Fibromyalgia: My Story

Hey Guys! I hope you all are well! I haven't written much about Fibromyalgia recently, so I thought I would tell you about my life with Fibro and how I got a diagnosis. This might get a little personal and it might be a little bit of a long post. So I appologise in advance. So here we go!

So growing up I never had problems with illness. I had never been to the hospital other than having my tonsills removed. I was a typical child/teenager, I enjoyed spending time with my friends and going to acting and dancing classes. My dream used to be becoming a Musical Theatre actress. When I was 18 I started a job as a Nursery Nurse. I realised that working with children was my calling. I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. But one day 2 years later, I went to pick up one of the children in the nursery, and I felt a shooting pain in the lower part of my back. I collapsed on the floor, and I was crying in agony. We tried to get a doctors appointment but there wasn't any until the next week. So my partner and my parents decided that I should just rest for the weekend and then I would go to the doctors at the begining of the week. The pain kept getting worse and it got to the point that I tried to get in the bath and couldn't even lift my leg to get in. I had to call my partner to get him to carry me back to bed. On the Monday (which was a Bank Holiday) the pain was so bad! I was screaming in pain, and my partner and mother decided to take me to A&E. We waited for over 4 hours, and when I saw the doctor he told me there was a possibility I had a herniated disc. 
Over the next year, I had 2 MRI scans, and I did have a herniated disc, but it was too small to operate on. The doctors decided to give me different injections, to try to help the pain. But nothing was helping, I also got sent to a physiotherapist, but none of that helped either. It got to the point where I ended up in hospital for a week! The doctors and myself didn't have any idea what was wrong with me. Around May 2014 I started getting some more symptoms, such as pain in other parts of my body, headaches, extreme fatigue, neck and shoulder pain. I would go back to doctors and they had no idea what was wrong. It got to the point where a doctor said "There is nothing more we can do for you" This is one of the worst things you can ever hear. It's just like they are giving up on you. I started looking up my symptoms online, which I know is a bad thing. But I started to see the word Fibromyalgia popping up more and more. I went to my doctor and asked them about Fibro and they said they didn't think that was what was wrong with me. But I asked them to refer me to a Rhuematologist. It took 3 months but finally I had an appointment! The doctor took my blood and also my blood pressure. I explained to the doctor my symptoms and I had a tigger point test, which ended up making me want to punch the doctor in the face. It was so painful. And then I got my diagnosis. I had Fibromyalgia. I was right. But I think that was the tip of the iceburg, Even now, nearly a year later. I still don't really know how to cope. Having this illness has really changed my life, and not in a good way. I am in pain 24/7, some days are worse than others, but I'm sure I will survive. I try and find the good things in life. My family, my husband, my animals and my friends. They give me the strength I need to live my life. And I will make them proud. 

Obviously there is a lot more that has happened since being diagnosed, but I think thats a post for another day. If you have any questions or comments please comment on this post and I will get back to you. Thankyou for reading this and I will talk to you guys soon!