her Associates Degree in College. (Yes, I attended both High School and College at the same time). It doesnt show you how much fibro has changed my life, that I am a completely different person. That I am 28 years old and can no longer reach my dreams. That I am now only able to work part-time and take one college class a semester and even that seems to be more than my body can bare. That each day I have to remind myself that my semblance of a life is still worth living. No words can ever explain what I feel and experience in one day. No healthy person can understand what 3 years of this agony has done to me. No way to explain how it took 3 years of trying to pull my life back together, or how depressing it can be to imagine living to 80 or 90. Knowing that your struggle, those 3 years of HELL are only the beginning... That you may yet endure 50-60 more years of this nightmare! Yet everyday I wake up and I FIGHT, everyday I AM STILL HERE! And for those with this illness they truly know how much my determination means. You wanted to know the impact fibromyalgia has had on my life, and all I can say is it devastated me and left me in ruins. That I have exhausted my resources and tried almost every medication, therapy, diet, natural and homeopathic remedy I can, with little change in helping anything. That even narcotics dont fully take away my pain, that they only take the edge off. My voice is only 1 of the 5 million of us who suffer each moment of each day. All I can do is hope and beg and pray that my voice is heard and that you choose to help us with our fight.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 04:44:32 +0000
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