nancyclyne, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 17 years ago, when doctors were still trying to decide what all it was and was not. I had been having a series of complaints "off and on" for alot of years (arthritis and muscle aches and spasms) that moved from one part of my body to another. Specialists called it "skip arthritis" and others said I had a low grade inflamation. Well, 17 years ago, I fell off a deck that was being built and injured my thigh and leg, and broke my foot. I had to use crutches, but found I could NOT because my wrist and fingers became so swollen and my arms, shoulders and basically EVERYTHING hurt. That is when I found out that I had fibromalgia, when I went back to the doctor to find out why all this other stuff was happening, right after I had broken my foot. I was told it was caused, or triggered, by the trauma of the injuries during the fall.
I have done alot of research over the years and info on the disease explains many of the ailments that I had for years. CFS or continuous exhaustion, as I call it, was one of the ailments (along with IBS). The funny part was that these things would come and go and get worse sometimes. I found out the trauma of the broken foot triggered my serious attack. Time does sometimes heal (or lessen the symptoms), if coupled with exercise, food and rest. Analgestics also help and then you learn as much as you can about the disease so you learn to live with it. There are many kinds of triggers. There also are MANY skeptics.
Most of this has just become a part of my life, since I have been dealing with it for such a long time (almost 1/3 of my life). I recently had surgery and have been having a really hard time recovering because ALL of my symptoms have been flaring. I was on antibiotics for 3 months during and after surgery and have been on pain medication for the last week and a 1/2. I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so crummy and was complaining to my husband when I realized all my arthritic, swollen joints and muscle aches have been since surgery and it had to be from the trauma of the surgery.
I have also had additional stress of taking care of my almost 87 year old mother since I was released from doctor's care. It is really important to take care of yourself, eat right, get exercise, plenty of sleep, and avoid stress when your symptoms flare up. The good thing is that you won't have really bad days every day! You are pretty much in control of how many bad days in a row you will have by stopping and resting when you feel one coming.
nancyclyne, this is just the beginning of a totally new experience for you that you will have to learn to live with and you do just fine. Just educate yourself as much as possible because the medical profession is still learning more about it all the time. You can get the MOST information from the internet. I wish you lots of luck! Keep asking questions; that's how you'll learn more!
Trish