"What are you doing to yourself?", my chiropractor asked with an exclamation sound in his voice. "Can you feel all the knots I'm breaking up?" I could definitely feel them. It was like rocks had formed in my muscles. "You really don't need adjustments," my chiropractor continued, "Your problems are in your muscles. You need to schedule a massage and get all this tightness worked out."

What was going on? This was my third visit in two weeks because of severe pain in the muscles of my back. At times the pain was so intense, running down my arm and into my hand, that it affected my grip.

The chiropractor reminded me about the importance of good posture and frequent stretching, especially when using the computer. I had spent more time at my computer lately. Maybe that was the cause of my problems. I would start taking frequent breaks to check my posture and stretch...anything to help my back and muscles feel better!

I was discouraged when I went home that day. The muscle problems were more symptoms to add to my list of physical problems. In the past couple of years I'd had shingles, ongoing pain after the shingles, the onset of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), migraines, ringing of the ears, times of extreme fatigue, and female problems that included a significant increase of pain at monthly times. There were (and still are) days when I feel decrepit. I worried that if I felt old and decrepit in my mid-forties, how would I feel when I really do become old and decrepit?

It also worried me that I rarely felt like doing things I used to enjoy. I just didn't have the energy anymore. When I did have energy, I was usually dealing with symptoms from my other problems, and those problems interfered with my usual activities. As the mother of two active and athletic sons, I was frustrated that I didn't feel able to play and be active with them. Was this part of aging? If so, why weren't other people my age experiencing these things? Why did my mom seem more active and able than me?

Finally came the day when my physician suspected I had fibromyalgia. It was like a great revelation had been made. I researched the info on the National Foundation for Fibromyalgia site. As I read about people who have this condition, it was as if I was reading about myself. Everything began to make sense! The dots were connected...all the odd, seemingly unrelated symptoms actually WERE related. They were all symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Since that time I've learned about fibromyalgia and how to manage my symptoms. In hopes that I can help others trying to understand fibromyalgia, I'm going to share what I've learned through this site.

Your fibro friend,
Renee