I know you’re new to this and I snuck up on you without your knowing. Now that you’re stuck with me I thought I’d introduce myself.
Hi, I’m Fibromyalgia.
The first thing you need to know about me is that I’m invisible. No one else can see me, no one else can feel me, and only you can feel my strength and power. I take your energy from you, I cause your muscles to ache, I make you so tired all you want to do is sleep, and then I prevent you from sleeping. I’m a sneaky illness, I crept towards you stealthy and silent so you wouldn’t know I was coming. No one knows why I come or why I stay and doctors can’t figure out what to do with me. Not even scientists can nail down where I come from. They try so hard to define me but I’m good at hiding. I’m so good at hiding I even have doctors convinced that I’m not there, but they just don’t know where to look for me. You will have to go from doctor to doctor looking for one who is will even acknowledge my existence.
Another thing you should know is that I like to mess with you. Some days I will almost disappear and I’ll let you live some of your life. I’ll let you feel almost normal and I’ll get your hopes up that you can have some fun, but when you least expect it I will come roaring back to remind you that I will never leave. You will want to control me, but I control your body. You can’t pretend you’re normal and wish me away, I will always stay with you. You can take medication, you can exercise more, you can change your eating habits and I may diminish, but I will never completely go away. I am fibromyalgia and there is no cure.
I am fibromyalgia and I am strong, sometimes I’m stronger than you. Sometimes I will fight so hard that you will feel beaten. I’ll make it so you don’t know how to go on. I’ll make you feel worthless and unimportant. I’ll make pain the only thing you can think about. I will push you down and I will dominate every portion of your life and I will never let go.
But…
I cannot take everything from you. I cannot take your heart. I cannot take your joy. Though I will try my hardest I cannot force you to give up. Someday you might find a way to beat me, but you will never forget that I am fibromyalgia.
*This is an old post that I updated. You can see the original here.
This is so true. I have had fibromyalgia since 1995. On days I feel better, I tend to overdue and pay for it the next few days.
Also, I tend to feel guilty when I see older people doing things I can’t do anymore. This article is great!