I usually describe it to friends by telling them to imagine that they have done the most exhaustive workout they have ever done. Weight lifting, running, sit-ups and anything else they can think of. Then I ask them to imagine the day after that workout. When every muscle in their body is so sore they can't hardly move it and when they do.... it just hurts so bad they don't want to move. They know they have to loosen up but it is excruciating. I explain that people who suffer from fibro live that day-after every single day.

Before I got diagnosed I'd tell my husband, friends and family it felt like someone had a voodoo doll of me and they wouldn't stop pricking me with a needle or twisting my body. Then in the morning I felt like I was hit by a big truck. And that's just the Fibromyalgia. Chronic fatigue is like haven slept all night then not even an hour after waking up I couldn't stay awake or function normal. And not sure which is responsible for my memory or lack thereof, simple things. Simply said, it sucks.

That explains it perfectly. Now add the difficulty thinking , spelling, talking and visual problems. Irritable Bowel syndrome and pain in vagina (vulvodynia).

The most understood way I've described it is "you know that tired achey feeling you get with the flu? It's much worse". That doesn't even start to describe all of the symptoms but it's something they can relate to.

I have tried but it's hard to put into words, concrete filled arms and legs,cotton wool where my brain should be, pain is so deep it feels like it comes from my bones, the spasm have gotten so bad my neurologist put it as having a seizure but being awake and feeling it, the mind doesn't shut off as it would with an Epileptic fit. The fatigue is ............., , My body feels like the aftermath of a car crash....