I Have Fibromyalgia

I have Fibromyalgia. I may not look sick, but I constantly battle this chronic illness, as do hundreds of thousands of others, some only children. While still widely misunderstood, we now know that “Fibro” is a neurosensory disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, joint stiffness, fatigue and more.

When people ask what Fibro is like I tell them to imagine the worst case of flu they ever had, that flu that makes you ache so much that even your teeth ache, that flu that makes you feel so exhausted that it's all you can do to breathe, and then I tell them to imagine feeling that way every single day. And then imagine trying to have a life with this. When you have the flu, you call in sick. When you have Fibro, people accuse you of being lazy, being melodramatic, of imagining you're ill.

It’s not an easy life, but it’s mine.